But.... The germans had similar with the Atlantic wall and the Allies showed that a determined and tenacious attacker can overcome most static defences.
If he thinks that concrete is thick - he hasn't seen the Widerstandsnests in the Atlantic Wall. And in Normandy, the Allies had naval gunfire and aerial bombardment, not just hand grenades. Nor has he any clue of what blast does, in a confined space.
Problem was, most of the people manning the German defences in Normandy were ex Russian Prisoners, who had demonstrated they had no commitment to die for their country, and particularly not for Germany, the remainder were third grade units and infirm troops, at least until the reserve units arrived, by which time it was too late. The British troops in Southern England had nowhere to go and were not likely to give up easily, being a particularly bloody minded race with nothing to lose.
The Atlantic wall wasn't 70 miles in depth though was it, It was merely a curtain drawn along the coast manned by mostly Polish and Russians who had no stomach for a fight.
@@jasonbutler7054 Go and look at the skill with which some of those German defences were put together. As an ex-infantryman, the thought of having to attack them scares me. Remote flamethrowers on the entry points? Covered by machine guns in buried cast steel turrets, covered in stone, 1,000 yds behind? Mortars behind 3m of concrete? Enfilade firing, emplaced artillery? I live on the GHQ line, where there are still plenty of remaining infantry & anti-tank emplacements - it was abandoned pretty rapidly by the more modern thinking generals who knew fixed lines were a lousy way to conduct a defense. And it wasn't 70 miles depth of fixed defences - they were arranged in separate defence 'lines' that were individually not very deep.
The basic fact was, the Germans did not have the wherewithal to get across the Channel. They had no amphibious operations knowledge which means they could not anticipate the problems that would impact them. By the time the allies hit Normandy they had 6 or 7 major beach landings under their belt. In addition, the Germans would have to make choices after the first wave, troops or logistics. Everything they fought with had to come from France. Try sailing the Channel with submarines on the prowl. Normally it would be too shallow. But if you can hit a troop transport that takes out a 1000 men you would take the risk. So Sea Lion was never on.
They had no landing craft, no ships for beach bombardment, no way to transport armour until they took a deep water port, the RN home fleet and RAF would have destroyed them before they even reached the beaches.
There's a hexagonal pill box fairly close to where I live, within ten miles anyway. It's stands elevated in a field near a crossroads. I remember going to a farm with my father and seeing the pillbox the way there. My father, who had fought in WW2, said they were all death traps. The German soldier wouldn't go anywhere near it, they'd call up a tank or artillery or a plane to destroy it. Being left in one was a death sentence...
That is correct, by 1941 the static defence mentality had changed when Sir General Ironside lost command as Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces. Pillboxes were death traps and also very unfavored by troops.
Sadly, just wishful thinking mate. I served as a regular in the British army for 28 years. These home made death traps would have been simple to punch clean through with 88mm flak from far far away. Concushion from the blast incapacitates any defenders instantly. Again…Laughably ineffective once you lay smoke, you can walk up and drop in your grenades or like yanks use a flame thrower. These pill boxes were propagandas sake at best. A death trap for the men inside. At this stage the British army had nothing left to deploy having left all their equipment on the beaches at Dunkirk…. These pill boxes were simply a diversion to raise people’s spirits. Had the Germans held back by those far more extensive and better equipped French bunkers? Nope. Sorry to burst your enthusiasm. As soon as any box announced its location its was toast. A minor annoyance at best.
How many flak guns versus how many pill boxes? The Germans would have had to have fought with whatever they could bring ashore in the two days it would have taken for the Royal Navy to have sailed down from Scapa Flow, then they would be cut off facing many many stop lines of these pill boxes. If you were in a pill box you could always see one to the right and one to the left which could all give covering fire to each other. The stop lines also create bottlenecks with kill zones the enemy would have to squeeze through. After the war a group of British and German generals including Adolph Galland wargamed a German invasion of Britain, and discovered that the Germans would have been defeated. The Germans were right not to have attempted an invasion and this defence in depth would have been part of what made them make that decision.
Although for a short period there was a shortage, the UK purchased and received a lot of weapons from the USA - M1917s, M1918 BARs, Lewis guns, etc. and my September 1940 the Home Guard was quite well supplied with those plus some old Arisakas and P14 rifles from stores left over from WW1. The issue would have been logistics, though - there was no way to supply Home Guard units in the field as there was a shortage of trucks and those were to be reserved for the mobile units of regular army mostly (although many regular divisions were at the beach areas too) that were to act as the counter attacking force. So a Home Guard rifleman might get 60 rounds but would be unlikely to get any more than that during Sealion. But you are right in terms of artillery attack. The more likely threat, I would have thought, would have been Stug IIIs. AT traps wouldn't have kept them all away, and they were low and tough and specficially designed for attacking such targets. 88s were only really required for the really thick concrete of the Maginot line forts.
@@MajorTomm-mt8vg You only have to look at photos of the German assault on the Maginot line in 1940. The way that the 88mm. dealt with reinforced concrete and 30cm. thick steel observation cupolas is frightening. 😲
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet SOOOOOOO here's another interesting information. You'll notice the entry passages all turn to the right. Most ppl are right handed. Attempting to shoulder a rifle, use it effectively AND breech the pill box in a clockwise direction is notably more difficult. This defensive aid originated in the age of storming castles (see; Monty Python/Holy Grail) and continues still today
But... You CAN fire a rifle or SMG from either hand - and, until the British Army was issued the SA80, it was normal to fight like that. (The SA80 can only be fired from the right shoulder/hip or the breech ejects into your face/body). And the first thing you'd do before entry is toss a grenade or two, or a satchel charge.
Pillboxes were part of a broader line of static defences, usually with mutual enfilading fire arcs and anti-tank obstacles, wire and mines. The coastal crust of defences were interlinked with artillery based inland and also supporting garrisons, whereas the stop-line defences behind the coastal crust were quite different. The stop-lines utilised natural topographical features and also mechanically dug anti-tank ditches to create a defensive line, which would cause disruption and delay for enemy armour needing to cross; this would enable mobile reserves to move to the location to engage. Sir General Edmund Ironsides initial static defence plan utilising pillboxes was rather unpopular by late 1940 due to the amount of resources used, and when the War Department replaced Ironside by Brooke, pillboxes became largely obsolete by January 1941. Type 22 pillboxes would have provided very limited protection with rifle grenades, anti-tank weapons and artillery easily able to kill the inhabitants. Type 24 shell-proof would have been slightly better, but having seen the damage a PIAT does to a type 24, these would also have been death traps. Troops during 1940 preferred trench systems as this enabled great field of fire and awareness; this was adapted during 1941 with pillboxes largely being left empty. Some were used at road blocks at nodal points until later in the war, as were those on airfields with AA capability, but for the large they were a huge waste of resources. Furthermore the Luftwaffe had very accurate plans of the stop-lines as the lack of camouflage during construction gave the positions away even before they were finished. Interesting to note that the Luftwaffe aerial photos are more accurate than most of the primary source information in national archives when it comes to locations of pillboxes.
