Fort d'Uxegney

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FortUxegney.jpg
Fort d'Uxegney
gate with bridge over the throat ditch
Type: Barrage
Fortress section: Epinal
Occupation 1914: 224 men of the 170th RIF a. 8th RAP including 2 officers
construction
Layout: Irregular pentagon
Entrance: gate post reinforced with concrete
Combat stands: 2 × armored turrets
2 × Tourelle de mitrailleuses modèle 1899 (machine gun turrets )
2 × space strokes
Trench Defense: 1 × trench strokes
1 × double trench strokes 1 × double
trench caponier
Power supply: 3 × petrol engines with 25 HP each
The supply took place via a narrow-gauge railway
Armament
Guns: 1 × 155 mm
6 × 75 mm
3 × 12 pounder grappling
guns 4 × 40 mm revolver cannons
8 × 80 mm field guns
Machine guns: 2 × 2 in armored turrets
Fort d'Uxegney caponier with iron picket fence

The Fort d'Uxegney , (temporarily called Fort Roussel ), is located in France on the territory of the commune of Uxegney in the Vosges department . It was built from 1882 to 1884 as a result of the lost war against Germany and the associated border shifts to the west. From 1893 it was modernized and expanded several times.

designation

For a short time it was named after Général Nicolas François Roussel d'Hurbal . By presidential decree of January 21, 1887, the Minister of War, Georges Boulanger , implemented that all forts, fortified artillery installations and barracks of the Système Séré de Rivières must bear the names of former military commanders. On October 13, 1887, this was reversed by Boulanger's successor, Théophile Ferron, and the fort was given its current name.

location

It was part of the eastern fortifications (Fortifications de l'Est) of France, was one of the works of the Système Séré de Rivières and belonged to the belt fortress Fester Platz Épinal . It formed a complex with the Fort de Girancourt , the Fort de Bois de l'Abbe and the Ouvrage de Sanchey.

It is 379 meters above sea level on a ridge above the Avière valley and had the task of controlling the connection Épinal - Mirecourt , the railway line Épinal- Nancy , the Canal de l'Est and the south of the Trouée de Charmes. (The Trouée de Charmes was a gap deliberately left open in the fortress belt between Toul and Epinal. It was hoped that a German attack could be restricted to this gap in order to be able to fight the attackers in a concentrated manner.)

description

The base forms an irregular pentagon, which is surrounded by a dry moat. The length of the northeast facing front is 220 meters. Construction was completed in just two years (1882 to March 1884). It consisted of the gun placements, barracks, food and ammunition magazines, shelters and the necessary facilities including a sick bay with 44 beds. There were no stables. The casemates were made of sandstone from a quarry near Forges . They were freely bricked up and then covered with the excavation of the foundations and excavation. Later on, annex batteries, the Casemates de Baourges, were built for reinforcement. The guns were originally free on the ramparts and were only covered by parapets and trusses .

The core work consisted of an angled casemate in the front and a throat barracks with a gate post .

The cost of the original construction was 1.7 million francs according to the bill at the time.

The only remaining working example of the Galopin armored turret 155 R is in the fort . The completely preserved facility still houses functional installations such as the kitchen, accommodations and guns. The exceptionally good state of preservation has led to its inclusion in the list of Monument historique .

Modernization measures

A first modernization measure took place in 1893. For this purpose, the gate tower, the powder magazine and several casemates as well as a shelter above the access to a cistern were reinforced with a concrete cover.

During the second modernization, the plant was completely rebuilt. It now received two retractable armored turrets and two retractable machine gun turrets. Two Casemates de Bourges were also built as a space between the neighboring plants. In addition, the facility received three armored observation posts and three guard posts with an armored bell. Several housing casemates were reinforced with iron girders and concrete. The masonry capons in the front trench were removed and replaced by trench weirs in the outer trench wall. A power station with three petrol engines of 25 hp each was installed.

  • 1892 to 1894: Construction of a concrete barracks with 114 seats. In addition, the powder magazine and the main entrance were reinforced.
  • 1890 to 1900: Connection to a narrow-gauge railway with a track width of 60 cm
  • 1900 to 1914: Construction of a steel lattice fence on the escarpen wall, replacement of the capons by trenching in the escarpen wall with access from the ditch. Construction of a war access from the trench.
  • 1910 to 1912: Construction of the Tourelle Galopin 155 (ready for fire 1912), the Tourelle Galopin 75 mm and the two machine gun towers.
  • 1910 to 1914: Construction of an armored observation post ( Observatoire cuirassé ), construction of two Casemates de Bourges as space between the forts de Girancourt and Bois d'Abbé
  • 1913 to 1914: construction of a power station. Three blocks, each with a petrol engine and a total output of 12 kilowatts at a voltage of 110 volts . (Not finished when the war broke out)

crew

The originally planned war crew consisted of:

By ordinance of July 30th, the war occupation was determined as follows:

