Swiss Bunker Layout: Sperrstelle Sattelegg, An Entrance To The Redoubt

Patreon: / blokeontherange
Teespring: teespring.com/...
The Bloke takes you around the Sperrstelle Sattelegg, near Wimmis in the Berner Oberland, discussing the Swiss defence strategy for WW2 and the Cold War, and how this particular bunker layout protects one of the entrances to the so-called Redoubt (Réduit National).
Link to the location: www.google.ch/..."N+7°37'57.0"E/@46.6867171,7.6237342,2488m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d46.6867178!4d7.6324885 or in coordinates, 46.686718, 7.632489
Facebook: / blokeontherange
Photos from "Die Gruppe Kander", H-R Schoch, used under fair use.

[@BlokeontheRange]

Here's the coordinates: 46.686718, 7.632489 www.google.ch/maps/place/46°41'12.2"N+7°37'57.0"E/@46.6867171,7.6237342,2488m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d46.6867178!4d7.6324885 That comes out on the corner by the bridge.

[@jackkolb737]

I live near Thun! Are there any other good places to visit concerning bunkers or fortifications ?

[@peteraugust5295]

God damned. Spent about 15 minutes searcing this in Google Maps. Then I scrolled down and found your corrdinates haha

[@danmorgan3685]

That whole valley just looks like one long kill zone.

[@robashton8606]

Do they make you wear a hat like that when you move to Switzerland? Enquiring minds need to know.

[@kimfucku8074]

Haha, that's an old head worn up to the late 80's in the Swiss Army. The uniform was made out of the same fabric. Extremly scratchy, stiff and itchy. Just terrible!

[@G1NZOU]

Switzerland's defensive plans are essentially the plot of Home Alone on a countrywide scale, I love it.

[@JustFLBeats]

As a Swiss this is so spot on :D Just bully the intruders +

[@dellawrence4323]

Switzerland's defence plan is to be the bankers for every side in every war.

[@fredrickgustafsson4795]

Great video ! i do like the gun videos but this is almost better. there are plenty of gun vids and vids from inside old bunkers but your narration and explanation of the whole sytem and showing angels etc really brought it to life, more of this please.

[@BlokeontheRange]

Thanks. I tried very hard here to show the space, angles and distances, even if I repeated myself a touch while doing so.

[@nibbles7178]

You did very well mate! Gun videos on here seem to be ten to the dozen nowadays. This however was a really insightful video and you seem to know your history! My old man always told me about how the Swiss would give any invader a bloody good hiding with umpteen amounts of tank traps, gun emplacements and bunkers installed on nearly every corner. More videos like this would be great. It's very interesting.

[@ckm-mkc]

Love to see more about the Swiss strategy, I know a lot of the Cold War bunkers have been decommissioned, but how the whole system was put together is fascinating. When I lived in Geneva, I actually saw a fighter take off from a highway, it was amazing.

[@andersbendsen5931]

@@nibbles7178 TEN to the dozen? You got me. Still giggling.

[@HungrigerHugo89]

When someone asks me why germany never invaded switzerland, i always compare it to a hedgehog....its bloody hard to get to the meat and even then there's barely any....so not worth the effort...also if left alone, the hedgehog sells you weapons!

[@deepbludreams]

HungrigerHugo89 sells weapons and hordes your stolen gold!

[@marconius101]

How wants to rob his own secret bank account.?

[@yetanother9127]

Nobody's quite sure what happened to all the gold, but occasionally some will turn up in weird places. Finders does not mean keepers, however, and since that gold was largely stolen from people subjugated by the Nazis, it'd be a massive dick move not to return it to them (or their descendants).

[@Duhya]

I won't think you're a massive dick if you find some gold and the owners are long dead, and you don't give it to their descendants.

