TITLE:
The BDU West between WWII and Cold War
AUTHORS:
Giancarlo T. Tomezzoli
KEYWORDS:
WWII, Cold War, Atlantic Wall, BDU West, Admiral Bunker, Pignerolle, Anjou, France
JOURNAL NAME:
Archaeological Discovery,
Vol.7 No.1,
January
15,
2019
ABSTRACT: In this article the recent history of the Domaine de Pignerolle, near Saint-Barthelemy d’Anjou, the organization of the BDU West and its role during the WWII, the after war and the Cold War are described. The visits on the BDU site showed that all the BDU barracks disappeared and all the BDU bunkers were in good preservation state. In particular, the visit of the Admiral bunker showed that its transformation in anti-atomic bunker for the French president and government was in an advanced phase, but not terminated and consequently it never was operative. The reasons of this transformation, despite the existence of other similar anti-atomic bunkers, and of its interruption remain to be determined.