Fixed place in Verdun

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fort Douaumont , most famous fort in the fix we placed Verdun, in front of the massive bombardments of 1916
Plan of the double advance around Verdun

The Feste Platz Verdun (French: Place fortifiée de Verdun ) was a strategic defensive structure with the city of Verdun as its center in eastern France in the Meuse department . Originally referred to as Verdun entrenched camp (Camp retranché de Verdun) until the end of the 19th century , it was then called Fester Platz Verdun and from August 1915 the fortified region of Verdun (Région fortifiée de Verdun) , with all the forts and defenses on the heights the Meuse were included.

The first defenses came from the Middle Ages and were reinforced and expanded in the 17th century with bastions and a citadel .

From 1874 to 1914, the fortress has been modernized by a total of two rings of forts, Ouvrages ( intermediate levels ), Ouvrages d'infantry (infantry combat stalls), protected battery positions and Abris de combat (Infanterieschutzbauten) around the city wall with the citadel established and thereby a belt fortress applied has been. It became one of the most important fortifications in the Séré de Rivières system .

Affected only in the First World War, mainly during the Battle of Verdun in 1916, the fortifications were more or less abandoned after the end of the fighting. Even if the armored towers of the Douaumont, Froideterre and Vacherauville plants were able to fire a few shots at the advancing German armed forces in 1940 , they ultimately only existed as a museum and visitor attraction (Douaumont and Vaux). Some are in the restricted military area, all the others are abandoned today and most of them on the right bank of the Meuse are in a ruinous state.

situation

Traffic routes

The reason for the construction of the fortifications of Verdun was to control the traffic routes and to block them in the event of an invasion of French territory - but at least the enemy advance should be stopped. The main road running here is the road between Metz and Paris (the former Route nationale 3 ), which crosses the Champagne crayeuse , meets Épernay , then Châlons , crosses Argonne , goes through Sainte-Menehould , Clermont-en-Argonne and Verdun and then Reached Saarbrücken via Metz and Forbach (Moselle) . In Verdun, this east-west axis crosses the north-south axis, from Stenay to Saint-Mihiel (the former Route nationale 64 ). Furthermore, a road leads from Verdun via Bar-le-Duc to Saint-Dizier (the former Route nationale 35 , called " Voie sacrée ") and one from Verdun via Étain to Longwy (the former Route nationale 18 ).

In 1870 the east-west route was supplemented by the construction of the Reims – Metz railway line, which also crossed the Argonne, starting at Sainte-Menehould and Clermont-en-Argonne, and which used the Tavannes tunnel for this purpose . It supplemented the Lérouville – Pont-Maugis railway , which represented the north-south connection along the Maas valley and which met the Paris-Est - Strasbourg line at Commercy and the Valenciennes - Thionville line at Sedan . The railway lines also complemented the waterways on the Meuse and the parallel Canal de l'Est .

This traffic situation had led to significant fortification work since modern times, especially after the area was incorporated into France in 1552 (Verdun then belonged to the Holy Roman Empire as an autonomous ecclesiastical principality ). King Henry II had occupied the three Lorraine bishoprics ( Trois-Évêchés ) Metz, Toul and Verdun and fortified these cities.

Between 1567 and 1634 a city wall was built on one side on the site of the 13th century city wall with glacis , moats and bastions ; on the other hand, the Abbey of Saint-Vanne, lying outside the city walls, was demolished to make way for a citadel with seven bastions. Pierre de Conty d'Argencour and Jean Errard de Bar-le-Duc are named as responsible engineers . In 1687, the fortifications were further strengthened under Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban . The crossing of the Meuse was only possible via three lock bridges, of which only the "Pont-écluse Saint-Amand" is still there. Some improvements to the bastions were made from 1818 onwards. However, these fortifications could not prevent the capture of Verdun during the Prussian sieges of 1792 and 1870. According to the Treaty of Frankfurt between the German Reich and the Third Republic and the associated cession of Alsace and parts of Lorraine , the border ran only 44 kilometers east of Verdun. In addition, the fortress of Metz was now German - Verdun became the main fortress on the way to Paris.

As a result, the city was now in the first fortified line of defense on the Franco-German border, which was continuously modernized and supplemented until 1917. The Verdun fixed place was basically the same as the Toul, Épinal and Belfort fixed places.

To the north, between Verdun and the Ardennes massif, there was a small fortified area called the “Trouée de Stenay ”, which was equipped with only a few smaller forts to control the railways: Fort d'Hirson , Fort de Charlemont and the Fort des Ayvelles , as well as the old citadels of Montmédy and Longwy . In the south, the fortress of Verdun was connected to Toul by a curtain wall: Fort de Génicourt , Fort de Troyon , Fort des Paroches , Fort du Camp-des-Romains , Fort de Liouville , Fort de Gironville and Fort de Jouy-sous-les- Côtes .

Construction and modernization

The construction of the fortifications around Verdun began in 1874. A first defensive ring was completed in 1877, which was followed by a second ring by the 1880s. This second ring was continuously expanded and modernized until the outbreak of the First World War . Verdun, as the most northerly fixed place in the east, was the most important and best equipped as a barrier to the direct route from Metz to Paris.

1874 to 1883

After the last German occupation troops left Verdun on September 13, 1873, the heights surrounding the city were immediately occupied by the French. On November 15, 1873, the Général Séré de Rivières presented a memorandum for the construction of 13 detached forts on the heights on both sides of the Meuse. After the National Assembly had approved the necessary funds on July 17, 1874, earthworks began on Fort de Tavannes in December 1874.

In the winter of 1874/1875 fear of a new conflict with Germany arose, which is why five "Redoutes de la Panique" (panic redoubts ) were built in December, which had nothing to do with the Séré de Rivières project They were finished in 1877 and were arranged in a semicircle on the most important heights around the city. They were: the Fort de Belleville , the Fort du Saint-Michel , the Fort de Belrupt , the Fort de Regret and the Fort de La Chaume . These fortifications (later promoted to "forts"), although too close to the town (as criticized by the inspection report of Général Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale , in 1879 ), formed the basis of the inner belt of the town, which was short was then supplemented by Fort de Souville and Fort de Tavannes .

