05/14/2024
Many who visit the Normandy beaches are often surprised to learn that the bunkers do not look like those seen in Saving Private Ryan. Those in that film are large, towering structures the height of the cliffs that contain machine guns. In reality, such bunkers do not exist.
The bunker in this image is situated on Utah beach, but it is of typical shape and size for the Atlantik Wall. As you can see, it is very different to those often depicted in movies and video games, but it is actually a much more sensible design.
One of the first things you may notice is that it does not point out to sea, but instead along the beach. This simple difference means the bunker's firing opening is not exposed to the incoming enemy, and greatly increases the area its weapons can fire upon. By facing down the beach, the crew can fire along the entire coast, instead of only a couple hundred meters if it had been facing out to sea.
The extension protruding on the right is a shield to protect the bunker from rounds coming from the direction of the sea (ie. powerful naval guns). Bunkers of this type are much easier to construct and hide.
Other bunkers and defences situated along the beach would cover each other's rears.
Large bunkers rarely contained only machine guns. Machine guns were usually located in tobruks, which are essentially concrete foxholes.
So where did Saving Private Ryan go wrong? The movie's bunkers technically aren't a mistake, as they were intentionally "exaggerated " for dramatic effect. The most visually similar existing type of bunker is the Leitstand, which were observation bunkers that often served as the rangefinder and fire control system for larger guns.
