The West Wall

The West Wall - National Archives and Records Administration 1939 - ARC 43822, LI 242-MID-2778 - DVD Copied by Nick Stoller. Series: Motion Picture Films From G-2 Army Military Intelligence Division, compiled 1918 - ca. 1947. On the construction of the Siegfried Line. Reel 1, shows views of various Ger. cities and maps the site of the fortifications. Dr. Todt studies plans, officers survey the land, and draftsmen draw plans. An animated chart depicts the Todt engineering organization. The ground is cleared, steel is made in mills, and railroads move supplies to the site. Workers arrive, march to the site, live in barracks, eat and construct and camouflage forts. Reel 2, Hitler, Todt, and staff arrive to inspect construction. Shows antitank obstructions and trenches, barbed wire entanglements, and the Fr. and Ger. fortifications facing each other across the Rhine. An animated diagram shows the interlocking fields of fire from pillboxes. A column of Ger. soldiers marches into an entrance of the Siegfried Line. Men and supplies move by train and elevators through tunnels and levels of the line. Shows various interior views of the fortifications. Ammunition is rushed to the surface by elevator during a drill. Barrage balloons are sent up and Ger. fighter planes take off and fly over the Line.