According to the original plans, work was resumed from the summer of 1875, and brick forts with free-standing artillery positions were built. The personnel, the ammunition and supplies were housed in hollow beams and casemates that were covered with a layer of earth. In 1877 the forts de Tavannes, de Dugny and de Marre were completed. The Forts d'Haudainville and de Rozelier followed in 1879. In the early 1880s, construction began on a series of infantry works ( ouvrages ), originally called "postes" and then upgraded to forts - Fort des Sartelles, Fort de Chana, Fort de Choisel, and Fort de Belle-Épine - as well from larger facilities such as the Fort de Vaux , the Fort de Bois-Bourrus, the Fort de Landrecourt, the Fort de Moulainville and the Fort de Douaumont . The total cost of the work carried out by 1885 was 28,000,000 francs .

1885 to 1899

German shrapnel grenade 77 mm. The cartridge is filled with cellulose nitrate , the grenade with lead bullets.

In the mid-1880s, the artillery situation began to change dramatically. The introduction of explosive grenades , shrapnel , smokeless powder, melinite and cordite multiplied the penetration power of the projectiles and created a completely new situation for the stone-walled fortifications, the construction of which had just been completed. They had become almost unusable overnight, the service of the guns that were still in the open became a suicide squad, and the stone vaults covered by the earth could no longer withstand it.

In order to counter this danger, known in France as the " crise de l'obus-torpille ", a ministerial order of July 22, 1887 ordered that the guns should be withdrawn from the forts (as far as they were in the open) and put together in 42 interval batteries. If necessary, they should be placed between the forts in relaxed field positions. Ammunition and powder were stored in underground magazines (four magazines per battery, seven per sector and a central magazine in the citadel).

The infantry defense should be secured by continuous infantry positions ( Ouvrages d'infanterie ), by trenches and barbed wire barriers. The ceilings of the forts and ouvrages Douaumont (1887), Souville, Vaux and Marre (1888), Tavannes and Moulainville (1889), Rozelier (1890), Landrecourt and Bois-Bourrus (1891), Sartelles and Choisel (1894) were made with a 1 meter thick buffer layer of sand and reinforced with a 2.5 meter thick concrete layer. The capons were replaced by Contreescarpenkoffer . Finally, galleries were created under the citadel, while four deep caverns were dug near the forts (Abris de Quatre-Cheminées at Froideterre, one at Douaumont, one at Souville and one at Sartelles-Chana).

Since the mission of the forts had developed from large remote batteries to central defensive positions, the distance between the forts had become too great, so the construction of "intermediate works" was necessary to fill this gap. They were built from 1886 to 1887, were smaller than the “old” forts, and concrete was already used in their construction.

Especially since the episode of General Georges Boulanger in the Ministry of War 1886–1887 and the Schnäbele affair in 1887, the fear of a new war with Germany had increased. The result was the works “de Froideterre”, “de Thiaumont”, “de La Laufée”, “de Déramé”, “de Charny” and “de Saint-Symphorien”.

From 1890 to 1891 a first (external) retractable armored armored turret was installed in a concrete foundation 120 m west of Fort de Souville. It was a "Modèle Bussière" with two 155 mm cannons. The tower was a prototype that had been exposed to gunfire attempts at Châlon's military training area from 1887 to 1888. It was then repaired and placed here. The lift took place by means of a steam engine.

From 1895 to 1897 experiments on the use of reinforced concrete were carried out in Verdun.

1900 to 1914

Armored observation dome ( Observatoire cuirassé ) in Fort de Douaumont

On July 1, 1900, a program to modernize the Festes Platz was launched. It involved the construction of infantry bases in the spaces between the forts and the improvement of the existing forts and ouvrages by installing 46 retractable turrets and machine-gun turrets as well as 47 armored observation domes ( Observatoire cuirassé ) and building 23 flanking casemates (Casemates de Bourges) and the ceilings of the works were reinforced with a layer of concrete between 1.2 m and 1.8 m. A total of 24 concreted infantry bases ( Ouvrage d'infanterie / Abri de combat ), 16 to accommodate a company and 18 sufficient for a half company, were built in the spaces in between . The ceiling consisted of 1.7 m reinforced concrete. The names were derived from the first letters of the forts between which they were located - e.g. B. FT 3 between Froideterre and Thiaumont.

The Ouvrages de Froideterre , de Thiaumont and de Déramé were the first to be completely clad in reinforced concrete in 1902. The flanking casemates were tested on the Bourges firing range in 1899, which is where they got their name from. They were armed with two 95 mm modèle 1888 cannons at Fort d'Haudainville . Later the Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 was generally used on a special mount.

Three new models of steel armored turrets were used:

During an inspection in 1908, Général Henry de Lacroix, Vice-President of the Supreme War Council, ordered a "completion" program on May 17, 1909. It planned to install more armored turrets (seven 155 mm, 13 75 mm and six machine gun turrets), and 10 resistance centers (consisting of a fort surrounded by ouvrages, infantry bases and concrete battery positions) - in particular on the flanks of the fortification ring (with Fort de Douaumont in the northeast, Fort du Rozelier in the southeast and Fort de Bois-Bourrus in the northwest). However, this program had only just begun when the war began. Two new fortifications had already been built entirely in reinforced concrete - the Ouvrage de La Falouse (between 1906 and 1908) and the Fort de Vacherauville (between 1910 and 1914), the latter being the only truly modern French fort in 1914.

Two projects were abandoned when the war broke out: on the one hand the Ouvrage de Bras ( Bras-sur-Meuse between the Ouvrages de Charny and de Froideterre ), as the planning for it was still in its infancy, and on the other hand, two non-retractable towers were for the battery east of Douaumont ( Tourelle de 155 C modèle 1908 ) intended for a short 155 mm cannon each, which was also not realized. During the fighting, the excavation became the "carrière 2808" (quarry 2808).

general description

The Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 was the most widely used gun in the batteries of the permanent places

The Feste Platz Verdun in 1914 consisted of: 28 forts and ouvrages, 23 of which were more or less modernized with concrete reinforcements, with six turrets Tourelle Galopin de 155 mm R modèle 1907 each with a 155 mm cannon, 14 turrets Tourelle de 75 mm R modèle 1905 with two 75 mm cannons each, 23 Casemates de Bourges with two 75 mm cannons each and 29 machine gun turrets Tourelle de mitrailleuses modèle 1899 ; 211 cannons ( Canons revolver de 40 modèle 1879 , Canons 12 de culasse modèle 1884 or Canons de 90 mm modèle 1877 ) and 210 mitrailleuses on the ramparts and 86 mortars with smooth barrel were available to defend the trenches . The fortifications were supplemented by 17 small infantry bases that were laid out in front of the forts and 23 concreted infantry bases ( Ouvrage d'infanterie ). There were also 118 artillery batteries in the spaces between the forts and ouvrages, with 670 guns (mainly Canons de 120 mm L modèle 1878 and Canons de 155 mm L modèle 1877 for combating long-range targets). These cannons were stored in arsenals.

