Inside Hitler's Nazi Mega Bunkers | Traces of World War Two With James Rogers

'Exploring The Nazi Mega Bunkers Of Hitler's Atlantic Wall'
War historian James Rogers travels to northern France to explore the gigantic Todt Battery. Also known as Batterie Todt, it was a battery of coastal artillery built by Nazi Germany in World War II, located near Cape Gris-Nez in the Pas de Calais, France.
Originally called Siegfried Battery, it was renamed in honour of the German engineer Fritz Todt. It was later integrated into the Atlantic Wall, the line of defences Hitler believed would repulse an Allied amphibious invasion of mainland Europe.
The Todt battery had been been able to shell the port of Dover as well as Allied shipping in the English Channel throughout the war, but it fired for the last time on 29 September 1944 after an intense aerial bombardment and assault by Canadian infantry.
James explores the cavernous remains of the bunker, where huge naval guns operated under an armoured turret. He also heads down into the warren of tunnels behind the battery, where the German garrison left the walls covered in graffiti.
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#SecondWorldWar #WW2 #HistoryHit

[@HistoryHit]

Hope you enjoy guys! We've got two more great episodes to come in this series. The next one will be available two weeks today.

[@CedricTheMad]

Love your shows. Shave the mustache :P

[@gooner72]

Great news HH, top job!!!🇬🇧✌

[@s1dew1nd3r4]

fantastic, enjoyed it a lot!

[@philippbobkaufmann4004]

Dude, I love your videos. But I always find it atrocious when Germans say things like "Veir zze Blues Brözzers" [Blues Brothers]. The way you pronounce stuff like "Kurfürst" or "Friedrich" made me remember how basic German classes in the UK were. So, instead of winging on about it on KZbin: I'd be happy to give you a bit of free pronunciation coaching if you're interested (Swiss language teacher here).

[@smallkarat]

this series is amazing

[@AerialEscape]

I love the scene of him walking through the woods like he has to hike in to get there, followed by the next scene of the drone shot showing the road literally right next to the bunker...

[@llewellynjones1115]

Having been there a few times ... it was the first thing I noticed.

[@spacelemur7955]

So many KZbin videos contain these vanity moments. Some are little else, although this one held actual content.

[@AerialEscape]

@Jose Mora da fuhk?

[@mikegualjr]

Oh pressing on the two meter thick cement as if to check if solid

[@aristotlekumpis7095]

The fact that it took so long to build these is astonishing. They were building these guns with the intention of being there for decades.

[@whyywudidmattar1632]

Politicians and $$ nothing to do with long term feasible plans

[@rodneymcgovern5984]

And, don't forget, they were built by forced, or slave, labour.

[@1neAdam12]

No expense should be spared when going up against the Judeo-Bolsheviks.

[@FreeFallingAir]

This is just great, what else can I say? Just wish these we're better taken care of...if we don't learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it. Amazing work History Hit. Cheers!

[@runlarryrun77]

We can still learn from the past & keep history alive without preserving absolutely everything. There are plenty of examples of preserved fortifications from all eras of history. However remote ones like these that have little chance of attracting enough visitors to make them viable are doomed to slowly crumble I'm afraid.

[@FreeFallingAir]

No nic picking history ;) jk I understand your argument.

[@m42037]

History has repeated, and maybe another WW2 again with Putin. The Russians are getting beat, and now they're commiting mass genocide murdering civilian's, some with hands tied behind their backs and shot in the back of the head. This is like the Einsatgruppen during the war, very evil. They want to kill all Ukrainian people

[@djnutsack9004]

To late. Also humans can't learn from it when they refuse to take note of the things that caused it. Look at today, many things happening now sure does rhyme with the 1920s an 1930s an yet people continue down the same road.

[@m42037]

@@djnutsack9004 That's kind of like I said that the Russians are repeating history (modern history) like the Einsatgruppen SS, they were worse than ISIS, same MO as what's now happening in Ukraine. Putin wants to exterminate all Ukrainian people, or as he says complete his mission of liberation

[@Necromorphicon]

Also worth mentioning that at 8:40 unworked soil shows the damage, just imagine if it all was left untouch, we could see the entire battlefield...it would be huge.

