The Atlantic Wall Museum is housed in one of the German army's seven large forts and its construction was carried out by the Todt organisation in Audinghen Cap Gris-Nez, in the Pas-de-Calais region. The history of the fort On 10 February 1942 and with great pomp, the offensive battery with casemates containing four 380 mm cannons was opened. Known initially as the Siegfried Battery, it was given the name "Todt Battery" in memory of the German construction engineer killed the previous day in an aircraft accident. Two days later on 12 February, this battery entered active service providing counter-battery fire to enable the passage of the battleships "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst" and the heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" along the coast. This battery was positioned to the south of Gris-Nez, at a place called Haringzelle and constituted a formidable complex. It could fire rocket and percussion shells up to 42 kilometres. Situated at an altitude of 60 to 70 metres, depending on the position of the cannons, it could easily reach the English coast. The battery was protected by reinforced concrete boulders and defended by nine 75-barrel cannons to provide anti-aircraft cover with searchlight batteries. The personnel of the batteries (18 men and 4 officers per 380 cannon), that of the coastal and civil defence, of the two command posts set up at Le Cran Mademoiselle and the Le Cran Poulet protection Battery was 600 men. Action at the battery was heavy throughout 1942, quieter in 1943 and then considerable after 6 June 1944.

Up to 29 September 1944 There was much firing on 6 June 1944, the day of the landings. The 3rd Division of Canadian Infantry coming along the coast from Normandy, after having liberated Boulogne and surrounded Calais, finally came to attack the Todt battery, under the command of Ship of the Line ensign Klaus Momber. On 26 September 1944 the R.A.F. launched 532 bombers on Gris-Nez, followed by 302 on 28 September, dropping 855 tonnes of bombs. The attack was carried out on 29 September 1944. First, at 6.35 am there was heavy artillery fire. Then the 9th brigade of the 3rd Canadian ID attacked. The North Nova Scotia Highlanders had the task of taking the Todt battery. At 10.30 am, it was all over, with white flags appearing just about everywhere. Brigadier Rockingam sent the white flag that had floated above the Todt Battery to the mayor of Dover. The museum Dedicated to military history, the museum offers the opportunity to see several thousand collection pieces in its ten halls. Weapons, uniforms, posters, and other militaria illustrate various aspects of the Atlantic Wall. Outside a German K 5 280 mm cannon on an iron track, the only one in Europe, stands alongside military vehicles and tanks.

In Landrethun-le-nord, in a place called "Mimoyecques", a secret base was built underground. It was intended to launch hundreds of V3 missiles per day on London. It was destroyed on 6 July 1944 with Tallboy bombs.

Excavations have uncovered an entrance, and some of the shafts can be visited. The V-3 (Vergeltungswaffen) was planned to bombard England, and more precisely London, its only target. But the lack of mobility of this kind of weapon made it extremely vulnerable to bombarding and air raids. This is why it had to be contained in a fortified system.

Five of these shafts were constructed in Mimoyecques, in the commune of Marquise in the Pas-de-Calais, along with an entire network of service shafts, tunnels and rooms on several levels, essential for troops staying there and for the many technical departments. An interior railway line was even built to provide transport from one end to the other. On the surface, a particularly vulnerable zone, angled drifts opened onto a reinforced concrete slab 5.5 metres thick. The openings in the slab were protected by 20 cm thick steel plate.

The site was chosen due to its proximity to the target (168 km from London), and also to it being set back from the coastline, to avoid any naval attacks. The site also had to be near to a railway line to transport the gun's spare parts and the heavy material necessary for it to work, to evacuate rubble and to provide munitions and explosives, and also had to be near a power line to supply this underground city. The Germans requested 5,000 kilowatts from the North-West electrical power station. 5,000 workers and 120,000 m3 were required for this installation.

