Hankley Common - Atlantic Wall Reconstruction

Atlantic Wall Reconstruction

D-Day training sites were created in Britain in order to practice for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Northern France by allied forces in 1944.

In 1943, in an area of the common known as the Lion's Mouth, Canadian troops constructed a replica of a section of the Atlantic Wall. It is constructed from reinforced concrete and was used as a major training aid to develop and practise techniques to breach the defences of the French coast prior to the D-Day landings.

The wall is about 100m (328 ft) long, 3m (10 ft) high by 3.5m (11.5 ft) wide. It is divided into two sections between which there were originally huge steel gates. Nearby are other obstacles such as dragon's teeth, huge reinforced concrete blocks and lengths of railway track set in concrete and wire entanglements. Much of the relics show clear signs of live weapons training and the main wall has two huge breaches caused by a variety of demolition devices including the Double Onion: a specialised demolition vehicle, one of Hobart's Funnies, based on the Churchill tank.

The reinforced concrete was made with thick rebars varying from 10 to 20mm (0.39 to 0.79 in) thick.

Over the years the wall has become colonised by alkaline-loving lichens, mosses, ferns and other plants because the concrete provides the lime-based substrate that these species require and which is found nowhere else in the locality. They present an unusual range of plants to be found in an expanse of acid heathland.

The preservation of the Wall is managed by Army Training Estates with the assistance of the MOD Hankley Conservation Group.