Ouvrage Simserhof
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| Simserhof | ||
| Type : | Artillery plant | |
| Fortress section : | Rohrbach | |
| Crew : | 812 men of the 153rd RIF a . 150th RAP including 27 officers | |
| Commander : | Lieutenant Colonel Bonlarron | |
| construction | ||
| Inputs : | 1 × for teams (elevator) 1 × for ammunition (at ground level) |
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| Combat blocks : | 8 × artillery casemates | |
| Power supply : | 4 × Sulzer units with 265 HP each | |
| Ammunition and armament | ||
| The ammunition was delivered via a field railway. An electric factory railway is installed inside. The plant was designed for an ammunition consumption of around 170 t per day of major combat . | ||
| Ammunition storage: | The facility had a main ammunition depot (M1) | |
| Block 1: | 1 × 13.5 cm casemate , 1 × 4.7 cm PAK / JM , 1 × MG turret ; 1 × GFM bell | |
| Block 2: | 1 × 4.7 cm PAK / JM, 1 × JM , 1 × 8.1 cm tower , 1 × GFM bell, 1 × VDP bell | |
| Block 3: | 1 × 3.7 cm PAK / JM, 1 × JM, 1 × 8.1 cm tower, 2 × GFM bells | |
| Block 4: | 1 × 13.5 cm casemate, 1 × 3.7 cm PAK / JM, 1 × machine gun turret, 1 × GFM bell | |
| Block 5: | 3 × 7.5 cm casemate (model 32) , 2 × GFM bells, 1 × VDP bell, 1 × LG bell | |
| Block 6: | 3 × 7.5 cm casemate (model 32), 2 × GFM bells, 1 × VDP bell, 1 × LG bell | |
| Block 7: | 1 × 13.5 cm tower , 2 × GFM bells | |
| Block 8: | 1 × 7.5 cm tower (Mod. 33) , 2 × GFM bells | |
| Ammunition input: | 1 x 4.7 cm PAK / JM, 2 x GFM bells | |
| Team entrance: | 2 x 4.7 cm PAK / JM, 1 x JM, 2 x GFM bells | |
Ouvrage Simserhof was the name of an artillery plant on the French Maginot Line , about four kilometers west of Bitsch on the D 35 towards Saargemünd in the municipality of Siersthal . The plant assigned to the Rohrbach fortress section got its name from a farm that used to be there and had the task of protecting the border ledge north of Bitsch (French: Môle de Bitche ).
construction
A first plan dated June 7, 1929 provided for the Simserhof only a 260 m wide fortification with five guns, which should be surrounded by a ditch. A little later, the decision was made to build two separate systems here and only connect them to one another via an underground corridor system. The final construction plan was finally approved on September 16, 1930. At a width of 750 m, two half-works with mainly flanking weapons were to be built, and between them a central work with turrets to conduct long-range combat. An all-round trench was still planned for both half-works. The shell was built between 1930 and 1933. Then the installation of the technical equipment and the guns began. In 1938 the fortress was completed. At times, 2000 workers were employed day and night. Ultimately, two entrance and eight combat blocks were created . The planned trench and some other reinforcement structures were not implemented for financial reasons. The team entrance leads via a staircase and an elevator into the underground corridor system. Ammunition and supplies were delivered to the plant via a two-inch field railway that ran via Reyerswiller and Lemberg to St. Louis . From there, the standard-gauge railway continued to the ammunition depot in Wingen . Inside the factory, the ammunition was safely stored in an approximately 150 m large main ammunition store (M1) with seven cells, from where it could be transported to the front with the electrified factory railway to the combat blocks.
The underground barracks for a total of 876 crew members consisted of a medical department with an operating room, a supply department for storing food, a large kitchen, rest and standby rooms with showers and toilets as well as a technical department with power plant and toilet facilities, as is usual in such a plant Heating systems and corresponding workshops. The main underground gallery was about 2 km long.
