Festung Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire, FR

A fortified Atlantic Wall pocket holding approximately 120,000 German troops throughout the war — one of the largest German garrisons in Western Europe. Despite being completely bypassed by Allied forces after the Normandy breakout, the garrison held out until May 11, 1945, three days after the German capitulation — one of the last Atlantic fortresses to surrender. The famous **St. Nazaire Raid** of March 1942 had earlier destroyed the only dry dock capable of accommodating the battleship Tirpitz.