  • Infantry : 2 officers, 125 soldiers from the 170 e régiment d'infanterie (170 e RI), 2nd officers, 125 soldiers from the 37 e régiment d'infanterie territoriale
  • Artillery : 2 officers, 168 soldiers from the 8th e régiment d'artillerie á pied
  • Pioneers : 13th pioneers from the 11th e régiment du genie & 2 telegraphists

Total: 433 men

Actual occupation at the beginning of the war in 1914 from:

  • Infantry: 1 officer, 113 soldiers from the 170 e régiment d'infanterie
  • Artillery: 4 officers, 106 soldiers from the 8th e régiment d'artillerie á pied, including one armorer and 46 military workers
  • Pioneers: 2 telegraph operators

Armament

1884

On the ramparts Armored turrets Trench defenses Casemates de Bourges
5 × Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 guns

5 × Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 guns

2 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22 (220 mm)


4 × Canon Reffye de 75 mm modèle 1873 (Canon de 5) not built yet
Total guns: 16

1906

On the ramparts Armored turrets Trench defenses Casemates de Bourges
3 × guns Canon Lahitolle de 95 mm

4 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns

2 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22 (220 mm)

2 × grappling guns


4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 not built yet
Total guns: 15

1908

On the ramparts Armored turrets Trench defenses Casemates de Bourges

8 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns

2 × grappling guns


4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 not built yet
Total guns: 14

1912

On the ramparts Armored turrets Trench defenses Casemates de Bourges

8 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns

1 Tourelle Galopin de 155 mm R modèle 1907
1 Tourelle de 75 mm R modèle 1905


4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879

2 each with 2 × cannons 75 mm modèle 1897 on pivot carriage

Total guns: 12

Armament 1914

Core plant

Moat weir

Consisting of:

  • Trench strokes in the front trench with:
1 Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 and 1800 rounds of ammunition
1 Canon 12 de culasse modèle 1884 and 150 rounds of ammunition
  • Double trench strokes in the front trench with:
2 Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 and 1800 rounds of ammunition each
2 Canon 12 de culasse modèle 1884 and 150 rounds of ammunition each
  • Double throat caponier with:
2 Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 and 1800 rounds of ammunition each

Air defense

From 1915 two 75 mm modèle 1897 cannons were placed on special anti-aircraft mounts outside the fort. The carriages were mounted on rotating platforms.

Equipment 1914

  • An additional concrete barracks with 202 seats and 385 beds
  • The original casemate barracks with 105 beds
  • A powder magazine with 100 tons of black powder
  • A cartridge magazine with 70,000 cartridges
  • A kitchen with two stoves (manufacturer: François Vallant)
  • Two wells and three cisterns
  • A folding bridge with counterweights
  • Connection to the power grid (under construction, not completed)
  • Telephone connection to the Fort de bois d'Abbé

There was no light signal connection to the neighboring forts, nor was there a bakery. The bread was baked in the Fort de bois d'Abbé.

After the First World War

From 1929 France began planning the Maginot Line , a new fortress system to replace the previous, outdated Barriére de fer.

The "fortified camps" of the pre-war period, which were too far back after the border shift in 1919, were retained in the second line without a clear assignment. The forts in a previously exposed position continued to be maintained or, like the forts Douaumont or Froideterre , made ready to fire again. The gun emplacements were inspected at regular intervals by members of the artillery park. Trial shots were fired in 1924, 1925 and 1928. In spite of this, the equipment was now out of date and the regular inspections were abandoned, as was the need to keep the firing areas clear by deforestation. The fort was downgraded to a depot, the cannons withdrawn from the Casemate de bourges in 1937 for the Maginot Line.

The fort was still looked after, the German occupation also left it intact, although the other plants in the Epinal area were downright cannibalized to get to the steel scrap.

Fort d'Uxegney was used as an ammunition depot until the 1960s when it was abandoned.

Since October 1989 there is a group of friends for the preservation of the fort, the ARFUPE (Association pour la restauration du Fort d'Uxegney et de la Place d'Épinal). The fort, as well as the Fort de Bois l'Abbé, are looked after and maintained by them.

On 20 April 2002, was in the list of Monuments historiques added

Interior views

  • 75 mm gun in a Casemates de Bourges.

  • Retractable armored turret

  • Casemate accommodation for 50 men

  • Fort kitchen

  • Retractable machine gun turret

  • Look into the fortress

literature

Web links

Commons : Fort d'Uxegney  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Note n ° 5285 of March 25, 1886 from War Minister Boulanger to the General Commanders of the Military Regions; Presidential decree of January 21 on the renaming of forts, fortified artillery installations and barracks, as proposed by M. le général Boulanger, Minister of War.
  2. ↑ with the note n ° 14980 from the same date
  3. ^ La tourelle Galopin 155R du fort d'Uxegney
  4. ↑ Foot artillery
  5. ↑ R stands for "raccourci à tir rapide" and means "abbreviated - rapid fire"
  6. ↑ Le fort d'Uxegney , ARFUPE, 1995, p. 36
  7. ↑ Fort d'Uxegney in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 7 ″  N , 6 ° 23 ′ 3 ″  E