Eerie images capture the decaying remains of Hitler’s 1,600-mile European defence system that failed to stop Allied attack

EERIE images have captured the remains of Hitler’s European defence system which ultimately failed to prevent an Allied attack.

The haunting pictures show the secure Nazi bunkers and fortified gun batteries that were dotted along the Atlantic coast in occupied Europe during the Second World War.

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After Hitler’s Luftwaffe was repelled by the RAF during the Battle of Britain in 1940, he effectively gave up on plans to invade England.

Instead, his armies turned their attention eastward, launching a massive invasion of the Soviet Union codenamed Operation Barbarossa.

But following America’s entry into the war in 1941, the evil dictator began to worry that Britain might be used as a staging post for the liberation of Europe.

He couldn’t be sure of where Allied forces would land, however.

So his answer was to turn the whole of Europe into a fortress.

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The project to build the enormous system of defences – designed to repel any attempted invasion of Western Europe – began in 1942.

By completion, the Atlantic Wall stretched all the way from Norway along the Belgian and French coastline to the Spanish border, covering a staggering 1,670 miles.

The colossal construction ultimately failed to prevent the D-Day landings, which had a huge impact on securing victory for the Allied forces.

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Hitler was dead and the war was over less than a year after Allied boots touched down on the shores of northern France.

But the ruins of many of the fortifications still remain where they are to this day.

And the remains of some of those still standing in France have now been captured by Chinese director and photographer Yang Xiao, 32, from Beijing.

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Xiao used a DSL-Nikon D800 camera to capture the stunning shots, which are hauntingly beautiful – if a little creepy.

The bunkers now serve as a chilling reminder of Europe's dark history.

Hitler was fond of his bunkers, famously living out his final days in an intricate underground facility in Berlin.

A museum in the German capital recently unveiled a fascinating model of the concrete hideout, which was demolished after the war.

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