Bremnes Fort

In northern Norway, about 200 kilometres south of Narvik lies the coastal town of Bodo. Its strategic location along the coast made it a vital part of the German Atlantic Wall which stretched from southern France up to northernmost Norway. Along the Norwegian coast, no less than 300 forts were built as part of the German coastal defence in the event of an allied amphibious invasion. 68 Of these were located in Nordland county and one of these was at Bremnes, about five kilometers north of Bodo. Construction of the fort started in the autumn of 1940 and became operational same autumn. However, it kept being built out the following years. The fort consisted of anti-aircraft guns, field guns, anti-tank guns, mortars, machine gun and flamethrower nests, troop bunkers, ammunition storage, water reservoirs, casino and radar station. A command bunker was built on the top where battles would be directed and supervised. Just outside the fort there was also a small prisoner-of-war camp for Soviet prisoners of war, which was used as labor in the construction of the fort.