[@0Turbox]

The reason why Germany didn't attack the Swiss was, the General, who was commanded to investigate a possible attack, fooled the High command and Hitler, told them, that it was to hard to invade Switzerland. In reality, it would have been not much of a problem. The Germans could invade from several directions, hard for the Swiss to defend everywhere. Anyway, Switzerland was no priority, if at all a target. If the French and Britt's hadn't declared war on Germany, they would be also not been attacked. Hitler wanted only Russia for it's land and resources for his "Great Germany and 3. Reich" fantasies.

[@DennisFriend]

A British view on German tactics and swiss defense. BRILLIANT!

[@Peter_Box]

Thanks for the info on Swiss defenses. That was very interesting, please keep up the Swiss history programme.

[@stillbruch2009]

I am Swiss but haven't served in the Swiss Armed Forces, and I approve of this content.

[@witchkinglp]

Same. Also untauglich?

[@stillbruch2009]

No, Zivildienst (civilian service). But I'm a very active member of a Schützengesellschaft.

[@arthipex8512]

I'm a Swiss who did and still is serving in the Armed Forces. Wonderful video, the museums here focus too much on the border defenses.

[@lebigmac1426]

Chan i au zuestimme

[@LodrikBadric]

Same :)

[@RichardGoth]

"come at me bro'.... " LOL

[@matthiaswehrli7798]

Refreshing and truely positive report by a friend of Switzerland! I salute our grand-parents who created a potent defense within a short period of time. Swiss Armed Forces: If attacked as a whole acting in - by its nature - defense while on an operative and tactical level acting agressively where ever poosible. France was beaten six weeks after the Wehrmacht attacked on May 10th 1940. So Switzerland's encirclement by the axis was complete in summer 1940 already. Thanks and regards to you Bloke on the Range! We are looking forward to more reports from a British voice.

[@JohnW1711stock]

That road resembles eastern Pennsylvania. Maryland has huge holes, cracks, and steel plates to keep out tanks. LOL!! If a road gets paved, the power company digs it up and puts down steel plates, almost immediately.

[@rickansell661]

Note the three demolition shafts. Spaced, I presume, to produce a breach wide enough that you couldn't just trundle up an Armoured Vehicle Launched Bridge and drop summat across the gap. This is a key part of military demolitions intended to create an obstacle and why demolishing bridges for that purpose is a bit of an art. The Royal Engineers have a nice book, subtitled, IIRC, 'How to blow up just about anything' that teaches you this. As an MOD civilian I once (more than 20 years ago) had to read and internally digest it's contents as part of my job. I even got to go on the practical section of the Infantry Demolitions Course - happy days. :)

[@BlokeontheRange]

It pre-dates the AVLB and similar systems - the idea seems to be that even if only 2 of the 3 go off, the breach will be wide enough to be impassable without repair.

[@rickansell661]

Hmmm. Your explanation is probably true as far as it goes. It is one reason to duplicate demolitions. However AVLB were around earlier than you think. The British had an (experimental) one in 1919 - and that is if you don't count Facines. The UK continued development and the Scissors Bridge 30ft, Number 1 was in use, at least on exercise, by 1941. It was in use by the Allies in Italy in 1943. The Germans had one in service, the Bruckenleger IV, as early as 1940. Unfortunately for the Germans it was to heavy so they only built 20 and eventually converted them back into gun tanks after the capture of France. Then they built 4 new ones that were used in Russia. They also tested bridging varients of the Panzer I and Panzer II. The Italians had one for their CV33 Tankettes in service in 1939. Developments continued. For example 1942/3 saw the heavier Tank Bridge 30ft, Number 2 in use by the British, launched by, and capable of supporting, Churchills. The Swiss probably knew at least something about these developments, at least by 1943, when the No. 1 Bridge was being used in Italy. Personally I think the Swiss would have been aware of Facines and at least the concept of AVLBs. Whether that was decisive, beyond simple redundancy, in choosing to have three demolitions in parallel is something that we can only speculate about. Hoever the later they were put in place the more likely it is that emplaced bridges were a factor in the decision.

[@IRMentat]

aye, the original (UK) tanks were intended as trench striding vehicles, makes sense that we also pushed for the ability to bridge even wider gaps.