The defenses were divided into three sectors:

  • an outer ring ("ligne principale") with a circumference of 43 kilometers
  • an inner ring ("ligne de soutien") with a circumference of 25 kilometers
  • small, advanced infantry bases that were laid out as an observation line with a circumference of 50 kilometers.

In the ammunition magazine, 800 shells were stored per gun, which corresponded to a total of 611,000 shells.

“This is Verdun. The station is surrounded by military roads, hangars, artillery parks. Most travelers are soldiers; from the first steps on we only encounter uniforms […]. The city is also a vast camp that we well miss when looking at it from the heights of Belleville.
The view from this position is unique […]. A kind of huge circus formed by steep slopes with vineyards and houses. From distance to distance, knolls divide the uniformity of the picture; each of them carries a fort; all these forts are reinforced by batteries and shelters for the infantry; they are connected by railways. In the background, at the very end of the huge semicircle, sleeps around its cathedral, the very small Verdun at the foot of its citadel. No military installation, not even mountain fortresses like Grenoble, Briançon or Besançon, is as impressive as these. It's great and scary ... "

- Victor-Eugène Ardouin-Dumazet: Le voyage en France. 1904

Core plant

A central reduit was integrated into the city wall as the core work , in this case the citadel with a network of underground galleries, which served as a huge central warehouse and was absolutely bulletproof. These were known as the underground citadel (Citadelle souterraine). Shortly after the First World War, the three dead were laid out in these rooms, from which the one who was ultimately selected who was buried on November 11, 1920 in the tomb of the unknown soldier in the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in Paris . Coordinates: 49 ° 9 ′ 32 "  N , 5 ° 22 ′ 27"  E

  • Fortification plan of Verdun from 1695 (the map is upside down - north is at the bottom)

  • The citadel and the city wall on a staff map from 1866

  • Entrance to the underground rooms of the citadel - now partially a museum

On the left bank was the arsenal (on the "Quai d'artillerie", near the train station), on the right bank the two hangars of the airships ("Parc de ballon") south of Fort de Belleville and the runway of the airfield west of Fort de Belrupt.

Northeast sector

Forward line (northeast of Douaumont)
Ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization
Ouvrage de Lorient
Earthwork reinforced with round wood at height 343		 Lorient 1913 No
Ouvrage du Muguet
Earthwork reinforced with round wood		 Muguet 1913 No
Ouvrage de Josémont
Earthwork reinforced with round wood		 Josémont 1913 No
Ouvrage de Bézonvaux Bézonvaux 1889-1891 No
Ouvrage d'Hardaumont Hardaumont 1887-1893 No
Main fortifications (from west to east)
Forts or ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization 155 mm tower 75 mm tower Cas. de Bourges MG turret Observation
dome		 building-costs
Ouvrage de Froideterre Froideterre 1887-1888 1902-1905 - 1 1 2 2 1,000,000 FF
Ouvrage de Thiaumont Thiaumont 1887-
1888		 1902-1905 - - 1 1 1 400,000 FF
Fort de Douaumont Douaumont 1885-1889 1901-1903, 1907-1909, 1911-1913 1 1 1 2 4th 6,000,000 FF
Fort de Vaux Vaux 1881-1884 1888-1895, 1904-1906, 1910-1912 - 1 2 - 3 2,800,000 FF
Ouvrage de la Lauffée La Laufée 1887-1888 1904-1906, 1913-1914 - 1 - - 1 900,000 FF
Support fortifications (from west to east)
Forts or ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization 155 mm gun turret building-costs
Redoubt, then Fort de Belleville Belleville 1875-1877 No - 450,000 FF
Redoubt, then Fort du Saint-Michel Saint-Michel 1875-1877 No - 450,000 FF
Fort de Souville Souville 1876-1877 1888-1891 1 2,650,000 FF
Fort de Tavannes Tavannes 1874-1879 1889-1890 - 2,500,000 FF

Southeast sector

Forward Line (North to Southwest)
Ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization
Ouvrage d'Eix Eix 1887-1888 No
Ouvrage de Croix-Brandier Croix brandier 1883 No
Ouvrage du Manesel Manesel 1888-1889 No
Ouvrage de Châtillon Châtillon 1888 No
Ouvrage de Maubois Maubois 1889 No
Ouvrage de Jaulny Jaulny 1889 No
Ouvrage des Réunis or Bois-Réunis Réunis 1878 No
Main fortifications (from north to south-west)
Forts or ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization 155 mm tower 75 mm tower Cas. de Bourges MG turret Observation dome building-costs
Fort de Moulainville Moulainville 1883-
1885		 1889-1891, 1905-1909 1 1 1 2 4th 3,650,000 FF
Ouvrage de Déramé Déramé 1887-1888 1902-1903 - - 2 1 1 1,000,000 FF
Away you Rozelier Rozelier 1877-1879 1890-1902, 1904-1913 1 - 2 3 3 4,500,000 FF
Ouvrage de Saint-Symphorien Saint-Symphorien 1888-1889 1900 and 1902 - - 1 - - 400,000 FF
Fort de Haudainville Haudainville 1876-1879 1900-1902 - - 2 2 2 2,400,000 FF
Support organization
Forts or ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization building-costs
Redoubt, then Fort de Belrupt Belrupt 1875-1877 No 1,600,000 FF

