Archaeological Discovery, 2016, 4, 125-142
http://www.scirp.org/journal/ad
ISSN Online: 2331-1967
ISSN Print: 2331-1959
DOI: 10.4236/ad.2016.44010 September 9, 2016
Journey through the Defenses of the Festung
Saint-Malo (FR)-1
Giancarlo T. Tomezzoli
*
, Louis L. Pottier
Etno-Archaeological Observatory, Munich, Germany
Abstract
The Festung (Fortress) Saint-Malo was defended by about 500 German military
structures constructed, in the period December 1941-June 1944, under the direction
of the Organisation Todt. They diversify from simple tobrucks (Vf 58, Vf 61) up to
the great bunkers of the Cité d’Alet. This article is a survey presenting some of them
on the East side of the Festung, deemed of interest. Many of them remain visible and
accessible and witness the confidence of the Germans in static military offensive and
defensive structures. The Kullak artillery battery, the Pointe de la Varde support
point, the Bastion de Saint Ideuc base, the Hôpital des Rosais base have lost their
military value and because of their obsolescence with respect to the modern military
doctrines based on a rapid first strike and precision bombing, they will never recover
a military one. Their bunkers remain silent witnesses of a recent tragic period in the
life of Saint-Malo. On the contrary, the bunkers of the Les Ormeaux artillery battery
and the cisterns of the Ville Besnard logistic base are well integrated in the urban
context and support the actual exigencies of Saint-Malo.
Keywords
Saint-Malo, Festung, France, Atlantic Wall, World War II, Military, German
1. Introduction
The Festung (Fortress) Saint-Malo was defended by about 500 military structures
constructed, in the period December 1941-June 1944, under the direction of the Or-
ganisation Todt (Corlouer, 1965). They diversify from simple tobrucks (Vf 58, Vf 61)
up to the great bunkers of the Cité d’Alet. This article is a survey not intended for
presenting exhaustively all these structures, but for presenting some of them on the
East side of the Festung, deemed of interest. In particular, the visits permitted to find
many bunkers and so, indirectly, to feel the confidence that the defenders of the Fes-
How to cite this paper: Tomezzoli, G. T., &
Pottier, L. L. (2016). Journey through the
Defenses of the Festung Saint-Malo (FR)-1.
Archaeological Discovery, 4, 125-142.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ad.2016.44010
Received: July 27, 2016
Accepted: September 6, 2016
Published: September 9, 2016
Copyright © 2016 by authors and
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access