Ouvrage Haut-Poirier
Encyclopedia
Ouvrage Haut-Poirier is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line
. The ouvrage consists of one entry and three infantry blocks, and is located between the Saare valley and petit ouvrage Welschhof
, facing Germany
. It is the only ouvrage in the Fortified Sector of the Sarre
, the remainder of the area being covered by smaller blockhouses and areas of inundation. It was assaulted by German forces during the Battle of France
and was captured after a seven-hour bombardment. Haut-Poirier is presently abandoned, although one of its satellite casemates is maintained as a museum.
Haut-Poirier also has two false cloches.
s and infantry shelters are in the vicinity of Haut-Poirier, including
On 15 June 1940 German forces broke through the Saar gap. The German 262nd Infantry Division approached Haut-Poirier from the rear on 21 June. The Germans opened fire with 155mm artillery at 1500 hours, concentrating on Block 3. Without artillery support from a gros ouvrage,and with Blocks 1 and 2 were unable to intervene, their fire blocked by terrain, Haut-Poirier surrendered at 2200 hours. The casemates nearby surrendered at the same time..
After the June 1940 armistice the Germans stripped Haut-Poirier of all equipment. The ouvrage was in poor condition after the war and was not chosen for renovation.
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,...
. The ouvrage consists of one entry and three infantry blocks, and is located between the Saare valley and petit ouvrage Welschhof
Ouvrage Welschhof
Ouvrage Welschhof is a lesser work of the Maginot Line, located near Rohrbach-lès-Bitche in the Moselle department of northeastern France. Located in the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between petit ouvrage Haut-Poirier and gros ouvrage...
, facing Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the only ouvrage in the Fortified Sector of the Sarre
Fortified Sector of the Sarre
The Fortified Sector of the Sarre was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line on either side of the Sarre river. The sector's defenses relied primarily on a system of inundations that could be created by fortified dikes and regulating weirs, backed...
, the remainder of the area being covered by smaller blockhouses and areas of inundation. It was assaulted by German forces during 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...
and was captured after a seven-hour bombardment. Haut-Poirier is presently abandoned, although one of its satellite casemates is maintained as a museum.
Design and construction
The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, and was approved for construction in November 1934. The petit ouvrage was to be expanded in a second phase to gros ouvrage status with separate personnel and munitions entrances, two 75mm gun turret blocks and a 75mm gun casemate block..Description
Haut-Poirier comprises three infantry blocks and a small entry block. The blocks are linked by an underground gallery system containing baracks spaces, ammunition storage and utility services. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 metres (98.4 ft). The provisional entry block is located a short distance behind the combat blocks, accessed by a large drain. The proposed new entrances would have been several hundred meters father back.- Block 1: Infantry block with two automatic rifle cloches (GFM)GFM clocheThe GFM cloche was one of the most common defensive armaments on the Maginot Line. A cloche was a fixed and non-retractable firing position made of a thick iron casting which shielded its occupant...
, two mixed arms cloches (AM)JM clocheThe JM cloche is an element of the Maginot Line. It is a non-retractable non-rotating cupola of steel alloy like GFM cloches, but are armed with twin heavy machine guns, as opposed to the lighter automatic rifles associated with the GFM. There are 179 JM cloches on the Maginot Line.JM is an acronym...
, and one machine gun/anti-tank gun embrasure (JM/AC47AC 47 anti-tank gunThe AC 47 was a French anti-tank gun of 47mm caliber. It was principally used in the ouvrages and casemates of the Maginot Line in the late 1930s; another version was created for naval use....
). - Block 2: Infantry block with one GFM cloche and one retractable mixed arms turret.
- Block 3: Infantry block with two GFM cloches, one mixed arms cloche, one twin machine gun embrasure and two JM/AC 47 embrasures. The block was heavily damaged by German bombardment in 1940.
Haut-Poirier also has two false cloches.
Casemates and shelters
A series of detached casemateCasemate
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 and infantry shelters are in the vicinity of Haut-Poirier, including
- Casemate de WittringCasemate de WittringThe Casemate de Wittring is a component of the Maginot Line fortifications in northeastern France. It is located in the Fortified Sector of the Sarre section of the line and was associated with Ouvrage Haut-Poirier, a petit ouvrage of the main Line...
: SIngle block with one JM/AC47 embrasure, one twin machine gun embrasure, two AM cloches and two GFM-B cloches. - Casemate du Grand-Bois: SIngle block with one JM/AC47 embrasure, one twin machine gun embrasure, one AM cloche and two GFM-B cloches.
- Casemate de Nord-Ouest d'Achen: Double block with two JM/AC47 embrasures, one twin machine gun embrasure, one AM cloche and two GFM-B cloches.
- Casemate de Nord d'Achen: Double block with two JM/AC47 embrasures, two twin machine gun embrasures, one AM cloche and two GFM-B cloches.
- Casemate de Nord-Est d'Achen: Double block with two JM/AC47 embrasures, two twin machine gun embrasures, one AM cloche and two GFM-B cloches.
Manning
The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Captain Gambotti comprised 158 men and 3 officers of the 133rd Fortress Infantry Regiment. The units were under the umbrella of the 4th Army, Army Group 2. The Casernement d'Achen provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Haut-Poirier and other positions in the area.History
- See Fortified Sector of the SarreFortified Sector of the SarreThe Fortified Sector of the Sarre was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line on either side of the Sarre river. The sector's defenses relied primarily on a system of inundations that could be created by fortified dikes and regulating weirs, backed...
for a broader discussion of the events of 1940 in the Sarre sector of the Maginot Line.
On 15 June 1940 German forces broke through the Saar gap. The German 262nd Infantry Division approached Haut-Poirier from the rear on 21 June. The Germans opened fire with 155mm artillery at 1500 hours, concentrating on Block 3. Without artillery support from a gros ouvrage,and with Blocks 1 and 2 were unable to intervene, their fire blocked by terrain, Haut-Poirier surrendered at 2200 hours. The casemates nearby surrendered at the same time..
After the June 1940 armistice the Germans stripped Haut-Poirier of all equipment. The ouvrage was in poor condition after the war and was not chosen for renovation.
Current condition
Haut-Poirier is on private property and is sealed to access. The Casemate de Wittring is maintained as a museum and may be visited.See also
- List of all works on Maginot Line
- Siegfried LineSiegfried LineThe original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
- Atlantic WallAtlantic WallThe Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
- Czechoslovak border fortificationsCzechoslovak border fortificationsThe Czechoslovak government built a system of border fortifications from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany that later materialized in the German offensive plan called Fall Grün...