Fortified Sector of the Vosges
Encyclopedia
The Fortified Sector of the Vosges (Secteur Fortifiée des Vosges) was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line
at the northern end of the Vosges Mountains
in northeastern France. The sector was bordered to the west by the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach
and to the east by the Fortified Sector of Haguenau
. The sector featured two gros ouvrages mounting heavy artillery at either end of the sector and one petit ouvrage mounting infantry weapons, linked by a line of casemate
s. The sector was attacked in 1940 by German forces in the Battle of France
. German forces penetrated the casemate line and moved behind French lines. Despite the withdrawal of the mobile forces that supported the fixed fortifications, the three ouvrages successfully fended off German assaults before the Second Armistice at Compiègne, but were unable to hinder German activities to their south. The positions and their garrisons finally surrendered on 1 July 1940. Following the war several positions were reactivated for use during the Cold War
. One position, Ouvrage Four-à-Chaux, is open to the public and may be visited.
The sector was anchored at either end by Grand-Hohékirkel on the west and Lembach-Four-à-Chaux on the east. In between the Line was filled in with casemates and blockhouses, with the stretch from Glasbronn to Windstein located behind the Swachwartzbach stream. This central portion of the depended on topography for much of its defense. The central casemate line was supported by the guns of the ouvrages and by the late addition of the casemates of Biesenberg and Windstein, which provided lateral covering fire with 75mm guns. Three proposed petit ouvrages were never constructed.
. The SF Vosges was commanded by General Viellard, then Colonel André. The command post was at Baerenthal, then Ingwiller. The interval troops, the army formations that were to provide the mobile defense for the sector, to support and be supported by the fixed defenses, were from the 30th Alpine Infantry Division. Artillery support for the sector was provided by the 168th Position Artillery Regiment (Régiment d'Artillerie de Position (RAP)), which controlled both fixed and mobile artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robo. The 30th DIA was a Class A reserve formation.
On 5 March 1940 the SF Vosges was reorganized and designated the 43rd Army Fortress Corps (43e Corps d'Armée de Forteresse), inheriting some elements from the RF Lauter and giving up the 37th RIF to SF Rohrbach. At the mid-point of the Battle of France on 1 June 1940, the fortress troops of the 43rd CAF amounted to two fortress infantry regiments in six battalions, comprising 525 officers and 15,250 men. By 13 June the 43rd CAF included the hastily assembled divisions de marche Senselme and Chestenet, previously the fortress units of the SF Vosges and SF Rohrbach, as well as the 30th DIA.
165th Fortress Infantry Regiment (165e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse (RIF)), Commandant Renard, command post at Hill 1360.
On 19 June 1940, the German 215th Infantry Division attacked in the area immediately to the west of Lembach, between the river Schwartzbach and Lembach. The German objective was to break the blockhouse line between Lembach and Grand-Hohékirkel. An infantry assault on the line captured several positions. Fire support from the ouvrages was hampered by a lack of observing positions and bombing attacks. Lembach and Four-à-Chaux were bombed by Stukas with no significant effect on their defenses. Four-à-Chaux's 135mm and 75mm gun turrets fired on the Germans throughout the day. However, by the end of the day the Germans had captured twenty-two casemates and blockhouses, granting the 215th ID freedom to move behind the Maginot Line and to bypass the heavier fortifications. It moved on to the vicinity of Haguenau and secured the Pechelbronn
oilfield.
The next day an attack on the ouvrages was repelled with artillery support from Hochwald
. The German advance continued into the Vosges and Alsace, but did not directly attack the ouvrages. Lembach, Four-à-Chaux and Hochwald formally surrendered on 1 July 1940.
The 165th RIF was deployed in the sub-sector of Langensoultzbach. On 14 June the regiment dteached machine gun battalions to the DM Senselme to defend the Marne–Rhine Canal in the area of Arzviller, but fell back to Dabo
and were finally captured near Mont Donon
on 25 June.The fortress troops who remained in their positions surrendered on 1 July.
under General Alexander Patch
had reached the Vosges region. Grand-Hohékirkel was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. Otterbiel and Grand-Hohékirkel were to be the next positions to be attacked by the U.S. 100th Infantry Division, but the planned operation was disrupted by the Battle of the Bulge
. The Seventh Army withdrew to cover areas vacated by the U.S. Third Army
, which moved to confront the German offensive.
