The Second World War is generally recognized as the mother of all wars. It lasted 6 years and covered most the Globe. In Europe the Nazi's held sway and the entire continent was under the boots of the German Army. The area under German control was referred to as occupied Europe and Hitler controlled this area with an iron fist.

Hitler soon over reached himself and mounted an offensive against Russia in 1941.The Russians at the receiving end of the German offensive repeatedly requested their Western allies to mount an invasion from the West. The aim was to divert the German armed forces, so that the pressure on the Eastern front was eased.

Hitler was alive to the possibility of a sea borne invasion by the allies. Hence he instructed his army commanders to build defenses all along the coast of France to thwart any invasion by the allies. These defenses became known as the Atlantic wall along the sea coast to repel any possible allied invasion. For this purpose he ordered Field Marshal Rommel to inspect the coast and formulate plans for the defense against a possible allied attack.

Rommel set about his task in earnest. He inspected the coast from Normandy to Calais and suggested measures to strengthen coastal defences.Thus laying of mines along the coast with barbed wire defenses as well as pill boxes housed in concrete were ordered to be built. But Rommel, the General Staff and Hitler overlooked one significant detail. They assumed that the allied invasion would be across the English Channel and they expected the invasion at Calais. Thus the defenses at other places including Normandy had second importance.

This was a fatal error and cost the Germans dearly. The so called Atlantic wall at Normandy was thus of second importance. In addition the reserve Panzer divisions were far from the coast at Normandy. They thus could not intervene in the initial days of combat. Moreover Hitler even after the allied landing at Normandy thought that the real thrust would still come at Calais.

The loss of precious days to launch the Panzers was fatal and the Allies under General Ike Eisenhower soon gained a foot hold and Hitler's Atlantic wall was breached. In retrospect the Atlantic wall was a misnomer and its defenses were not foolproof. In addition the Atlantic wall was manned by grade two soldiers as the elite were away fighting the Russians. Thus we can conclude that Hitler's Atlantic wall was more of a deterrent than a fool proof defense against invasion.