The likelyhood is that the pill boxes themselves were not impregnable. As you mentioned, in WW1 the Germans used them because the area they were fighting in was too muddy for trenches. But in the same fashion they were mutually supporting units with interlocking fields of fire. The British army and its allies developed the means to assault and take them anyway, so it is not impossible. So the German army would have that knowledge also.
The BEF had basically disarmed Great Britain, Dunkirk saved the manpower but everything else had been abandoned rifles, machine guns, tanks and trucks etc. The majority of troops relied on were the home guard that trained with whatever they could. At this stage 1940 there were no Americans and the Lend Lease had not begun properly. The battle would have been fought at sea after the invasion, the Germans would faced the Navy(that ruled the sea) and airforce that would have had home advantage along with radar. So along with harassing the Germans on land their resupply would have been difficult and air cover ineffective as their aircraft were operating at the end of their range.
Sea Lion would not have taken, and indeed did not take, place without air superiority. The War in the Pacific showed how out of date most warships were when compared to airpower. The RN, despite its size and ability would have been destroyed from the air. That's why it spent most of the war at Scarpa Flow. It would have been on the Army to defend Britain, and they would have done admirably...maybe.
@@I_Don_t_want_a_handle At that stage of the war, landing a bomb on a moving ship was no easy feat. The Luftwaffe was not particularly experienced with anti-ship operations and there are plenty of examples of Luftwaffe bombers during the evacuation of Dunkirk missing RN ships time after time. The Luftwaffe had air superiority over Dunkirk but still could not prevent a successful evacuation. Sure the Luftwaffe defending the invasion lanes would have learnt fast and undoubtedly the RN would have taken losses, but I would argue that by the time losses started to mount, the invasion lanes would have already been like a turkey shoot for RN destroyers and cruisers etc. Remember, the German army was absolutely not set up for, nor experienced in, large scale sea born operations. They had an insufficient number of transport vessels and there were no landing craft of any kind to the point that flat bottomed canal boats were to be converted for the task and towed across the channel by tugs. Imagine a flat hulled canal boat trying to cross the channel at a mere couple of knots speed, with the notoriously unpredictable channel conditions. And then the RN show up. Now I don't doubt that German invasion forces would have made it ashore, possibly in large numbers, and established a beachhead. But keeping that force supplied once the main RN counter force made it into the channel. Doubtful! German high command knew Sea Lion was a no go, with or without air superiority. The Battle of Britain and operation Sea Lion were a bluff to try and get Britain to sue for peace. And the Brits well and truly called that bluff baby.
There were bulletproof and shell proof variants. The designs (they varied significantly) called for 46cm thick for bulletproof, 107cm thick for shellproof (DFW3/24). In comparison, the standards on the Atlantic Wall called for minimum 2m thick and in many cases, 3m thick, with layers of steel rebar.
The Brits and jarmans war gamed this after the war when we were all mates and found the place was essentially impregnable. Simply too easy to defend and too hard to bring the necessary logistics to attack...turns out. you need a fifth column...
Having surveyed British pillboxes of many types and varieties, the standard and quality of construction varied hugely around the country. Some were excellent, others wouldn't have lasted more that half an hour or so of steady assault, such was the appaling build. But as there wasn't any central control over the construction, most was left to local interpretation and depended on availability of materials and labour with very few builders having had any experience in poured reinforced concrete. But it did lead toma vrry interesting variety for us historians to study - ! 😅
You wouldnt have 5 lmg in one pillbox the positions are there to move 1 gun around there also would have been trenches around the pillboxes as support positions but yeah as others have said there death traps to anything more than rifle calibre I would think you would only allocate half a section to a pillbox keep the rest of the platoon dispersed
What a great video Kris, You guys have such rich history over there, I love these video's, thanks for posting, all the best from NZ, we are here and always will be. But the world has changed so much and it makes you think!
HMS Nelson & Rodney were on standby for last ditch defence on Churchills orders. They would have given an invasion attempt absolute hell if they tried to cross the channel (16” main armament)
People tend to overlook the Navy when they talk about Operation Sea Lion. British capital ships would of course have come under heavy attack from the Luftwaffe but they would have had some protection from the RAF, and those big guns would have probably decimated German amphibious forces before they got anywhere near the beaches. Some of the British ships would have been sunk but the damage they would have inflicted on the Germans would probably have ended any invasion there and then
In all likelihood the RN would have wiped out most of the nazi invasion barges before the pillboxes were really needed. You missed out that pillboxes were also surrounded by trench networks, not in isolation as we see them today.
I believe the Germans went around the magino line and dealt with it later. As with the pill boxes on the Normandy coast 1944 they were defeated in a day even with mine fields etc. Pillbox great idea but a concrete coffin as you become a large target, rather be running about than sitting in a target especially when you run out of ammo.
Most Pillboxes are pretty poorly built, often not sited particularly well or mutually supporting like the ones you cite. They certainly were not armed with 4-5 machine guns in each one. More likely a rifle section would be manning 2-3 pillboxes, who were probably all new recruits. A 1940's Stug would find them an easy target and if the RAF did lose the Battle of Britain a Stuka would easily take them out.
I think you forgot the initial risk of invasion into Yorkshire and East Anglia when Germany took Denmark and Norway. Those areas were defended first and until France fell did the South Coast become vunerable. Pillboxes were only built and used for about 18months before being made redundant when the thinking and defending tactics changed (away from static defences and GHQ lines) and their vunerability to high velocity ordanance was exposed. They also were surrounded by trench systems and other earthwork defences which have long gone. Its a hugely complicated subject that changed on a regular basis as the threats and technology moved on. Its not a video game senario of attack and defend.
@@Addictedtobleeps Have a look into the Julius Caesar plan to defend Britain from Oct 1939. Its a fascinating but little known subject. The south coast and operation sealion was late to the party.
Very interesting. Thanks mate. Has to be said though, the krauts had sturdy pill boxs to, and they were charged down(not before they caused carnage on the allies) the krauts did not attempt a landing due to our great navy and air force. Had they destroyed either, they may have atrempted an invasion .
My brother is a civil engineer. I remember him talking about needing to demolish one of these, for a road I think. They couldn't break it up- had to crane it out whole!
Saw one being demolished in the 80's, drove past every day to work, 1st week they only managed to round off the edges, weeks 2 to 4 using a hydraulic hammer on a excavator got the job done, massive amount of steel in them.
Great video thank you, I am from south west London and would venture out to the surrey hills when I was growing up. The Surrey hills was covered in Pill boxes and Dragons teeth tank traps and would of been near impossible to overcome. The closest to where I lived was just outside Chessington at Maldon Rushett and they extended out to the surrey hills and then swang all the way around to South of London and on to the south coast. It would of been the end of the war in my opinion if the Germans had gone ahead with Operation Sea Lion. It would of broke the Germans attempting it and I doubt they would of recovered. Again thanks for the great video
I have long been convinced that operation Sealion was never a realistic proposition for the Germans... They had no experience of large scale sea landings, no suitable landing craft for infantry let alone armour, the Royal Navy would have decimated any invasion fleet before it got near the coast and even if they had managed to get ashore they would not have been able to provide sufficient support to secure a beach head for more than a few days. All the things that made the allied landings successful took years of planning and development, cunning inventivness and innovation that simply did not exist 4 years earlier. At best it might have been like our own disaster at Dieppe two years later.