[@G1NZOU]

And even if you could build a temporary bridge or fill in the gap, you're doing it all the time in the sightline of that bunker. Not fun.

[@myparceltape1169]

Is it easy to build up a steep slope so that tanks won't roll over on their sides? You would need to get it firm enough and level enough so that tanks would not have to expose a side as they were approaching a gun.

[@bigbrowntau]

Great video. Good to see the interlocking aspects of the Swiss defences. REALLY love the hat!

[@DATODATOHERI89]

thanks. you are only one who is doing this. keep going!!

[@Andrewausfa]

It was like watching Professor Richard Holmes but in Switzerland with a hat. Excellent video, thanks for taking the time to make it.

[@srspower]

I really enjoyed that, nice one :)

[@HptfwO]

Thank you for showing us the Sperrstelle Sattelegg, Bloke! A very interesting Video. The Nahverteidigung (Close defence) or as you mentioned the "good News hole" near the Entrance would most likely be armed with an LMG25. There was the Schartenadapter (Firing hole Adapter) for the LMG and later for the StGw 57 in the Bunkers. Best Regards from a former Swiss Army Defensive Infrastructure Specialist. "Und steht der Teufel selbst vor'm Haus - hier beisst er sich die Zähne aus!"

[@BlokeontheRange]

Merci vieumau!

[@HptfwO]

Gern gscheh!

[@schoppepetzer9267]

If the enemy would have already surrounded the bunker, ie. overcome the outer defenses, basically in knocking distance of the door....that LMG would have just bought the crew inside few more days. No? Throw some flames, smoke them out or starve them....that would have been my attack strategy.

[@meteormedia7021]

I just read about Operation Tannenbaum and now this video shows up in my feed. The most interesting battle theater that fortunately never happened.

[@rileystephens4249]

Great video, very informational. Thank you Sir. Bloke

[@hobbitilius]

I love this video. The national redoubt is an immensely interesting topic. I'd love to see more videos like this.

[@jonwebsterabbott]

Thanks for this video. It is easy to forget the innovations of yesterday that led to the era we enjoy today.

[@TzunSu]

It's interesting how many similarities there is between Switzerland and Sweden during WW2. We also allowed traffic through to norway, with restrictions, and we made it very clear that if the Germans tried to invade, we would blow up the iron mines that was all that Germany really wanted from Sweden.

[@Sedan57Chevy]

This is one thing I wish we had here in the US- WW1 and WW2 vintage bunkers to explore.

[@cracklingvoice]

There are more than you would think. My native city of San Diego is home to a whole network of bunkers from the coastal defense artillery, I'm not sure when they were built. Point Loma has the bunkers for a battery of 16" guns that swept the entrance to the harbor. I also once visited what I think is an observation post on the hills south of Imperial Beach, it has a line of sight that could see the entire bay and its approach. Most of them have been forgotten, so even finding out there is one near you can often be a challenge.

[@con6lex]

North of San Francisco is Marin Headlands. Multiple bunkers that held 16” guns, plus observation stations. All contained in a public wilderness area. See Fort Cronkite.

[@itsapittie]

This is a very nice example of the military concept in depth augmented by using the terrain to channel the attackers.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

Welcome to Bloke in the Bunker. Hehehe... As the computer in WarGames said, "the only winning move is not to play." I just love the use of the word 'inconvenience' when talking about blowing up tanks into tiny bits.

[@grahamgibbs5948]

Really enjoying your coverage. As you will know many small Pill Boxes here in the UK still lurk to supprise the casual walker.

[@danielbarlocher2202]

Thx for this, funny and very well explained! "they are toast"...very well explained and interesting, historical lession! very well done

[@danielbarlocher2202]

and...your swiss army hat is great! I've served as well in the swiss army and had a similar one..

[@LycanthropiesSpell]

Love historical military field trips.

[@simoncox1861]

I found this very interesting, thank you for your time and effort you've put into it.