Fortress of Mimoyecques

Landrethum-le-Nord 62250 Marquise

Tel.: +33 3.21.87.10.34

Fax: +33 3.21.83.33.10

E-mail: Mimoyecques@wanadoo.fr

Opening times From 18 April to 18 October, from 9 am to 6 pm. In July and August, from 10 am to 7 pm. Groups can visit from 9 am to 7 pm subject to booking.

Prices Adults: €5.50. Children: €4.00. Group of at least 15 persons - Adults: €4.50. Children: €3.35. School groups: €3.35

The site is south of Calais on the D249 between Leubringhen and Landrethum le Nord.

Sound projection in 3 languages: French, English and Dutch. The visit lasts around one hour. It is chilly inside, so bring a warm item of clothing. Constant temperature around 8°C

Base V3 - Mimoyecques

Quizz : Forts and citadels

"Fort de la Crèche" is a former coastal battery set up on the site of a former Napoleonic fort, Fort de Terlincthun, built in 1806 and dismantled in 1864. This coastal battery was built in 1879 following the principles of Séré de Rivières to defend the port of Boulogne.
It comprised the northern defences, supplemented southward by the Tour d'Odre (still occupied by the French National Navy today), Mont de Couppe and Cap d'Alprech Batteries, built during the same period. Demilitarised in 2002, "Fort de la Crèche" is now owned by the Conservatoire de l'Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres (French Coastal Protection Agency).

The “Fort de la Crèche” Association, under contract, has taken on the mission of preserving, restoring and animating this built heritage. From the month of April through the month of September, it organises guided tours hosted by volunteers. It welcomes groups year round by reservation. Along with the building from 1879, the site also presents the modernisation carried out on the military facilities – occupied by the French Army and then the French Navy – from 1930 to 1940.

 

The Germans then occupied the site, building bunkers on top of the old French platforms and integrating it into the “Atlantic Wall".

The tour itinerary that is being set up will be a 200-year journey through Time with a "reading" of the landscapes and buildings.


Fort de la Crèche
Association Fort de la Crèche (AFLC) BP 25 62930 Wimereux

Entrance to the Fort on the D 96 road between the La Crèche roundabout and Terlincthun at Wimereux. Guided tours only.

Quizz : Forts et citadels

Built by the Germans (Organisation TODT) in 1943, the Eperlecques bunker was the first base for launching V2 missiles built in France.

At the same time, in the same forest, a V1 launchpad was under construction. It is 20 km from the coast, between Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne and St-Omer.

From March to 27 August 1943, construction of the Eperlecques bunker was making good progress. On 27 August, the site was bombarded by the Allies. Work began again and the deported and prisoners began to arrive in November. The initial project was altered to install a liquid oxygen production plant (combustive fuel for V2).

Visitors walk around a park set out with diorama and military equipment, following a marked route with sound in several languages, as follows: A page in history

•         Comparison of V1 and V2;

•         Development of the Eperlecques bunker;

•         Construction of this concrete giant;

•         The bombings;

•         Modifications to plans after the bombings;

•         The result of an artificial earthquake.

Visitors then enter the building, where the visit continues. Inside the bunker, an audio-visual projection plunges visitors into cold and darkness.

On leaving the bunker, visitors listen to conclusions relating the past to modern day, such as the fact that the V2 was the ancestor of space conquest. The final message emphasises the necessity to work for peace.

Eperlecques Bunker
Rue du Sart 62910 Eperlecques
Tel.: +33 (0)3.21.88.44.22
Fax: +33 (0)3.21.88.44.84

Open in March from 11am to 5pm. In April and October from 10am to 6pm. In May, June, July, August and September from 10am to 7pm. In November from 2.15pm to 5pm.
 

Eperlecques Bunker
 

Quiz: Forts and citadels

Located just six miles northwest of Lens, this cemetery was started in August 1915 during the Battle of Loos-en-Gohelle, when the chateau was used as a medical clinic. This site contains the bodies of over 2,000 fallen soldiers, 200 of which were never identified; special memorials were erected to six soldiers from the United Kingdom, known to be buried among them. Seven French soldiers are also buried here.