Most Pill boxes are inland and pointing in towards an airfield, which were German tactical targets in WW2. Your Dover Key was an observational Pill box. Pill boxes were also not in isolation. You will find the remains of a trench system around the pill box. 3d pill box you missed the gun mounts on the top. Your final mistake is that taking pill boxes of many different types is Exactly what the Allies did in Normandy. A lot of them far more more sturdy than the British pill box being built of armoured steel. Although the plans were standard the building materials were not. Most later ones were reinforced concrete but earlier ones were built by builders who just had dimensions so were often built of house bricks with maybe a concrete render. They often had soil on and around them to improve protection. The Germans were also adept at dealing with fortifications as demonstrated by Fort Eben Emael, which the Germans destroyed with the use of shaped charges.
The pillboxes were mostly built as components of fixed, delaying stop lines, at the direction of General Ironside (whose experience was from WW1). They were not all completed when saner, more modern minds prevailed in the summer of 1940 and moved strategy to the concept of more mobile defences (although defences under construction were completed) with fixed nodal points (anti-tank islands), area flooding, railway lines and anti-tank obstacles/road blocks, all designed to channel an attacker into killing areas.
The British defences were not just a line at the coast. There were stop lines at intervals as one went inland. There were also bottlenecks through which an enemy would have to squeeze which were kill zones. There is an old pill box visible from the railway line between Windsor and Waterloo, That's a long way inland. If there was one pill box there was always a line of them.
The only reason the Germans went round it was because the line ended at the Belgium border, no borders on the English coast what ever the Jerry's did would be covered, even a beach on the east Yorkshire coast has lines of defence, 100yds further inland there's more pillboxes.
Sea Lion stood ZERO chance of succeeding. Germany didn’t have ANY of the things that made D-Day a success. Every single simulation of Sea Lion proves that it would have failed dismally.
The pill boxes were very flimsy to anything bar small arms fire. What did the German armies do with the Maginot line ? They went round it. A safe corridor would have been created by aerial and naval bombardment to allow the rapid armoured units inland. The ' cavalry ' would then deal with the pill boxes.
Very well explained, Kris. Overlapping fields of fire are pretty good dissuaders - expecially when the bad guy is trying to run up a steep hill! - carrying all his kit - and maybe wearing a gas-mask.
I am surprised the Pillboxes did not have Panzer hatches which protect the person inside far better. If you concentrated fire on the opening you would eventually hit the occupant or his weapon. They could have been improved with Panzer hatches. Still a great video. When you consider the raid at RAF St Lawrence that the one person who actually repelled the Germans was actually an ex WW1 Marksman who was a Coastguard in WW2 and probably the person who effected a kill or hit, not the regular army who defended..It takes one person with skill or nerve to offend or defend.
This video nails it. No attacking force has ever been able to defeat pillboxes anywhere anytime in the whole world. Not in Normandy. Not in France. Not in the Siegfried line. Not in any Pacific island. Not in Russia. And because ( unlike anyone else in history) the British have fought lots of wars so of course nobody could defeat them in any battle such as Yorktown or Islandlwana. Also Pilsner Urquel is a Czech beer. Not German.
I think thr RN would also have to have been neutralised to enable the landing, you would then have coastal batteries taken out from off-shore for some considerable range, you can thrn establish a proper beachhead, land your artillery and then methodically take out these pillboxes combined with airattack. ? Always great to see another video Kris. Good stuff.👍🏼
kris, don't forget the grand shaft in dover which was booby trapped :0) the grand shaft went into the cliff's so was an easy way to get from sea level to the top of the cliffs :0)
When I was young there were lots of small pill boxes around, and I often wondered how the defenders would escape if the Germans invaded. They would have just brouht up an 88mm anti-tank gun and blasted it to pieces with the defenders still inside, or for the larger ones whstled up a Stuka dive bomber. Most pill boxes looked to me like death traps, as the only way of escape was to run out into the open. They would have held the advancing Germans up for half an hour or so and inflicted a few casualties, but stood no chance of stopping them.
You could say that about any individual tank or any individual flak gun for that matter. What is it with this obsession with 88mm guns? They were not invincible as we we can see.
@@LouiseBrooksBob They were dual purpose and very widely used, and effective in both their roles. Their main shortcoming was that they were high standing, which is not ideal for an anti-tank gun.
This is interesting but judging by other German 'Blitzkrieg' attacks they would only have invaded with Air Superiority (which the Battle of Britain denied to them) when they would have used Stuka Dive Bombers to take out these Pill Boxes from the air.
They were there to slow the enemy down that's all which is a good thing. Look at the Atlantic wall or maginot line for example both major defencive lines but with the right tools or tactics they were overcome.
@@Addictedtobleeps Spread all around the periphery of the UK. The point is - in 1940s Belgium, Holland or France, strongpoints didn't hold up the German advance. Nor, in 1944, did the Atlantic Wall, nor then the Seigfried line. Similarly the Ost Wall didn't stop the Soviet advance.
4 guys in a pillbox, and even if they all have LMGs / Brens there are going to be issues, Ammo, barrel changes, the noise would be deafening with all four guys letting rip. Remembering that supplies where limited, some maybe pulling out the Vickers. Not forgetting the German Para would have possibly jumped in the night before along with a barrage of artillery, the Germans where shelling Dover, from Calais. A well-aimed Panzerfaust could have taken out a Pillbox. Running from pillbox to pillbox with Ammo resupply, under fire… more a deterrent and OP than defense, to force the German to go around, as they did in France, landing in Sufflok and Norfflk, allowing time to be picked off on the sea crossing and in the countryside, before they could land any armour. but great to hear your Point of view.
@@MartinCollier-w5v True, but plenty of time between 1943 and D-day, sure you have US forces here also by then, the biggest contribution of the UK defenses was… the Eastern front, we are always quick to forget about that. Sure my grandfathers where both RN during War, for us we always focus on the war in the west. I am sure had it not been for the start of the cold war, the things we are only just learning now would have been more common knowledge.
I remember watching a documentary where Hitler cut off invaded Great Britain at the start after he took France but they only reason they couldn't was because they didn't have enough boats for the to be transported
Without a port the invading force wouldn’t have been able to land armour or any other heavy equipment. Germany didn’t have landing vehicles. Just how they would resupply with the Royal Navy in the channel. The RAF would still be supplied with new aircraft. A successful sealion was never going to work.
hey ya kris a great documentary. there are loads of pill boxes where i live in and around ipswich. it does beg the question though. do you think they should be used for the homeless as you already have the structure there. just a thought
come and visit Metaxas line pillboxes and other defenses in northern Greece where battles took place with Germans and finally they surrender .you will be amazed
The RAF didn't win Battle of Britain just the Fighter Command but the British Army AA Gun Command and a Civilian organization to see German Aircrafts inland of UK because the RADAR is on around the east and south coast.
