German defenses on Normandy beach. Allied officers and soldiers inspect a huge concrete pillbox housing an 88-mm.

German defenses on Normandy beach. Allied officers and soldiers inspect a huge concrete pillbox housing an 88-mm. cannon which the Germans erected as part of an intricate system of defense on a Normandy beach. An Allied naval gun focusing directly on the opening in the concrete silenced the cannon with a shell. The fortifications through which the Allies smashed their way included a strongly fortified house, from which a line of tunnels extended on both sides, a huge tank trap, mines and other installations entrenched on a ridge. The Germans apparently considered the defenses impregnable since they did not allow for a secondary line of defense.