The 100th returned in March 1945 attacked the area on a broad front. Grand-Hohékirkel was lightly defended, and the Americans, backed up by heavy artillery, were able to capture Grand-Hohékirkel and the Ensemble de Bitche with few casualties. Four-à-Chaux saw little action during the Lorraine Campaign
, where most action took place around Hochwald and Schoenenbourg
. Block 1 was destroyed using explosives by the Germans before the surrender in 1945.
forces. Four-à-Chaux and Lembach were grouped with Hochwald and Schoenenbourg from the SF Haguenau. They were designated the môle de Bitche ("breakwater") in 1951 and were placed back into service after a period of rehabilitation. Schiesseck, Otterbiel (in the SF Rohrbach) and Grand-Hohékirkel, located at the Camp de Bitche army training center, were used for training in fortress systems and weapons. During Exercise Turenne at Grand-Hohékirkel in 1953, firing exercises cast doubt on the combat viability of the exposed cloches, which had proved vulnerable to German fire in the war. A follow-up exercise (Hoche) did, however, confirm that casemate positions remained secure against 90mm-equivalent gunfire, using AMX-13
and M47 Patton
tanks to fire on embrasures.
After the establishment of the French nuclear strike force
, the importance of the Line declined, and maintenance ceased in the 1970s, with most of the casemates sold.
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,...
at the northern end of the Vosges Mountains
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...
in northeastern France. The sector was bordered to the west by the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach
Fortified Sector of Rohrbach
The Fortified Sector of Rohrbach was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line in the vicinity of Bitche. The sector was bordered to the west by the Fortified Sector of the Sarre and to the east by the Fortified Sector of the Vosges...
and to the east by the Fortified Sector of Haguenau
Fortified Sector of Haguenau
The Fortified Sector of Haguenau was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the most easterly section of the Maginot Line, to the north of Strasbourg...
. The sector featured two gros ouvrages mounting heavy artillery at either end of the sector and one petit ouvrage mounting infantry weapons, linked by a line of casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s. The sector was attacked in 1940 by German forces in the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
. German forces penetrated the casemate line and moved behind French lines. Despite the withdrawal of the mobile forces that supported the fixed fortifications, the three ouvrages successfully fended off German assaults before the Second Armistice at Compiègne, but were unable to hinder German activities to their south. The positions and their garrisons finally surrendered on 1 July 1940. Following the war several positions were reactivated for use during 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...
. One position, Ouvrage Four-à-Chaux, is open to the public and may be visited.
Concept and organization
The Vosges sector was part of the larger Fortified Region of the Lauter, a strongly defended area between the Sarre to the west and the Rhine valley to the east. The Lauter region was more important during the planning and construction phase of the Maginot Line than it was in the operational phase of the Line, when the sectors assumed prominence. The Fortified Region of the Lauter was dissolved as a military organization on 5 March 1940, becoming the 43rd Fortress Army Corps.The sector was anchored at either end by Grand-Hohékirkel on the west and Lembach-Four-à-Chaux on the east. In between the Line was filled in with casemates and blockhouses, with the stretch from Glasbronn to Windstein located behind the Swachwartzbach stream. This central portion of the depended on topography for much of its defense. The central casemate line was supported by the guns of the ouvrages and by the late addition of the casemates of Biesenberg and Windstein, which provided lateral covering fire with 75mm guns. Three proposed petit ouvrages were never constructed.
Command
The Vosges sector was under the overall command of the French 5th Army, headquartered at Wangenbourg, under the command of General Bourret, which was in turn part of Army Group 2 under General André-Gaston PrételatAndré-Gaston Prételat
André-Gaston Prételat was a general in the French Army.-1910-1918:His first post, from 1910 to 1912, was as military attaché to Tangier...
. The SF Vosges was commanded by General Viellard, then Colonel André. The command post was at Baerenthal, then Ingwiller. The interval troops, the army formations that were to provide the mobile defense for the sector, to support and be supported by the fixed defenses, were from the 30th Alpine Infantry Division. Artillery support for the sector was provided by the 168th Position Artillery Regiment (Régiment d'Artillerie de Position (RAP)), which controlled both fixed and mobile artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robo. The 30th DIA was a Class A reserve formation.
