Fort des Ayvelles
Fort des Ayvelles | |
---|---|
Part of Séré de Rivières system | |
France | |
Coordinates | 49°43′36″N 4°44′15″E / 49.72667°N 4.7375°E |
Type | Fort |
Site information | |
Controlled by | France |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Preserved |
Site history | |
Built | 1876 |
Materials | Brick, stone |
Battles/wars | Battle of the Meuse, Battle of France |
The Fort des Ayvelles, also known as the Fort Dubois-Crancé, is a fortification near the French communes of
Description
Built starting in 1876 under the direction of Captain Léon Boulenger, the fort was completed in 1878. The fort's four 250-metre (820 ft) faces form a square perimeter, surrounded by a ditch 10 metres (33 ft) wide and 8 metres (26 ft) deep.[1] The fort features particularly elaborate double caponiers to protect the outer wall and ditch on opposite corners, as well as 7-metre (23 ft) counterscarps. The caponiers were provided with unique projecting watch-stations, or échauguettes. The fort and a subsidiary battery featured Mougin casemates, each armed with a single de Bange Model 1877 155mm gun. The fort possessed 53 artillery pieces in 1899, manned by 880 men, and disposed in two-level casemates on a north-south line. The battery is about 600 metres (2,000 ft) to the east, connected to the main fort by a covered causeway.[2][3][4] The caponiers were damaged by both world wars and by the French military in explosives tests in 1960 in preparation for demolition of the urban fortifications of Charleville Mézières.[3] The Mougin gun was removed at about this time, but the casemate remains.[5]
In addition to its own Mougin casemate, the pentagonal detached battery was armed with 10 artillery pieces, served by 150 men. The battery was provided with a wall and ditch, with caponiers and counterscarps for defense. The battery was built in 1878 and was never modernized.[3][6] The battery's Mougin casemate was entirely demolished after World War II by the French Army.[7]
1914
In 1914 the fort was manned by personnel of the French
While they occupied the area Germans used the Fort des Ayvelles as a munitions depot and as a prison. The fort was the execution site for three French civilians, executed by the Germans between October 1915 and January 1916.[8] The fort was reoccupied by France at the close of the war in November 1918.[8]
1940
In 1940 the Fort des Ayvelles was manned by the second battalion of the French 148th Fortress Infantry Regiment under the command of Commandant Marie, which was in turn part of the weak 102nd Fortress Infantry Division. The 102nd DIF was the successor organization to the Defensive Sector of the Ardennes, which had administered a weak section of the Maginot Line fortifications. The sector was composed principally of scattered casemates and blockhouses, as the French command regarded the Ardennes sector as unsuitable for mechanized warfare. On 14 May 1940 the fort was bombarded by German forces, while the first and third battalions of the 148th RIF faced direct German attack. During the night of 15 May the fort was abandoned by French forces. The remaining troops of the 148th RIF nonetheless found themselves encircled and surrendered.[9]
Once again, the fort was the scene of civilian executions, with thirteen members of the French Resistance executed there.[5][9] The most notable victims were les quatres cheminots d'Amagne ("the four railway workers of Amagne"), René Arnould, Georges Boillot, Robert Stadler and Lucien Maisonneuve, executed on 26 June 1944 for sabotage at the Amagne-Lucqy depot.[10]
Blockhouses
Two blockhouses are near the fort, constructed in the 1930s as part of the Defensive Sector of the Ardennes: the Blockhaus du Fort des Ayvelles Sud, and the Blockhaus de Villers-Semeuse. Both were lightly armed.[11]
Present status
The fort is maintained by the Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles, and may be visited.[12]
References
- ^ Les Ardennes en marche, Avril 2008, p.36.
- ^ Bailey, Alan. "Autumn Tour to Lorraine, September 2007". Casemate 81. Fortress Study Group. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ a b c "Ayvelles (fort des)". Index de la fortification française 1874-1914 (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ "Le fort". Domaine fortifié des Ayvelles (in French). Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ a b Vaubourg, Cedric & Julie. "Le fort des Ayvelles ou fort Dubois-Crancé". Fortiff' Sere (in French). Fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ "La batterie". Domaine fortifié des Ayvelles (in French). Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ Vaubourg, Cedric & Julie. "La batterie des Ayvelles ou batterie annexe du fort des Ayvelles". Fortiff' Sere (in French). Fortiffsere.fr. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ a b c "Le fort en 1914". Domaine fortifié des Ayvelles (in French). Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ a b "Le fort en 1939". Domaine fortifié des Ayvelles (in French). Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ Lecler, Philippe. "Lieu de Memoire: le fort des Ayvelles". Ardenne, Tiens Fermes! 1940-1944 dans les Ardennes (in French). Ardenne, Tiens Fermes.
- ISBN 2-913903-88-6.
- ^ "L'association". Domaine fortifié des Ayvelles (in French). Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
External links
- Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles (in French)
- Fort des Ayvelles at fortiffsere.fr (in French)