Reactivation of The Siegfried Line, 1944
With the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, war in the west broke out once more. On 24 August 1944, Hitler gave a directive for renewed construction on the Siegfried Line. 20,000 forced labourers and members of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service), most of whom were 14-16-year-old boys, attempted to reequip the line for defence purposes. Local people were also called in to carry out this kind of work, mostly building anti-tank ditches.
During construction, it was already clear that the bunkers could no longer withstand the newly developed armour-piercing weapons. At the same time as the Siegfried Line was reactivated, small concrete "Tobruk" bunkers were built along the border to the occupied area. These bunkers were mostly dugouts for single soldiers.
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Famous quotes containing the word siegfried:
“The trouble about soldiers in Mr. Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry ... is that they are the kind of people who in a railroad train have to travel with their backs to the engine. Peace can have but few corners softly padded enough for such sensitives.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)