Museum of the Atlantic Wall — Attraction in Boulogne-sur-Mer

Museum is in a preserved gun casement (casement number 1), one of the four cadements of the Todt gun battery.

It's a shame that the gun, once capable of hitiing southern England, is no longer there, but it allows more exhibit space!

Three levels of well presented info show life of navy personnel (Kriegsmarine) who crewed the batteries. Interesting WW2 German graffiti can be seen, some poking fun at Churchill, others are illustrated patriotic slogans. The original graffiti is/was in another casement.

Outside the museum are some more exhibits , most impressive the K5 railway gun which still points at England. There were eight of these mobile titans stationed in the Calais area.

The gun battery, inaugurated in February 1942, was originally designed to offer support for an invasion of England not as a defensive measure. The guns were huge 380mm naval weapons, the same as fitted on the Bismark and Tirpitz.

Few Allied ships were hit by the German coatal batteries (a Liberty ship on D-Day, a freighter in July 1944) but they provided covering fire, shortly after their inauguration, for German warships racing through the Channel into the North Sea, an engagement known ad the Channel Dash. Their impact on civilians in the Dover area was greater, resulting in 216 deaths.

The guns fired on Dover the last time on 29 September 1944 while under attack from Canadian forces. The Canadian assault resulted in the surrender of the whole battery.

It's worth checking out the other 2 casements nearby (numbers 2 and 4), all the same design. They're in reasonable shape still but it's not recommended going inside as they could be unsafe. Bring a torch if you do! Casement 3 was blown up in an accident by two French visitors in 1945!

Museum has a small shop with souvenirs and some specialist books in various languages about the Atlantic Wall generally.

One criticism would be that the museum doesn't look at the whole Atlantic Wall despite its name; it's very much focussed on the Todt Battery.

A word to the wise: don't arrive shortly before closing! As we came out at 5.29pm, a woman was refused admittance despite her protests that it wasn't too late! A curt Gallic "Non" ended the encounter seconds before the minute hand...

A great museum and a must visit for anyone in the Calais region. The museum is very large and features both indoor and outdoor exhibits, notably a German Krupp K5 Railway Gun (One of two surviving examples in the world), multiple casemates (though only one is open to the public) and various Atlantic Wall defenses such as Belgian gates and Czech hedgehogs. Additionally the inside of the main casemate is very well preserved and features many displays, including recreations of the living quarters of the Kriegsmarine who occupied the bunker, entire rooms dedicated to the infantry weapons of World War II, including even a Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr (World War I Anti-Tank Rifle), and various other displays pertaining to the Atlantic Wall and it's defensive armaments (to include artillery guns and anti-tank weapons) and the Normandy Invasion. There is also a very nice picture exhibit detailing the capture of the battery by Canadian Forces. The staff is very friendly and also sell some authentic WWII militaria in the gift shop. If you are staying in Calais you can take the bus (Bus, Line 505 or "Ligne 505") directly to the museum departing from "Lycee Sophie Berthelot - F Lycee" , getting off at "Audinghen - Maison Site - Musee - F Parking". When I was there was only one bus to the museum per day, typically leaving Calais around 12:20 or 13:00 and leaving the museum around 17:30 and...

Wish I could have been afforded the opportunity to visit the museum to see how great everyone is saying it is. I drove here from Beaumont-Hamel and because of a small car holding everyone up forever on the road to here, I arrived at 17:05. The Museum closes at 18:00. She refused me entry as I wouldn’t have time to see it all and they refuse entry after 17:00. It’s not my first museum. I can rip thru in 15 mins or 2hrs! She would t even let me do just the grounds. And was rude about it. The only thing I got to see was the memoriam to the North Nova Scotia Regiment that neutralized the largest gun of the Atlantic Wall and liberated the region from Nazi occupation. Was hoping for some grace on the stringent time policy as I am a Canadian Veteran. She said come back tomorrow. Sorry....