On 5 March 1940 the SF Vosges was reorganized and designated the 43rd Army Fortress Corps (43e Corps d'Armée de Forteresse), inheriting some elements from the RF Lauter and giving up the 37th RIF to SF Rohrbach. At the mid-point of the Battle of France on 1 June 1940, the fortress troops of the 43rd CAF amounted to two fortress infantry regiments in six battalions, comprising 525 officers and 15,250 men. By 13 June the 43rd CAF included the hastily assembled divisions de marche Senselme and Chestenet, previously the fortress units of the SF Vosges and SF Rohrbach, as well as the 30th DIA.
Description
The sector includes, in order from west to east, the following major fortified positions, together with the most significant casemates and infantry shelters in each sub-sector:Sub-sector of Philippsbourg
154th Fortress Infantry Regiment (154e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse (RIF)), Lt. Colonel Lambert- Ouvrage Grand-Hohékirkel (Ouvrage C), gros ouvrage O450 of five combat blocks
- Ouvrage Main-du-Prince, proposed petit ouvrage, never constructed
- Ouvrage Grafenweiher, proposed petit ouvrage, never constructed
- Ouvrage Wineckerthal, proposed petit ouvrage, never constructed
Sub-sector of Langensoultzbach
- Ouvrage LembachOuvrage LembachOuvrage Lembach is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line. Lembach is adjoined by petit ouvrage Grand Hohekirkel at some distance to its west and gros ouvrage Four-à-Chaux immediately to its east. It faces the German frontier, and was part of the Fortified Sector of the Vosges...
(Ouvrage D), petit ouvrage O550 of three combat blocks and an entry block - Ouvrage Four-à-Chaux (Ouvrage E), gros ouvrage O600 of nine combat blocks and two entry blocks
6e CEC
Peacetime barracks and support:- Casernement de Langensoultzbach
- Casernement de Lembach - Four-à-Chaux
Battle of France
In early June in the face of the German assault, all fortress units attached to the Fifth Army were ordered to prepare for withdrawal to the south and west. While fortress units under the 2nd, 3rd and 8th Armies received categorical instructions to prepare to sabotage their positions and conduct an orderly retreat from 14 to 17 June, Fifth Army commander General Bourret's instructions to the SFs Rohrbach, Vosges, Haguenau and Lower Rhine were not as definitive. The personnel of the 43rd CAF (formerly SF Vosges) were to be consolidated into a Division de Marche entitled the DM Senselme, consisting of the 154e and 165e RIFs, along with the 143 CIF (company), the V/400e RP (régiment de position) and the 59e RARF (régiment d'artillerie le la région fortifié). A partial withdrawal of fortress troops took place in the SF Vosges, with some battalions of each fortress infantry regiment remaining in their positions until the armistice to cover the withdrawal of the interval troops and the fortress infantry assigned to the divisions de marche.On 19 June 1940, the German 215th Infantry Division attacked in the area immediately to the west of Lembach, between the river Schwartzbach and Lembach. The German objective was to break the blockhouse line between Lembach and Grand-Hohékirkel. An infantry assault on the line captured several positions. Fire support from the ouvrages was hampered by a lack of observing positions and bombing attacks. Lembach and Four-à-Chaux were bombed by Stukas with no significant effect on their defenses. Four-à-Chaux's 135mm and 75mm gun turrets fired on the Germans throughout the day. However, by the end of the day the Germans had captured twenty-two casemates and blockhouses, granting the 215th ID freedom to move behind the Maginot Line and to bypass the heavier fortifications. It moved on to the vicinity of Haguenau and secured the Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn
Merkwiller-Pechelbronn is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is notable as the original home of oil sands mining....
oilfield.
The next day an attack on the ouvrages was repelled with artillery support from 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...
. The German advance continued into the Vosges and Alsace, but did not directly attack the ouvrages. Lembach, Four-à-Chaux and Hochwald formally surrendered on 1 July 1940.
