Ouvrage de la Lauffée

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Back of the Ouvrage de La Lauffée 1916
Location map

The Ouvrage de la Lauffée (or "Ouvrage D de la Lauffée") was part of the belt fortress Fester Platz Verdun . It was a small intermediate work (ouvrage) of the first category and was one of the older fortifications. It is located at an altitude of 334 meters in the middle and west between the villages of Eix and Damloup . The main task was to cover the gap between Fort de Vaux and Fort de Tavannes , as well as the railway line from Metz .

The construction

It was an “Ouvrage de 1 re categorie” in the “6 e region militaire”. The entire complex initially consisted of an earth wall, in the center of which there were only three masonry shelters (so-called abrises).

Construction dates and costs

  • Construction time: 1887 to 1888
  • Construction costs: 78,558 francs
  • Budget according to 1882:
80 to 115 men

Planned modernizations

1900
the estimated cost was 386,000 francs
Reconstruction of the parapet
Construction of a concrete barracks with 50 beds
Attachment of barbed wire entanglement with pig-tail posts
1908
Installation of a Tourelle de 75 mm R modèle 1905
1913
Improvement of the trench and installation of manual ventilation

Completed modernizations

1903/1904
Construction of a concrete barracks and installation of the "Tourelle de 75 mm R modèle 1905" (ready to fire 1904)
Construction of a metal mesh fence on the wall
Installation of an observatoire cuirassé
1910 to 1914
Construction of ventilation
1914
the construction of a machine gun armored tower Tourelle de mitrailleuses modèle in 1899 and two trench suitcases with a connection to the concrete barracks could no longer be carried out because the war began.

Armament

1905

On the ramparts Under armor protection Trench defenses External battery

4 × Mortier lisse de 15

1 × armored turret 75 mm

1 × Observatoire cuirassé

2 × Guérites blindée

only from the parapet of the wall with rifles and machine guns

no
Total: 6

1910

On the ramparts Under armor protection Trench defenses External battery

4 × Mortier lisse de 15

1 × armored turret 75 mm

1 × Observatoire cuirassé

2 × Guérites blindée

only from the parapet of the wall with rifles and machine guns

no
Total: 6

garrison

Budgeted occupation in 1914

  • Infantry : 2 officers , 152 NCOs and men
  • Artillery : 1 officer, 37 NCOs and men
  • Pioneers : 1 officer, 11 NCOs and men (plus two men to operate the electrical system)
  • Telegraph operators: 0
  • Military workers: 0
  • Auxiliary staff: 58 men
  • Medical: 0
  • Battery monitor: 0
  • Total: 3 officers, 258 NCOs and men

Reinforcement in mobilization in 1914 under Article 40 of the Law of March 21, 1905

  • Infantry: 1 officer, 75 men of the 164 e régiment d'infanterie
  • Artillery: 38 NCOs and men of the 5 e régiment d'artillerie à pied (5th foot artillery regiment)
  • Total: 1 officer, 113 NCOs and men

Equipment 1914

Vein phone
  • Accommodation with 78 beds and 28 seats in the barracks
  • no powder magazine
  • 3 ammunition magazines
  • Kitchen with a "François Vaillant" stove
  • no bakery
  • two cisterns with a capacity of 127 m³
  • no drawbridge
  • a light signal device with a spotlight 14 cm or 24 cm in diameter was kept in reserve.
  • to the citadel in Verdun, to Fort de Souville and to Fort de Tavannes , a telephone connection from the Ader system and a Morse code "Modèle 1907" led
  • the lighting was ensured by petroleum lamps in the fort and candle lamps in the armored turret.

First World War

Armament

  • Under armor protection
Tourelle de 75 mm R modèle 1905 with two tubes and 2000 grenades each
  • On the ramparts (1914)
2 mortars "Mortar lisse de 15" in reserve (each with 2000 grenades )
2 machine gun trains each with two St. Étienne M1907 machine guns on a field tripod and 43,200 cartridges
  • Trench defense
2 machine gun trains on the ramparts with two St. Étienne M1907 machine guns on tripod mounts and 43,200 cartridges

External systems

Others

After the garrison had still numbered 213 men in 1914, it consisted of 208 men in 1916 and 160 men in 2017.

At the beginning of March 1916, the garrison consisted of an infantry battalion , a machine gun company, as well as detachments of artillery and engineers .

Identical observation armored dome Observatoire cuirassé on the Fort de Douaumont

The commandant was initially the Capitaine Chabert from 52 e RI, then from March 31, 1916 the Capitaine De Wiltz from 10 e RH . From May 16, 1916, the Capitaine Burthe d'Annelat followed from 22 e RD and from August 13, the Capitaine Rey. Despite its small size, the outwork was occupied by two battalion staffs, an infirmary and other troop units - around 100 men in total, so parts of the equipment and supplies had to be stored outdoors. Only on the express order of the commander in chief did these troops finally withdraw, only the paramedics and the wounded could stay. After the loss of Fort de Vaux on June 7th, the Vorwerk was brought even more into focus.

