Fort de Belleville

Main entrance of the Fort de Belleville

Location map

The Fort de Belleville , briefly also called Fort de Chevert , was part of the belt fortress Fester Platz Verdun . It was an intermediate work (Ouvrage) of the first category and was one of the first structures of the fortress to be built at the same time as the Fort du Saint-Michel . It is located at an altitude of 250 meters just west of the municipality of Belleville-sur-Meuse .

designation

Originally it was called Fort de Belleville , until the Minister of War Général Georges Boulanger implemented a presidential decree of January 21, 1887 that all forts , fortified artillery installations and barracks of the Système Séré de Rivières had to bear the names of former military commanders, which is why the fort then the name Fort de Chevert after the Maréchal de camp François de Chevert received. On October 13, 1887, this was reversed by Boulanger's successor, Théophile Ferron, with Note No. 14980 of the same date, and the fort was given its original name back.

The construction

Originally only planned and built as a redoubt , it was upgraded to a fort soon after the Ouvrage de Charny and the Ouvrage de Froideterre were built. However, it was downgraded to second class soon after, as it was too close to the center of the fortress. For this reason, the modernizations that were otherwise carried out everywhere were not carried out, only annex batteries were available. Since the fort did not have any possibility of artillery defense of the throat ditch (there were no trench defenses in this area), two field guns had to be set up on the rear wall for this purpose. There were also no other modernizations, such as the construction of concrete rooms. All main armament was set up in the open air.

Construction dates and costs

Construction time: February 1875 to December 1877
Construction costs: 536,250 francs

Planned modernizations

no

Improvements

1890 to 1900

Connection to the network of the field railway
Creation of wire obstacles in advance
Installation of a picket fence on the edge of the trench and on the face of the capons.

Armament

1879

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses	External battery
3 × Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 5 × Canon de 138 modèle 1873–74 2 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm 1 × Mortier lisse de 22	no	12 × Canon à balle (grappling guns) 2 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm	no
Total: 25

1884

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses	External battery
3 × Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 5 × Canon de 138 modèle 1873–74 4 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm 2 × Canon à balle (grappling guns) 1 × Mortier lisse de 22	no	4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 4 × Canon 12 de culasse 2 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm	no
Total: 19

1890

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses	External battery
3 × Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 5 × Canon de 138 modèle 1873–74 4 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm 2 × Canon à balle (grappling guns) 1 × Mortier lisse de 22	no	4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 4 × Canon 12 de culasse 2 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm	no
Total: 19

1908

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses	External battery
2 × Canon Lahitolle de 95 mm 3 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 1 × Mortier lisse de 22	no	4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 4 × Canon 12 de culasse 2 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm	no
Total: 16

1910

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses	External battery
4 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 2 × Mortier lisse de 15	no	4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 4 × Canon 12 de culasse 2 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm	no
Total: 16

garrison

Budget-based crew

Infantry : 4 officers , 250 NCOs and men
Artillery : 1 officer, 55 NCOs and men
Pioneers : 2
Military workers: 1
Medical: 0
Battery monitor: 0

Total: 5 officers, 310 NCOs and men

Reinforcement in mobilization in 1914

Infantry: 0
Artillery: 1 officer, 55 NCOs and men (of the foot artillery)
Pioneers: 4 (including 1 telagraphist)

Total: 1 officer, 60 NCOs and men

Equipment 1914

Vein phone

Accommodation with 160 beds in the barracks
Kitchen with 2 cookers from François Vaillant
a well and a cistern with 3 m³ content
a drawbridge over the moat
a light signal apparatus with a spotlight 14 cm and 21 cm in diameter was kept in reserve.
to the citadel in Verdun and to "Fort Saint-Michel" there was a telephone connection from the Ader system and a "Modèle 1907" Morse code machine
the lighting was provided by electric and kerosene lamps in the fort and acetylene lamps in the moat defenses.