[@VincentBrouillard]

Being a bilingual french canadian with some knowledge of german, I really enjoy you switching with those three language around 19:36. And I totally understand forgetting words of one's langue maternelle.

[@hallerhans8240]

Ich war Angehöriger der Red Br 22 und vorbereitete Sprengstellen gehörten zum Abwehrdispositiv. Fast jede Brücke, jede Engstelle, ganze Felswände usw. waren immer vorbereitet zur Sprengung. Die Sattelegg-Sperrstelle ist Teil des Reduits, keine eigentlich Festung. Dieses Dispositiv wurde bereits in den 80-er Jahren stillgelegt und ich selber habe mit meinen Leuten eine ganze Art Stellung ausgeräumt und zurückgebaut, dh. entsorgt. - I was a member of the Red Br 22 and prepared blast sites were part of the defense disposition. Almost every bridge, every narrow passage, whole rock faces etc. were always prepared for blasting. The Sattelegg barrage is part of the Reduit, not a fortress. This facility was already shut down in the 1980s and I myself and my people cleared out and rebuilt a whole kind of position, i.e. disposed of it.

[@hanshaller2893]

As a former member, of the Fest-Art Kp II/23 and the Réduit-Brigade 22, I am very surprised how non-Swiss people look at our fortifications today. Yes, we had a lot of fortifications, blocking positions and in the mountains of course ideal advance sites to intercept and stop an attacker. It would have worked for sure. How long, probably quite long in view of the supplies that were available to us. In 1976, I was trained as a gunner and later became a gunnery commander, depending on whether I had 6 or 12 men under me, depending on the gun. We were always very well trained. Per week during the training and supplementary courses were always during at least 3-4 days active shooting, ie trained. The mobilization always took place under so-called war conditions. Every two years, 3 weeks of refresher courses had to be completed. My last grenade was fired in 1995 at the Gotthard. As a former member of the Red-Br 22 I was allowed to keep my personal equipment. Uniform and assault rifle, so to speak as a souvenir. Today I live as a pensioner in Thailand, have taken the uniform with me, the rifle I had to leave to good friends for safekeeping for me, in Switzerland. - Yes we had a very good army, with very good soldiers. Well understood, that was at that time, still when I have been mandatory between 1976 and 1995.

[@johnhans2929]

Good work. I know you survived this, but it's kind of scary in spots with those slopes and cars. You've really gone above and beyond for us.

[@jsangel567]

Thank you! That was very interesting, had no idea that Germany ever contemplated invasion of Switzerland. Thanks for the excellent info and tour!

[@Kevinkapon]

Haven't seen someone this excited about bunkers since my days as a Hoxhaist

[@thegamehaa]

THESE STYLE OF VIDEOS ARE SO INTERESTING. MAKE MORE PLZ!!!

[@fearlessfruge6445]

Nice job 👍 One of my favorite of your videos, thank you

[@chkoha6462]

Hi BotR, great video! Thanks for the insight!

[@slateslavens]

Are you going to explore further into the redout? I could watch hours of this stuff!

[@WhatTheHellMang]

What an excellent entertaining and informative video! Please do more. And if possible include period stills or video of the areas or guns/vehicles etc a bit like you did at the end with the dugouts. 👍

[@greymas3006]

Great video! The closest thing I've seen to anything like this in the states are the old observation towers along the Delaware sea shore. Some of towers are still in place along the beaches with one still maintained and open to the public. This is a great bit of history not discussed much here in the states. I hope to make my way back to Switzerland one day to see some of these sights. Thanks for bringing this to us.

[@amadeusamadeus389]

I just have learned more from you about Swiss bunkers than in my one year military service in the swiss armed forces.

[@LuGer212]

Swiss mentality 101: "I'm really sorry but I must inconvenience your little tank and its little friends, sorry very much so - see you again later at the next attempt of entering the Redoubt!"

[@Kyleinasailing]

Clear and informed - well done.

[@MichaelEdelman1954]

Excellent! Let’s have more Bloke Outside the Bunker.