Fighting

In the first days of the German attack, La Lauffée was massively shelled by artillery of all calibres. On March 18, 1916 at around 3 p.m. there was a bombardment with shells of the caliber 420 mm from the Jumelles d'Ornes. On April 23, the artillery destroyed the barbed wire barn and the trench embankment. A Guérite blindée was torn from the bedding and thrown through the air. The bombardment continued in May, especially on May 24th to 27th, 260 large-caliber impacts were counted and on May 28 to 30, 315 further large-caliber impacts were counted.

The events at the beginning of June 1916 near Fort de Vaux did not leave the Ouvrage de La Lauffée without a trace. On June 5, Ouvrage, only 1,300 meters from Fort de Vaux, fired 100 shells of 75 mm caliber from the armored turret at the German attack coming from Damloup . On June 6th, 32 shells followed on the eastern slope of Fort de Vaux and later another 26 shells.

The German answer was not long in coming, on June 7th, 8th and 9th shelling took place in the calibers 420 mm, 305 mm and 210 mm. As a result, the armored turret was no longer used in order not to draw German fire on it and so to have it ready for use in an emergency. At that time, the foremost German peaks were only 700 meters away from La Lauffée. Another German bombardment began on June 13, during which almost 700 grenades were fired daily at La Lauffée on June 22-23. Despite the constant repair work during the pauses in the fire, the damage continued to grow. The armored turret could no longer be rotated completely, only the area from the eastern corner of the Bois de Fumin to Moulainville could still be covered.

After their failed attempt, the Germans resumed their attacks on June 23. On July 10th, there were heavy attacks with gas grenades. On July 11th and 12th the shelling intensified, on July 12th between 12:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. it was particularly strong. By 5:00 a.m. the 99th Infantry Regiment, the 126th Infantry Regiment, and the 145th Infantry Regiment had advanced as far as Battery de Damloup and the Abri de combat VLL . The distance to the Ouvrage de La Lauffée was now only 550 meters.

The armored turret and the armored observation dome were now massively targeted. The shelling was particularly severe on August 9, 14, 17 and 28. On August 9, a shell fell directly on the pre-armored vehicle , on August 14, several 150 mm and 210 mm shells fell into the immediate vicinity. On August 17th, a 150 mm shell fell directly on the turret dome, causing a dent 10 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep. On August 28, a 305 mm shell pierced the same dome and made a hole 30 cm in diameter, but without exploding - an officer was killed. Heavy artillery bombardments took place on September 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 11th and 13th. During the French counter-offensive on October 24, the 75 mm tank turret fired on the east and south slopes of Fort de Vaux, as well as on the wings of La Beuche and Salle between Damloup and the battery de Damloup. At 1:10 p.m., the French troops were able to retake the battery de Damloup. The German artillery shot back with shells with a caliber of 210 mm. After the recapture of Fort de Vaux, the Ouvrage de La Lauffée was between 1,500 and 2,000 meters behind the front line and was no longer directly threatened. With the French offensive on December 15, the artillery of the turret spent an hour on the trenches at Grand Hoye , 1/2 hour on the trenches near Hardaumont and two hours on the trenches Soumalia - Djibouti east of Vaux. A total of 675 grenades were fired. Although the German artillery only fired back occasionally, a Guerité blindée was torn from the bed by a direct hit.

On December 19, 1916, new shelling began on the German trenches near Hardaumont:

December 19: 56 grenades, including 2 shrapnel
December 20 and 21: 56 shells, 10 of which are shrapnel
December 22nd: 40 grenades, 30 of which were shrapnel
December 23: 30 shrapnel
December 24th: 32 grenades, including 16 shrapnel
December 25th: 91 shells, 67 of them shrapnel

Then the gunfire was stopped in order not to direct the heavy German artillery on the ouvrage (but without result).

The plant was heavily bombarded by the Germans with gas and normal artillery on November 8-11, November 17 and 18, November 21 and November 24, and November 26-29. On December 27, 1916, between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., the Germans also fired gas grenades at the ouvrage. Artillery gas attacks were carried out again on February 5 and 17. From the month of March 1917, the artillery attacks decreased significantly.

Improvement work

As in all forts in the Verdun area, La Lauffée was also equipped with an underground tunnel system called “Galeries de 17”. Since one no longer trusted the above-ground facilities and they were too small, the underground tunnels were created. They were up to eight meters below the surface, had two exits and gas locks. On October 20, 1916, a generator was installed to produce electricity, and on November 4, the electrical lighting was ready for use. The corridors were provided with obstacles in sections. The total length was 550 meters.

The ovrage was surrounded by three wire entanglements that were between ten and six meters wide.

post war period

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In the inventory made in 1922, the following condition emerged:

Dome ready for use, concrete reinforcement shot free in places, many cracks in the concrete, access inside was okay

The observation tower had been repaired and was fine

Further repair work was carried out in the late 1920s. From 1931 to 1933 the wooden supports of the underground galleries were replaced by concrete ones.

In 1943, both domes were removed by the German Todt organization and scrapped.

Although the ouvrage is in relatively good condition, entry is prohibited.

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ^ Intermediate work of the 1st category

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 11 ′ 38 "  N , 5 ° 28 ′ 28"  E