First World War

crew

1914: 104 men
1916: 61 men
1917: 80 men

Armament

On the ramparts (1914)

4 "Canon de 90" on a fortress carriage with 600 shells per gun

2 mortars "mortar lisser de 15" in reserve with 300 shells each

1 machine gun platoon with two St. Étienne M1907 machine guns and 43,200 cartridges

Trench defense

Double trench caponier with two "Canon revolver de 40" and 1800 grenades each, two "Canon de 12 culasse" with 150 grenades each

two single trench capons, each with a "Canon revolver de 40" with 1,800 grenades each, a "Canon de 12 culasse" with 150 grenades each

On the Kehlwall two field guns "Canon de 90" with he 600 shells
On the ramparts (1915)

no armament

Trench defense

Double trench caponier with two "Canon revolver de 40" and 1800 grenades each, two "Canon de 12 culasse" with 150 grenades each

two single trench capons, each with a "Canon revolver de 40" with 1,800 grenades each, a "Canon de 12 culasse" with 150 grenades each

On the ramparts (1917)

An unknown number of machine guns for close-range defense

Trench defense

Double trench caponier with two "Canon revolver de 40" and 1800 grenades each, two "Canon de 12 culasse" with 150 grenades each

two single trench capons, each with a "Canon revolver de 40" with 1800 grenades each, and one "Canon de 12 culasse" each with 150 grenades

Plus a casemate pamart

External systems

Battery d'artillerie 7–1: unoccupied at the beginning of the war
Battery d'artillerie 7–2: 4 guns Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878
Battery d'artillerie 7–3: unoccupied at the beginning of the war
Battery d'artillerie 7–4: unoccupied at the beginning of the war
Battery d'artillerie 7–5: unoccupied at the beginning of the war

Depot intermédiaire AB (interim storage facility AB, built from 1891 to 1893)
Depot intermédiaire BC (interim storage facility AB, built between 1892 and 1894)

additional

By the end of 1915, all guns had been withdrawn and taken to the front. At the beginning of 1916 gunpowder stocks were still stored in the warehouse so that the structure could be blown up in the event of a German advance.

In May 1916 the garrison consisted of a company of infantry, two machine gun platoons with eight machine guns , and artillery and engineer detachments.

Fighting

On the first day of the German attack on February 22, 1916, the fort was fired at with 130 mm, 150 mm and 210 mm shells. Between March and May around 1,300 to 1,500 grenades fell on the fort every month. The walls of the trench and the interior were damaged, while most of the wire entanglement was destroyed.

In the period from June to August 1916, the bombardment was reduced by half, then decreased even further and almost completely stopped from February 1917. From May 1, 1916 to May 1, 1917, only 4,000 projectiles fell on the fort. On June 11, 1916, Belleville was fired at massively with gas grenades, but without having any major effect.

The most glaring damage

a grenade fell on the partition wall of a casemate and destroyed both rooms
a shell penetrated the ceiling of the main corridor and exploded in the corridor, claiming many victims.
the passage was broken through again, but further towards the exit. The side wall of a casemate was dented
a shell hit the kitchen ceiling, exploded in it, and threw the front wall into the corridor
Impact in the artillery room
Hit the corner of the guardhouse where it was connected to the outside wall. The wall was badly damaged.

All other impacts caused damage to the masonry, almost completely destroyed the picket fence and otherwise fell on the earth cover within the trench or outside the facility without causing damage.

Reinforcement work

Since the ceilings of the fort were not secure against impacts of 21 cm caliber and higher, underground shelters were created. They were located more to the east of the fort, as the water table in the west was too high. The tunnels called “Galeries de 17” were connected to the structures above ground by stairs. In the end they reached a length of 660 meters. They contained depots and accommodations that were protected against the ingress of gas by an overpressure system. The exits were secured by steel doors, sandbags and machine guns.

Current condition

After the end of the First World War the fort was abandoned and has since been left to its own devices and left to decay. It is owned by the municipality of Belleville-sur-Meuse, and entry is not permitted.

Footnotes and individual references

↑ Note No. 5285 of March 25, 1886 from Minister of War Général Boulanger to the General Commanders of the Military Regions; Presidential decree of January 21, 1887 renaming the forts, fortified artillery systems and barracks, as proposed by the Minister of War, Général Boulanger

Web links

Fort de Belleville on fortiffsere

49.180555555556 5.3838888888889Coordinates: 49 ° 10 ′ 50 ″ N , 5 ° 23 ′ 2 ″ E

[1] Note No. 5285 of March 25, 1886 from Minister of War Général Boulanger to the General Commanders of the Military Regions; Presidential decree of January 21, 1887 renaming the forts, fortified artillery systems and barracks, as proposed by the Minister of War, Général Boulanger