Cusp line

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Cusp line at Panzerwerk 717, fortress front Oder-Warthe-Bogen

Dragon's teeth , even hang gliding or Hitler teeth called, is a slang term for cusp or tooth-shaped tank barriers of concrete , as for example at the Western Wall were used. Along with the Czech hedgehog, the hump line is one of the most common anti-tank traps worldwide.

purpose

With the cusp lines one wanted to make tank attacks on bunker positions more difficult and hoped that the enemy would concentrate on certain places, where their own defense (tanks, anti-tank weapons) could then intervene. In order to keep infantry attacks and advancing demolition squads off, the cusp lines were flanked by bunkers and additionally surrounded with wire entanglements. To defend against tanks, there were low-level alternating positions with concrete protective shields for anti-tank weapons. With the stronger tanks, the resistance of the obstacles had to be continuously increased or an anti-tank trench about 4.5 m wide had to be dug in front of it.

The opponent used various tactics to overcome the obstacles. Usually the infantry advanced over the hump line first and formed a bridgehead in which the surrounding bunkers were rendered harmless. Then a gap was blasted in the obstacle so that the tanks could advance.

Manufacturing

The bunkers were poured into concrete on site because they could not be transported with the trucks of the time because of their weight. Reinforced concrete has a high density of approx. 2.4 tons per cubic meter (t / m³). The concrete humps of the chariot obstacles were also poured on site.

Building types (Germany)

The humps were built bigger and heavier in line with the technical development of tanks, with smaller humps or other anti-tank barriers being used in the more difficult terrain for reasons of cost. The humps were usually created en masse as standard types with standardized designs.

The reinforced concrete bumps stood in several rows on a common foundation:

  • Model 1938: width 7.35 m, height on the enemy side 0.6 m, friend side 1 m, 2 rows with 4 humps per transverse row, security against armored vehicles up to 20 tons
  • Reinforced model 1938: width 19.35 m, 5 rows, security against armored vehicles of all weight classes
  • Model 1939: width 13.45 m, height on enemy side 0.8 m, friend side 1.5 m, 3 rows, security up to 36 tons

Building types (Switzerland)

The fortification office (BBB) ​​of the Swiss General Staff, which was dissolved in 1923 and reactivated in 1935, drew up the first plans for tank barricades with 1 m long railroad tracks, which were stuck into the earth so that they formed a kind of hill, from 1936 to 1937. They were soon considered ineffective for tank warfare.

From 1941, plans for tank obstacles for flat terrain with triangular concrete blocks (cusps) were drawn up. These cusp lines were also called Toblerone by the population because of their similarity to the shape of the Toblerone chocolate brand .

  • Cusp line on Tobleroneweg , Switzerland

  • «Toblerone» hump line, one hump weighs approx. 9 tons

  • Toblerone chocolate

literature

  • Harry Lippmann: The most common barriers on the West and Atlantic Wall in words, sketches and pictures. in: Tank traps and other obstacles. DAWA-Nachrichten, special volume 13. Ed. German Atlantic Wall Archive. Lippmann, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-931032-13-2 , ISSN  1431-4541 .
  • Manfred Groß: The Siegfried Line between the Lower Rhine and Schnee-Eifel. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1989. ISBN 3-7927-0644-X (detailed description of the west wall in the area of ​​North Rhine-Westphalia with a lot of technical drawings of the individual systems as well as exact maps in which each individual bunker is drawn).

Web links

Commons : Dragon Teeth  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City of Achen, preservation of monuments: tank fortification of the former Siegfried Line at the Köpfchen customs office in Aachen
  2. ^ Fiona Elizabeth Ross: The archeology of Swiss neutrality: The defense line «Toblerone» , 2012