Sector to the left of the Meuse

Forward line (from southeast to north)
Ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization
Ouvrage du Chapitre or du Bois-du-Chapitre Chapitre 1888 No
Ouvrage de Baleycourt Baleycourt 1888-1890 No
Ouvrage de Fromeréville or du Bois-des-Sartelles Fromeréville 1887-1888 1900
Ouvrage de Germonville Germonville 1887-1888 No
Ouvrage des Bruyères Bruyères 1887-1888 No
Main fortifications (from southwest to north)
Forts or ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization 155 mm tower 75 mm tower Cas. de Bourges MG turret Observation dome building-costs
Ouvrage de La Falouse La Falouse 1906 unnecessary - 1 - 1 2 550,000 FF
Fort de Dugny Dugny 1875-1877 1901-1902, 1902-1908 - 1 1 2 3 2,200,000 FF
Fort de Landrecourt Land recourt 1883-1886 1891, 1904-1906 - 1 1 2 3 2,750,000 FF
Redoubt, then Fort de Regret Regret 1875-1877 1906-1909 - 2 1 2 4th 2,600,000 FF
Poste, then Fort des Sartelles Sartelles 1876-1879 1900-1902 - - 2 2 2 1,100,000 FF
Post, then Fort du Chana Chana 1883-1884 1906-1911 - 1 2 - 1 1,150,000 FF
Poste, then Fort de Choisel Choisel 1883-1885 1894-1897, 1906-1912 - 1 2 2 3 1,300,000 FF
Fort de Bois-Bourrus Bois-Bourrus 1881-1887 1891-1894, 1904-1906, 1913-1914 - - 2 3 2 2,850,000 FF
Fort de Marre Marre 1881-1884 1894-1897 and 1904-1906 - 1 - - 1 2,500,000 FF
Poste de Belle-Épine Belle Epine 1883-1886 No - - - - - 400,000 FF
Fort de Vacherauville Vacherauville 1910-1914 unnecessary 2 1 - 1 4th 2,300,000 FF
Ouvrage de Charny Charny 1887-1888 1902-1904 - - 1 1 1 900,000 FF
Support organization
Forts or ouvrages Location
(coordinate)		 Construction year modernization building-costs
Redoubt, then Fort de La Chaume La Chaume 1875-1877 No 1,300,000 FF

Garrison units

The Ville-de-Paris military balloon in 1908. Assigned to the Verdun fixed place for observation and artillery control.

Since 1873 the Festive Platz Verdun was under the control of the 6 e région militaire (6th military region), whose headquarters were in Châlons-sur-Marne . In peacetime this consisted essentially of the "42 e division d'infanterie" (in the "6 e corps d'armée"), whose units were stationed in the immediate vicinity (the other two major units of the corps were the "12 e division d ' infantry ”in Reims and the“ 40 e division d'infanterie ”in Saint-Mihiel ). The “42 e division d'infanterie” consisted of the “151 e régiment d'infanterie”, the “162 e régiment d'infanterie”, the “19 e bataillon de chasseurs à pied” and the “61 e régiment d'artillerie” stationed in Verdun, "and the 94 e régiment d'infantry in bar-le-Duc , the 8 e battalion de chasseurs à pied in Étain and 16 e battalion de chasseurs à pied in Conflans - Labry . The units were drawn together for maneuvers; the division was not intended to occupy the fortifications.

A brigade of the "4 e division de cavalerie", consisting of the 2 e régiment de hussards and the 4 e régiment de hussards , as well as some units that were not assigned to any division were assigned: the "164 e régiment d'infanterie", the "165 e régiment d'infanterie", the "166 e régiment d'infanterie", the "44 e régiment d'infanterie territoriale", the "5 e régiment d'artillerie à pied" (5th foot artillery regiment) and the " 9 e régiment du génie “(9th Engineer Regiment) with the 6th and 25th battalions. These four infantry regiments, the artillery regiment and the 25th engineer battalion were intended to be used to garrison the forts, batteries and ouvrages in the event of war.

First World War

Concealment and deployment

On July 29, 1914, the ouvrages, which had been vacant in peacetime, were occupied with an occupation. So were z. B. the Ouvrages de Froideterre, de Thiaumont, de Bezonvaux, du Josémont, d'Hardaumont and de La Laufée as well as some permanent batteries occupied by the "164 e régiment d'infanterie". On July 30 and 31, the nine battalions of the "164 e régiment d'infanterie", the "165 e régiment d'infanterie", the batteries of the "5 e régiment d'artillerie à pied" (5th foot artillery regiment) as well the active pioneer departments moved into their intended positions. This also included the surrounding villages (the "164 e régiment d'infanterie" was in positions at Ornes , Damloup , Dicourt, Bourvaux, Vaux and Bras ).

On August 3, 1914, the active regiments were replaced by territorial troops. The "44 e régiment d'infanterie territoriale" arrived on August 1st, six companies were equipped and armed on August 3rd, the other six companies on August 5th.

Several reserve units and territorial units were set up on site and with them a "Division d'infanterie de réserve pour la 'défense mobile de la place" (reserve infantry division for the mobile defense of the place) and a territorial infantry division were formed. According to the plan of mobilization ( Plan XVII ), the Verdun fixed place was involved in the action to cover up the French march. The two active divisions of the 6th Army Corps, the 40th Infantry Division in Verdun and the 42nd Infantry Division in Saint-Mihiel , were involved in this action from day one. On August 4, 1914, the 3rd Army was set up. The commanding officer was Général Pierre Xavier Emmanuel Ruffey.

On the eighth day of mobilization, August 9, 1914, the troops in Verdun were ready for war. They had been reinforced from nine to 34 battalions of infantry, from nine to 35 artillery batteries (nine of which were mobile), and from three to eight companies of pioneers. There were also two escadrons of cavalry and an air company. This concentration formed the “72 e division d'infanterie de réserve” with the “351 e régiment d'infanterie”, the “362 e régiment d'infanterie”, the “364 e régiment d'infanterie”, the “365 e régiment d'infanterie ”, the“ 366 e régiment d'infanterie ”, the“ 56 e bataillon de chasseurs à pied ”(hunters on foot, the two hunter battalions were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Driant ), two escadrons of the 2nd and 4th Hussar regiment, three groups of the 61st, 59th, 11th, 41st and 45th field artillery regiments, plus the 1st and 21st companies of the 25th battalion of the 9th engineer regiment. The military governor ordered the evacuation of the civilian population on the grounds of “bouches inutiles” (useless eaters).

When the German invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg became known , the variant of "Plan XVII" came into force, which intended to strengthen the French left wing. The task of the 3rd Army was thus doubled - with the front facing north and east.