Whats that coat you’re wearing? It looks like a ww2 Swedish sentry coat I have. It has a full sheepskin lining, weighs a ton and is incredibly hot. I couldn’t possibly go out in it.
Interesting video I enjoyed it👍and something I thought about as they weren’t tested. They would have called in air support to destroy these seeing the Germans would have air superiority. What could have a bunker like these infantry pillbox have to counter say a tiger tank? Not a lot and a tiger could shoot their 88 rounds from a mile away, more than likely through the slit. More tanks to defend? Britain’s didn’t have any at the time, when sea lion would have taken place the British army had hardly any tanks or fighting vehicles of worth after the retreat from Dunkirk. While the German tanks and equipment at the time were much better in numbers and quality.
the bunkers are built with rough irregular concrete. So not strong. Also many are built with ordinary bricks. I would not feel safe if these had to guarantee my safety.
WRONG!!! The biggest “pillbox” in the world, Frances Maginot line proved to be a big waste of money as the Germans just went around it. Belgium’s fort Eben-Emael was considered to be impregnable it took German paratroopers about 31 hours to capture it. The “Atlantic Wall”was designed and built in a way that allowed adjacent emplacements were able to support each other, yet the Allies still managed to get past the defences and later on they also got through the “Siegfried Line”. British pillboxes were not some kind of magical totally impregnable castles, they were no better or worse than anyone else’s. Yes they would have slowed down an invading but they would not have stopped them.
It’s a misconception that they were all old men. Fuelled by the TV show. www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-dads-army#:~:text=The%20Home%20Guard%20developed%20into,called%20up%20for%20military%20service.
Slightly overlooking the fact we have already lost air superiority at this point and there is still mortars and artillery. On top of that the royal navy must have been knocked out as well and that opens the gates to naval artillery along the coast.I'm not saying it would be easy hence the reason we built such things but just food for thought.
I see your point but Germans already had Denmark and Norway so who’s to say they would of hit the south of the country they could of hit the softer east side or even hit Scotland and come down the from there so I see your point but the east side of the country was no where near the same protection as what the south got and the way the Germans used to fight they would of hit 2 3 prog attacks so they probably would of sent troops to the 3 points I just said just to hold troops in locations Plus you say about these pill boxes being so hard to attack you don’t think the German drive bombers would of been targeting these or the ships not targeting these for the troops to clear paths because after all if we lost the battle of Briton the German planes would of had free rain really
I don't believe there would have been 5 light machine guns, after all, most of it was left behind in France. It was so bad that we they were making Sten Guns to re-arm the army. So having 5 light machine guns for all those pillboxes is not viable. Your point about the grenades and grenade wall can't be right. The SAS use flash bangs, which are mostly non-lethal stun grenades. When a real grenade goes of in a small confined space like that you can be sure the Tommie's will be stunned and out of action. Although, I think you're right, they wouldn't have succeeded.
It’s a ricochet wall, not actually used to protect from grenades. I was just pointing out a secondary use of it if need be. I don’t know. Even if a flashy was to be replaced with the grenade, if the soldier were to hands over ears, and head in lap, I think he’d still cope. But yes, a grenade would be different. Still, better the wall than no protection at all!
@@Addictedtobleeps German stick grenades were concussion grenades - they didn't produce much shrapnel, they were designed to shock and stun, in trenches and sangars. Remember you're in a concrete box - the shock waves will just reverberate around the walls.
The juice wouldn’t have been worth the squeeze - easier to starve the island nation than attack defences in depth like that. Have a war with Russia instead, what could go wrong?! Conversely, D-Day kind of demonstrates what can be achieved against a well defended coast with air and naval superiority, although to your point, those defences weren’t 70 miles deep! Being in a pillbox would have fun for about 5 minutes - once mortars started bouncing off the roof and artillery was walking in, I’d rather be in a trench…
Normandy is literally the example of how bunkers don’t always work as you might hope. And those were backed up by the full force of the Wehrmacht, not angry civilians. Romantic idea though.
@@amaffmaheidschannel-rc6reNot true at all. The idea that the home guard were ‘old men’ is an idea drilled into us by TV. Dad’s army and the like. The homeguard weren’t all like that at all. Plus, I’d argue and still argue that more than 70 miles of static defences, alongside everything else going on, would do better than anything in the 13th century.
But.... The germans had similar with the Atlantic wall and the Allies showed that a determined and tenacious attacker can overcome most static defences.
Exactly what I thought too...
If he thinks that concrete is thick - he hasn't seen the Widerstandsnests in the Atlantic Wall. And in Normandy, the Allies had naval gunfire and aerial bombardment, not just hand grenades. Nor has he any clue of what blast does, in a confined space.
Problem was, most of the people manning the German defences in Normandy were ex Russian Prisoners, who had demonstrated they had no commitment to die for their country, and particularly not for Germany, the remainder were third grade units and infirm troops, at least until the reserve units arrived, by which time it was too late. The British troops in Southern England had nowhere to go and were not likely to give up easily, being a particularly bloody minded race with nothing to lose.
The Atlantic wall wasn't 70 miles in depth though was it, It was merely a curtain drawn along the coast manned by mostly Polish and Russians who had no stomach for a fight.
@@jasonbutler7054 Go and look at the skill with which some of those German defences were put together. As an ex-infantryman, the thought of having to attack them scares me. Remote flamethrowers on the entry points? Covered by machine guns in buried cast steel turrets, covered in stone, 1,000 yds behind? Mortars behind 3m of concrete? Enfilade firing, emplaced artillery?
I live on the GHQ line, where there are still plenty of remaining infantry & anti-tank emplacements - it was abandoned pretty rapidly by the more modern thinking generals who knew fixed lines were a lousy way to conduct a defense. And it wasn't 70 miles depth of fixed defences - they were arranged in separate defence 'lines' that were individually not very deep.
The basic fact was, the Germans did not have the wherewithal to get across the Channel. They had no amphibious operations knowledge which means they could not anticipate the problems that would impact them. By the time the allies hit Normandy they had 6 or 7 major beach landings under their belt. In addition, the Germans would have to make choices after the first wave, troops or logistics. Everything they fought with had to come from France. Try sailing the Channel with submarines on the prowl. Normally it would be too shallow. But if you can hit a troop transport that takes out a 1000 men you would take the risk. So Sea Lion was never on.
They had no landing craft, no ships for beach bombardment, no way to transport armour until they took a deep water port, the RN home fleet and RAF would have destroyed them before they even reached the beaches.
Surely the RNLi would bring the Germans safely to shore then they would be bussed to a nice hotel.
I see what you did there!
I sat in one of those pillbox and poked a stick out and imagined, no, I can't say😅
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
😂😂😂
@@Addictedtobleeps can you explain to me please as I think I'm missing something? Are you pro RNLI? Thanks.
@@Addictedtobleeps flammenwerfer ,it werfs flammens 😊
There's a hexagonal pill box fairly close to where I live, within ten miles anyway. It's stands elevated in a field near a crossroads.