[@Patrickmc_92]

I'm loving the success of this channels re-launch!

[@Giondenver]

Truly amazing … one can not take it all into perspective until you are actually there . These should be well preserved…

[@henrikarvedsen9563]

I love how he has to walk through the bushes followed by an overhead shot showing a road leading up to it...

[@dougthebuilder1]

fantastic video and unseen construction footage! as a builder the construction of ww2 infrastructure has always been an interest of mine but footage has previously been hard to come by. thanks

[@sandstorm31]

Awesome video. You should also check the WW2 cannons in Kristiansand, Norway, they are still preserved as a museum. Amazing piece of history there.

[@HistorySkills]

This was awesome! Thank you.

[@arrjay3814]

Awesome presenter!! Been listening to your podcasts and wanted to put a face to the voice.. fantastic tash! Keep up the good work 👍

[@CMillz884]

Just had 15 minutes break, made a cuppa and went to sit down with some History Hit and you upload a new video. Perfect timing ☕️

[@Hatypus]

An interesting video from one of my favourite channels on my birthday, very nice.

[@MrHarrytheJew]

Amazing video as always! Keep up the excellent work History Hit team. Say hello to Mr Snow for me.

[@joedow6180]

Thoroughly enjoyed your video. German engineering was awesome. I must visit one day.

[@M.Holland]

Few years ago, I went to Denmark for a holiday. Almost all beaches had smaller or bigger bunkers build by the Nazis. In a way, they were quiet beautiful, but at the same time it had this dark aura... It was incredible.

[@jimr9499]

Loveeee me some History Hit!! But especially love this topic. One of my favorite shows of all time is "Nazi Megastructures". It is so fascinating to see what still exists. It's my dream to take a trip across Europe/Asia to see all of the structures that were built by the Axis powers that still exist. Fascinating doesn't even begin to describe how awesome this is.

[@monkeytennis8861]

At least you didn't resort to hyperbole

[@Lt.Dan_23]

heheheheh i like your passion mate, i feel it too

[@RibeauTBE]

Visited this location myself two summers ago, amazing experience and such a beautiful landscape.

[@qzccz7382]

I was there a few months ago! really spectacular indeed

[@damonz83]

Great video. You should come to the Channel Islands if you havnt already been. We got lots of WW2 bunkers, guns and radio towers.

[@bvt3844]

I was there few weeks ago and super now I found this video about it with old video footage and info about it. Very interesting. Was inside it for a few minutes, too bad we didn't saw the paintings ourselves but it was allready getting dark, which makes being there also litllebit spooky....

[@jimmillward3505]

so good that it should have been longer thank you

[@sveannnnnnn7578]

amazing channel!!!

[@wagwanbennydj6003]

Great channel brother 👍 👏

[@pequeuxdarleux1480]

When I was a child at the end of the 60's, I played in the "Blockaus" on the beaches of northern France. It was...mysterious!

[@SeanNeale]

Such interesting history, love those drone shots

[@BunkersBPV]

Very very nice, thanks for this video

[@anthax908]

Good job. Great vid'.

[@fenriswolf9017]

You need to visit Jersye to see some of the best examples and best condition German WW2 bunkers in a beautiful setting

[@ianday5115]

great, but short, these are surely worth more indepth analysis and coverage

[@raftibackx3105]

What kind of a drone are you using? Looks pretty neat and sturdy

[@frerman]

DJI Mini 2. Great piece of kit!

[@gregoryvigneault1824]

Imagine if they were able to build similar scale structures all along the french coast within sight of each other, would the beach landings have even happened?

[@nickg4387]

i think the landings would still happen but it would be like wolfenstein the new order game. but I think airborne and air force are the keys of this operation

[@Economics365]

@@nickg4387 han

[@abecondrich]

absolutely fascinating video

[@BuzzSargent]

I was looking for a good short story and this fit the bill. It would be interesting to interview anyone in Dover that remembers being shelled by these guns. Have a Magical Day.

