What does hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line Meaning?
The Siegfried Line was a chain of fortifications along Germany’s Western border, analogous to the Maginot Line in France. The song was used as a morale-booster during the war, particularly up to and during the Battle of France. It began: We’re going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line.
What is left of the Siegfried Line?
Numerous relics of the Siegfried Line remain as they were, including many thousands of ‘dragon’s teeth’: pyramid-shaped tank traps made of concrete and steel, now softened by moss and vegetation but still capable of stopping any motorised vehicle in its tracks.
What were the Maginot Line and the Siegfried Line?
The Siegfried Line was built between 1938 and 1940. Liɲ maʒino named after the french minister of war andré maginot is a line of concrete fortifications obstacles and weapon installations built by france in the 1930s to deter invasion by germany and force them to move around the fortifications.
Why was it called the Siegfried Line?
The name derived either from a German defensive position of World War I, the Siegfriedstellung, or from the Siegfried legend celebrated in Richard Wagner’s operas; it was popularized by a British music hall tune, “We’re Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line.” Known to the Germans as the Westwall, it was …
Who built the Siegfried Line?
On 24 August 1944, Hitler gave a directive for renewed construction on the Siegfried Line. 20,000 forced labourers and members of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service), most of whom were 14–16-year-old boys, attempted to re-equip the line for defence purposes.
Where was the Siegfried Line breached?
Little more than two miles north of Wissembourg the main line of German heavy fortifications–the Siegfried Line or Westwall–faced the Allied invaders as they plunged into Germany.
How did the Allies break the Siegfried Line?
During the Battle of France, French forces made minor attacks against some parts of the line, but the majority was left untested. When the campaign finished, transportable weapons and materials (metal doors for instance) were removed from the Siegfried Line and used in other places such as the Atlantic Wall defences.
How the Allies broke the Siegfried Line?
Was the Siegfried Line breached?
In 1944 it was something of a Potemkin village. Dr. Todt and the German Army had never intended the line to halt an attack, merely to delay it until counterattacks by mobile reserves could eliminate any penetration.
When was the Siegfried Line breached?
Breaching the Westwall / Siegfried Line 1944.
How many Americans died at the Siegfried Line?
The battle in this heavily forested area claimed the lives of 24,000 American soldiers plus 9,000 of so-called nonbattle casualties—those evacuated because of fatigue, exposure, accidents and disease. The German death toll is not documented.
Which boundary was secured by Germany with Siegfried Line?
The Siegfried Line was a World War II German defensive system stretching some 390 miles along the western border of the old German Empire. Referred to as the Westwall by the Germans, it ran from Kleve, on the border with the Netherlands, to the town of Weil am Rhein, near the Swiss border in the south.