Fort du Salbert
Encyclopedia
Fort du Salbert, also known as Fort Lefebvre, was built between 1874 and 1877. It was named after General François Joseph Lefebvre
. It forms part of the Séré de Rivières system
fortifications in the fortified region of Belfort
in northeastern France
. It is located at the summit of Salbert hill to the northwest of Belfort. During the early years of the Cold War
it briefly served as an air defense coordination center.
After it became apparent that masonry forts would not resist explosive shells, the fort was modernized beginning in 1885 with concrete over the caponier
s and the creation of underground shelters for troops. From 1893 the fort was connected to other Belfort forts by the Chemins de fer du Territoire de Belfort strategic railroad.The fort was equipped with optical semaphores allowing communications with other forts. During the First World War a number of underground galleries were constructed to link the caponiers to the caserne.
Fort du Salbert commands an area of ponds surrounding Malsaucy, and controls roads to Lure
, Giromagny
and the Paris
rail line. Its initial construction cost was 2,120,332 francs d'or. Initial manning was 460 men, 24 non-commissioned officers, and 13 officers. A well and cistern provided water. Armament in 1882 was five 155mm long guns, eight 120mm long guns, and a variety of small mortars and small-caliber guns for close defense.
A 1900 modernization was to add a Galopin armored twin 155mm gun turret and an armored observation post. The gun turret project was abandoned, along with a further addition of a machine gun turret and a 75mm gun turret. The main fort never received the extensive concrete cover that was applied to other Séré de Rivières forts.
During the quarrying of the fort's stone the caves of Cravanche
were discovered in 1876.
From 1949 to March 10, 1967, France's military operated within the NATO command structure, integrating its air defense system (the Défense Aérienne du Territoire (D.A.T.)) with that of NATO through the indirect use of American aid funds. Between 1953 and 1958, the D.A.T. built a radar
station in an old troops shelter (in French : abri-caverne) near the fort, called Ouvrage "G". Called "Station Maître Radar 60/921", it was used beginning in 1959, covering an area on the surface of three times the area of the troops shelter. Ouvrage "G" complemented Ouvrage F, another D.A.T. station located at the old Fort François de Guise at Metz
, while Ouvrage H was established as Base aérienne 901 Drachenbronn/Station Maître Radar 50/921
in the former Maginot
Ouvrage Hochwald
. Ouvrage "G" was equipped with seven radar antennas installed on top of the fort. The principal radars are presently located on the Ballon de Servance.
The military vacated the Fort de Salbert in 1972 and removed the antennas from the fort. The city of Belfort took possession of the site. The foundations of the radars and the fort's heating oil tanks remain.
In 1990 Belfort concluded an agreement with an association without lucrative purpose named Les aventuriers de l'histoire to restore the site. The volunteer group cleaned, repaired, and worked to make the site ready for public visitation. The group's enthusiasm was tempered by repeated setbacks, culminating with the explosion of several improvised bombs on the site which released asbestos and made the site unusable for the public or for restoration work. By mutual agreement between the city and the volunteers, public access was discontinued and the aventuriers disbanded. Ouvrage "G" was closed, its doors welded shut.
Six radar antennas and one microwave link to the Ballon de Servance were located on the fort's surface, with the electronic equipment in a room under each. The surveillance was managed from the central operations room. Arranged like an amphitheater, it was disposed on two levels of booths focusing on three map display tables:
A map of the territory concerned was attached to each table. Markers were placed on the table to represent planes and associated information, moved about on the table by attendants with poles.
The operations room included a balcony for the observers who would transmit directions to the forces outside. Opposite the booths, four tote boards were placed on the walls:
Booth assignments included those dedicated to identification, electronic countermeasures and three interception control stations. Other rooms that did not overlook the control room were provided for weather and technical control. The detection room housed the radar scopes showing the image generated by the radar system. The system used triangulation to establish the position of radar targets.
Ouvrage "G" was provided with three telecommunication networks:
Security for Ouvrage "G" was provided by personnel from Luxeuil Air Base
. While the facility was designed for 500 occupants, it was in reality occupied by about 350. During its period of operation the nature and details of the base were secret. In 1959 operations at Salbert were terminated and the force reduced to maintenance and security, with the surveillance function detailed to Ballon de Servance. The station had been fully operational for scarcely two years. The station was decommissioned due to the obsolescence of its radars, whose short range, low altitude coverage and poor performance made them of limited use. Consolidation and automation of radar surveillance made the Salbert facility obsolete. The station was fully maintained in operating order until 1972, when it was turned over to Belfort. In 1966 Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
(RTF) placed a television transmitter on the site. In 1969 a relay station for Air Force communications was installed at the fort. In the summers of 1969 and 1970 the barracks were used as a military rest and recreational facility. In 1971 two receivers for the service de transmission de l'intérieur (S.T.I.) were installed for the benefit of the prefecture of Dijon
. After negotiations with the Army, the city of Belfort purchased the Fort de Salbert in 1972.