[@BlueNeonBeasty]

I found this fascinating! Good work

[@bengalvin71]

Thanks Bloke, fascinating content. 👍🏻

[@mountainhobo]

Half of my family either died in that infernal war or ended up in concentration camps, so I mean what I say - well done, Switzerland. Your citizens should be proud of their government. I am glad somewhere in Europe there was an island without all the death and suffering.

[@deepbludreams]

The swiss are not blameless, they horded the Nazi wealth, nobody was innocent during WW2.

[@freedomis4all]

Swiss bankers and politicians are to blame for that, not the masses. Dont put everybody in the same basket.

[@manuelscherrer9956]

Sadlly being neutral means not taking sides. We bought from the allies and sold them. Then germany looked over you dont seem so neutral at all! With presure from germany to protect the Swiss people ther was not to much choice. Switzerland shot down a few german aircraft. Not boasting any arial kills of allied planes germany looked over. You do not seem that neutral at all. We forced most to land and most of our FLAK crews are said to have not tried to hit at all. Taking in prisoners of war from germany would not have been neutral. Whille many private persons helped the goverment had theyr hands tied. The acidental boombings of some Swiss cities did defenitlly not put the allies in a great light. But during the war most of the peiple did suport the allies. And so did the goverment, as far as they could get away with it.

[@trangia12]

America could have stayed neutral. How do you think that would have affected Switzerland. Sooner or later you would have been invaded. It’s easy not to do the right thing and say, not my problem.

[@andersbendsen5931]

@Cegesh Who did you just call triggered? I mean, come on, reread your post.

[@chumccurry1765]

Yours Swiss army wool cap is very nice!

[@robertl6196]

Very cool. And a quite lovely area, as well.

[@banana1618]

very comprehensive, clear, instructive and filled with humour (I could continue with the adjectives but in deference to Mike's head thought I should stop).... :)

[@lordsummerisle87]

Old joke: German general observing Swiss maneuvers during WW2. Swiss general: "I can mobilise 4,000 expert riflemen at a moment's notice." German general: "Very impressive, but what will you do if I send 400,000 troops over the border?" Swiss General: "Each of my men will turn up, fire 100 rounds, then go home."

[@BlokeontheRange]

I must find me a genuine copy of that pre-WW1 postcard :)

[@LeonardoFSI]

From what I remember it was 250 000 swiss and 500 000 germans, and it was a ww1 reference.

[@leighrate]

lordsummerisle87 No original was German Kaiser to Swiss Soldier who had just won a shooting championship. Kaiser: "How many Soldier's does Switzerland have? Swiss Soldier: "Sire, Four hundred thousand". Kaiser: That's interesting, I have twice that. What will you do if I send them into Switzerland?" Swiss Soldier: " Shoot twice. Go home".

[@caringancoystopitum4224]

Similar joke: Switzerland declares war on Russia (or any other strong state) Switzerland "We declare war on you! We have 100'000 soldiers, about 400 tanks and 20 jets." Russia "We accept! We have 1'000'000 Soldiers, 22'000 tanks and several hundred jets and bombers." Switzerland "We take back the declaration of war. We don't have enough room for all the POWs."

[@nuovaapologetica6495]

Ma basta!

[@99IronDuke]

Good, interesting, video. Hope you do some more like this.

[@norbertblackrain2379]

Thank you very much for this great presentation in reality

[@keithrobertsson2164]

Love the Roakes' Drift reference.

[@okin_rezresua1715]

Hitler allegedly made a ( actually quite funny ) comment on the possibility of war between Germany and Switzerland. He claimed he could conquer all of Switzerland by using the firefighter- squadron of Constance ( my home town, laying directly on the border ). I meen, they`re quite a taff bunch, but that might have been just a little bit too ambitioned ; )

[@faenrir11]

I must admit I skipped a lot of your "nerdy" gun videos, but the ones with history like this are a lot of fun to watch! A similar topic I hope you will cover some day are those high mountain bunkers that can be accessed today through "via ferrata" trails. I've seen them in Italy and the idea of stationing soldiers at over 2000 meters seemed fascinating.

