Following its occupation by German forces, the beautiful city of Angers in central France became the location of some of the highest-level command headquarters outside of Berlin.
From mid-1940 onwards the area included, among others, the headquarters for Army Group B, the 7th Army, Luftwaffe Atlantic coast command, 11th Flak Division, and was the location for the Kriegsmarine’s main control and communications centre.
The central, inland location meant it could act as a hub for controlling Normandy, Brittany, and the Atlantic coast, without the fear of commando raids or regular bombing by Allied aircraft.
Many of the city’s larger chateau were commandeered and some very large bunkers were built both in the inner city and on the eastern and southern outskirts, some of which can still be seen today.
To the south of Angers, across the Loire river in the town of Murs-Erigne, lies one of the area’s largest constructions, a V149 command post where staff of the Admiral Atlantikkuste (Admiral of the Atlantic Coast) would be located.
This was a communications centre for the five main U-Boat based in western France at Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, La Pallice, and Bordeaux, and also controlled motor torpedo boats for the region.
Measuring 31m long by 20m wide, it featured around 20 main rooms including offices for high-ranking commanders, telecommunications rooms for sending and receiving, crew rooms, ventilation, heating, fuel storage, washroom, and toilet facilities. It was protected by a gas lock and had a defensive embrasure and observation post too.
To help disguise the concrete with the surrounding buildings, the French contract builders added painted-on windows to the outer walls, and there are still some faint outlines which can still be seen. Today, the inside of the bunker isn’t accessible, and there are modern homes built on top.
There was also an anti-aircraft shelter nearby, but this is no longer in existence. A special construction, multi-embrasure MG post, along with an anti-tank ditch, still stands on the southern entrance to the area on the Route de Chloet.

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