Dilatory Demolition

In the quiet days of the Phony War, the so-called Sitzkrieg that lasted from September 1939 until German Panzer divisions overran the Low Countries and France in May 1940, British troops sang confidently: "We're gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line . . ." For all that bravado, the line loomed as a forbidding obstacle. It stretched 350 miles, from Switzerland to The Netherlands, studded with 20,000 bunkers and countless concrete antitank traps known as "dragon's teeth." Not until late 1944 was the Siegfried Line tested in battle; by early 1945, Allied troops had punched through its defenses and into Nazi Germany's industrial heartland. Since then, the line has confronted nothing except France's equally futile and equally decrepit Maginot Line. Mushroom growers fancied its dank corners, as did occasional lovers. Visionaries suggested turning the bunkers into weekend bungalows. But the government decided to demolish it. By 1968, however, only 5,250 bunkers had been blown up, at a cost of more than $13 million. Recently, Bonn grudgingly coughed up another $250,000 to raze some of the more unsightly remaining ruins. At the present rate of demolition, tourists should still be able to hang out their washing on the Siegfried Line in the year 2000.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.