I remember going to a farm with my father and seeing the pillbox the way there. My father, who had fought in WW2, said they were all death traps. The German soldier wouldn't go anywhere near it, they'd call up a tank or artillery or a plane to destroy it. Being left in one was a death sentence...
That is correct, by 1941 the static defence mentality had changed when Sir General Ironside lost command as Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces. Pillboxes were death traps and also very unfavored by troops.
Sadly, just wishful thinking mate. I served as a regular in the British army for 28 years. These home made death traps would have been simple to punch clean through with 88mm flak from far far away. Concushion from the blast incapacitates any defenders instantly. Again…Laughably ineffective once you lay smoke, you can walk up and drop in your grenades or like yanks use a flame thrower. These pill boxes were propagandas sake at best. A death trap for the men inside. At this stage the British army had nothing left to deploy having left all their equipment on the beaches at Dunkirk…. These pill boxes were simply a diversion to raise people’s spirits. Had the Germans held back by those far more extensive and better equipped French bunkers? Nope. Sorry to burst your enthusiasm. As soon as any box announced its location its was toast. A minor annoyance at best.
How many flak guns versus how many pill boxes? The Germans would have had to have fought with whatever they could bring ashore in the two days it would have taken for the Royal Navy to have sailed down from Scapa Flow, then they would be cut off facing many many stop lines of these pill boxes. If you were in a pill box you could always see one to the right and one to the left which could all give covering fire to each other. The stop lines also create bottlenecks with kill zones the enemy would have to squeeze through. After the war a group of British and German generals including Adolph Galland wargamed a German invasion of Britain, and discovered that the Germans would have been defeated. The Germans were right not to have attempted an invasion and this defence in depth would have been part of what made them make that decision.
Not quite true. There was still an immense number of rifles and ammunition.
Yes and a means of delaying the enemy advance with rearguard troops. Expected to be killed or captured.
Although for a short period there was a shortage, the UK purchased and received a lot of weapons from the USA - M1917s, M1918 BARs, Lewis guns, etc. and my September 1940 the Home Guard was quite well supplied with those plus some old Arisakas and P14 rifles from stores left over from WW1. The issue would have been logistics, though - there was no way to supply Home Guard units in the field as there was a shortage of trucks and those were to be reserved for the mobile units of regular army mostly (although many regular divisions were at the beach areas too) that were to act as the counter attacking force. So a Home Guard rifleman might get 60 rounds but would be unlikely to get any more than that during Sealion.
But you are right in terms of artillery attack. The more likely threat, I would have thought, would have been Stug IIIs. AT traps wouldn't have kept them all away, and they were low and tough and specficially designed for attacking such targets. 88s were only really required for the really thick concrete of the Maginot line forts.
@@MajorTomm-mt8vg You only have to look at photos of the German assault on the Maginot line in 1940. The way that the 88mm. dealt with reinforced concrete and 30cm. thick steel observation cupolas is frightening. 😲
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet SOOOOOOO here's another interesting information.
You'll notice the entry passages all turn to the right.
Most ppl are right handed.
Attempting to shoulder a rifle, use it effectively AND breech the pill box in a clockwise direction is notably more difficult.
This defensive aid originated in the age of storming castles (see; Monty Python/Holy Grail) and continues still today
That’s awesome!
Like castles , the stairs designed to aid a right handed swordsman retreating up the stairs
@@patthewoodboy or advancing down the said stairs
You are correct in that
But... You CAN fire a rifle or SMG from either hand - and, until the British Army was issued the SA80, it was normal to fight like that. (The SA80 can only be fired from the right shoulder/hip or the breech ejects into your face/body). And the first thing you'd do before entry is toss a grenade or two, or a satchel charge.
Pillboxes were part of a broader line of static defences, usually with mutual enfilading fire arcs and anti-tank obstacles, wire and mines. The coastal crust of defences were interlinked with artillery based inland and also supporting garrisons, whereas the stop-line defences behind the coastal crust were quite different. The stop-lines utilised natural topographical features and also mechanically dug anti-tank ditches to create a defensive line, which would cause disruption and delay for enemy armour needing to cross; this would enable mobile reserves to move to the location to engage.
Sir General Edmund Ironsides initial static defence plan utilising pillboxes was rather unpopular by late 1940 due to the amount of resources used, and when the War Department replaced Ironside by Brooke, pillboxes became largely obsolete by January 1941. Type 22 pillboxes would have provided very limited protection with rifle grenades, anti-tank weapons and artillery easily able to kill the inhabitants. Type 24 shell-proof would have been slightly better, but having seen the damage a PIAT does to a type 24, these would also have been death traps. Troops during 1940 preferred trench systems as this enabled great field of fire and awareness; this was adapted during 1941 with pillboxes largely being left empty. Some were used at road blocks at nodal points until later in the war, as were those on airfields with AA capability, but for the large they were a huge waste of resources.
Furthermore the Luftwaffe had very accurate plans of the stop-lines as the lack of camouflage during construction gave the positions away even before they were finished. Interesting to note that the Luftwaffe aerial photos are more accurate than most of the primary source information in national archives when it comes to locations of pillboxes.
The likelyhood is that the pill boxes themselves were not impregnable. As you mentioned, in WW1 the Germans used them because the area they were fighting in was too muddy for trenches. But in the same fashion they were mutually supporting units with interlocking fields of fire. The British army and its allies developed the means to assault and take them anyway, so it is not impossible. So the German army would have that knowledge also.
The BEF had basically disarmed Great Britain, Dunkirk saved the manpower but everything else had been abandoned rifles, machine guns, tanks and trucks etc. The majority of troops relied on were the home guard that trained with whatever they could. At this stage 1940 there were no Americans and the Lend Lease had not begun properly. The battle would have been fought at sea after the invasion, the Germans would faced the Navy(that ruled the sea) and airforce that would have had home advantage along with radar. So along with harassing the Germans on land their resupply would have been difficult and air cover ineffective as their aircraft were operating at the end of their range.
Sea Lion would not have taken, and indeed did not take, place without air superiority. The War in the Pacific showed how out of date most warships were when compared to airpower. The RN, despite its size and ability would have been destroyed from the air. That's why it spent most of the war at Scarpa Flow.
It would have been on the Army to defend Britain, and they would have done admirably...maybe.
@@I_Don_t_want_a_handle At that stage of the war, landing a bomb on a moving ship was no easy feat. The Luftwaffe was not particularly experienced with anti-ship operations and there are plenty of examples of Luftwaffe bombers during the evacuation of Dunkirk missing RN ships time after time. The Luftwaffe had air superiority over Dunkirk but still could not prevent a successful evacuation.
Sure the Luftwaffe defending the invasion lanes would have learnt fast and undoubtedly the RN would have taken losses, but I would argue that by the time losses started to mount, the invasion lanes would have already been like a turkey shoot for RN destroyers and cruisers etc.
Remember, the German army was absolutely not set up for, nor experienced in, large scale sea born operations. They had an insufficient number of transport vessels and there were no landing craft of any kind to the point that flat bottomed canal boats were to be converted for the task and towed across the channel by tugs. Imagine a flat hulled canal boat trying to cross the channel at a mere couple of knots speed, with the notoriously unpredictable channel conditions. And then the RN show up.