[@BlokeontheRange]

I'm mostly a nerdy gun channel, so you must skip a lot, lol! :D

[@faenrir11]

Bloke on the Range I'm not the best viewer indeed :D but I stick around for the more historical stuff. My interest in weapons is limited to their context, you could say, not necessarily in depth mechanics or obscure ammo types!

[@TheDakotat76]

Well said, different perspective I didn’t really think about concerning the Swiss

[@skeet330]

Great video. Very informative

[@hans-petermeier7440]

Wieder ein sehr interessantes Video, Danke :-)

[@Robin6512]

Really nice vid. Love to see more.

[@algrimsey]

Cool history tidbit. Thanks.

[@hanktorrance6855]

Great job, fascinating!

[@thepom572]

More bunkers, more history BUT no less guns please Bloke.

[@afs101]

I'll have to pop down to Chillon this weekend and see if I can spot any of these elements around there!

[@grendelgrendelsson5493]

That was really interesting and enjoyable, thank you.

[@Maverickt2d]

I learned a lot ! Thanks ;)

[@thesep1967]

When you ever come to Styria, take a look at Sperrstellung Badl (the remains of it or at least the general layout). That's sonething to behold.

[@versoarmamentcompany]

Great video

[@SubZero_NH3]

Awesome video!

[@LoneWolf-zw5yn]

Very interesting, i would enjoy seeing more like this 🖒 from oz

[@Trancefreakeh]

Love this footage, well done.

[@BlokeontheRange]

Thanks. I hope I gave a good overview of the space from every interesting angle - it's often difficult to do that with video.

[@Trancefreakeh]

Bloke on the Range, it reminds me of the YT channel 'Lindybeige'. I can listen for hours to such content. Well brought, this.

[@BlokeontheRange]

I am flattered to be compared to Lloyd! Thank you!

[@alphaprawns]

It was quite interesting seeing the extent of those under-road explosives, the area I grew up in highland Scotland had something similar! It was part of the home guard's resistance plan in the case of Operation Sealion going ahead, although the defences near my village were nowhere near as comprehensive as the Swiss ones here. The main road ran along quite a steep hillside in my glen, and the bridge over a small waterfall was rigged to blow with a camouflaged pillbox flanking it over the gorge. I always thought that the poor bastards in that bunker would never have had much chance of surviving, but 10 year old me thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

[@myparceltape1169]

Wouldn't have surprised me if the bunker was an unmanned target to get the enemy to betray his intentions. Some of the Highland roads are still blocked from time to time. Avalanches, naturally caused, in most cases but they can take days to stabilise and repair.

[@billmmckelvie5188]

.The Swiss were in a very bad situation, something that some Americans did not understand in WWII, on another channel I heard how Germany held up her coal supply. As a neutral country Switzerland was free to trade with any country she wished. She did trade with the Germans bearings, Oerlikon cannons and other intricate equipment that the Germany needed for her war effort. In contrast to that she set up a deal with the British that allowed them to produce the Oerlikon cannon in the UK under licence prior to the fall of France. Schaffhausen, Switzerland was bombed by the Americans and killed 40 people and cost the U.S. $14 million in compensation at the end of the war. The plans to invade Switzerland by Germany were very real and just like the UK, it is surprising that it was not invaded, in the case of the UK the Germans could not gain air superiority. It would be interesting to find out when there was the most traction in Germany to invade. Switzerland did have BF109 fighters to defend herself however it was not enough and as the war progressed she was slowly acquiring a few damaged Allied aircraft that could not make it back to the UK or Southern Italy. Overflying Switzerland by allied aircraft from 1943 especially by the U.S. was causing some concern and a few allied aircraft were remorsefully shot down by the Swiss. Sadly in war things are not all in pure black and white and people must remember that Switzerland had three people groups those of French, Italian and German descent and that would influence their reactions to the Allies. I was surprised to learn that from 1944 onwards the U.S. would try to stop US aircrew from falling into Swiss hands were they would sit out the war. The U.S. ran an underground escape operation to get their pilots home and to better conditions. From a hindsight viewpoint it is interesting to note that Allied pilots who made it to Sweden would be better treated by the Swedes than the Swiss as they had more food and their interment conditions were more relaxed than in Switzerland. It would be interesting to find out whether allied bomber crews were instructed to make for Sweden as oppose to Switzerland when all else failed.

