Heavy gun towed by five linked half tracks through French streets to form part of the Atlantic Wall

The Atlantic Wall or "Atlantikwall" was an extensive system of coastal defenses and fortifications built by Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia. This was built to counter an anticipated Allied invasion of occupied Europe from Britain during the Second World War. The manning and operation of the Atlantic Wall was administratively overseen by the German Army, with some support from Luftwaffe ground forces. The Kriegsmarine maintained a separate coastal defense network, organized into a number of sea defense zones.

The construction of the fortifications was ordered in 1942 and more than half a million French workers were drafted to build it. The wall was frequently mentioned in propaganda, where its size and strength were usually exaggerated. The fortifications included colossal coastal guns, batteries, mortars, and artillery, and thousands of German troops were stationed in its defenses. Today, ruins of the wall exist in all of the nations where it was built, although many structures have fallen into the ocean or have been demolished over the years.

0:05 In order of appearance the vehicles are a pair of Sd.Kfz. 7 eight-ton half tracks, followed by three Sd.Kfz. 9 eighteen-ton half tracks, pulling what looks like a variation of the Schwerlastfahrzeug Culemeyer trailer. The gun being transported is likely a "Siegfried", a modified version of the 38cm SK C/34 weapons fitted to the Bismarck-class battleships, that weighed over 100 tons. These guns could fire a half ton shell at a muzzle velocity of just over one kilometer per second, with a maximum range of 55 kilometers. Installed at Batterie Todt near Cap Gris-Nez on the French coast, this put a considerable portion of the Brtish coast around Dover within range.

3:23 This gun appears to be an even more formidable weapon, the 40.6cm SK C/34 originally intended as the main armament for the H-class battleships that were never completed. Three such guns were sited near Sangatte in France in Batterie Lindemann, named in honor of Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann, captain of the battleship Bismarck who was lost with his ship. These could fire a 600kg shell out to 56 kilometers. At a range of 40 kilometers, the shell would take a full 90 seconds to reach its target. The extensive concrete defenses proved to be effect and in spite of the considerable amounts of Allied firepower leveled against the installations, most of them remained in action until they were overrun following the landings at Normandy in 1944.

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