Now I don't doubt that German invasion forces would have made it ashore, possibly in large numbers, and established a beachhead. But keeping that force supplied once the main RN counter force made it into the channel. Doubtful!
German high command knew Sea Lion was a no go, with or without air superiority. The Battle of Britain and operation Sea Lion were a bluff to try and get Britain to sue for peace. And the Brits well and truly called that bluff baby.
That concrete looks like it could be pretty easily punched through by a 20mm Flak gun.
There were bulletproof and shell proof variants. The designs (they varied significantly) called for 46cm thick for bulletproof, 107cm thick for shellproof (DFW3/24).
In comparison, the standards on the Atlantic Wall called for minimum 2m thick and in many cases, 3m thick, with layers of steel rebar.
The Brits and jarmans war gamed this after the war when we were all mates and found the place was essentially impregnable. Simply too easy to defend and too hard to bring the necessary logistics to attack...turns out. you need a fifth column...
ISWYDT
Having surveyed British pillboxes of many types and varieties, the standard and quality of construction varied hugely around the country. Some were excellent, others wouldn't have lasted more that half an hour or so of steady assault, such was the appaling build.
But as there wasn't any central control over the construction, most was left to local interpretation and depended on availability of materials and labour with very few builders having had any experience in poured reinforced concrete.
But it did lead toma vrry interesting variety for us historians to study - ! 😅
You wouldnt have 5 lmg in one pillbox the positions are there to move 1 gun around there also would have been trenches around the pillboxes as support positions but yeah as others have said there death traps to anything more than rifle calibre I would think you would only allocate half a section to a pillbox keep the rest of the platoon dispersed
What a great video Kris, You guys have such rich history over there, I love these video's, thanks for posting, all the best from NZ, we are here and always will be. But the world has changed so much and it makes you think!
Had to laughgt when you said you loved German beer and flashed a piccy of Pilsner Urquell - which is actually Czech like all good pilsners are! :)
HMS Nelson & Rodney were on standby for last ditch defence on Churchills orders. They would have given an invasion attempt absolute hell if they tried to cross the channel (16” main armament)
People tend to overlook the Navy when they talk about Operation Sea Lion. British capital ships would of course have come under heavy attack from the Luftwaffe but they would have had some protection from the RAF, and those big guns would have probably decimated German amphibious forces before they got anywhere near the beaches. Some of the British ships would have been sunk but the damage they would have inflicted on the Germans would probably have ended any invasion there and then
In all likelihood the RN would have wiped out most of the nazi invasion barges before the pillboxes were really needed. You missed out that pillboxes were also surrounded by trench networks, not in isolation as we see them today.
Each pill box would have also been surrounded by barbed wire, sand bags and mines
And trenches of rifles and LMGs - and mobile forces.
I believe the Germans went around the magino line and dealt with it later. As with the pill boxes on the Normandy coast 1944 they were defeated in a day even with mine fields etc. Pillbox great idea but a concrete coffin as you become a large target, rather be running about than sitting in a target especially when you run out of ammo.
@@chrisabraham8793 They wouldn't have gone around a whole country
So how did they get in and out for food, water or to have a wash??
@@allaboutkalergi5012 runner and communication trenches or routes
Better than any documentary on the history channel. Well done me 'ol chum.
Most Pillboxes are pretty poorly built, often not sited particularly well or mutually supporting like the ones you cite. They certainly were not armed with 4-5 machine guns in each one. More likely a rifle section would be manning 2-3 pillboxes, who were probably all new recruits. A 1940's Stug would find them an easy target and if the RAF did lose the Battle of Britain a Stuka would easily take them out.
I’m afraid the actual reality is that there is no way Sealion could have got a toe hold, let alone be resupplied.
Absolutely loved this video Kris
Hi kris fascinating video and love the coat by the way 😄
I think you forgot the initial risk of invasion into Yorkshire and East Anglia when Germany took Denmark and Norway. Those areas were defended first and until France fell did the South Coast become vunerable. Pillboxes were only built and used for about 18months before being made redundant when the thinking and defending tactics changed (away from static defences and GHQ lines) and their vunerability to high velocity ordanance was exposed. They also were surrounded by trench systems and other earthwork defences which have long gone. Its a hugely complicated subject that changed on a regular basis as the threats and technology moved on.
Its not a video game senario of attack and defend.
Yes. I did mention it was in the time of Operation Sea lion and the planned attack of the south. Maybe I should have made myself more clear.
@@Addictedtobleeps Have a look into the Julius Caesar plan to defend Britain from Oct 1939. Its a fascinating but little known subject. The south coast and operation sealion was late to the party.
My dads farm in South Wales had pill boxes near ROF glascoed
Very interesting. Thanks mate. Has to be said though, the krauts had sturdy pill boxs to, and they were charged down(not before they caused carnage on the allies) the krauts did not attempt a landing due to our great navy and air force. Had they destroyed either, they may have atrempted an invasion .
My brother is a civil engineer. I remember him talking about needing to demolish one of these, for a road I think. They couldn't break it up- had to crane it out whole!
Saw one being demolished in the 80's, drove past every day to work, 1st week they only managed to round off the edges, weeks 2 to 4 using a hydraulic hammer on a excavator got the job done, massive amount of steel in them.
Similar to my experience of seeing one being dismantled. Many in the comment section here say they’re weak and easily penetrable. I just don’t agree.
Great video thank you, I am from south west London and would venture out to the surrey hills when I was growing up. The Surrey hills was covered in Pill boxes and Dragons teeth tank traps and would of been near impossible to overcome. The closest to where I lived was just outside Chessington at Maldon Rushett and they extended out to the surrey hills and then swang all the way around to South of London and on to the south coast. It would of been the end of the war in my opinion if the Germans had gone ahead with Operation Sea Lion. It would of broke the Germans attempting it and I doubt they would of recovered. Again thanks for the great video
Good video Kris, You also had Churchill's secret army...the Auxiliary units which were secret stay behind groups. Contact me if you are interested.
Fascinating unit, The platoons were set up to run independently from one another sort of like an insurgency.
Splendid transmission old chap! Love seeing that type 23! Thanks awfully
Glad you enjoyed it
Don't forget the various Auxiallary units..Great alternative perspective. Good video
I have long been convinced that operation Sealion was never a realistic proposition for the Germans... They had no experience of large scale sea landings, no suitable landing craft for infantry let alone armour, the Royal Navy would have decimated any invasion fleet before it got near the coast and even if they had managed to get ashore they would not have been able to provide sufficient support to secure a beach head for more than a few days. All the things that made the allied landings successful took years of planning and development, cunning inventivness and innovation that simply did not exist 4 years earlier. At best it might have been like our own disaster at Dieppe two years later.
Most Pill boxes are inland and pointing in towards an airfield, which were German tactical targets in WW2.
Your Dover Key was an observational Pill box.
Pill boxes were also not in isolation. You will find the remains of a trench system around the pill box.
3d pill box you missed the gun mounts on the top.
