'Villa Verte' and 'Villa Rose' - 2 fortified Swiss gun emplacements disguised as cottages. Part of a WW2 defensive line.

---

The green ‘cottage’ in the foreground (Villa Verte) and the pink ‘cottage’ in the distance (Villa Rose) are two heavy artillery emplacements, disguised as cottages, that are part of the Swiss ‘Maginot Line’, locally known as the ‘Toblerones’. This is a 10km long defensive barrier made of 2,700 concrete anti-tank blocks, and a number of forts, constructed during the second World War between Bassins and Prangins, in the Canton of Vaud. Construction of this barrier started in the 1930s and, although the Nazis never invaded Switzerland, the Swiss were never 100% sure of their neigbours. By 1940 German troops had swept into neutral Belgium and neutral Norway and the Swiss felt they could be next. The object of these defences was not to be impregnable, but to slow the advance of any invading Nazi forces. The best the Swiss could hope for was to make the enemy pay dearly for any victory. These two buildings are now historical monuments.

---

Size: 5150px × 3427px
Location: Gland, Canton Vaud, Switzerland
Photo credit: © Alistair Scott / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 2”, anti-tank, army, blockhouse, camouflage, concealed, defence, defense, defensive, disguise, fort, fortification, historical, history, horizontal, invasion, military, monument, protection, remains, rose, swiss, switzerland, tank”, toblerone, toblerones, verte, villa, war, war”, world, ww2, “, “anti, “world, ”