Units
The 154th RIF was stationed in the Philippsbourg sub-sector. The regiment absorbed the 21st battalion of the 37th RIF on 16 March 1940. From 7 May, the 154th RIF took fire from German positions. On 12 June, the advanced posts near the border were abandoned. Some elements of the 154th RIF withdrew to Biberkirch and La Valette. The units were finally captured near the Col du Donon on 23 and 24 June, while the units that remained in their casemates surrendered on 30 June.The 165th RIF was deployed in the sub-sector of Langensoultzbach. On 14 June the regiment dteached machine gun battalions to the DM Senselme to defend the Marne–Rhine Canal in the area of Arzviller, but fell back to Dabo
Dabo, Moselle
Dabo is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.An informal Franco-German summit between President Mitterrand and Chancellor Kohl took place in Dabo July 19, 1983....
and were finally captured near Mont Donon
Mont Donon
Mont Donon is the highest peak in the northern Vosges. It is a Category 2 climb in the Tour de France.On Donon, there is a 80 metre tall lattice tower for TV transmission...
on 25 June.The fortress troops who remained in their positions surrendered on 1 July.
1944 and 1945
At the end of November 1944 the U.S. Seventh ArmyUnited States Army Europe
United States Army Europe and Seventh Army, is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and the land component of United States European Command. It is the largest American formation in Europe.-Invasion of Sicily:...
under General Alexander Patch
Alexander Patch
General Alexander McCarrell "Sandy" Patch was an officer in the United States Army, best known for his service in World War II. He commanded Army and Marine forces during the invasion of Guadalcanal, and the U.S...
had reached the Vosges region. Grand-Hohékirkel was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. Otterbiel and Grand-Hohékirkel were to be the next positions to be attacked by the U.S. 100th Infantry Division, but the planned operation was disrupted by the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. The Seventh Army withdrew to cover areas vacated by the U.S. Third Army
United States Army Central
United States Army Central is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and is also dual-hatted as the "United States Third Army". It is the Army Component of U.S...
, which moved to confront the German offensive.
The 100th returned in March 1945 attacked the area on a broad front. Grand-Hohékirkel was lightly defended, and the Americans, backed up by heavy artillery, were able to capture Grand-Hohékirkel and the Ensemble de Bitche with few casualties. Four-à-Chaux saw little action during the Lorraine Campaign
Lorraine Campaign
Lorraine Campaign is a term used by U.S. Army historians to describe operations of the U.S. Third Army in Lorraine during World War II from September 1 through December 18, 1944. Official U.S. Army campaign names for this period and location are Northern France and Rhineland. The term was...
, where most action took place around Hochwald and Schoenenbourg
Ouvrage Schoenenbourg
Ouvrage Schoenenbourg is a Maginot Line fortification. It is located on the territory of the communes of Hunspach, Schœnenbourg and Ingolsheim, in the French département of Bas-Rhin, forming part of the Fortified Sector of Haguenau, facing Germany. At the east end of the Alsace portion of the...
. Block 1 was destroyed using explosives by the Germans before the surrender in 1945.
Môle de Bitche
Following World War II, the French military reclaimed the Maginot Line with the aim of renovating and improving it against a possible attack by Warsaw PactWarsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
forces. Four-à-Chaux and Lembach were grouped with Hochwald and Schoenenbourg from the SF Haguenau. They were designated the môle de Bitche ("breakwater") in 1951 and were placed back into service after a period of rehabilitation. Schiesseck, Otterbiel (in the SF Rohrbach) and Grand-Hohékirkel, located at the Camp de Bitche army training center, were used for training in fortress systems and weapons. During Exercise Turenne at Grand-Hohékirkel in 1953, firing exercises cast doubt on the combat viability of the exposed cloches, which had proved vulnerable to German fire in the war. A follow-up exercise (Hoche) did, however, confirm that casemate positions remained secure against 90mm-equivalent gunfire, using AMX-13
AMX-13
The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1953 to 1985. It served with the French Army and was exported to over twenty-five other nations...
and M47 Patton
M47 Patton
The M47 Patton is an American medium tank, the second tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates of tanks in battle. It was a further development of the M46 Patton tank.-History:The M47 was the U.S...
tanks to fire on embrasures.
After the establishment of the French nuclear strike force
France and weapons of mass destruction
France is known to have an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently...
, the importance of the Line declined, and maintenance ceased in the 1970s, with most of the casemates sold.
Present status
Four-à-Chaux is open to the public under the guidance of the SILE (Syndicat d'Initiative de Lembach et Environs) association. Lembach is privately owned and reported to be in poor condition. Grand-Hohékirkel is on military land and is not accessible to the public. The casemates of Dambach Nord and Dambach Sud are open for visitation, along with a trail system through the Schwartzbach valley.External links
- Fortified Sector of the Vosges at darkplaces.org
- Four-à-Chaux website
- Dambach-Neuhoffen casemates