Guernsey became one of the most fortified sections of the Atlantic Coast, following Hitler's directive of October 1941. In March 1942 Hitler issued Directive 40, which established formally the Atlantikwall, of which the Channel Islands would be integrated. Following Liberation in May 1945, the islands were demilitarized by British Forces, and throughout the 1950s the extensive fortification network was stripped for scrap metal, and the bunkers covered over.