On August 11th, the three active army corps of the 3rd Army took up their positions in the Woëvre , they formed an arc to protect Verdun, which stretched from Moirey-Flabas-Crépion to Saint-Baussant . Already on August 10th, the commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre Général Ruffey had authorized the reserve divisions of the 3rd group to replace the active divisions on the heights of the Meuse (facing east with the front on Metz). On August 16, the 3rd Reserve Division Group was reinforced by the "76 e division d'infanterie de réserve" from the general reserve. The group under the command of Général Paul Durand, henceforth called "groupement Durand" and no longer subordinate to Ruffey, had been given the task of defending the Meuse heights. This enabled the three active corps at Damvillers , Dieppe-sous-Douaumont and Fresnes-en-Woëvre to be pulled out.

1914/1915, the isolated place

Two different plans: Plan XVII versus the Schlieffen Plan
Map of the western front with the projection at Verdun against the Argonne and the bridgehead at Saint-Mihiel

Like the other three fortress sites (Toul, Épinal, Belfort), Verdun was heavily fortified and equipped with a large number of artillery. The German deployment plan did not provide for attacks on these heavily fortified points, they were to be bypassed to the north by Belgium. As the northernmost point of the French defense chain, Verdun was practically the fulcrum of German forward movement. On August 26, the German troops took the outdated fortresses Longwy and Montmédy (Montmédy was evacuated without a fight) and then developed towards Verdun. At the end of August and beginning of September, the great retreat of the French army allowed the German XIII. Army Corps to establish themselves in the Argonne from the Rhine-Marne Canal to Vassincourt. The fighting at Vaux-Marie during the Battle of the Marne allowed the French to evacuate the left bank of the Meuse and to take up a stable front position north of the Argonne on the Servon – Melzicourt– Varennes line , where fighting continued throughout 1915.

The Germans ignored Verdun and tried to break through the fortification bar of the Moselle heights on the right side of the Meuse southwest of the city. The Fort de Troyon was shelled heavily from 8 to 13 September, but remained in French hands, while a successful breakthrough little further south on 20 September 1914 (Battle of Flirey) taking Saint-Mihiel and the Fort du Camp- des-Romains (on September 25, 1914) made possible. The German lines crossed and thus interrupted the "Route nationale 64", the railway line from Lérouville to Pont-Maugis and the Canal de l'Est from Verdun to Commercy , which made the supply of the fortress blatantly difficult. The Saint-Mihiel ledge withstood French attacks from April 5 to May 5, 1915.

Due to the destruction of the forts of Liège , Namur , Maubeuge and Fort de Manonviller by heavy German artillery and also because of Verdun's distance to the front, an order was made in October 1914 to reduce the forts' crews. In August 1915 the order was issued to dismantle the arsenals and disarm the forts and permanent batteries. The regulations on command, laid down in the decree of October 7, 1909, gave the governor of a permanent place a certain degree of autonomy vis-à-vis the commander-in-chief, which was specified in Article 151:

"The commander in chief of the combat section may not remove any part of the defense garrison designated by the minister from a place under his control."

With the decree of August 5, 1915, this was changed to the effect that the places in the area of ​​the armies were subordinate to the commander in chief, who

"The entire garrison of the Festes Platz and all the combat and food supplies available on site or in the requisition zone are under his command without restriction".

Only the armored turrets kept their cannons (with only a small supply of ammunition). The other guns were withdrawn and assigned to the heavy artillery regiments at the front, where they were used in particular in the autumn battle in Champagne .

The governor of Verdun, Général Michel Henri Marie Coutanceau, who had protested against the disarmament of Verdun, was replaced on August 10, 1915 by Général Frédéric-Georges Herr , who headed the newly formed fortified region of Verdun ("région fortifiée de Verdun" ) that corresponded to an army. Général Augustin Dubail , Commander in Chief of Army Group East, said:

“The defense of the territory depends entirely on armies in the field. Disarming those places whose role is no longer acceptable can easily provide us with the heavy artillery that is essential for our armies. "

The centers of resistance (trenches, infantry bases and barbed wire barricades) stretched across the plateau of Sivry-la-Perche and Côte du Poivre and represented the most advanced positions in the west and north of Verdun.

1916, the besieged place

At the end of 1915, at the instigation of the Chief of the German General Staff , Erich von Falkenhayn , it was decided to fight a great battle (annihilation battle [sic!]) Against the French army near Verdun. At first the Belfort Square was intended for this purpose, but then Verdun was chosen because the place was rather isolated compared to the rest of the French front, it was less serviceable and its fortifications had been disarmed in 1915. The crew of Fort de Douaumont, for example, had been reduced from 751 active soldiers to 58 territorial troops, the guns from the Casemates de Bourges had been withdrawn and the ammunition in the turrets had been reduced to a minimum.

To break up the front, the Germans concentrated 1220 guns in a semicircle, 17 of which were 30.5 cm mortars , three long-barreled 38 cm SK L / 45 guns and 13 42 cm howitzers .

Front shift map: German invasion of the northeast sector in 1916

The German offensive began on February 21, 1916 and hit the French 30th Army Corps with the "72 e division d'infanterie" and the "51 e division d'infanterie" in the center and the "14 e division d'infanterie" in the center Northeast.

The German troops attacked the forts of the defensive belt, took the Fort de Douaumont on February 25 without a fight and the Fort de Vaux after heavy fighting from June 1 to 7. The Ouvrage de Thiaumont changed hands several times: the Germans on June 23, the French on June 28, then again the Germans on June 29.

The attacks on the Ouvrage de Froideterre could be repulsed on June 23rd and those on the Fort de Souville on July 11th, although the conquest was within reach. The armored turrets of the forts were heavily involved in the fighting, especially on June 23 the machine gun turrets and 75 mm turrets of the Ouvrage de Froideterre. The 155-mm tower of Fort de Moulainville fired a total of 5833 shells from February to September 1916, at the same time 11,800 75-mm shells. The forts were retaken in the autumn of 1916: Thiaumont and Douaumont on October 24; Vaux was occupied without a fight on November 2nd.

