Atlantic Wall and France

[Greg]

Rather interesting BBC article on how or if France should remember the Atlantic wall Hitlers Atlantic Wall

[Dave]

Cost would be a concern. I certainly believe in preserving as much as possible being part of history.

 

Quite amusing to see that some have been made into houses. Very solid foundations!

 

A similar thing was raised in the Channel islands about conserving their fortifications.

[RAF635SQ]

It would be sad to see parts of it disappear, its not the same watching it on your TV than actually being there. I think more schools should also look into arranging trips to Normandy etc to see these historic sites instead of looking at it in a text book.

A lot of kids I see roughly my age these days do not even know what D-Day was, and if they do they mention "Saving Private Ryan" straight away ...

[STUKA STEVE]

Everything comes down to cost.Preservation is expensive and school trips are costly too,take time planning and probably last thing in the education budget in a period of austerity

 

[leon21]

 

 

My question is can it be saved from Coastal erosion, you can already see parts of the Normandy Coast already starting

to succumb to erosion, with pill box's now half way down beaches or in the sea, how long before the sea covers the lot

with sea levels set to rise by anything up to 30-40 feet in the next 50 years. Our own Coastline is under threat from

erosion, is it just a matter of time before it;s lost for ever, no matter how much we try to preserve these things. Or is

the cost to great in the end to fully save it.

[Greg]

Good point Leon... though I suppose if they turn every pillbox into a house... it is the job of the insurance company to save it!

[Kenny Andrew]

I always wanted one to turn into a shop but I suppose trying to move a solid block of concrete would be pretty impossible, might make one from scratch one of these decades

[Greg]

I'm not too sure about that Kenny, aparently the British figured out how to do it...

http://www.treasurebunker.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=920

[STUKA STEVE]

You cant save everything as much as we'd like.To us who love history its terrible not to save everything but its always a question of money and seventy years on people see other more relevent needs for public funds

It is why much restoration work is done through fundraising and charities be it country houses,castles,or indeed pillboxes.

Regarding the Normandy beaches and the pillboxes,concrete structures they are indeed at the mercy of the sea and the damage which saltwater ,weather etc causes.

However much has been saved indeed the better and more interesting parts are preserved.Much consideration goes into what to preserve and much of what is left to the elements has been saved elsewhere in identical or similar structures.

The Normandy and Atlantic Wall is so vast that its just not feasible to save it all.The British coastline is also littered with hundreds of pillboxes,i find them fascinating and have examined many that cover the Fife coastline and the western highlands.They are also neglected badly and a silent reminder of a past threat to our island.

I find it sad that more isnt done to save some of these.There are probably many like minded people and perhaps its not to late to do something.