Fort de Belrupt

Entrance from Fort Belrupt

Site plan Fort de Belrupt

The Fort de Belrupt (temporarily called "Fort Corda") is a fort on a hill east of the city of Verdun near the town of Belrupt. It belonged to the Verdun fixed place .

designation

It was originally called Fort de Belrupt , until the Minister of War, Général Georges Boulanger , issued a presidential decree on 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 Corda after the Général Joseph Corda 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

Construction of the fort

Fort Belrupt was built in the mid / late 1870s as part of the construction of the “Systems de Sere de Riviere”, the Barrière de fer in the inner fortress ring of Verdun on the right bank of the Meuse . Construction took place around the same time as the Fort de Souville , Fort du Saint-Michel and Fort de Belleville facilities . The construction of these systems, together with the existing first generation systems on the left bank of the Meuse, should directly protect the city; unlike, for example, the Fort de Tavannes , which was built at the same time, but was supposed to protect the railway line and the associated tunnel de Tavannes . In keeping with the technical standards of the time, the fort, like the other first generation forts mentioned above, was built in the form of half-covered quarry stone vaults with only a limited number of covered connecting passages. The relatively small fort consists only of trenches, nine tunnel shelters with casemates for artillery , a very small two-story barracks with periphery , as well as a double and two single front trenches and a throat bastion. The throat ditch could be defended in the area of ​​the portal directly from the throat barracks and their casemates, but the fort can be described as quite weak. The vaults covered with gravel, sand and earth only offered protection against non-penetrative projectiles such as cannonballs and massive or non-explosive grenades and were therefore completely out of date after 10-15 years. A total reconstruction as with Fort de Douaumont , Fort Vaux or a massive expansion as with Fort de Souville with the associated preservation of the defense capability did not take place. Only at the turn of the century a few concrete positions were built on the roof of the barracks and the central front. Parts of the throat bastion were later reinforced with concrete. After the experience in Fort de Moulainville, a deep tunnel system was created during the war . The installation of armored turrets and the like was completely omitted.

First World War

Due to its location, at least 4.5 kilometers behind the main battle line, the fort was not directly involved in the combat operations of the infantry , but was used as a battery, magazine and post and was therefore subject to moderate fire from the German side. The almost ineffective reinforcement caused considerable damage to the fort, despite the relatively weak bombardment for Verdun.

Second World War

During the Second World War the fort played no role. A garbage dump was then built next to the fort, which extended to the south-eastern areas of the fort. Since 2004 it has been used by a paintball club, which has been slightly renovated ; a visit is therefore not possible directly, but the surrounding area in the direction of Caserne Chevert offers a view of some smaller facilities.

Picture gallery

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  Fort Belrupt with wooden protection walls for paintball players

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  Fort Belrupt inside

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  Fort Belrupt inside

See also

• Technical terms fortress construction
• Trench warfare in World War I
• List of fortifications in and around Verdun

Footnotes

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

Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 52 ″  N , 5 ° 26 ′ 6 ″  E