At the entrance to the cemetery, the chapel of Notre Dame de Lourdes built before the war by the Bréhon family has been reconstructed in its original spot.

MINDEF/SGA/DMPA Northern territory

In April and May 1917, some 10, 000 Australian soldiers were killed during the battles of Bullecourt. And from May 1917 to March 1918, the battles raged and the village changed sides almost 20 times.

Today, in the memorial park, the memory is sustained by the statue of the Digger, made by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett, the son of a fighter in the 'Great War’. The Digger is an Australian soldier who symbolises through his uniform and badges the four Australian infantry divisions engaged in the field: the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th.

In Dury Mill, 16 kilometres southeast of Arras, Dury Memorial preserves in stone the memory of the violent operations that culminated in the breaking through of the Drocourt-Quéant Line.

Erected in the centre of a park planted with majestic maple trees, a familiar block of granite bears on one side an inscription in French: The Canadian corps 10,000 strong attacked at Arras on August 26th 1918 stormed successive German lines and here on Sept. 2^nd broke and turned the main German position on the Western Front and reached the Canal du Nord.

The attack that enabled troops to cross the Canal du Nord is today commemorated by the Bourlon Wood Memorial, erected on land donated by the Count of Franqueville, then Mayor of Bourlon.

This large stone block, standing on the top of a hill and which can be reached by stone steps bordered by terraces, bears the following inscription: The Canadian corps on 27th Sep. 1918 forced the Canal du Nord and captured the hill. They took Cambrai, Denain, Valenciennes & Mons then marched to the Rhine with the victorious allies.

Hundred-year-old lime trees form an arch over the steps. These are the same trees that stood here at the time and were torn apart by shells, yet which have become tougher over time. The terraces have been planted with a wide selection of conifers and plants that enjoy shade. The memorial is located past the village of Bourlon, just south of the Arras-Cambrai road, three kilometres from Marquion.

Most of the Portuguese servicemen have been laid to rest in the Richebourg military cemetery (Pas de Calais). The land was purchased in August 1924 and the Portuguese War Graves Commission undertook the task of finding and regrouping the bodies in conjunction with the French government (department of ex-servicemen and the 1st military region).

