Border Line (Switzerland)

It consisted of a series of bunkers spaced at short intervals along the French, German and Austrian borders.

[2] The large forts were armed with 75mm artillery and anti-tank weapons and were usually built into the forward slope of a hill.

[1][3][7] The Swiss war plan, devised by General Henri Guisan, envisioned the use of the Border Line as a delaying position, backed by a further hold line, the so-called Army Line, to give the bulk of Swiss forces time to retreat to the Redoubt destroying access points once Swiss forces were safely inside.

[8] Following World War II, the main border positions remained manned.

However, by the 1980s it became apparent that the positions were obsolete, and were gradually decommissioned, even before the Army 95 stand-down of many Swiss fortifications.