Kriegsmarine U-Boat 'Brest 1941-1944' Wall Plaque

Kriegsmarine U-Boat 'Brest 1941-1944' Commemorative Wall Plaque. The hand-painted plaque is showing a U-Boat coming out of the famous U-Boat Bunker in Brest (France). The Brest U-Boat bunker was constructed from January 1941 to July 1942 and is a huge 333m by 192m with a 6.2m roof thickness. It was built to protect 20 boats in 10 dry docks and five wet docks. Brest was attacked on over 80 occasions and suffered the most damage from Allied air raids in August 1944 when five Royal Air Force dropped Tallboy bombs penetrated the roof, although they were unable to cause damage to the insides of the bunker. Following the Allied landings in Normandy and the push to liberate France, these sites became a place of last stands for German troops. Under orders, these sites were defended to the last man, and Brest was the first to be attacked by US forces on July 27, 1944 and while the last U-Boat left the bunker on September 4, it took until September 21 for the heavily defended site to be captured. The plaque is showing the script 'Brest 1941-1944, Frankreich' and was most likely made as a souvernir for Kriegsmarine personnel who served in Brest. The plaque is mounted on a wooden backround, sized approximately 23x18cms. Nice and decorative original piece which would be a great addition to any U-Boat related collection!