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FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
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Casemate 77 |
Conference in Milan.
Introduction:
During early 2005, I received an email from Gennaro Postiglioni, an associate professor of architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. He was leading a project known as 'The Atlantic Wall Linear Museum' (AWLM) the aim of which was to catalogue the German fortifications along the entire Atlantic Wall; the EU would fund the project. It was also planned to produce a website, a publication and a travelling exhibition which would describe and illustrate all aspects of the Atlantic Wall from the fortifications to cultural aspects - a rather grand idea as no other project of its kind has been attempted before.
Paul Bourgaize and I agreed to participate in the project - the former on behalf of Guernsey and its CIOS branch, and myself for Alderney and the Alderney Society. Unfortunately we were unable to persuade Jersey to contribute to the project, as the work involved was considerable in the time available.
The Atlantic Wall Linear Museum:
The DPA (Architectural Department) of the Politecnico of Milan together with GRAI (Grouppe de recherche sur l'architecture et les infrastructures) - Ecole d'Architecture de Versailles and the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation in Leuven (B) are participating in a research programme within the EU programme 'Culture 2004' concerning the Atlantic Wall, one of the last major defence lines of the last century, built by the German occupation forces between 1939 and 1944 along the coast of France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Denmark and the Channel Islands. Its main goal was to prevent allied landings. During this period more than 15,000 heavy, concrete bunkers were built.
The infrastructure, which is a unique example of its kind, is of great value for many reasons; its architectural quality, scale, and the relationship it has established with its natural and or urban contexts. The greatest value of this system of military fortifications however resides in its being the most widespread heritage of European culture preserving a collective memory of WWII. [There is also apparently 'the ability of these objects to define a new aesthetic canon for modernity', but I have no idea what that means. Ed]
The state of abandonment of much of the Atlantic Wall jeopardizes both its existence and the values which it represents.
Measures are proposed.
Guernsey and Alderney:
As can be seen from the above, the project seemed to be quite daunting at first but fortunately we were not involved with its more esoteric aspects. Several attachments arrived by e-mail containing a list of what was required. It was at this point we began to realize the volume of work involved. Firstly, a list of every German structure on the two islands was required. Secondly, a selection of bunkers or sites was to be selected; these would be known as Highlights (HL) or Case Studies (CS) and would be covered in more detail for the on-line catalogue. Thirdly, they required a summary of the fortification of the islands including maps etc. as an Introduction.
The Highlights and Case Studies were fairly straightforward tasks. Those in Guernsey included the restored sites such as Fort Hommet and Batterie Dollmann; plans, maps and photographs - together with a description of the site and the surroundings - were all downloaded to the website for catalogu ing. Those for Alderney were a little less obvious to select but many sites, although not restored, are more or less complete.
The list of structures on the two islands was going to be a different story! We had never made much of an effort to assign type numbers to many of the bunkers on Alderney or Guernsey mainly because a large proportion were believed to be non-standard - particularly the reinforced field order bunkers (RFOs). Alderney was relatively straightforward as most of this work had been done in the preparation for Festung Alderney and, although a significant number of structures remain buried, the positions of most of the bunkers were identified from the aerial photographs followed by location in the field.
Later in the year we were invited to attend a conference being held at the University in Milan. Representatives from the various countries attended and each gave a short presentation on the fortifications in their country. We spent some time before the conference viewing an exhibition of the work that had been carried out. A map of the Atlantic Wall along the coast of Europe had been incorporated into a very large floor panel. Around this all of the Case Studies and Highlights from each country had been printed onto sliding aluminium boards and mounted in cabinets, and all bunker types had been reproduced on cards and suspended from the ceiling.
At the Conference Rudi Rolf gave a general talk on German fortifications after which representatives of each country to give a 20-minute talk. We spoke directly about the volume and type of bunkers on Alderney and Guernsey, while some of the other representatives chose to talk in much broader terms. In the evening we had a chance to meet at an informal meal all those who had been involved in the project. A very enjoyable night of good food and wine was a fitting end to the visit, and we are grateful for the hospitality shown to us during our stay in Milan.
It is also planned to produce a catalogue next year containing all the information supplied by each country for distribution to all those involved. A copy will be held in the Alderney Society's Museum.
Atlantic Wall, Denmark: Marine Coast Battery Skagen. (Svein Wiiger Olsen) |
Atlantic Wall, Norway: Army Coast Battery (HKB) Ny-Hellesund, armed with 10.5cm Kanone 331(f). (Svein Wiiger Olsen) |