  • Artillery effect on the French fortifications

  • Debris from the 75 mm tower of Fort de Vaux , destroyed by an explosion of the stored ammunition after a shell penetration

  • Concrete roofing of Fort de Douaumont destroyed by artillery

  • Traces of a shell impact on an armored dome (Fort de Douaumont)

  • Penetration of a French 40 cm shell in a casemate of the Kehlkaserne (Fort de Douaumont)

  • Scattered remains of the machine gun turret of the Ouvrage de Thiaumont

  • The churned-up area of ​​the former Ouvrage de Thiaumont, a century after the battle

  • Partially destroyed infantry shelter "FT3" (between Froideterre and Thiaumont)

  • Aerial view of Fort de Vaux in 1916

The forts and works of the north-eastern sector were heavily shelled by the German artillery, but also by the French (as soon as they fell into the hands of the Germans). As an example, 2,000,000 shells were fired during the German barrage on February 21 and 22 - the French fired 23,000,000 shells from February to September, 16,000,000 of which were 75 mm. That makes a 24-hour average rate of fire of 100,000 projectiles. The Fort de Moulainville was from February 26 to September 20, 1916 with 330 shells of the caliber 42 cm; 770 of 30.5 cm, 28 cm or 21 cm long barrel; 4700 of 21 cm caliber (mortar), 15 cm or 13 cm; 2600 with a caliber of 10.5 cm, 11 cm or 7.7 cm, which accounted for one impact per three square meters. The surface and the trenches were completely devastated.

The large shells partially penetrated the concrete roofing of the forts, causing the underlying masonry vaults to collapse (in some cases they were as deep as 14 meters). The crews suffered from a lack of water (because the cisterns were leaking from the vibrations), and the explosive gases released resulted in asphyxia . The Ouvrage de Thiaumont was completely destroyed; all that remained was a heap of rubble from the casemate, fragments of the turret and a jagged piece of the observation armored dome ( Observatoire cuirassé ). The Fort de Souville was also largely destroyed, the garrison took refuge in the lowest rooms; Fort Douaumont had lost its western machine-gun turret, the other was damaged; the 75mm tower of Fort Vaux had exploded.

“The forts and modern works, despite their damage, have been a very valuable aid; the older forts required significant additional work of reinforcement and improvement, but could also serve a useful purpose. The troops temporarily found safe shelter, hot meals, provisions and ammunition, thanks to these circumstances they were never completely exhausted. "

- Charles Mangin (Général): Comment finit la guerre. 1920
Cartoons
Dragées de Verdun.jpg
Douaumont par Hahn.jpg
Reprise de Douaumont.jpg


"The baptism of fire - The Dragées from Verdun and the godfather"

(The dragées are the grenades - sent by the Canon de 155 mm ).
Dutch:

“The terrifying Fort de Douaumont as described by the Germans; the little house Fort de Douaumont according to the description of the French "

"The French attack took place in the fog ... (German announcement of October 26th) ... then the fog was gone"

1916 to 1918, the structures were reinforced

Casemate Pamart at Fort de Souville, built in 1917 as a machine gun stand

In 1916 work was carried out to strengthen the fortifications. Since they were continued in 1917, they were referred to as the "works of 1917" ("travaux de 17"). New galleries and corridors were created, the main corridors were equipped with traverses with loopholes, small separate casemates for machine guns and new (covered) entrances to the forts were built. The ouvrages and forts received new garrisons, armed with machine guns, and the crews needed to operate them. The Casemates de Bourges were again equipped with 75-mm cannons.

The new galleries were laid much deeper to avoid the effects of the heavy shells. 26 forts or ouvrages, including those of the inner ring and the citadel, were improved; the longest of the galleries, which were carved directly into the rock and accessible through shafts, are located in (or under) Fort de Moulainville with a length of 2070 m as a connection to the MD1 infantry base, Fort de Rozelier with 1480 m and the Fort de Vaux at 1385 m.

The new machine gun casemates were kept small and were often referred to as bells. The new model was named Casemate Pamart after its inventor in September 1916 . The armor should at most withstand direct hits from a 22 cm caliber shell. 17 of these casemates were installed on the glacis of various forts, most of which were only accessible through the underground galleries.

In August 1917 the French launched an offensive near Verdun on both banks of the river to move the front a little to the north. The fortress was Verdun since the depression of the front projection at Saint-Mihiel on 12 and 13 September 1918 and then through the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of the American Expeditionary Forces retired permanently from the combat action from 26 September to 11 November 1918th

  • Traverse with loopholes in the main corridor of Fort de Douaumont

  • 1916–1917 gallery carved into the rock (here as an example in Fort du Salbert on the Belfort festival site)

After 1918

Interwar period

All forts, ouvrages, batteries and infantry bases in the northeast were massively damaged at the end of the war and in some cases were downright pulverized (for example Fort de Thiaumont and the batteries belonging to it). Despite the extensive damage to the masonry and concrete, most of the armored turrets were still operational (except in Fort de Vacherauville and Fort de Vaux), and almost all galleries and underground paths were still usable.

In 1921, General Benoit, pioneer commander in Metz, compared the fortifications built by the French at Verdun with those built by the Germans around Metz and Thionville ( Moselle position ). It then turned out that the fortifications around Verdun were downgraded in 1926 because of their location after the new border was drawn and also because of their age.

During the 1930s, the fortifications that were still operational were still in military use. Concrete reinforcements were made (for example, the gun wells of the 155 mm tower of Fort de Douaumont and that of the 75 mm tower of the Ouvrage de Froideterre were given a new concrete collar - as well as a number of the machine gun turrets and Observation domes) and the galleries dug in 1917 under the forts lined with concrete. Between 1937 and 1939 the towers of Fort de Douaumont were repaired. Nonetheless, Verdun was now on the second line of defense behind the Maginot Line .

On May 5, 1929, the artillery of the Festes Platz was assigned to the 3rd Group of the 163rd Fortress Artillery Regiment (the barracks were housed in the citadel). On October 30th she became the 3rd group of the 151st Fortress Artillery Regiment.

Second World War

The German generals Weisenberger and Daluege visit the battlefield, here on the Fort de Douaumont

During the French mobilization at the end of August 1939, the “151 e régiment d'artillerie à pied” (151st foot artillery regiment) set up the new “160 e régiment d'artillerie à pied”, which with its 1st group in the defense of Metz and should be used with the 2nd and 3rd groups in the defense of Verdun. Each of these groups consisted of three batteries, the 2nd group occupied the Casemates de Bourges and turrets of the forts on the right side of the Meuse, which were equipped with the Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 . The batteries of the 3rd group had to operate the guns on the right side of the Meuse - here mostly the Canon de 155 mm C modèle 1915 Saint-Chamond and the Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 . In January 1940, the two groups were withdrawn, the artillery garrison of the forts was transferred to a newly formed 10th battery.