During the summer and autumn of 1972, military engineers salvaged machinery and materials from the site. The barracks were dismantled. Belfort took possession on October 15, 1972. After the city took possession the site became a popular recreation area. In 1978 the city decided to redevelop the summit. Work began the same year and was finished in 1983. A P.T.T. tower was placed on the site in 1976.
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
. It forms part of the Séré de Rivières system
Séré de Rivières system
The Séré de Rivières system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 and first used at the beginning of the First World War along the frontiers and coasts of France...
fortifications in the fortified region of Belfort
Fortified region of Belfort
The fortified region of Belfort formed the first line of defense in the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications in the Belfort Gap...
in northeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is located at the summit of Salbert hill to the northwest of Belfort. During the early years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
it briefly served as an air defense coordination center.
Séré de Rivières fort
Fort du Salbert is one of the second ring of forts around Belfort, built about 5000 to 6000 meters outside the first ring of the 1840s. All of the new generation of forts abandoned sheer walls and bastions in favor of low earth-covered mounds covered in earth, the better to resist artillery.After it became apparent that masonry forts would not resist explosive shells, the fort was modernized beginning in 1885 with concrete over the caponier
Caponier
A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" - which strictly means capon-cote i.e. chickenhouse.The fire coming from the feature A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" -...
s and the creation of underground shelters for troops. From 1893 the fort was connected to other Belfort forts by the Chemins de fer du Territoire de Belfort strategic railroad.The fort was equipped with optical semaphores allowing communications with other forts. During the First World War a number of underground galleries were constructed to link the caponiers to the caserne.
Fort du Salbert commands an area of ponds surrounding Malsaucy, and controls roads to Lure
Lure, Haute-Saône
Lure is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.The Abbey of Lure was situated here. In the seventh century, Clothaire II recognised the virtues of Saint Deicolus and considerably enriched the Abbey of Lure, also granting Deicolus the manor, woods,...
, Giromagny
Giromagny
Giromagny is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-External links:*...
and the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
rail line. Its initial construction cost was 2,120,332 francs d'or. Initial manning was 460 men, 24 non-commissioned officers, and 13 officers. A well and cistern provided water. Armament in 1882 was five 155mm long guns, eight 120mm long guns, and a variety of small mortars and small-caliber guns for close defense.
A 1900 modernization was to add a Galopin armored twin 155mm gun turret and an armored observation post. The gun turret project was abandoned, along with a further addition of a machine gun turret and a 75mm gun turret. The main fort never received the extensive concrete cover that was applied to other Séré de Rivières forts.
During the quarrying of the fort's stone the caves of Cravanche
Cravanche
Cravanche is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-External links:*...
were discovered in 1876.
Introduction
It's located here : 47°39′34.95"N 6°49′8.44"E.From 1949 to March 10, 1967, France's military operated within the NATO command structure, integrating its air defense system (the Défense Aérienne du Territoire (D.A.T.)) with that of NATO through the indirect use of American aid funds. Between 1953 and 1958, the D.A.T. built a radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
station in an old troops shelter (in French : abri-caverne) near the fort, called Ouvrage "G". Called "Station Maître Radar 60/921", it was used beginning in 1959, covering an area on the surface of three times the area of the troops shelter. Ouvrage "G" complemented Ouvrage F, another D.A.T. station located at the old Fort François de Guise at Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, while Ouvrage H was established as Base aérienne 901 Drachenbronn/Station Maître Radar 50/921
Drachenbronn Air Base
Drachenbronn Air Base of the French Air Force is located in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach in the Bas-Rhin département. It houses the Centre de détection et de contrôle 05/901....
in the former Maginot
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
Ouvrage Hochwald
Ouvrage Hochwald
Ouvrage Hochwald is a gros ouvrage of the Maginot Line, one of the largest fortifications in the Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Haguenau in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach in the Bas-Rhin department of northeastern France, it was designed to protect the northern Vosges region of...
. Ouvrage "G" was equipped with seven radar antennas installed on top of the fort. The principal radars are presently located on the Ballon de Servance.
The military vacated the Fort de Salbert in 1972 and removed the antennas from the fort. The city of Belfort took possession of the site. The foundations of the radars and the fort's heating oil tanks remain.