[@hughosborne2790]

Excellent video. I like your even handed approach to these subjects. Facts, observation and context with minimal opinion. Well done!

[@siestatime4638]

OK, you brought it up, so now you have to show us Auwald 4...

[@BlokeontheRange]

At some point I'll walk the whole Auwald position for a video.

[@juleswernes]

dam your ch in Reich sounds pretty swiss :) 1:24

[@BlokeontheRange]

My high German sounds very Swiss these days :p

[@LivWildStyle]

I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

[@John-sz7vf]

Really interesting video. Cheers!

[@abalamdepaimon6891]

You can hike around the cantons Schwyz, Uri, Nidwalden, Glarus and find tactic places bunkers all over the place. There's basically a moat blocking off entrance into the Glarus valley, all the mountain passes into the south are heavily defended. I've seen a lot of abandoned bunkers just from ordinary school field trips, but there are still huge bunkers all over the place, still in use today. You can find ventilation shafts in the weirdest places. Switzerland might not have a strong airforce anymore ( because when you're going mach 2 you are basically a nascar jetfighter keep going in circles to about accidentally invading neighbour airspace..) but if Vietnam guerilla warfare was bad, with tunnels dug just 2 feet under you in sandy/mud terrain, how do you think a prepared guerrila force like Switzerland would be like ? With hollowed mountains, strategically placed bunkers with ballistic non digital weapons that can fire 100km. You can dominate airspace and rain bombs, you're not going to crack granite mountains. any ground force will be shredded, and there's city like structures underground to maintain more then current number of people in the country. Maybe there's a reason that tiny mountain country in the centre of europe didn't get invaded in either world wars.

[@michaelmulligan0]

Amazing use of natural terrain

[@doktormusmatta]

This is pretty much exactly compatible with Swedish cold war era doctrine. A small country with a conscript army, lots of prepared positions for infantry and artillery, tank traps, bridges and roads prepared for demolition and a literal metric f***ton of mines, in difficult terrain. The word for it is tröskeleffekt, literally "threshold effect". The goal wasn't to win the war so much as making the war too expensive to win for the Russians.

[@BlokeontheRange]

Thanks for that - it's about the only way a small country can do it when faced with a larger foe. And as for small countries that can't due to their geography? 1940 provides an awful lot of evidence of that (Denmark 6 hours, Netherlands 4 days...)

[@doktormusmatta]

Yers, the difference between those countries and Norway is striking. Oh, and great video btw ;)

[@yvanduvancematin]

Well done, I'm liking the content like this Cheers!

[@davidcolin6519]

You give a lot of credence to the idea that a 4.7cm (47mm) anti-tank gun could have done serious damage to German armour, but even at the ranges shown, later German armour would have had absolutely no problem with such defences. By mid 1943 Germany already had the Tiger I available and that could have taken a near point blank shot for a 47mm popgun. However, most people who think they know about tanks really know very little. Your 67Ton tank may have truly enormous tracks and infinitely deep frontal armour, but the top armour, even of the mighty Pzkw VI was limited, and the mined roadway would always have been an extraordinarily difficult route to traverse. I have been to Casino in Italy. The terrain is not dissimilar and the number of routes are also of a likeness. In that case, the German defenders didn't need to have fantastic AT weaponry, they just needed to defend. And the only defensive position that I have seen that is as easily defensible as Monte Casino, is the position you show us here. The Germans arrive after hand-to-hand fighting all the way from the border, They roll up with their tanks, the first of which are destroyed by the mined road, so they then spend weeks slowly rebuilding the road under intense fire from along the valley, across the valley and down the mountains. Under most situations, you'd just send in your specialist mountain troops to clear all the foot soldier out. But Finland had already shown that truly expert mountain troops could do a lot of damage, and I imagine that Swiss mountain troops would probably have been able to account for a 5:1 advantage, probably significantly more. I still have no doubt that Germany could have comfortably defeated Switzerland, but that victory would have been entirely pyrrhic. And then again, Nazi Germany would have lost its ability o ferret away all thise billions that they stole.