During the German campaign in France in 1940, the French front was breached on May 15 at Sedan in the Ardennes, on June 5 on the Somme and on June 9 on the Aisne. The French commanders then decided to move south and moved the 4th and 2nd Army Groups to Champagne, Lorraine and Alsace. On June 11 and 12, the units that were to defend the Montmédy sector of the Maginot Line north of Verdun formed a marching division (Division légère Burtaine) and marched east. It was ordered that Verdun should not be defended, but on May 13th the "3 e division d'infanterie coloniale" (18th Army Corps, 2nd Army) was moved to the height of 304 des Mort-Homme and to Regnéville, here should they stop the Germans who attacked on May 14th with the 36th ID , 76th ID and 299th Infantry Divisions . In Verdun, the bridges had meanwhile been rendered unusable after the last of the bars had settled. Meanwhile, the "Division légère Burtaine" was defeated and withdrew as quickly as possible on foot to the south.

On June 15, 1940, the German troops penetrated Verdun, some of the forts were still firing their guns to slow down the advance of the Germans. For example Fort de Douaumont, which fired a few shells with its 155 mm turret , also the Forts de Dugny and du Rozelier, those of parts of the 132 e régiment d'infanterie and the 155 e régiment d'infanterie as the rearguard of the Burtaine division were occupied, as well as the Ouvrage de Froideterre defended themselves briefly.

For the remainder of the Second World War, the Verdun battlefield was a tourist attraction first for the German occupation forces and then for the US Army as a decoration for propaganda purposes . In 1944, the Americans carried out explosive tests in Fort de Choisel, three armored observation domes and three gun turrets destroyed in the process.

Post war tourism

You can visit three of the fortifications: Fort de Douaumont, Fort de Vaux and Ouvrage de La Falouse (the latter since 2010).

These three were prepared for this - the vegetation was removed from the ceiling and the access roads were prepared (in Fort de Douaumont the throat ditch with the original entrance gate was also exposed), rubble was removed inside and lighting installed. However, the galleries built in 1917 to reinforce the combat force are not accessible. The Ouvrage de La Falouse is far less frequented by visitors because it was not involved in the fighting of 1916 and it was more than 12 kilometers from the front. The Ouvrage de Froideterre is freely accessible. Only remnants remain of the Ouvrage de Thiaumont and the FT1 infantry base (better known as PC 119).

  • Tourism in Verdun

  • King Alfonso XIII of Spain visits the Fort de Douaumont

  • The King of Spain on the Fort de Vaux

  • Casemate barracks in Fort de Douaumont, prepared for visitors to visit

  • Wounded room in Fort de Vaux depicted with dolls

Visiting the other fortifications is strictly forbidden - some are owned and used by the French Army, the others are in ruins, there is a risk of collapse and accidents. Inside there are still large amounts of steel parts, rusty barbed wire and rubble, vaults have collapsed and manhole covers are rotten. Furthermore, there are a multitude of duds in the immediate vicinity, which makes walking on the site a great danger.