The eight combat blocks, spread over an area of around 30 hectares , are divided into three sections: Artillery casemates 1, 2 and 5 were located in the west half-work, and the artillery casemates 3, 4 and 6 in the east half-work. In between were artillery bunkers 7 and 8. All guns together could fire about 2.5 tons of ammunition per minute.
The total cost of the facility was 118 million francs .
Fighting
The German Wehrmacht did not attack the strong Simserhof artillery plant directly in the western campaign . On June 14, 1940, the plant fired several volleys from Block 8 on enemy patrols near Gros-Réderching . After the 1st Army broke through in the Saar section, the Germans stood in the rear of the fortification line. One after the other fell the Haut Poirier (June 21) and Welschhoff (June 23) infantry works, which were too far away to receive effective protection from here. Attacks on the neighboring plant in Rohrbach, which was fully within the scope of the weapons from the Simserhof, could, however, be rejected. After the Germans occupied Paris, the French government surrendered all fortifications without a fight. It was only when the French government was forced and threatened by the Germans to occupy further areas in France that the soldiers were able to move the fortress over. The Simserhof was not handed over to the German occupiers until four days after the official cessation of fighting on June 30, 1940. The crew, with the exception of a small group of specialists for the maintenance of the system, went into German captivity.
Two generators and some other technical equipment were dismantled during the occupation. The Germans mainly stored ammunition and torpedoes here.
In December 1944 - during the battle for Alsace-Lorraine - a small German unit stayed in Simserhof. The 7th US Army bombarded the plant with heavy artillery (including 24 cm howitzers ) for six days and the US Army Air Force carried out several air strikes; then the plant was abandoned on December 19 by the Germans who fled the emergency exits in blocks 4 and 6 after being blown up inside. The US 71st Infantry Regiment ( 44th US Division ) then occupied the Simserhof and later used it to defend against the German counter-offensive ( Operation Nordwind ).
The fortress today
The heavily damaged plant was repaired after the war. Block 5 was excluded from this. Soldiers were permanently stationed here until 1956, and in 1992 the plant was occasionally occupied during maneuvers . The French army has set up a museum in the former main ammunition depot since 1965 . A film will be shown about the creation of the Maginot Line and then a tour with an automated train through the ammunition dump will be made. Supported by audiovisual media, the situation during the war days is described from the perspective of one of the stationed soldiers.
There is also a guided tour through the underground barracks area with power station, air treatment, kitchen, hospital and crew quarters with detailed explanations of the complex techniques that were used here.
German and foreign language tours take place from mid-March to mid-November, except on Mondays. The fort has a constant temperature of 12 ° C, which is why warm clothing is recommended for viewing. Film and both tours last about 2.5 hours. A visit to the upstream combat blocks is not possible, however, as they are apparently still located in a separate military area and the French army does not allow a visit there. Above ground, however, the combat blocks are all accessible through a signposted circular hiking trail and guardrails against falling. Only plants 7 and 8 can only be reached through overgrown trails.
photos
Access to the work
Entrance to the factory
Route in the factory
Air treatment system in the factory
Outdoor area
Individual evidence
- ↑ see also US Army in WW II - Rviera to the Rhine . Cape. 27: Northwind .
- ↑ Ouvrage du Simserhof - visitor information
literature
- François Klein, Serge Schwarz: L'ouvrage du Simserhof . Paris 1998.
- Philippe Truttmann : La muraille de France ou la ligne Maginot . Thionville 1988, ISBN 3-8132-0685-8 , pp. 113-117, 33-367 .
- Jean Bernard Wahl: Then and Now. The Maginot Line . Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-8132-0685-8 , pp. 345-349 .
Web links
- Photographic tour of the fortress (German)
- Simserhof, Siersthal on Chemins de Mémoire
- Official website
- Simserhof (French)
Coordinates: 49 ° 3 ′ 32.1 ″ N , 7 ° 22 ′ 17.8 ″ E