[@juno4494]

This coastal region is awe-inspiring and humbling for what happened there and for what is left. Besides the enormous emplacements seen here, there are hundreds of small dome-like structures that must have housed only one- or two-crew machine guns. Walking along the coastal cliffs, you'll stumble upon things like rectangular holes in the ground that, upon inspection, turn out to have stairs leading down into the darkness of dead bunkers. You can feel the history--the forced labor that built them in occupied France, the men who died attacking and defending them, the failed dreams hang in the air, too. The coolest part, though, is how they've simply been left open. This is a clear difference between American and Euro culture. Here in the US, we'd build walls around such things, preserve them, charge admission, and turn them into parks or museums. There, they simply leave them for discovery, in part because no one wants to undertake the Herculean task of demolishing them, but (I think) mainly so that we can simply see what was, as close to reality as possible, without interference of commercialism or facades of preservation. I don't know which approach is "better." They're just different philosophies. Thanks for this video. It, too, is a record of reality--our reality, now, 75 years later.

[@christophermacdog]

Sir, I was sent to take part in the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landing......,,,,I will never forget the experiences I was privileged to take part in....my direct family tool part in the war within what is called now the 'French Underground" ........ silly, yes......anyway...................I know exactly what your are attempting to bring to light to all of these future generations.....

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

Its both comforting and saddening to witness these moments of humanity's darkest hour slip into the forgotten and gone lest humanity forgets one day

[@benjaminollis7621]

Humanity lost the war, and has already forgotten what really happened long ago. The winner writes the narrative.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

@@benjaminollis7621 That remains to be seen Also im sick and tired of hearing "the winner writes the story" The winner writes the story perhaps but time writes the truth

[@ramseybarber8312]

That was a Bit short, Just got settled in and it finished Make them Longer please.

[@AR-wg1di]

The fact the original Nazi graffiti still exists is amazing.

[@scottscottsdale7868]

Wow. I had no idea these guns were so big. No wonder the Allie’s chose Normandy.

[@littleuikiku]

Would be really interesting to visit sometime!

[@ETS186]

For some reason I think your voice would be nice for reviewing cars as well 😂. Cool video!

[@kentnielsen8034]

you should go to north jutland .to the hanstholm bunker museum .they still have one of the spare guns to bismark there .

[@susanhepburn6040]

Thank you very much.

[@R0B690]

Amazing footage

[@Necromorphicon]

What an amazing piece of documentary What scares me is that this shows what was stopped, third reich was a beast that the world have never seen before...when industrialism mixes with militarism. Mechanical inguinity peaks in research, wich we still aid from today...that imo accelerated our modern society. The Germans and its counterparts was sure hard workers to prepare defense structures, Bunkers...something that was an unknown concept to that degree

[@thedudeabides5201]

Incredible. These places could house a museum.

[@NK-dl2nc]

If you go around the corner there is the Batterie Todt which is a restored example. This area had I think 3 or 4 of these in close proximity.

[@twstf8905]

These little, "mini-documentaries" are incredibly well put together and presented. Very succinct, very well produced, and easy for anybody, really, to follow along. 👍 I've certainly stumbled upon my fair share of such content that isn't quite backed by some larger professional historical or archaeological organization, usually put together by some dude lol constructed using stock footage and images, to varying degrees of appropriate context, typically narrated by either themselves or more usually, seemingly, using that insanely irritating robot voice. That's without mentioning the creeping doubt that sets in, inevitably, about the basic quality of the information provided. Making it difficult, (if not impossible,) to trust in the credibility in the content being offered. (needless to say, _provisional footnotes and source inclusion notwithstanding,_ one shouldn't have to do even _further_ research verifying something being presented in an educational capacity.) I suppose it's just refreshing to finally get useful historical information presented in a more coherent, more professionally produced video. (despite the ultimate overall length.) It seems so trivial, but it's really not lol the quality control being demonstrated does wonders inspiring confidence in credibility. (I'm just sayin' ✌)

[@dan79600]

Awesome video! But why is the Nazi eagle partially censored at 8:14

[@smoath]

Maybe some modern graffiti giving the eagle "tackle"? 🤣

[@mstevens113]

Wokery in action

[@frerman]

It’s blurring out a modern F-word that had been sprayed there.

