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Emplaced Turrets and Tobruks

The Germans used hardened fortifications in North Africa and later in other fortifications, such as the Atlantic Wall, that were in essence foxholes made from concrete. The Germans knew them officially as Ringstände; the Allies called them "Tobruks" because they had first encountered the structures during the fighting in Africa.

Frequently, the Germans put a turret from an obsolete French or German tank on the foxhole. This gave the Tobruk enhanced firepower and the gunner protection from shrapnel and small arms. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_fighting_position)

The use of French tanks, especially the FT-17 was quite common. Obsolete Panzer 1 turrets were also used in large numbers. Surprisingly, Panther turrets were also used quite often. So often, in fact, there was a pre-fabricated steel body that could be transported on train cars and dropped over a hole with minimum effort. This last was probably a last-ditch effort. It was much cheaper and faster to get a panther turret into play rather than an entire panther tank. 

These photographs were taken from a number of books,  online sources, and auction sites.  They are presented here for educational purposes.  

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