Between 1924 and 1938, the Richebourg cemetery received 1,831 bodies from various cemeteries in France (Le Touret, Ambleteuse, Brest etc.), Belgium (Tournai) and Germany for prisoners of war. It was extended in 1939, bringing its surface area to four thousand three hundred square metres. This cemetery contains 500 steles, each bearing the Portuguese coat of arms. Once through the wrought iron gate with its heart motifs, follow the alley of pine trees leading to the Memorial and the remembrance museum. The vegetation here is Mediterranean. Opposite is the Notre Dame de Fatima Chapel, built in 1976 in memory of the Portuguese soldiers who bore the brunt of the German offensive of April 1918. At La Couture, where they had valiantly withstood the German advance, the France-Portugal association had a monument built to the soldiers of the Portuguese expeditionary corps. The famous Christ of the Trenches, a cross damaged by shellfire and retrieved by Portuguese soldiers, was rebuilt at Neuve-Chapelle after the war. At La Couture, the monument, in stone bronze, is the work of sculptor A. Teixeira Lopez and was erected by Portuguese workmen. On one of the walls of the gothic church ruined by the war, an allegorical figure representing the Homeland brandishes the sword of Nun'Alvares, the supreme commander whose victory in 1385 over the Spanish at Aljubarrota marked Portugal's independence. It is shown coming to the aid of a Portuguese foot soldier trying to strike down Death with the butt of a rifle.
The Memorial of le Touret resembles a cloister with vaulted corridors in Portland stone. The square courtyard enclosed by three full walls and a colonnade forming a long gallery. The names of the 13,479 soldiers who died before 25 September 1915 are engraved on walls of the courtyard and the colonnade. There are small pavilions at each end of the gallery in the western corners of the courtyard. Today, in the cemetery itself, 900 dead are commemorated.
The hamlet of Saint Vaast is situated between the village of Richebourg and Goix-Barbee. A clinic was started in May 1915 during the Battle of Festubert and then used in the years that followed. A railway nicknamed "Tramway of the Trenches" transported men and ammunition. The cemetery currently contains about 800 British, Indian and German bodies, few of which have been identified.
At the beginning of March 1915, through their daring exploits, the allied air forces paralysed all German telephone communications in Menin (Belgium). In revenge, the enemy shelled Neuve-Chapelle, leaving it in ruins. For the Allies it was vital to take back Neuve-Chapelle. On 10 March 1915, British troops attacked the sector.
They were helped in their task by Indian troops. Sixteen thousand Indian soldiers, of whom 5,000 were never to be found, fought side by side. Three successive attacks came up against the fiercest resistance. A fourth resulted in the taking of 2,500 metres of trenches, before Neuve-Chapelle was taken back. Indians, English, Portuguese and French symbolised the friendship that united the soldiers. These men fulfilled their duty before they died. After them and in memory of their death, there remains this Memorial built to the glory of the 10,000 dead. The construction of this Memorial was ordered by the President of the Republic on 11 August 1926. (official gazette). The land on which it was built was purchased in perpetuity by the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is dedicated to the memory of those killed from the Hindu units and in particular to those "missing in action". It is built on land belonging to the commune of RICHEBOURG. In 1915 the place was known as"PORT-ARTHUR" The Memorial, whose architect was Sir HERBERT-BAKER, well known in India as one of the creators of the Delhi modern, is circular in shape and on its façade is a column (reminiscent of the pillars of ASOKA) about 16 meters high surmounted by an imperial lotus, the imperial crown and the "Star of India". It is flanked by two tigers. This column and the tigers are supported by a "podium", on which is engraved India 1914-1918. From the base of the "pedestal", a wall with cross-hatched ornamental apertures extends in a semi-circle and at each end of the semi-circle, there are two small "Chattri" domes, towards the East and the West. On the opposite semi-circle, which is solid, the names are engraved. In the middle of a lawn is the remembrance stone. The names on the Memorial are classed by units; within each unit by rank and within each rank in alphabetic order. There are 4,847 of them. They represent all English and Indian social classes. They share the same spirit expressed on the monument: IN HONOUR OF THE ARMY OF INDIA WHO FOUGHT IN France AND IN Belgium, 1914-1918, AND TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THEIR DEAD IN UNKNOWN GRAVES WHOSE NAMES ARE ENGRAVED HERE. In 1964, it was decided to add a special bronze panel to this monument on which are the names of 206 soldiers whose graves were in ZEHRENSDORF (East Germany) and could no longer be maintained. Work was completed in June 1966. IN MEMORY OF THOSE MEN WHO DIED IN CAPTIVITY AND WERE BURIED IN ZEHRENSDORF NEAR BERLIN.

The Canadian Memorial of Vimy, stands as an impressive tribute that Canada paid to all those who served their country in fighting or gave their lives during the First World war. It majestically overhangs the Douai plain and the mining area at the foot of the Artois hills. It indicates the location of the operation of which the Canadians are proudest, during the Second World war. It represents a homage to all those who fought during four years for their country and in particular to all those who paid with their lives.

On the pedestal of the Monument the following words are engraved:

TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD, THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA.

Inscribed on the ramparts of the Memorial are the names, of a thousand two hundred and twenty five Canadian soldiers who were posted "missing and presumed dead" in France. The soil of the park of this battlefield, measures a surface of 91,18 hectares (two hundred and fifty acres) and "is a gift of the French nation to the Canadian people ", as a plaque indicates at the entrance of the Monument. The Memorial rests on a bed of eleven thousand tons of concrete and masonry. For the pylons and the sculptures five thousand five hundred tons of limestone have been used and brought to the site from Yugoslavia. The construction of this gigantic work started in 1925. The Canadian National Memorial of Vimy was unveiled eleven years later by King Eduard VIII on July 26th 1936.