[@RealLuckless]

Please do a video on how engineers accidentally made a gorge... I can't seem to find any clear info on what you were referencing, but I have to assume it could be presented in a highly humorous fashion. Assuming that the accident didn't involve a large number of causalities or something.

[@tharqal2764]

There's a little bit in English on Wikipedia under "Kander Correction". Nobody died afaik, but the architect was chased out of his hometown after his project caused floods in his city to multiply by like a factor of 10, and wasn't fully fixed for 300 years.

[@outlaw2shero]

Excellent! Great stuff!!

[@jeffreycarigon642]

That was awesome you have to do more

[@roadpanzir]

Thanks for this story bloke, this would have been a big "ah schiesse" for the germans to run into. But then again it would be worth it just for the emmantaller cheese ; )

[@prun8893]

I had to contribute 4 times the normal donation because this video is Swiss Made.

[@tearlach61]

A very interesting video. I have had a keen interest in the history of Switzerland during World War 2 going back at least a decade. My daughter and I are actually coming to Switzerland in May and one of our goals is to check out some of the bunkers you are talking about. One place we have a mind to check out is Full Reuenthal which wouldn't be part of the Reduit but rather part of the Swiss version of the Maginot Line. Very much apreciate your videos thought I have not often commented on them, this one is a gem given our up coming trip.

[@oxygenasturia5706]

I was quite surprised this defensive position is in the middle of the country.

[@Boreasrex11]

Very nice camera work, single handed; you didn't start blithering until right there at the very end.

[@k.r.baylor8825]

An absolutely fascinating video, Bloke! I've been interested in Swiss defensive structures for years, especially the smaller company-sized ones like Sperrstelle. You did a terrific job narrating the defensive thinking behind each fortification. Just a shame you couldn't get inside the main roadside bunker to show the actual fighting points. I know the Swiss have some restored bunkers open to the public. If you are looking for future video ideas, perhaps combine the restored fortification with your informed narrative storytelling--I know it'd be a great one to watch, especially from my office in the States, so far away from the Redoubt area.

[@McGuireJJ]

Loved this!

[@leighrate]

80 million V 4 Million? That's only Twenty to One odds. Wouldn't even have to go back for more ammo.

[@wrxs1781]

Well done.

[@Willy_Tepes]

Switzerland was a hostage, no need to harm it. And, it's like Afghanistan with trees.

[@TzunSu]

Oh, i forgot to mention in my last comment, the proper translation for "werk" would be "works" i think, like in "defensive works" or "breastwork"

[@DudeInWalmart]

More bunker videos, please!

[@_Gnome.]

Even though you kept blabbering on and I already knew all this stuff, I enjoyed the video. Probably because of your obvious enthusiasm for the subject

[@silvermikeGA]

Actually defensive works similar to the civil war lookout mountain area. These defensive works would have been defeated if Germany did attack. Perhaps an hour before the pass was open again.

[@LeonardoFSI]

A lot of things could have happened, but you can't say for certain, after 70 years what would have happened. So could have? Yes, maybe, no. What we know, is it did not happen.

[@silvermikeGA]

Leonardo Valsangiacomo There were not enough interlocking fields of fire. Even if we assume the hills are alive with small arms a good coordinated attack would defeat what I saw. The German Winter Line in Italy was far better held yet was defeated. All that had to be done was blind with smoke and keep occupied with small arms till you got close enough with an 88mm.

[@LeonardoFSI]

As I said we can deliberate how much we want on what could have happened, there are just too many factors and liability, we will never know what would have happened because of that.