NI Photowalk - The Grand Bunker Museum

Our second stop on our arrival day was this Museum, privately operated, and built into one of the bunkers that the German's constructed along the French coast as part of their Atlantic Wall, their defenses for an invasion across the English Channel.  While there were some formidable structures built, the Atlantic Wall was not as complete as the Nazis would have people to believe.

This sign shows what the Grand Bunker would have looked like on D-Day.

The name of the street where the Grand Bunker is located is June 6 Avenue, commemorating D-Day.

The majority of the interior of the museum was dedicated to showing what it would have looked like occupied, complete with wax figures.  There weren't many labels to explain things in more detail, but most objects were self-explanatory.

One of my favorite exhibits here was this model of the beach fortifications.  While most of it would have been covered by water at high tide, the model have a good view of what the invading forces would have faced as they stormed the beaches.

The highlight of the Museum was the view from the bunker.  Using the viewer, soldiers would have kept watch on the beach for invaders.  If they saw enemies, from the bunker, they would have radioed the various artillery bases to give them shooting coordinates.  Looking through the viewer, one could see details of people standing on the beach.

There were several vehicles parked outside the Museum.  I don't know if they were authentic or just replicas.  So much of the equipment was abandoned after the war, and much of it was salvaged by locals.  However, I also felt like the residents of the area took advantage of tourists by displaying the vehicles and other artifacts.