In 1990 Belfort concluded an agreement with an association without lucrative purpose named Les aventuriers de l'histoire to restore the site. The volunteer group cleaned, repaired, and worked to make the site ready for public visitation. The group's enthusiasm was tempered by repeated setbacks, culminating with the explosion of several improvised bombs on the site which released asbestos and made the site unusable for the public or for restoration work. By mutual agreement between the city and the volunteers, public access was discontinued and the aventuriers disbanded. Ouvrage "G" was closed, its doors welded shut.
Description
Ouvrage "G" had four Alsthom (Tarbes) 260 horsepower diesel generators, started with compressed air and provided with sufficient fuel for one month. In addition, it was provided with air conditioning and gas protection, designed to maintain an overpressure level to keep contaminants out. Blast doors were installed at personnel entrances.Six radar antennas and one microwave link to the Ballon de Servance were located on the fort's surface, with the electronic equipment in a room under each. The surveillance was managed from the central operations room. Arranged like an amphitheater, it was disposed on two levels of booths focusing on three map display tables:
- The display table (square) for the low-altitude network
- The filter table (rectangular) for the synthesis of all incoming information, also known as the "General Situation Table" and later the "Enemy Situation Table"
- The interception table, controlling interception missions by the defending forces
A map of the territory concerned was attached to each table. Markers were placed on the table to represent planes and associated information, moved about on the table by attendants with poles.
The operations room included a balcony for the observers who would transmit directions to the forces outside. Opposite the booths, four tote boards were placed on the walls:
- The "squadron tote", indicating the status of interceptor forces available
- The "mission tote", showing the interception missions assigned to the center
- The "weather tote", indicating weather conditions
- The "anti-aircraft tote", showing the situation of ground-based anti-aircraft defense units
Booth assignments included those dedicated to identification, electronic countermeasures and three interception control stations. Other rooms that did not overlook the control room were provided for weather and technical control. The detection room housed the radar scopes showing the image generated by the radar system. The system used triangulation to establish the position of radar targets.
Ouvrage "G" was provided with three telecommunication networks:
- The civilian telephone system (reseau P.T.T.), vulnerable in wartime
- UHF radio and VHF radio, both telegraphic and data, permitting communication with the facilities on the Ballon de Servance
- The terrestrial network of the D.A.T.
Security for Ouvrage "G" was provided by personnel from Luxeuil Air Base
Luxeuil Air Base
Luxeuil is a medium size air base located at , near Luxeuil-les-Bains in the Franche-Comté region of France. It has two runways: 113/293 with a length of 2433m, and 038/218 with a length of 2315m....
. While the facility was designed for 500 occupants, it was in reality occupied by about 350. During its period of operation the nature and details of the base were secret. In 1959 operations at Salbert were terminated and the force reduced to maintenance and security, with the surveillance function detailed to Ballon de Servance. The station had been fully operational for scarcely two years. The station was decommissioned due to the obsolescence of its radars, whose short range, low altitude coverage and poor performance made them of limited use. Consolidation and automation of radar surveillance made the Salbert facility obsolete. The station was fully maintained in operating order until 1972, when it was turned over to Belfort. In 1966 Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the French national public broadcasting organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "Radiodiffusion Française" , which had been founded in 1945...
(RTF) placed a television transmitter on the site. In 1969 a relay station for Air Force communications was installed at the fort. In the summers of 1969 and 1970 the barracks were used as a military rest and recreational facility. In 1971 two receivers for the service de transmission de l'intérieur (S.T.I.) were installed for the benefit of the prefecture of Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
. After negotiations with the Army, the city of Belfort purchased the Fort de Salbert in 1972.
During the summer and autumn of 1972, military engineers salvaged machinery and materials from the site. The barracks were dismantled. Belfort took possession on October 15, 1972. After the city took possession the site became a popular recreation area. In 1978 the city decided to redevelop the summit. Work began the same year and was finished in 1983. A P.T.T. tower was placed on the site in 1976.
Source
- This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding French Wikipedia article as of January 20, 2010.
See also
- Fortified region of BelfortFortified region of BelfortThe fortified region of Belfort formed the first line of defense in the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications in the Belfort Gap...
- Fort de GiromagnyFort de GiromagnyFort de Giromagny, also known as Fort Dorsner, was built between 1875 and 1879. The fort forms the southern end of the defensive curtain of the Haute Moselle Region, abutting the Fortified region of Belfort , which lies to its south. The Haute Moselle defenses form a link between the fortified...
, Salbert's neighbor to the north
External links
- Fort du Salbert at Chemins de mémoire
- Fort du Salbert at Fortiff' Séré
- Fortifications of the Belfort region