| Feste Manteuffel/Fort Saint-Julien | |
|---|---|
  Feste Manteuffel/Fort Saint-Julien | |
| Coordinates | 49°04′58″N6°07′26″E / 49.0827°N 6.124°E |
| Type | fort of type Séré de Rivières |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1867–1870 |
| Fate | not used |
The Fort de Saint-Julien, renamed Feste Manteuffel in German, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944 in the Battle of Metz.
The first fortified belt consisted of Fort Saint-Privat (1870) Fort de Queuleu (1867), Fort des Bordes (1870), Saint-Julien (1867), Fort Gambetta, Fort Déroulède, Fort Decaen, Fort de Plappeville (1867) and Group Fortifications of Saint-Quentin (1867); most of them were unfinished or still in the planning stages in 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War broke out. During the period of German control following this war, Metz had a German garrison of 15,000 and 20,000 men at the beginning of this period, [1] and housed more than 25,000 men before the First World War, [2] gradually becoming the most important stronghold of the German Reich. [3]
Fort Saint-Julien is located in the hills above Saint-Julien-lès-Metz and overlooks the city of Metz and the Moselle valley. The fort follows the spirit of the "detached forts" concept developed by Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières in France and Hans Alexis von Biehler in Germany. The goal was to form a discontinuous enclosure around Metz of artillery forts spaced a cannon shot apart. Work began in 1867. The fort was not complete in 1870, when war broke out between France and Germany. The defensive system was completed and perfected by German engineers between 1871 and 1891. The fort, pentagonal, is a bastion. Half buried behind a defensive system on a slope, the main casern is designed to withstand artillery fire. The fort is surrounded by a system of dry moats, evoking the fortifications of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
While Alsace-Lorraine was under German control after the Franco-Prussian War, the fort became a training camp for German imperial troops. From 1890 the troops in the fort were provided by the XVI Army Corps stationed at Metz and Thionville. From 1914 to 1918, the fort served as a relay for German soldiers at the front line. Surrendered to the French army in 1919, the fort was re-taken twenty years later by the Germans during World War II. Beginning in September 1944, German troops reorganized its defense, and integrated the fort with the defensive system set up around Metz. After World War II, the fort was abandoned. Part of the fort now houses a restaurant specializing in dishes from Alsace and Lorraine.
In late August 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Metz, the German command integrated the defensive system set up around Metz. On 2 September 1944, Metz was declared a Hitler Reich fortress, to be defended to the last by German troops whose leaders were all sworn to the Führer. [4] The next day General Walther Krause, then commander of the fortress of Metz, established his High Command, the main command post in the barracks was Fort de Plappeville, then known as Feste Alvensleben. The same day, the troops of General Krause took position on a line from Pagny-sur-Moselle to Mondelange, passing to the west of Metz by Chambley-Bussières, Mars-la-Tour, Jarny and Briey. After an initial withdrawal, starting 6 September 1944, the German lines rested firmly on the forts of Metz.
The US offensive, launched 7 September 1944 on the west line of the forts of Metz was cut short. American troops, stopped at the Moselle, despite taking two bridgeheads south of Metz, better defended than expected, were now low on supplies and figuratively out of breath. General Raymond McLain, in agreement with General Edwin Walker, decided to suspend the attack, pending new plans from the General Staff of the 90th Infantry Division. [5] When hostilities resumed after a rainy month, the soldiers of the 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division still held firm to the forts of Metz, though supplies lines were more difficult under artillery fire and frequent bombings. [6]
As a prelude to the assault on Metz, on 9 November 1944, the Air Force sent some 1,300 heavy bombers, both Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators, and dumped hundreds of bombs on fortifications and strategic points in the combat zone of the Third Army. [7] As most bombers had no visibility and dropped their bombs from over 20,000 feet, the military targets were often missed. In Metz, 689 loads of bombs hit the seven forts identified as priority targets, but merely caused collateral damage. [8]
In the morning fog of 18 November 1944, Colonel Donald Bacon gave the signal for the attack by the 2nd Battalion 378 Infantry Regiment on the Fort Saint-Julien. The fort's strong position on the main road from Metz was in fact an essential goal. The assault battalion silently encircled the fort and attacked at 7:00 am precisely. The road down to Metz was then held by a company of the 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division that the US artillery campaign finally dislodged from the houses below, completing the encirclement of the fort around noon. American tanks and self-propelled guns then took position around the fort. For an hour, the 240-mm howitzers of Task force fired tirelessly preparing for the infantry attack. The soldiers of the 378th Infantry Regiment then rushed through a gap at the back of the fort, under fire from machine guns. Two light tanks provide covering fire, while a tank destroyer took position near the entrance and shot at the fort, which nevertheless resisted. Finally, a self-propelled 155 mm gun managed to break the door. In the absence of heavy weaponry, the 200 German soldiers of the 462nd Volks-Grenadier-Division were trapped in the fort and could do nothing against American firepower. The next morning, in the mist of 19 November 1944, the small detachment of 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division finally agreed to surrender to US troops. [9]
The fort Jeanne-d’Arc was the last of the forts of Metz to disarm. Determined German resistance, bad weather, floods, inopportunity, and a general tendency to underestimate the firepower of the fortifications of Metz, have helped slow the US offensive, giving the opportunity to the German Army to withdraw in good order to the Saar. [10] The objective of the German staff, which was to gain the most possible time in keeping the US troops from arriving at the front of the Siegfried Line, was largely achieved.
The fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became the Reichsland Alsace–Lorraine. The German Army decided to build a fortress line from Mulhouse to Luxembourg to protect their new territories. The centerpiece of this line was the Moselstellung between Metz and Thionville, in Lorraine.
The Battle of Metz was fought during World War II at the French city of Metz, then part of Nazi Germany, from late September 1944 through mid-December as part of the Lorraine Campaign between the U.S. Third Army commanded by Lieutenant General George Patton and the German Army commanded by General Otto von Knobelsdorff. Strong German resistance resulted in heavy casualties for both sides. The city was captured by U.S. forces and hostilities formally ceased on 22 November; the last of the forts defending Metz surrendered on 13 December.
The Battle of Fort Driant was a constituent battle in the 1944 Battle of Metz, during the Lorraine Campaign and the greater Siegfried Line Campaign. The battle was on occupied French territory between the forces of the United States Third Army under the command of General George S. Patton and the forces of Nazi Germany under General Otto von Knobelsdorff and was given the code name Operation thunderbolt.
The Fort de Koenigsmacker is a fortification located to the northeast of Thionville in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany next to the town of the same name in the early 20th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War. The Fort de Koenigsmacker was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace and Lorraine, with construction taking place between 1908 and 1914. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Koenigsmacker, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. These later forts were designed to support offensive operations, as an anchor for a pivoting move by German forces into France.
Fort Jeanne d'Arc, also called Fortified Group Jeanne d'Arc, is a fortification located to the west of Metz in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany to the west of the town of Rozérieulles in the early 20th century as part of the third and final group of Metz fortifications. The fortification program was started after the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War, which resulted in the annexation of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from France to Germany. The Fort Jeanne d'Arc was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace and Lorraine, with construction taking place between 1899 and 1908. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Jeanne d'Arc, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. These later forts were designed to support offensive operations, as an anchor for a pivoting move by German forces into France.
The Fort de Plappeville, or Feste Alvensleben, is a military fortification located to the northwest of Metz in the commune of Plappeville. As part of the first ring of the fortifications of Metz, it is an early example of a Séré de Rivières system fort. While it did not see action during World War I, it was the scene of heavy fighting between American forces and German defenders at the end of the Battle of Metz, in 1944. After Second World War it became a training center for the French Air Force. Fort 'Alvensleben' has been abandoned since 1995.
Fort Saint-Privat is a fortification near Metz. Part of the forts of Metz, it had its baptism of fire in late 1944 during the Battle of Metz.
The Feste von Zastrow, renamed Fort des Bordes by the French in 1919, is a military structure located in the district of Boric in Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt of the forts of Metz. Buried since the construction of the Eastern expressway in 1968, it is covered by a green space, although some remnants of the fort remain visible.
The Feste Hindersin renamed Gambetta fort by the French in 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Kameke, renamed Fort Déroulède by the French in 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, in the Battle of Metz.
The Feste Schwerin, renamed fort Decaen by the French in 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when Battle of Metz occurred.
The Fortifications of Saint-Quentin, or Feste Prinz Friedrich Karl form a fortification group in the Scy-Chazelles municipality located northwest of Metz on the Mont Saint-Quentin. Constituted by forts Diou and Girardin, the group is part of the first fortified belt of forts around Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Wagner, renamed Group Fortifications of Aisne by the French in 1919, is a fort of the second fortified belt of forts from Metz, in Moselle. This group fortification, built in the municipalities of Pournoy-la-Grasse and of Verny, controlled the valley of the Seille. It had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Leipzig, renamed Group Fortifications Francois-de-Guise after 1919 by the French, is a military structure located in the municipality of Châtel-Saint-Germain, close to Metz. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Lothringen, renamed Group Fortification Lorraine after 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Mercy, renamed Feste Freiherr von der Goltz in 1911 and then The Group Fortification Marne in 1919, is a military installation near Metz, in the woods between Jury, Mercy and Ars-Laquenexy. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Haeseler, renamed Group Fortification Verdun after 1919, is a military installation near Metz. Constituted as forts Sommy and Saint-Blaise, the fortified group is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz. It had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Prinz Regent Luitpold, renamed Group Fortification Yser after 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Infanterie-Werk Belle-Croix, renamed Fort Lauvallière after 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz.
The forts of Metz are two fortified belts around the city of Metz in Lorraine. Built according to the design and theory of Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières at the end of the Second Empire—and later Hans von Biehler while Metz was under German control—they earned the city the reputation of premier stronghold of the German reich. These fortifications were particularly thorough given the city's strategic position between France and Germany. The detached forts and fortified groups of the Metz area were spared in World War I, but showed their full defensive potential in the Battle of Metz at the end of World War II.
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