Fort de Souville

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort de Souville shortly after the end of the war
Location map

The Fort de Souville (sometimes called Fort Lemoine ) was a French fortification on the hill A Souville, about seven kilometers northeast of Verdun . The fortress was in the inner defensive ring of Verdun and very close to the fiercely contested Fleury-devant-Douaumont . During the Battle of Verdun in World War I , the fortress was involved in fierce fighting and the target of unsuccessful German attempts at conquest. A large part of the facility was completely destroyed by massive artillery fire.

designation

For a short time it was named after Général Louis Lemoine . 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.

Building history and conception

After the Franco-Prussian War (1870/1871), the Barrière de fer was built on the French side along the new border under the leadership of Séré de Rivières . In the course of these construction activities, the fortress ring around Verdun , later referred to as inner, was built, which belonged to the Verdun Festival Square . In the course of these fortifications, the core structure of Fort Souville was also built in the classic polygon shape in 1876/1877. Extensive expansions and reinforcements were made by the start of the war in 1914. In contrast to other fortifications in the fortress ring, the combat value increases were not primarily carried out in the factory, but in the immediate vicinity. Construction activity continued during the war. Due to the renovation work, the fort has a fortress topology that can almost be described as "dissolved" . Therefore, the term “massif fortifié” (fortified mountain range) often appears.

The fort and its remains are divided into 4 areas:

Core plant

The core plant was built in quarry stone in 1876/1877. The moat and thus the work as a whole had an irregular heptagonal shape. The face points to north, north-east and east. Inside the fort were the barracks, the powder store and supply rooms. The fortress had several platforms for artillery. The quarry stone rooms were laid out at the surface level of the hill and covered with a top layer of gravel and earth. The powder store and the barracks had a basement. The various functional areas of the fort were essentially not accessible through covered connections. Caponniers were built in the trenches in accordance with the construction methods used at the time . Three simple capons were installed on the flanks and a double one at the top of the work. The throat was protected by a throat case grouped around the peace entrance and integrated into the escarpe. These works were connected to the fortress interior via posternes . The peace entrance is in the southwest corner of the plant and was closed by a drawbridge. From 1888 the core plant u. a. underwent several changes due to the explosive grenade crisis . The wire obstacle on the glacis was expanded and the ceiling of the powder store was reinforced with concrete and an additional damping layer made of gravel.

Tunnel barracks

The war entrance (also called the tunnel barracks ) was also built from 1888 as an extension of the fortress. Here, too, the building is predominantly made of quarry stone, the barracks is also equipped with a brick wall to allow the rooms to drain. The specialty of the underground tunnel barracks is that it lies outside the trench. Access from the outside is via the war entrance, which is located directly on the " Souville Weg" . This entrance is covered by a gate, which houses additional shelters and latrines. The actual gate was a drawbridge. The barracks had six large vaulted rooms. This accommodation building was connected to the powder store via a hollow corridor and another hollow corridor with stairs to the higher southern flank courtyard.

Tourelle Bussière

The Tourelle Bussière ( Bussière Tower ) is located almost 100 m southwest of the Friedenseentrance. This turret, built in the early 1890s, is unique in the Verdun area. This is a prototype that was tested in the Camp de Châlons from 1887 to 1888, but was not introduced in favor of the Tourelle Galopin . Analogous to the twin Galopin towers that are frequently encountered , the tower was equipped with two gun barrels, which are located in a return-braked mount. The tower could be raised and lowered. The side straightening range of the tower was 360 °. The tubes have a caliber of 155 mm. The moving part of the tower has a weight of almost 200 t. The lifting / lowering device was driven by a steam-powered hydraulic system due to its heavy weight. The bedding of the actual turret is a semi-underground concrete structure. It consists of a rectangular part in the entrance area, on the sides of which there are various rooms for materials and crews, and the gun well . This part housed the hydraulic system for the lifting / lowering mechanism, among other things. There are large cisterns under the rooms in the entrance area. Since this construction is a prototype, v. a. made changes to the mechanics until the war. Only about 600 rounds were fired until 1916, when the tower was irreparably damaged and the building was used for other purposes. Originally the tower was only connected to the core plant above ground.

Tunnel system

The tunnel system , also known as "reseau 17", was created based on experience in Fort de Moulainville . The constant bombardment there had caused considerable damage, which severely restricted the fort's ability to fight. In Souville, the damage was even more serious, since the core plant consisted only of rubble and had almost no resistance to explosive shells. Therefore, a tunnel system connecting different parts of the fort was built at a lower level than that of the entrance to the war. This connected the core plant with the Bussière tower and the adjacent battery and the tunnel barracks. The Pamart casemates that were added later were also connected to this system. These were standardized machine gun bunkers for two Hotchkiss machine guns. They were developed in 1917 by the French officer Pamart. Three such casemates were installed near Fort Souville, two more remained unfinished.

Battle of Verdun 1916

After the massive attacks of February 21, April 10 and May 25, 1916, the Germans occupied the heights of the Poivre and Chambrettes mountains on the right bank of the Meuse and the Fort de Douaumont , a particularly important observation point that is an essential part of the German supply chain has been. On June 7, the last defenders of Fort de Vaux were defeated by German troops and the first ranks reached the eastern slopes of the great ridge, which was bordered by the fortifications of Thiaumont, the ruins of the village of Fleury and the Fort de Souville. The heads of the 140th Infantry Regiment came until shortly before the fort, but then had to give up their attack.

As long as this ridge was in the possession of the French, they could also defend the right bank as ordered by General Joseph Joffre ; In addition, the Fort de Souville was a good starting point for counterattacks, for example to recapture the forts Vaux and Douaumont.


The fort today

The inner parts

  • Destroyed main entrance to the fort

  • War entrance of Fort Souville

  • Access from the courtyard to the tunnel barracks and the war entrance (in the left flank courtyard)

  • Left flank courtyard of Fort Souville with access to the Poudriere (in the right background)

  • View into the blocked tunnel to the Poudriere of Fort Souville,

The outer parts

  • Access to the Tourelle Bussière armed with two 155 caliber cannons.

  • Standardized MG combat area (built in 1917/18) of the Casemate Pamart type in the run-up to the fort

  • Ammunition niches of a battery near the fort.

See also

Web links

Commons : Fort de Souville  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/accueil : 55100 Verdun; Parcelles Cadastrales: 2013/24/07
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ↑ with the note n ° 14980 from the same date

Coordinates: 49 ° 11 ′ 17.3 "  N , 5 ° 26 ′ 20.3"  E