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Regelbau 10a in Merzig 8 units• This standardisation was the most effective use of scarce raw materials, transport and workers, but proved an ineffective tank barrier as US bulldozers simply pushed dirt bridges over these devices.

, museum in a preserved bunker complex• Regelbau B1-7a in Besseringen 3 units• The British 21st Army Group also attacked the Siegfried Line.

Westwallmuseen Wiltingen: MG Schartenstand and artillery OP• Remains of a movable barrier near Lammersdorf• After the Allied Invasion at Normandy, the neglected line was re-activated and manned from about 10th September 1944 just a few days before the US Army reached it! The Siegfried Line was a defense system stretching more than 630 km 390 mi with more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps.

Some had been destroyed in the fighting, or post-war by explosives, but many had been deliberately buried.

There are two typical sorts of barrier: Type 1938 with four rows of teeth getting higher toward the back, and Type 1939 with five rows of such teeth.

5 m 11 ft thick.

Scattered MG42s and MG34s were also placed for additional defense, against both air and land targets.

During the Phoney War in 1939.

Pictures and some info courtesy of Wikipedia.

The primary constructions were unarmed dugouts, but their extremely strong concrete design afforded excellent protection to the occupants.