Ouvrage de Thiaumont

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plan of the Ouvrage B de Thiaumont 1914
View at the beginning of the fighting
Aerial view during the main phase of the fighting.

The Ouvrage B de Thiaumont , ( German  Zwischenwerk Thiaumont ) was a fortification of the Ouvrage d'infanterie type as part of the Verdun belt fortress . It was only a small structure designed to cover the space between the Fort de Douaumont and the considerably larger Ouvrage de Froideterre . The ouvrage included some artillery positions and infantry shelters.

Fighting

When the German attack on Verdun began in February 1916, it belonged to the 1st sector of the Verdun Feste Platz . It had only a small infantry crew and only 20 artillerymen to operate the two guns. In the last months of 1915 the guns and ammunition had been withdrawn and the work had been prepared for demolition, which was then reversed by order of March 7, 1916. The gun powder intended to carry out the demolition was removed and buried in the area. On March 11th, it was ordered to set up the two field guns in the Casemate de Bourges again, but this could no longer be carried out due to the strong artillery fire that was on the work.

On February 21, the beginning of the German attack, Thiaumont was massively hit with 15 cm and 21 cm caliber shells . Then there were 30.5 cm , 38 cm and possibly 42 cm bullets. From February 26th to 28th and March 1st, there was again heavy fire with the calibers 15 cm and 21 cm. On February 27th, the access to the concrete shelter (called “Abri” or “Caserne bétonnée”) was hit by a heavy blow that caused a large indentation in the concrete slab of the cover. Another heavy shell drove under the passage to the observation dome ( Observatoire cuirassé ) raised the floor and covered the passage with earth and stones. One of the two armored posts ( Guérite blindée ) was still filled with explosives (for detonation). He was torn to pieces by a direct hit, the other was thrown from its anchorage into the trench. On March 20, the ouvrage was so destroyed that it was abandoned as a defense work and the remains were only used as much as possible as a shelter for the infantry defending the area .

Until the end of May Thiaumont was about a kilometer behind the French front, on June 1st it was surprisingly taken by the Germans. On June 2nd the French recaptured it. On June 8, the Germans began an attack with artillery preparation using large caliber (probably also with 42 cm mortars ). The infantry attack carried out on June 9th was repelled. Until June 22nd, 1916 the whole area was fought over and the Ouvrage was under constant artillery fire of all calibers, including Green Cross grenades .

A new German attack followed on June 23 at 6 a.m., and the Bavarian 10th Infantry Regiment was able to take the plant within 30 minutes.

The smashed observation armored dome. On the right in the background the remains of the Abri with the machine-gun tank turret.

French counter-attacks were initially rejected until it was possible to take the plant vacated by Infantry Regiment No. 57 on June 28th. On the same day it had to be left to the Germans again. On June 29th it returned to the possession of the French, who could only hold it until June 30th.

In the night of August 9, 1916, the concrete ruins were finally cleared by the Germans and were abandoned until October 24.

On that day, the remains of the ouvrage were finally occupied by the French on their big offensive.

Effects

The building was completely destroyed by the constant artillery bombardment from the German and French sides (even with heavy and heaviest calibers).

  • Casemate de Bourges
three or four hits of the heaviest caliber on the ceiling had smashed and crushed it. The access has been buried, only a few smaller cavities were left
  • Observation / command tower (Observatoire cuirassé)
The system, which was already damaged in February, consists only of bent iron bars and rubble. The dome was torn apart by a direct hit, the shaft is only a crushed mass.
  • Machine gun tower
The armored dome fell into the gun well , which collapsed and filled with rubble.
  • Shelter (Abri / barracks betonnée)
The entrance is compressed, the interior is no longer accessible.

On March 20, the picket fence, the wire obstacles and the parapets had disappeared and the trench was largely leveled.

