[dragoon500ly]

So just how well defended were the Normandy Beaches?

The Atlantic Wall defenses were made up of two types of fortifications; the Stuetzpunkten (StP or strongpoints) were roughly company-sized positions that included a mix of heavy and light fortifications set up for 360-defense. Obstacles (mainly barbed wire and AT ditches) and minefields surrounded their perimenter, as well as formed internal barricades within the position. Heavy fortifications included combat and supporting bunkers while light fortifications were mostly open positions, such as weapon pits and trenches. Many of the StP also included artillery batteries and flak postions.

The most common positions were the Widerstandsnest (Wn or resistance nests). For the most part, these were rouyghly platoon-sized postions that contained a "shell-proof" postions. These mostly consisted of machine gun and mortar positions as well as postions with artillery ranging from 37mm up to 88mm in caliber.

StP and Wn were sited in areas most suited to amphibious landings and were usually placed in one or two defensive lines. The so-called Fortress Areas simply conisted of seveal StP and Wn which were placed to cover not only the beaches, but the landward approaches as well.

The StP and Wn also suffered from two critical weaknesses. First, so short of weapons was the Third Reich that the Atlantic Wall had to rely on a large number of foreign or older weapons, this created major logistical problems in the supply of ammunition and spare parts.

The second critical weakness lay in the troops assigned to defend the wall. A large number of the troops came from the Ost Battalions, units formed up non-German troops, mainly Eastern European "volunteers", whose reliability was questionable. Those German units present in the west often had their ranks filled out with soldiers recuperating from wounds suffered on the eastern front. Many of these units also included large numbers of young and elderly soldiers, often only partially trained. Many of the beach defense units were from Bodenstaendug (Static) Divisions that lacked almost any organic transport.

The number of divisions assigned to the Atlantic Wall was in a constant state of flux, as the best formations were sent to the east to heelp stabilize the deteriorating situatuion. Shattered and depleted divisions from the east took their place.

Hampering the troops was Rommel's decision to focus on the setting up of obstacles and the laying of mines, at the expense of the training of the troops.

Source material is World at War #27 "Atlantic Wall Analysis" and the "German Army Handbook"