Fort de l'Infernet
The Fort de l'Infernet is a French fort on the west ridge of the Sommet des Anges in the Cottian Alps . The infantry fortress towers over the east and northeast of the community of Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes department ( Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region ). It was built to secure the Italian border.
etymology
The name Infernet is a contraction of the French Petit Enfer (little hell). This refers to the increased risk of lightning on the ridge. An obelisk, for example, reminds of a soldier who was struck by lightning in 1934.
geography
Fort de l'Infernet, built between June 1874 and September 1880, is located at 2,377 meters above sea level, about 4 kilometers east of Briançon. It is based on the westernmost ledge of the Crête du Gondran (Gondran ridge), which extends over from the Sommet des Anges . Below the fort, wooded slopes descend to the Cerveyrette , which flows into the Durance south of Briançon .
At the fort there was also an external powder magazine, set a little lower in the southwest. It was driven into the mountainside between 1890 and 1891 and mainly supplied the Fort du Gondran . On La Cochette - a dip to the east in the Gondran ridge at an altitude of 2200 meters - there were 15 elongated, one-story barracks buildings that offered space for a crew of 1500 men and also maintained the telegraphic connection to Fort du Gondran and Fort du Janus .
geology
From the next higher eastern summit of the Gondran ridge - the 2,354 meter high L'Ombilic - the fort is separated by the Clarée fault . This north-south trending fault represents the eastern boundary of the Briançonnais Terrangis. It is accompanied by a band of easily weatherable Rauhwacken that mark the Col de la Cochette . The fort and its slopes are part of the Infernet unit , which is characterized by a succession of Jurassic / Cretan sediments in common Briançonnais facies. This sequence is underlain by the Upper Triassic Dolomites of the Norium . A little deeper on the west ridge at the La Seyte point , the very similar La Seyte unit follows, separated by a tectonic contact . The Infernet unit forms an east-tilted anticline , the core of which is formed by the Noric Dolomites immediately west of the fort. However, the fort itself is located on Malm in the facies Marbre de Guillestre and then Dogger .
description
The fort - with a maximum diameter of 140 meters - is one of the first fortresses of the Séré de Rivières type with a hexagonal plan. Its construction cost was 1,130,500 million francs in gold. It was designed as a garrison in 1881 for a garrison of 210 men. With a total of 16 artillery pieces, it formed a support pillar in the defensive bar around Briançon. Its main task was to lock the valley of the Durance flowing through Briançon against attacks from Italy, whose state border runs over the Col de Montgenèvre . Between 1878 and 1881 the fort was armed with 5 cannons of caliber 138 and 7 cannons of caliber 155 millimeters as well as 4 mortars, which pointed in the direction of Plampinet , the Gondran ridge and the Col d'Izoard . In 1893 two 155 millimeter cannons were replaced by two 95 millimeter cannons.
The fort had no capons and due to the exposed nature of the site, several interruptions in its hexagonal map resulted. The entrance with a removable bridge opened to the northwest between two pillars. To the right was the guard house, in which the bed frames of the individual camps can still be seen. Since the fort was built on a mountain slope, the individual floors are staggered one above the other up to the summit. After crossing the entrance, the inner path led after two hairpin bends up to the summit square. Behind it, on the axis of the entrance, was a first one-story building that was covered by two artillery platforms. In front of this building was the first hairpin turn to the left. The uphill path then led past the powder magazine, which stored 80 tons of black powder. Together with the Fort de Joux , Infernet is the only fort with staggered foundations. Since the fort was facing away from the presumed direction of attack, two window openings could be left out on its left flank. What is striking here is an impressive cut in the site plan. The second hairpin turn to the right led to the large inner courtyard of the fort, which is cordoned off on the east side by a five-bay, one-story barracks building. The building did not end in a straight line with the courtyard, but was slightly angled inward. Above it was an artillery cavalier with a single and double protective truss. The entire western front had infantry positions below. The fort also had water reservoirs and even two lifts powered by mules to the Fort du Randouillet and the Gondran ridge. There are still numerous metal objects such as bed frames, bread oven, kitchen stove, doors and shutters.
It can still be seen today that the terrain reacted very unstably to artillery fire.
The view from the fort is of breathtaking beauty and sweeps over the Pelvoux massif and the Pic de Rochebrune .
The fort is now owned by the municipality of Montgenèvre and unfortunately left to decay.
history
Construction of the fort began in June 1874. Between 1878 and 1880 the Mur de Serre des Armes was added to the fort - an 800-meter-long, brick-built infantry trench to prevent the fort being bypassed in the north. From 1878 to 1894 the two lifts were installed after Fort du Randouillet and the Gondran ridge. The connection to the telegraph network took place between 1900 and 1914.
The target crew in 1914 consisted of 466 men for the fort, 103 men for the trench position and 33 men for the newly added artillery position La Seyte . When mobilizing for the First World War , however, the crew consisted of only 431 men, some of whom were also distributed among the barracks in the saddle of La Cochette . By the end of 1915, the artillery armament was gradually withdrawn and relocated to the front in north-eastern France. In 1916 the fort was finally completely disarmed, since Italy had already sided with the Allies in May 1915. The fort was then not occupied until 1940, but was kept in good condition due to political tensions.
In World War II opened during the battle in the Western Alps (1940) 1940 four French mortar from June 23 caliber 280 mm fire towards Italian border. From June 21st they stood in the hamlet of Poët-Morand south of the fort and aimed at the Italian fortress on Mont Chaberton . This threatened Briançon, 17 kilometers further down in the Durance valley, with its eight large-caliber cannons. The French mortar fire under the command of Lieutenant Miguet was able to knock out six of the eight Italian turrets over the course of several days - which was a significant technical success of the French artillery. The fort had come under fire from the Italian artillery, but had not suffered any major damage.
literature
- Marco Frijns, Luc Malchair, Jean-Jacques Moulins and Jean Puelinckx: Index de la fortification française 1874 - 1914 . Édition Autoédition, 2008, ISBN 978-2-9600829-0-6 , pp. 832 .
Web links
Coordinates: 44 ° 53 ′ 40 ″ N , 6 ° 41 ′ 8 ″ E