Your final mistake is that taking pill boxes of many different types is Exactly what the Allies did in Normandy. A lot of them far more more sturdy than the British pill box being built of armoured steel. Although the plans were standard the building materials were not. Most later ones were reinforced concrete but earlier ones were built by builders who just had dimensions so were often built of house bricks with maybe a concrete render. They often had soil on and around them to improve protection.
The Germans were also adept at dealing with fortifications as demonstrated by Fort Eben Emael, which the Germans destroyed with the use of shaped charges.
The pillboxes were mostly built as components of fixed, delaying stop lines, at the direction of General Ironside (whose experience was from WW1). They were not all completed when saner, more modern minds prevailed in the summer of 1940 and moved strategy to the concept of more mobile defences (although defences under construction were completed) with fixed nodal points (anti-tank islands), area flooding, railway lines and anti-tank obstacles/road blocks, all designed to channel an attacker into killing areas.
Lets gooo, another vid!
The marginot line proved why static defences are obsolete, easy to go round
Too open to direct fire, they did attack and the forts did last 24 hours facing medium artillery.
The British defences were not just a line at the coast. There were stop lines at intervals as one went inland. There were also bottlenecks through which an enemy would have to squeeze which were kill zones. There is an old pill box visible from the railway line between Windsor and Waterloo, That's a long way inland. If there was one pill box there was always a line of them.
The only reason the Germans went round it was because the line ended at the Belgium border, no borders on the English coast what ever the Jerry's did would be covered, even a beach on the east Yorkshire coast has lines of defence, 100yds further inland there's more pillboxes.
@@samsampson7407 Like in 1870 in 1940 they went through Sedan. It was fortified in 1940, just not used to potential
Nice video. We have a good pill box near by that’s dug in and has a blast wall. I didn’t realise there were so many.
Sea Lion stood ZERO chance of succeeding. Germany didn’t have ANY of the things that made D-Day a success. Every single simulation of Sea Lion proves that it would have failed dismally.
The pill boxes were very flimsy to anything bar small arms fire.
What did the German armies do with the Maginot line ? They went round it. A safe corridor would have been created by aerial and naval bombardment to allow the rapid armoured units inland. The ' cavalry ' would then deal with the pill boxes.
Very well explained, Kris. Overlapping fields of fire are pretty good dissuaders - expecially when the bad guy is trying to run up a steep hill! - carrying all his kit - and maybe wearing a gas-mask.
The Germans did away with their respirator (Gas Mask) in WWII as they knew the British would not use gas.
The German infantry had Stuka dive bombers on call for anything that held them up.
I am surprised the Pillboxes did not have Panzer hatches which protect the person inside far better. If you concentrated fire on the opening you would eventually hit the occupant or his weapon. They could have been improved with Panzer hatches. Still a great video. When you consider the raid at RAF St Lawrence that the one person who actually repelled the Germans was actually an ex WW1 Marksman who was a Coastguard in WW2 and probably the person who effected a kill or hit, not the regular army who defended..It takes one person with skill or nerve to offend or defend.
interesting video thank you we been invaded now and they not using bombs or bullets
This video nails it. No attacking force has ever been able to defeat pillboxes anywhere anytime in the whole world. Not in Normandy. Not in France. Not in the Siegfried line. Not in any Pacific island. Not in Russia. And because ( unlike anyone else in history) the British have fought lots of wars so of course nobody could defeat them in any battle such as Yorktown or Islandlwana. Also Pilsner Urquel is a Czech beer. Not German.
Yea. Silly mistake on my part! Great points 👍🏻
Very interesting video Kriss, many thanks.
I think thr RN would also have to have been neutralised to enable the landing, you would then have coastal batteries taken out from off-shore for some considerable range, you can thrn establish a proper beachhead, land your artillery and then methodically take out these pillboxes combined with airattack. ?
Always great to see another video Kris. Good stuff.👍🏼
Great video, thanks Kris, gave me a much better understanding of them 😊
kris, don't forget the grand shaft in dover which was booby trapped :0) the grand shaft went into the cliff's so was an easy way to get from sea level to the top of the cliffs :0)
When I was young there were lots of small pill boxes around, and I often wondered how the defenders would escape if the Germans invaded. They would have just brouht up an 88mm anti-tank gun and blasted it to pieces with the defenders still inside, or for the larger ones whstled up a Stuka dive bomber. Most pill boxes looked to me like death traps, as the only way of escape was to run out into the open. They would have held the advancing Germans up for half an hour or so and inflicted a few casualties, but stood no chance of stopping them.
You could say that about any individual tank or any individual flak gun for that matter. What is it with this obsession with 88mm guns? They were not invincible as we we can see.
@@LouiseBrooksBob They were dual purpose and very widely used, and effective in both their roles. Their main shortcoming was that they were high standing, which is not ideal for an anti-tank gun.
This is interesting but judging by other German 'Blitzkrieg' attacks they would only have invaded with Air Superiority (which the Battle of Britain denied to them) when they would have used Stuka Dive Bombers to take out these Pill Boxes from the air.
They were there to slow the enemy down that's all which is a good thing. Look at the Atlantic wall or maginot line for example both major defencive lines but with the right tools or tactics they were overcome.
We did have double the amount of pillboxes than the Atlantic wall, though…
@@Addictedtobleeps Spread all around the periphery of the UK. The point is - in 1940s Belgium, Holland or France, strongpoints didn't hold up the German advance.
Nor, in 1944, did the Atlantic Wall, nor then the Seigfried line. Similarly the Ost Wall didn't stop the Soviet advance.
I doubt if there would be 5 lmg’s in there. Possibly not even one. Just home guard with whatever they had. We didn’t have much equipment
4 guys in a pillbox, and even if they all have LMGs / Brens there are going to be issues, Ammo, barrel changes, the noise would be deafening with all four guys letting rip. Remembering that supplies where limited, some maybe pulling out the Vickers. Not forgetting the German Para would have possibly jumped in the night before along with a barrage of artillery, the Germans where shelling Dover, from Calais. A well-aimed Panzerfaust could have taken out a Pillbox. Running from pillbox to pillbox with Ammo resupply, under fire… more a deterrent and OP than defense, to force the German to go around, as they did in France, landing in Sufflok and Norfflk, allowing time to be picked off on the sea crossing and in the countryside, before they could land any armour. but great to hear your Point of view.
No panzerfaust in1940
@@MartinCollier-w5v True, but plenty of time between 1943 and D-day, sure you have US forces here also by then, the biggest contribution of the UK defenses was… the Eastern front, we are always quick to forget about that. Sure my grandfathers where both RN during War, for us we always focus on the war in the west. I am sure had it not been for the start of the cold war, the things we are only just learning now would have been more common knowledge.
@@paulbatterbury704 No US forces in Britain until 1942 at the earliest. Sealion was planned for Sept 1940.
Not have this trouble with Starmer he would just give the country away
I remember watching a documentary where Hitler cut off invaded Great Britain at the start after he took France but they only reason they couldn't was because they didn't have enough boats for the to be transported
There are some on Barmston Beach East Yorkshire. You can imagine the hail of bullets coming from them and no chance of getting past.
