Huge World War Two bunker that Hitler built on Guernsey goes on sale for $20,000

A huge Nazi bunker that was built on Guernsey as part of Adolf Hitler's 'Atlantic Wall' defence system is on sale for £155,000 ($20,000), the Daily Mail reports. 

The shelter with 7ft thick walls and an air-tight chamber for avoiding potential gas attacks, was built to accommodate up to 12 German soldiers from 1942.

It has been left empty since 1945 but has now gone on the market with the prospect of it being turned into a quirky holiday let. 

Hitler obsessively fortified the Channel Islands after invading them in 1940 but the British decided they were of no strategic importance and never sought to liberate them.

The concrete bunker was originally fitted with air purification systems, showers, toilet, gas proof doors, telephones, a periscope and an emergency escape hatch.

The bunker has an entrance hall, a large room where 12 men would have slept, a shower room, storage room and an escape hatch.

The walls still have stencilled German writing on them reading 'Achtung Feind hort mit! (Watch out, the enemy listens!) and instructions on how to deal with the danger from gas.

There are no windows but it is fitted with mains water and electricity and the sale includes two fields totalling two acres.

The current owner has had it for 10 years and used it for storage. The bunker is in Torteval on the south west coast of Guernsey and is being sold by local estate agents Swoffers.

When the Germans occupied the Channel Islands they imposed new laws on the residents. Clocks were set to German time, people had to drive on the right-hand side of the road and they were subject to censorship, curfews and rationing.

The Channel Islands were among the most heavily fortified parts of Hitler's Atlantic Wall, with one twelfth of the resources for the whole defence structure along the Atlantic coast dedicated to them.

But the Allies had no plans to re-take the Channel Islands, so the extensive defences saw no action and were basically irrelevant.

The islands were liberated after the German surrender in 1945 and the fortifications were abandoned.

Scott Ingrouille, from Swoffers, said: “This is a great chance to own a bit of Second World War history.

“The current owner has had it for about ten years, he bought it as a bit of fun and all he did with it really was put in water and electricity.

“It hasn't really been used for anything other than storage since the war and the German writing is still visible on the wall.

“There was a whole network of guns and artillery along the coast there and this bunker would have been used purely as accommodation for the soldiers.

“It's at ground level but there is a big earth mound on top of it, designed so you can't really see it from the air.

“The bunker was originally built with a gas attack in mind - so you could seal off areas, clean yourself down and then go into your accommodation.

“It had an incredible air circulation system, really advanced stuff for that time. We've had a big number of viewings on it, it's attracting a lot of interest.

“It is probably going to stay as storage, but we have had some people enquire about making it into habitable accommodation or a holiday let so it could become that with the necessary planning consents.” 

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