Ouvrage de Chèvremont

Chèvremont at the beginning of the First World War

Right access to the Ouvrage de Chèvremont

Plan of the Ouvrage de Chèvremont

The Ouvrage de Chèvremont was part of the Belfort fortress .

It was built as a result of the lost war against Germany and the associated German border shifts to the west. Construction began in 1889 and was completed the following year.

description

It was part of the eastern fortifications (Fortifications de l'Est) of France, belonged to the “à cavalier” type as an advanced intermediate work ( Ouvrage ) and was part of the Système Séré de Rivières . It was laid out on the site of a former redoubt of the Belfort Fortress and is located 390 meters above sea level east of Belfort in the area of ​​the municipality of Chèvremont . It was in front of the forts of the Hautes Perches and the Basses Perches and covered the space between the forts de Vezelois and de Bessoncourt . He was also responsible for securing the railway line from Mulhouse to Belfort. It was one of the more modern works, the fighting stalls are already made entirely of reinforced concrete .

Building

The fort has the shape of a trapezoid with the (shorter) front facing east. A dry moat surrounding the plant, this is, however, only in the throat formed as a complete trench and running on both sides in masonry or concrete. There is no inner ditch wall in the flanks and in the front , the slope from the top runs out here and ends at the Contreescarpe . In the throat there is a defensive barracks built from brick walls and partially reinforced with concrete , which protrudes into the throat ditch and from which it could be defended. To the left and right of the defensive barracks there was an entrance over the moat, of which the left one was closed a long time ago. (For this purpose, the same ashlar stones were used as they are already in the building itself, so that the access must have been closed shortly after the fort was completed). The right entrance is equipped with a two-part bridge. There is a bridge pillar in the trench, to which a drop-off bridge leads from the outer trench wall and from there a drawbridge that can be folded down to the actual gate. The original fence made of metal bars still stands on the outer wall of the trench. The moat walls consist of stone blocks, with a protective wall made of concrete on the inner moat wall (in the throat) halfway to the shoulder point of the flank. This served to cover the ramparts to the infantry bases against rearward fire. The power station is located next to and in front of the defensive barracks. From here a postern leads to the armored machine gun stand and branches from here to the two turrets. From these the posternes were carried on and ended in the double moat weir in the right shoulder point of the front, as well as in the simple moat weir in the left shoulder of the front. The two moat weirs thus coated the front and both sides of the fort.

From the defensive barracks there is an exit to the left and right onto Wallstrasse (rue de rempart) and the two concrete infantry shelters.

Since the plant was not set up for permanent troop accommodation, there was a (now ruinous) peace barracks outside the facility.

• In the summer of 1914 the crew consisted of 287 men. After the war began, a total of 311 beds and 17 seats were set up.
• There was no bakery, the bread was obtained from the town or from Fort de Bessoncourt.
• In the fort there was a well and a cistern with a capacity of 120.8 m³. Another well belonged to the peace barracks.
• There was no optical connection (light signal station) to any of the neighboring plants.
• All works on the fortress ring could be reached by electric telegraph.
• There was no powder magazine, but there was an ammunition storage room.

Planned modernizations

• 1900:

Build an ammunition magazine. Construction of an armored observation post ( Observatoire cuirassé ) and two armored turrets, each with a 75 mm gun. (Estimated cost: 467,000 gold francs )

• 1906:

Construction of two machine gun towers

• 1914:

Establishing a bakery on a trial basis.

Completed modernizations

• 1909–1912:

Construction of the postern to the fighting stands, construction of the two trench defenses, expansion of the defensive barracks and construction of an ammunition magazine.

Canon de 90

• 1909–1912:

Construction of three armored observation stands, the two armored turrets 75R05 (two 75 mm cannons each) and the armored machine gun stand. The turrets were operational on June 18, 1912.

• 1913-1914:

Connection to the power grid, installation of electrical lighting and electrically operated ventilation of the fighting stalls. Construction of a power plant equipped with two motors and two dynamos to generate electricity. After the beginning of the war , several protective tunnels were driven into the natural ground.

Armament

1903

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses
8 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns	0	Rifles and mitrailleuses

1906

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses
8 × cannons 90 mm - Canon de 90	0	Rifles and mitrailleuses

1908

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses
8 × cannons 90 mm - Canon de 90	0	Rifles and mitrailleuses

1912

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses
2 × cannons 90 mm - Canon de 90 (in reserve)	3 × observation towers 2 × Tourelle de 75 mm R modèle 1905 1 × machine gun	1 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 3 cannons 120 mm - Canons de 12 culasse

1914

On the ramparts	Under armor protection	Trench defenses
4 × cannons 90 mm - Canon de 90 (in reserve) 2 × machine guns	3 × observation towers 2 × armored turrets 75R05 1x machine gun	3 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 2 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 3 cannons 120 mm - Canons de 12 culasse

During the Second World War , all steel parts were removed and scrapped.

Since the fort was not involved in any combat operations, it is in relatively good condition. It is used by the French army for training purposes, entry is not possible.

literature

• Alain Hohnadel, Philippe Bestetti, La Bataille des forts. Editions Heimdal, Bayeux 1995, ISBN 2-84048-087-5 .

Web links

Commons : Ouvrage de Chèvremont  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Belfort

Footnotes

1. ↑ with Ouvrage was an upstream subsidiary work, resp. Called intermediate work
2. ↑ At the time of completion, however, this bridge construction must also have been present at the left entrance
3. ↑ The original name "canon de revolver" is misleading, as it is a multi-barrel gun based on the Gatling system. This is sometimes referred to in French as a mitrailleuse.
4. ↑ Since this was carried out by the German Wehrmacht on other French forts, it can be assumed that this was the case here

Coordinates: 47 ° 37 ′ 25 ″  N , 6 ° 54 ′ 20 ″  E