Normandy Secrets: Forgotten Nazi Arms Caches a Bonanza for Historians

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Normandy Secrets: Forgotten Nazi Arms Caches a Bonanza for Historians

By Frank Thadeusz July 13, 2015 – 05:58 PM

 

For decades, a vast network of Nazi arms caches and supply depots in the forest of Normandy lay forgotten. Now, research shows the extent to which the Wehrmacht sought to defend itself against the impending Allied invasion.

 

There are several attractions to recommend in the Normandy spa town of Bagnoles de l'Orne, including its Belle Époque Quarter and its widely renowned hot springs. But the village is also located next to a beautiful natural preserve, a forested region that looks straight out of a fairy tale.

 

Most visitors to the forest, however, are unaware of the leftovers from a dark chapter of history that litter the bucolic woodland. There are no plaques and no signs hinting at the intricate system of secret munitions and fuel depots that were established in the forest by the Wehrmacht, Germany's World War II army. Starting in 1943, the Nazis dug hundreds of bunkers into the floor of the Forêt des Andaines to hide vast quantities of munitions, fuel and provisions.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/new-research-into-nazi-world-war-ii-arms-caches-in-normandy-a-1043432.html