The construction

The building originally consisted of only three brick shelters, which were surrounded by a rampart with parapet and ditch with a brick outer wall. The inner wall of the ditch was sloped and provided with a parapet made of earth. From here the trench defense should be carried out by infantry. Artillery equipment was not planned. It is located at an altitude of 350 meters in the area of ​​the vanished municipality of Fleury-devant-Douaumont .

Construction dates and costs

  • Construction time: 1887 to 1893
  • Construction costs: 54,244 gold francs

Modernizations

Planned modernizations
Type of picket fence

Completed modernizations

  • 1902 to 1905 : Complete renovation with massive expansion of the facility. Retention of the parapets, construction of a shelter in the wall for 40 men and a casemate de Bourges with two field guns Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 to paint the space between Fort Douaumont in place of the two masonry shelters that existed here (the third shelter was retained) . The cost of this was 279,035 francs.
  • 1902 to 1904 : Installation of a machine gun tower ( Tourelle de mitrailleuses modèle 1899 ) and a tank observation tower. The machine gun tower was ready to fire on September 30, 1904. The cost of these measures was 56,000 francs.
  • 1903 to 1904 : Construction of an iron picket fence on the ditch embankment and wire entanglement with pig-tail posts in advance.

The structure was now completely made of reinforced concrete . Only the inner walls of the protective structure and the left shelter from the first construction period were made of masonry.

Armament

1905

On the ramparts Under armor protection Trench defenses External battery

0


1 × Tourelle de mitrailleuses modèle 1899

1 × armored observation and command tower ( Observatoire cuirassé )

2 × armored guard shelters ( Guérite blindée )

No trench defenses

Machine guns and rifle fire from the breastworks were provided for trench defense.

0
Total guns: 0

1910

On the ramparts Under armor protection Trench defenses External battery

0

1 × Tourelle de mitrailleuses modèle 1899

1 × armored observation and command tower (Observatoire cuirassé)

2 × armored guard shelters (Guérite blindée)

No trench defenses

Machine guns and rifle fire from the breastworks were provided for trench defense.

0
Total guns: 0

crew

  • The planned war crew according to the order of July 30, 1909 consisted of:
Infantry: 1 officer, 93 NCOs and men
Artillery: 0 officers, 4 NCOs and 10 men
Pioneers: 1 officer, 5 men
Telegraph troop: 2 men
Total: 1 officers, 121 NCOs and men
  • Military reinforcement in 1914 under Article 40 of the Law of May 21, 1905
Infantry: 1 officer, 44 NCOs and men of the "164 e régiment d'infanterie"

Equipment at the beginning of the war in 1914

Accommodation : in the concrete barracks: 50 seats, in the bricked area there were no seats
Powder magazine : without
Ammunition magazines: 2 magazines for the ammunition of the machine gun turret and the two 75 mm guns
Kitchen : without
Bakery : none
Water supply : 1 cistern
Gate bridge : without
Communication : Possible optical connection with the aid of a light signal device with kerosene lamp with 14 cm mirror and 24 cm mirror (in reserve). An electric telegraph and a M 1907 Morse code led to Fort de Souville .
Lighting : kerosene lamps inside the fort, candle lamps in the machine gun tower
Location map

First World War

Complete system in 1914

  • Armament:
3 machine gun trains with six St. Étienne M1907 machine guns and ammunition equipment of 43,200 cartridges each
1 machine gun tower with two Hotchkiss M1914 machine guns (1 as reserve machine gun) and an ammunition equipment of 57,600 cartridges
1 Casemate de Bourges with two Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 field guns and ammunition equipment of 500 shells each. A reserve barrel was provided for each gun.
  • In February 1916 the crew consisted of 77 men. The armament was removed except for the machine gun in the armored dome (only a small amount of ammunition was kept for this)
  • In 1917 the structure was completely destroyed.