The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial is the work of horticultural experts. It is adorned with many Canadian trees and shrubs, in order to remember the forests and woods of the country. The memorial is surrounded by a green hillside that leads to a vast wood. At the sight of the perfectly restored trenches and tunnels, the visitor can imagine the enormous task the Canadian army corps had to achieve during this historical morning, many years ago.

November 9th 1997, representatives of the Canadian government proceed with the inauguration of the Interpretation Centre of the Canadian Memorial in Vimy. This Monument became one of the only national sites of Canada situated in a foreign country. The Centre is a complement to the guided tour of the tunnels and the trenches. The visitors can better understand the sense and importance of this Memorial. Furthermore they can better place the history of the Vimy Battle in the context of the Canadian participation at the First World war. The war, day after day, Vimy, a well planed battle; Vimy : the captured crest; and Canada remembers the war.

Thanks to photographic reproductions and banners (brown and ochre colors), artifacts, maps, graphic representations, an audiovisual multimedia presentation, explanatory texts, the exhibition allows the visitors to live the atmosphere which reigned in that period. The Interpretation Centre of the Canadian Memorial in Vimy is situated 200 meters from the Canadian Memorial in Vimy, near the main parking area. The Canadian Memorial in Vimy is located approximately 10 Km from Arras. Very close to Thélus, the Canadian cemetery and the monument honouring the Canadian artillery is situated in Zivy Crater. Here, a mine explosion dug a crater in the ground.

Monument and Memorial Park of Canada at Vimy

62580 Vimy

Tel : 03 21 50 68 68

Fax : 03 21 58 58 34

E-mail : Vimy.Memorial@vac-acc.gc.ca

Open every day except 25 December and 1 January From May 1 to October 31 :

10H à 18H November 1 to April 30 : 9H à 17H 

Par sa masse écrasante, par le caractère souterrain de ses installations, par la souffrance des travailleurs forcés qui l’ont édifié, le site constitue un lieu symbolique de la folie nazie.

Il s’agit de l’une des « constructions spéciales » édifiées par l’armée allemande, en 1943-1944, pour permettre la mise en opération de nouveaux systèmes d’armes V destinés à frapper l’Angleterre.

Cet immense bunker, construit par l’organisation Todt en 1943-1944, était destiné à stocker, préparer et lancer vers le centre-ville de Londres l’arme secrète de Hitler : la fusée V2.

Ce furent les bombardements, puis la percée des troupes anglo-américaines en Normandie, à la fin juillet 1944, qui incita les Allemands à abandonner le chantier de La Coupole, à quelques semaines de son achèvement. Ainsi, aucune fusée V2 n’a pu décoller d’un site conçu comme la première base de missiles stratégiques de l’Histoire.

Réhabilité en 1997, le Centre d’Histoire présente deux circuits de visite : « Les Armes secrètes d’Hitler : V1 et V2 » et « Le Nord de la France dans la main allemande » sur les grandes périodes de l’Occupation : l’invasion, l’exode, la vie quotidienne, la Résistance, la collaboration et la Libération.

Vous découvrez également que derrière cette arme, il y a le parcours d’un jeune ingénieur allemand, Wernher von Braun, inventeur de la fusée V2, récupéré par les Américains au lendemain de la guerre et qui mettra au point, l’immense fusée Saturn V qui enverra l’Homme sur la Lune….

La conquête spatiale débute donc bien ici sur les traces des premiers pas de l’Homme sur la Lune et elle se poursuit au Planétarium où vous serez plongés dans l’univers en totale immersion grâce à une technologie 10K-3D unique au monde !

Munis de lunettes actives dernière génération vous serez plongés parmi les étoiles grâce à l’écran à 360° de 15 mètres de diamètre.