Then the floodgates are opened, inviting any old loser and his mate.
You mentioned liking German beer... and showed a Czech beer! 😆
Without a port the invading force wouldn’t have been able to land armour or any other heavy equipment. Germany didn’t have landing vehicles.
Just how they would resupply with the Royal Navy in the channel.
The RAF would still be supplied with new aircraft.
A successful sealion was never going to work.
Great video my friend 💜
hey ya kris a great documentary. there are loads of pill boxes where i live in and around ipswich. it does beg the question though. do you think they should be used for the homeless as you already have the structure there. just a thought
They are often damp - and always cold. Some are even below the water table, having been built along water obstacles (rivers and canals).
come and visit Metaxas line pillboxes and other defenses in northern Greece where battles took place with Germans and finally they surrender .you will be amazed
We have a lot of them here in Tamworth near the rivers
Why would the folige not be there, it's hundreds of years old and your standing on top of that pill box 😮
Check out the huge cannon in my neck of the woods: "Batterie Vara"...
these boxes were a death trap for the defenders
The RAF didn't win Battle of Britain just the Fighter Command but the British Army AA Gun Command and a Civilian organization to see German Aircrafts inland of UK because the RADAR is on around the east and south coast.
Just a thought that's all the Germans had taken out the RAF right ? Would a stuka dive bomber take out one of these bunkers ?
Whats that coat you’re wearing? It looks like a ww2 Swedish sentry coat I have. It has a full sheepskin lining, weighs a ton and is incredibly hot. I couldn’t possibly go out in it.
Interesting video I enjoyed it👍and something I thought about as they weren’t tested. They would have called in air support to destroy these seeing the Germans would have air superiority. What could have a bunker like these infantry pillbox have to counter say a tiger tank? Not a lot and a tiger could shoot their 88 rounds from a mile away, more than likely through the slit. More tanks to defend? Britain’s didn’t have any at the time, when sea lion would have taken place the British army had hardly any tanks or fighting vehicles of worth after the retreat from Dunkirk. While the German tanks and equipment at the time were much better in numbers and quality.
No Tiger tanks in 1940...
the bunkers are built with rough irregular concrete. So not strong. Also many are built with ordinary bricks. I would not feel safe if these had to guarantee my safety.
The bricks were used instead of timber facing, to hold the rebar and concrete that was poured, but then add another layer of defence.
Probably would have just gone round them 😅
Isn't that graffiti, that's not camouflage 😮
WRONG!!! The biggest “pillbox” in the world, Frances Maginot line proved to be a big waste of money as the Germans just went around it. Belgium’s fort Eben-Emael was considered to be impregnable it took German paratroopers about 31 hours to capture it. The “Atlantic Wall”was designed and built in a way that allowed adjacent emplacements were able to support each other, yet the Allies still managed to get past the defences and later on they also got through the “Siegfried Line”. British pillboxes were not some kind of magical totally impregnable castles, they were no better or worse than anyone else’s. Yes they would have slowed down an invading but they would not have stopped them.
@@johnoneill5661 We had double the pillboxes than in the Atlantic wall…
Thats after they survived the millions of gallons of fuel that was waiting in pipes ready to set the channel and lanes on fire
Manned by Dads Army, I don't think so.
It’s a misconception that they were all old men. Fuelled by the TV show.
www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-dads-army#:~:text=The%20Home%20Guard%20developed%20into,called%20up%20for%20military%20service.
Slightly overlooking the fact we have already lost air superiority at this point and there is still mortars and artillery. On top of that the royal navy must have been knocked out as well and that opens the gates to naval artillery along the coast.I'm not saying it would be easy hence the reason we built such things but just food for thought.
👍
Ooops Pilsner Urquell is Czech....
Keep calm... Carry on...
Like the pillbox. The Germans took a great idea and made it better…
@Addictedtobleeps oooft, I can't repeat what my Czech wife would say about that. 😂
I’m just jesting! Great beer! My apologies for the mistake.
@@Addictedtobleeps ach don't worry my friend ,it's all good sir! 👍🏼. Good to see you back making videos, keep up the good work.
No rebar , steel reinforcement , in the pill box walls ? Help us
The one that was on our farm had steel reinforcement.
I see your point but Germans already had Denmark and Norway so who’s to say they would of hit the south of the country they could of hit the softer east side or even hit Scotland and come down the from there so I see your point but the east side of the country was no where near the same protection as what the south got and the way the Germans used to fight they would of hit 2 3 prog attacks so they probably would of sent troops to the 3 points I just said just to hold troops in locations Plus you say about these pill boxes being so hard to attack you don’t think the German drive bombers would of been targeting these or the ships not targeting these for the troops to clear paths because after all if we lost the battle of Briton the German planes would of had free rain really
I don't believe there would have been 5 light machine guns, after all, most of it was left behind in France. It was so bad that we they were making Sten Guns to re-arm the army. So having 5 light machine guns for all those pillboxes is not viable. Your point about the grenades and grenade wall can't be right. The SAS use flash bangs, which are mostly non-lethal stun grenades. When a real grenade goes of in a small confined space like that you can be sure the Tommie's will be stunned and out of action. Although, I think you're right, they wouldn't have succeeded.
It’s a ricochet wall, not actually used to protect from grenades. I was just pointing out a secondary use of it if need be.
I don’t know. Even if a flashy was to be replaced with the grenade, if the soldier were to hands over ears, and head in lap, I think he’d still cope. But yes, a grenade would be different.
Still, better the wall than no protection at all!
@@Addictedtobleeps German stick grenades were concussion grenades - they didn't produce much shrapnel, they were designed to shock and stun, in trenches and sangars. Remember you're in a concrete box - the shock waves will just reverberate around the walls.
The juice wouldn’t have been worth the squeeze - easier to starve the island nation than attack defences in depth like that.
Have a war with Russia instead, what could go wrong?!
Conversely, D-Day kind of demonstrates what can be achieved against a well defended coast with air and naval superiority, although to your point, those defences weren’t 70 miles deep!
Being in a pillbox would have fun for about 5 minutes - once mortars started bouncing off the roof and artillery was walking in, I’d rather be in a trench…
Normandy is literally the example of how bunkers don’t always work as you might hope. And those were backed up by the full force of the Wehrmacht, not angry civilians. Romantic idea though.
@AlexP-hl4wn Russia isn't that good we all have our faults!
Great vid, although, “Bugger a cat and call me Simon”??? Is that a shot at Si-Finds? C’mon dude.
No
Built to house old men…proved time and time again that a static defence building is easily overcome…it’s not the 13th century mate.
@@amaffmaheidschannel-rc6reNot true at all. The idea that the home guard were ‘old men’ is an idea drilled into us by TV. Dad’s army and the like.
The homeguard weren’t all like that at all.
Plus, I’d argue and still argue that more than 70 miles of static defences, alongside everything else going on, would do better than anything in the 13th century.
Enjoy: www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-dads-army#:~:text=The%20Home%20Guard%20developed%20into,called%20up%20for%20military%20service.
Beats the rain and wind. I would prefer this than nothing, it's reasonably good.