Ouvrage Village Coume
Encyclopedia
Ouvrage Village Coume is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line
. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay
, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between petits ouvrages Bovenberg
and Coume Annexe Nord
, facing Germany
. The position saw little action in World War II
. It was sold in the 1970s and stripped by salvagers.
Village Coume played no significant role in either the Battle of France
in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign
of 1944.
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,...
. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay
Fortified Sector of Boulay
The Fortified Sector of Boulay was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line to the north and east of Metz in northeastern France. The left wing of the Boulay sector was among the earliest and strongest portions of the Maginot Line...
, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between petits ouvrages Bovenberg
Ouvrage Bovenberg
Ouvrage Bovenberg is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage is located between petits ouvrages Berenbach and Denting, facing Germany...
and Coume Annexe Nord
Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord
Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of one infantry block, and is located between petits ouvrages Village Coume and Coume, facing Germany....
, 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...
. The position saw little action in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was sold in the 1970s and stripped by salvagers.
Design and construction
The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency; Village Coume was approved for construction in May 1931. It was completed at a cost of 12 million francs by the contractor Duval-Weyrich of Nancy. The petit ouvrage was planned for construction in two phases. The second phase was to provide a separate entry block less than 100 metres (328.1 ft) behind the ouvrage.Description
Village Coume comprises three infantry blocks. A separate entrance block was planned for a second phase of construction which was never undertaken. The blocks are linked by deep underground galleries, which also provide space for barracks, utilities and ammunition storage. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 metres (98.4 ft).- Block 1: Entry/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...
, one twin machine gun cloche (JM)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 two GFM cloche and two twin machine gun embrasures.
- Block 3: infantry/observation block with one GFM cloche and one twin machine gun turret.
Manning
The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Lieutenant Lussus comprised 135 men and 2 officers of the 161st Fortress Infantry Regiment. The units were under the umbrella of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2. The Casernement de Ban Saint-Jean provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Village Coume and other positions in the area.History
- See Fortified Sector of BoulayFortified Sector of BoulayThe Fortified Sector of Boulay was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line to the north and east of Metz in northeastern France. The left wing of the Boulay sector was among the earliest and strongest portions of the Maginot Line...
for a broader discussion of the Boulay sector of the Maginot Line.
Village Coume played no significant role in either 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...
in 1940 or 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...
of 1944.
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...