External systems belonging to the Ouvrage de Thiaumont

  • The Ouvrage de Thiaumont was surrounded by a number of annex batteries and shelters:
Batteries "2-1" and "2-2" each with four field guns Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 in unprotected positions
Battery "2-4" in protected positions, type 1907 with four howitzers Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 . There are also four concrete shelters with 40 seats or 20 beds each.
Battery "2-9" in protected positions Type 1907 with four Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 guns . There are also four concrete shelters with 40 seats or 20 beds each.
Battery "2-6" with four old Mortier lisse de 22 mortars in open positions.
Batteries "2-7" and "2-8" each with four field guns Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 in open positions.
Infantry shelters open in front "Retranchement X" and "Y"

Model 1898. Built in 1906 at a height of 334 m as a shelter for ½ company with 100 seats. In 1915 the structure was prepared for demolition. After this was revoked, a command post was set up here and the system was renamed PC 119. Captured by the Germans on June 23, 1916, the French were able to recapture it on July 15.

Abri de combat FT 3
  • Abri de combat FT 3 or PC 118

Model 1898. Built in 1905 at a height of 356 m as a shelter for ½ company with 100 seats. In 1915 the structure was prepared for demolition. After this was revoked, a command post was set up here and the system was renamed PC 118. From June 1916, it changed hands several times.

  • Abri de combat TD 1

Built in 1906 on 357 m for ½ company with 100 seats. In 1915 the structure was prepared for demolition. After this was revoked, a command post was set up here. From June 1916, it changed hands several times. After the final reconquest of the French, it was named “Abri Wagner”. After the end of the war, the facility was completely destroyed by artillery fire. In the 1920s, the remains were removed and the Douaumont ossuary was built on this site .

  • Abri caverne de Douaumont (also called "Abri 320")

Underground shelter, built between 1889 and 1891 at a height of 334 m with 300 places. It is a brick-lined tunnel, 60 meters long, driven transversely into the slope, 12 meters below the surface and with two access tunnels. There is a guardroom at the beginning of each of the entrances. The construction costs amounted to 101,344 francs.

Like all fortifications, this shelter was prepared for demolition in 1915. After the project was abandoned in 1916, a section command was set up here. During the fighting in 1916, the gallery changed hands several times. The complex survived the war unscathed and is freely accessible below the road that passes under the burial ground of the Douaumont ossuary.

  • Dépot intermédiataire de Thiaumont (artillery ammunition interim storage facility )

Built in 1881 underground on 341 in a slope. The masonry was made of stone, there was a storage room of 4 × 10 m, an entrance area and a guard room. The construction costs amounted to 23,000 francs. In 1914 it was connected to the network of the field railway. Occasionally occupied by the Germans, it was still completely intact at the end of the war. Today the entrance is buried.

Current condition

The ouvrage is in a disastrous state and is completely unrecognizable. In the collapsed parts of the shelter (Abri) and the Casemate de Bourges, according to French sources, ammunition, weapons and casualties are still suspected, which one would not be able to access without a relatively large amount of effort.

The site is freely accessible.

See also

Web links

Commons : Ouvrage de Thiaumont  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Page with plans and drawings of the intermediate work
  • Page with plans and costs of the renovation from 1902, in French
  • Pictures after the battle in the archives of the BDIC , French
  • Slide show how the intermediate work looks today
  • Entry in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ↑ In contrast to other bombarded fortifications, the 42 cm caliber grenades are not detected here
  2. ↑ other sources speak of 8 o'clock
  3. ↑ Pig- tail posts consisted of round iron into which two or three 360 ​​° loops were screwed on the longitudinal axis like a pig's tail. The tensioning and holding wires were passed through these loops.
  4. ↑ built in 1913.
  5. ↑ built in 1913.
  6. ↑ FT stands for Froideterre-Thiaumont
  7. ↑ PC stands for Poste commandement
  8. ↑ TD stands for Thiaumont-Douaumont

Coordinates: 49 ° 12 ′ 24 ″  N , 5 ° 25 ′ 9 ″  E