[@NK-dl2nc]

Great video. I love this stuff. I have had many trips to these sites over the years on motorcycle trips with a few fellow bunker and military history enthusiasts and never get tired of seeing them. I was brought up on it with family holidays in the channel islands. I wish the graffiti idiots hadn't ruined the nazi murals. Its history good or bad and shouldn't be defaced. Can't wait to get back out again and do some more bunker hunting.

[@henryofskalitz5212]

If it is to be preserved, preserve it, until then it is just public graffiti praising the Nazis, and all graffiti in this manor should be defaced. Also, they are not Nazi murals, they are Nazi graffiti and within this space, the modern graffiti has just as much right to be there.

[@anthonysnyder6871]

How we got through this stuff on D-Day is remarkable. God bless the soldiers of the greatest generation!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@gabrielschaub3931]

I was born too late or forgot my previous life.. idk why WW2 is the only fascinating thing that I remember from school. Id go back if I could

[@survivehistory]

Incredible!

[@davidjohnson99]

In 1964 I was a student hitch hiking in Germany. I was given a lift by a very friendly middle aged German. When I complimented him on his good English he told me he'd learnt to speak it whilst a POW. I asked him whereabouts he said Dover Castle. He added that they were put there because Dover was often shelled from France. He was quite indignant about it he thought that putting them where they were in danger from their own side wasn't quite the right thing to do. At the time I thought it was quite funny but nowadays the use of human shields makes us indignant too. viz Saddam Hussein before the 1st Gulf War.

[@swampfoxIX]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing. Just curious, where in Germany?

[@davem8836]

What became of the the massive casemates of Siegfried and Roy?

[@spankflaps1365]

The Bismarck/Turpitz guns were pretty mental, they really packed a punch. There is grainy footage of Bismarck firing in the distance, and the guns sound bowel-wobbling (despite the poor quality of the film footage). Seeing them mounted on land, makes the Death Star cannon turrets look lame!

[@Chuked]

There’s a difference.. the Bismarsk and the Tirpitz killed people.. the death star has not

[@rodneymcgovern5984]

Considering that the German battleships, (and some landward gun turrets) had 15" guns, and the thought of that frightens you, how much more frightened would you have been hearing the sound of the 16" guns on the British battleships, Nelson and Rodney!

[@lollguy8862]

Thanks for these free docs historyhit, now I don't have to pay for your excellent content 👍

[@frankputz2912]

In 0,27 min the bunker is in germany hürtgenforest on peterberg/ ochsenkopf area

[@samthompson7821]

this the kinda content history teachers need to show

[@MsLittleChristine]

How far was it from the sea? From the shots it looks like several hundred metera

[@johncastle2365]

the short silence before he said, "the poor people of Dover." damn.

[@igorrr1705]

What’s that behind on 4:22?!

[@alm5992]

"Ready to take anything the British could throw at it!" I wonder if the tall boy or grand slam would have any issues? Besides the target being fairly tiny.

[@DevilDogDen1775]

Those whom do not learn the lessons of the past, are doomed...

[@headrushgaming2614]

my family and I are form dover, my great grandmother, god rest her soul used to tell me stories about when she was a child, when the nazis first started to bomb dover, she told us her house and her neighbors was some of the only houses for hundred of meters left standing after the attack , she even recalled seeing one of her little girl friends dead in the street as they finally evacuated to london. she then shocked me even further by telling me once she arrived in london, that very same night "the bloody blitz had started" so again she was forced to evacuate, she was seven. i miss her dearly and i will always cherish her stories. im just sad my future children will not be able to meet her and hear her stories.

[@dareal5401]

Mine was burned to death with some of her family in the firebombing of dresden by american and uk troops.

[@lga9046]

This channel rules, anybody know other youtube channels like it? Good production/good narration/good footage? Diverse historical subjects?

[@HistoryHit]

Thank you very much!

[@bobdavidson9770]

Mark Felton

[@Nonamearisto]

"Last traces" will be with us for centuries. We still find traces of WW1 and the American and Spanish Civil Wars all the time.

[@93theproducer47]

Fantastic production quality and content brother. I’m fascinated by WWII, especially nazis. Some scary and ruthless MF’s.

