| Original caption: “Our defense station on the Atlantic. The Commander-in-Chief West, General Field Marshal von Runstedt, inspects the defense works on the Atlantic coast, which are still being further expanded and reinforced. Generalfeldmarschall (“Field Marshall”) Gerd von Rundstedt (December 12, 1875 – February 24, 1953), at left, leads his entourage through a tour of the Atlantic Wall. This is the inspection trip of the Commander-in-Chief West, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt to Fort Napoléon at Toulon, Port De Les Goudes. Rundstedt and officers from the Heer (“Nazi German Army”), Kriegsmarine (“Nazu German Navy”) und Luftwaffe (“Nazi German Air Force”) at a German coastal battery in Southern France. Note the Italian Alpini officer. Rundstedt arrived at Fort Napoléon at 0905 Hours on January 13, 1943, and then toured the Quai Maréchal Pétain, Quai de la Tourette, Quai de la Joliette, and inspected the installations and troops in position along the entire coastline. This took about an hour. Rundstedt and his subordinate, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (November 15, 1891 – October 14, 1944), disagreed about how the Normandy coast was to be best defended. Rundstedt had little faith in the effectiveness of coastal defenses, seeing them as the means of breaking the cohesion and momentum of an amphibious assault, while counterblows were prepared in the rear coastal areas by mobile reserves held back specifically for the purpose. Rommel believed that the Atlantic Wall was a total waste of resources. SS-Kriegsberichter Ernst Baumann (May 14, 1906 – January 12, 1985) worked as a photo reporter for the Berlin Illustrirte Zeitung before becoming a war correspondent. He was captured by the Americans and released in 1947. After World War II, he was known in Germany for his nature photography of mountain landscapes. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2125.jpg |
| Image Size | 310.44 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2054 x 1481 |
| Photographer | Baumann |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsberichter |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 13, 1943 |
| Location | Fort Napoléon |
| City | Toulon |
| State or Province | Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Digital Archives of Poland |
| Record Number | 2-324 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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