List of fortified places in France

See also

literature

  • Atlas militaire des frontieres de la France. Imprimerie Lemercier, Paris 1878, bnf 40614691g.
  • Gustave Voulquin: Frontières de France, forts et camps retranchés. Volume I: Frontières du Nord, de l'Est, Camp retranché de Paris, Positions de seconde ligne. Paris 1906.
  • Journal des Marches et Opérations de la Place de Verdun 1914–1915 ( Memento of April 23, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Service historique de la Défense , cote 26 N 67/10.
  • Lieutenant-colonel Benoit: Report du 23 août 1916 au sujet des effets du bombardement sur les fortifications de Verdun.
  • Général Benoit: La fortification permanente pendant la guerre. In: Revue du Génie. 1st half of 1922.
  • G. Benoit: Étude comparative des fortifications de Metz et de Verdun. In: Revue du Génie militaire. Berger-Levrault, Paris 1921, pp. 8–41, 113–137 ( digitized on Gallica ).
  • Fermond (Capitaine), Tournoux (Commandant): Description of the ouvrages de fortification permanente en service en 1914. 1928 (new edition 1931).
  • Maurice Naërt Lefranc, Gratien Laxague, Jean Courbis, J. Joubert: Les armées françaises dans la Grande guerre. Imprimerie nationale, Paris 1936, volume 1 ( digitized on Gallica ).
  • R. Menager (Lieutenant): Les forts de Moulainville et de Douaumont sous les 420. Paris 1936.
  • H. Colin (Général): Le fort de Souville. L'heure suprême à Verdun. Paris 1938.
  • Gabriel Bichet: Le rôle des forts dans la bataille de Verdun. Nancy 1969.
  • Philippe Truttmann (Lieutenant-colonel): La fortification en VI ème Région Militaire. In: Revue historique des armées. No. 3, Paris 1976, pp. 55-79.
  • Jacques Grasser: Verdun dans le système Séré de Rivières - Verdun 1916. In: Actes du Colloque International on the Bataille de Verdun. Verdun 1976, pp. 295-323.
  • Günther Schalich: Small guide to the fortifications of Verdun. Verdun 1990.
  • Alain Hohnadel, Philippe Bestetti: La Bataille des forts. Metz et Verdun de 1865 à 1918. Heimdal, Bayeux 1995, ISBN 2-84048-087-5 .
  • Guy Le Hallé: Le système Séré de Rivières or le Témoignage des pierres. Ysec, Louviers 2001, ISBN 2-84673-008-3 .
  • Jean-Luc Kaluzko, Frédéric Radet: Verdun 1916. Les secrets d'une place forte. Ysec, Louviers 2007, ISBN 2-84673-065-2 .
  • Rémi Fontbonne: Les fortifications de Verdun (1873-1918). Stratégie et tactique (= Collection Histoire ). Actania Presses, Servon 2011, ISBN 978-2-36172-009-4 .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Fort de Tavannes was first called "Fort Brûlé" or "Fort du Bois-Brûlé", then the name was given to it by Gaspard de Saulx, seigneur de Tavannes , governor de Verdun in 1592; see Tavannes (fort de ) ( memento of March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in Fortiff'Séré.
  2. ↑ Several sources also count the Fort de Dugny among the so-called panic redoubts.
  3. ↑ Attempts were made in 1887 on the Bourges firing range and in 1888 on the Camp de Châlons.
  4. ↑ By instruction of October 18, 1902.
  5. ^ The Ouvrages de Saint-Maure, du Bois-Rogé, du Trimard and de Thierville were given up before 1910.
  6. ↑ See Muguet (ouvrage du) ( Memento of March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: Fortiff'Séré.
  7. ↑ The Ouvrage de Josémont, was sometimes also called "de Josiamont"; see Josémont (ouvrage de) ( Memento of March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in Fortiff'Séré.
  8. ↑ given in gold francs
  9. ^ The Territorial Infantry corresponded to the German Landwehr.
  10. ^ The "59 e bataillon de chasseurs à pied", all reserve units.
  11. ↑ According to the law of July 3, 1877, extended by the law of August 5, 1914, digitized to Gallica .
  12. ^ German: Landwehr
  13. ↑ The Dragées de Verdun contained grains of aniseed until the 18th century . The anise was then replaced by almonds . In France, this type of dragées is given away at baptisms and weddings.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Les origines de la citadelle de Verdun et la construction des galeries. In: Citadelle souterraine de Verdun
  2. ↑ La citadelle de Verdun: le bastion de la Reine. In: Reliques souterrains et industrie
  3. ↑ Le fort de Belleville ou fort Chevert. In: Fortiff'Séré
  4. ↑ a b Hohnadel / Bestetti 1995, p. 7.
  5. ↑ a b Hohnadel / Bestetti 1995, p. 6.
  6. ^ Philippe Truttmann: La Muraille de France ou la ligne Maginot. La fortification française de 1940, sa place dans l'évolution des systèmes fortifiés d'Europe occidentale de 1880 à 1945. Illustrations: Frédéric Lisch. Gérard Klopp, Thionville 1988, new edition 2009, ISBN 2-911992-61-X .
  7. ↑ Hohnadel / Bestetti 1995, p. 5.
  8. ↑ Le Hallé 2001, p. 93.
  9. ↑ Truttmann 1988, pp. 28-29.
  10. ↑ Hohnadel / Bestetti 1995, p. 7.
  11. ↑ La tourelle de 155C modèle 1908. In: Fortiff'Séré
  12. ↑ Hohnadel / Bestetti 1995, p. 65.
  13. ↑ Benoit 1921, pp. 113-114.
  14. ^ La place forte de Verdun ( Memento of September 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Fortiff'Séré
  15. ↑ Benoit 1921, p. 114.
  16. ↑ Hohnadel / Bestetti 1995, p. 8.
  17. ↑ Benoit 1921, p. 114.
  18. ^ Victor-Eugène Ardouin-Dumazet: Le voyage en France. Volume 21: Haute-Champagne, Basse-Lorraine. Berger-Levrault, Paris 1904, Sect. 353–354
  19. ^ Ouvrage d'Hardaumont et du Muguet. In: Forum Pages 14-18
  20. ↑ a b c d e f Benoit 1921, p. 132.
  21. ↑ Le fort de Tavannes. In: Reliques souterrains et industrie
  22. ↑ Stéphanie Meyniel: Le 15 janvier 1908 dans le ciel: Le “Ville-de-Paris” rejoint Verdun par les airs. In: Air Journal. January 15, 2013
  23. ↑ Répartition et emplacement of the troupes de l'armée française. Imprimerie nationale, Paris May 1, 1914
  24. ^ In: Journal des marches et opérations du 164 e régiment d'infanterie. Volume I. Service historique de la Defense , cote 26 N 703/1
  25. ^ In: Journal des marches et opérations du 44 e régiment d'infanterie territoriale. Service historique de la Defense, cote 26 N 784/1
  26. ↑ Naërt / Lefranc / Laxague / Courbis 1936, pp. 58–59.
  27. ↑ Naërt / Lefranc / Laxague / Courbis 1936, p. 538.
  28. ↑ Naërt / Lefranc / Laxague / Courbis 1936, p. 582.
  29. ↑ Instruction générale n ° 1 of the Grand Quartier général and Ordre général d'opérations n ° 2 of the III e armée, both of August 8, 1914, cited in: Naërt / Lefranc / Laxague / Courbis 1936, p. 350.
  30. ↑ Instruction particulière n ° 3 au général commandant la III e armée des GQG (3 e bureau), August 10, 1914, quoted in: Naërt / Lefranc / Laxague / Courbis 1936, p. 351.
  31. ↑ Naërt / Lefranc / Laxague / Courbis 1936, p. 358.
  32. ^ Directive du 20 October 1914
  33. ↑ Allain Bernède (général de brigade): Verdun 1916: un choix stratégique, une equation logistique. In: Revue historique des armées. No. 242, 2006, pp. 48-59.
  34. ↑ Benoit 1921, p. 120.
  35. ↑ Des travaux en cours à l'épreuve du feu, 1914–1918. In: Roland Scheller: Les cuirassements dans la fortification terrestre française 1871-1918. In: Ligne Maginot. Fort de Schoenenbourg
  36. ↑ a b Benoit 1921, p. 122.
  37. ^ Charles Mangin: Comment finit la guerre. Plon-Nourrit, Paris 1920, section 58, digitized on Gallica
  38. ↑ Les travaux dits de 17. In: Fortiff'Séré
  39. ↑ Les galeries de 17 or galeries dites de 17. In: Fortiff'Séré
  40. ↑ La cloche Pamart ou casemate Pamart. In: Fortiff'Séré
  41. ^ Dominique Lormier: Comme des lions. May – June 1940: l'heroïque sacrifice de l'armée française. Calmann-Lévy, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-7021-3445-9 , section 257.
  42. ↑ La retraite du 14 et 15 June 1940. In: Ardenistoir
  43. ↑ Verdun 1940–1945 ( Memento of June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). In: La seconde guerre mondiale en modèles réduits
  44. ↑ 1940-06-26 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau No. 512 (German news showing Fort de Marre and the city center of Verdun). In: Internet Archive
  45. ↑ Ouvrage de Falouse. In: Petit Futé
  46. ↑ Visiter un fort ne s'improvise pas ( Memento of October 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Fortiff'Séré