[@julianlaustsen1991]

why are the guns removed?

[@qzccz7382]

I visited this place this summer! rlly spectacular!

[@savolrat]

why is this left there to deteriorate. This should be preserved.

[@jimsmarketingcode3147]

It is a shame that these bunkers weren't kept up for historians to explore for hundreds of years to come, even tho these bunkers were designed to deliver evil they still are an engineering marvel for that time period, but everything costs money to maintain and it would be quite a lot of money to do so.

[@johnjablonski2155]

What happened to the guns? Who took them apart?

[@cayvem5712]

some great rave locations !

[@stoneyard100]

It takes a certain person to pull of a strong tash like that

[@derekbender]

Audio on this one is a little wonky. Especially the left channel.

[@howtoolive6387]

Imagine growing up next to these old battle fields

[@arthi4022]

i do

[@mrsmith8224]

So interesting

[@stuartburns8657]

Other than pounding Dover, I wonder how effective they where 🤔 Perhaps in a deterant sense?

[@morefiction3264]

Apparently, there is no record of them hitting any ships despite firing at frequent slow moving convoys.

[@stuartburns8657]

@@morefiction3264 Thought I'd be on the low end, but didn't expect to hear that, thanks 🙏

[@eifionjones559]

they were totally useless

[@aaronsaunders6974]

Fritz Todt, Hmh. don't know why I never heard of him b4? Need 2 look him up since I'm into medieval fortification

[@paulhare662]

Impressive but not as much as Fort Miles, Cape Henlopen, Delaware. Interestingly, Fort Miles guns only fired once at a foreign merchant ship that didn't understand orders to stop. The shot was aimed high as a warning.

[@jinz0]

nice

[@Bob-qo7pu]

i like how they blur out the swastika in the bunker..... like we don't know wtf that is?

[@surreptitious6881]

Remember this. History is so very important to learn as it too often repeats itself.

[@JB-uv4hm]

Never heard that.

[@m42037]

It already has, Putin invading Ukraine, and five weeks into the war he's losing. Now Russian army's are commiting mass genocide murdering civilian's just walking down the street, riding bikes, some with hands tied behind their backs and shot in the back of the head, reminder of SS groups the the Einsatgruppen. Very evil

[@noelmajers6369]

I hate that many of these old bunkers are now covered in graffiti. I was lucky enough to walk round many of these structures in the Channel Islands as a teenager when they were relatively pristine. I wish they could be better protected.

[@jayonefive234]

i visited this place on google maps. its nice

[@jayJay-jaydos1]

looking for them? or just exploring known places. Dont get me wrong i love the videos but i haven't seen anything "new" or found by you guys yet.

[@kateapple1]

4:37 for anyone who actually just wanted to see the buildings 😂👍🏽

[@jonntischnabel]

I have explored some of the German bunkers on Guernsey, in the 90s. We found German graffiti in those too.

[@HuntGamingProductions]

As a 25 year old guy idk why but i was always interested in history esp world war

[@Alienkiwi730]

I like that graffiti people were generous enough not to spray over the German WWII graffiti

[@NotDecided420]

I'd be moving out of Dover that's for sure.

[@mzaidshaikh]

Sniper Elite 5 absolutely nailed it

[@slippyification]

Jonny Depp has bigger glasses of wine.

[@ampersandmcvinegar5681]

You lost me at the slo-mo with the wind blowing your hair talking about cap-sewels.

[@dl1sf]

Damn 2 years to put up a gun crazy!

[@charles_0017]

Something that always gets me annoyed is when people say “Nazi” instead of German. Nazi is the term used for the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party, and should NOT be used to casually and assign it to military terms. But I guess we have to make everything political right? Even assigning political meaning and names to a non living object like a bunker just because it was built by German soldiers. Have we gone mad? It’s like if I said Capitalist soldier instead of American soldier. Or Communist soldier so instead of Soviet soldier.

[@fasthracing]

Wrong. The Lindermann gun battery had the biggest guns.

[@sirbollocks5147]

aerial video like this would have cost thousands just a few short years ago.

[@VedderState]

Hitler would be very impressed with Klaus Schwab.