Ouvrage Coume

Last updated
Ouvrage Coume
Part of Maginot Line
Northeast France
France location map-Regions and departements-2016.svg
Red pog.svg
Ouvrage Coume
Coordinates 49°10′59″N6°35′09″E / 49.18306°N 6.58583°E / 49.18306; 6.58583
Site information
Controlled byFrance
Site history
In useAbandoned
MaterialsConcrete, steel, deep excavation
Battles/wars Battle of France
Ouvrage Coume
Type of work:Small artillery work (Petit ouvrage)
sector
└─sub-sector
Fortified Sector of Boulay
└─Narbéfontaine
Work number:A31
Regiment:160th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF)
Strength:2 officers, 95 men

Ouvrage Coume is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks, and was located between petits ouvrages Coume Annexe Nord and Coume Annexe Sud, facing Germany.

Contents

Design and construction

The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency; Coume was approved for construction in early 1931. It was completed at a cost of 7 million francs by the contractor Duval-Weyrich of Nancy. [1] The petit ouvrage [nb 1] was originally planned as a gros ouvrage with twelve combat blocks, mounting artillery. The project was progressively scaled back to the point that the two infantry blocks that were actually built were not even connected by an underground gallery. A second phase was planned to link the two, never carried out. [4]

Description

Coume comprises two unconnected infantry blocks. A subterranean connection was planned for Phase 2, and was started but not completed before the outbreak of war:

The original gros ouvrage was to include two casemate blocks, each with three 75mm guns, a block with a 135mm gun turret, three casemates covering an anti-tank ditch, and a block with an 81mm mortar turret. Separate blocks were planned for the rear for munitions and personnel entry, while the deep underground gallery system was to include barracks and a large "M1" magazine. [4]

Manning

The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Lieutenant Soubrier comprised 95 men and 2 officers of the 160th Fortress Infantry Regiment. [4] The units were under the umbrella of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2. [7] The Casernement de Ban Saint-Jean provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Coume and other positions in the area. [4] [8]

History

See Fortified Sector of Boulay for a broader discussion of the Boulay sector of the Maginot Line.

Coume played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944.

See also

Notes

  1. English-language sources use the French term ouvrage as the preferred term for the Maginot positions, in preference to "fort", a term usually reserved for older fortifications with passive defensives in the form of walls and ditches. [2] The literal translation of ouvrage in the sense of a fortification in English is "work." A gros ouvrage is a large fortification with a significant artillery component, while a petit ouvrage is smaller, with lighter arms. [3]

Related Research Articles

Ouvrage Coucou is a lesser work of the Maginot Line, located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay. The ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks, and is located between the gros ouvrages of Hackenberg and Mont des Welches, facing Germany, just north of Kemplich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Hobling</span> Lesser work of the Maginot Line

Ouvrage Hobling is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks and two observation blocks, and is located between gros ouvrage Michelsberg and petit ouvrage Bousse, facing Germany. It has been stripped of metals and abandoned.

Ouvrage Berenbach, also known as Ouvrage Behrenbach, is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage is located between gros ouvrage Anzeling and petit ouvrage Bovenberg, facing Germany. The ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks and one observation block. Uniquely, the blocks are not connected by subterranean galleries, as is the case in virtually all other Maginot fortifications.

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. It consists of two infantry blocks and two artillery blocks.

Ouvrage Denting is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Part of the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between petits ouvrages Bovenberg and Village Coume, near the village of Denting in Moselle département, facing Germany. The position saw little action in World War II.

Ouvrage Village Coume is a lesser work 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Coume Annexe Sud</span>

Ouvrage Coume Annexe Sud is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks, one artillery block and one observation block, and is located between petits ouvrages Coume and Mottemberg, facing Germany.

Ouvrage Mottenberg is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Part of the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of one entrance block and two infantry blocks, and is located between petits ouvrages Coume Annexe Sud and Kerfent, facing Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Kerfent</span>

Ouvrage Kerfent is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Faulquemont, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks and an observation block, and is located between petits ouvrages Mottemberg and Bambesch, facing Germany. During the Battle of France, Kerfent was attacked by German forces, who captured the position from the rear after a short assault with artillery support. The combat blocks were heavily damaged. During the Cold War, limited repairs were made to allow the underground facilities to be occupied. Between 1958 and 1961 the site was used by the Royal Canadian Air Force as a microwave communications relay station. In the 1970s the ouvrage was sold to the commune of Zimming. The ouvrage is now flooded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Téting</span>

Ouvrage Téting is a lesser work of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Faulquemont, the ouvrage consists of one infantry block and two observation blocks, and is located facing Germany between petits ouvrages Laudrefang and the Saar valley, which was to be inundated in times of emergency. With artillery support from its neighbor Laudrefang, Téting held out against German bombardment during the Battle of France in 1940. It is now abandoned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Soetrich</span>

Ouvrage Soetrich is a gros ouvrage of the Maginot Line in north-eastern France. Soetrich is located between petits ouvrages Immerhof and Bois Karre, facing the France-Luxembourg border near the town of Hettange-Grande, part of the Fortified Sector of Thionville. Compared with other gros ouvrages, Soetrich is compact in arrangement, with the entries and underground ammunition magazines and barracks in close proximity to the combat blocks, accessed through underground galleries at an average depth of 30 metres (98 ft). Its primary purpose was to cover the main road to Luxembourg, just to the west. Along with its neighbours, Ouvrage Rochonvillers and Ouvrage Molvange, Soetrich was used during the Cold War as a secure command centre for NATO forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Bois-Karre</span>

Ouvrage Bois- Karre is located in the Fortified Sector of Thionville of the Maginot Line, facing the France - Luxembourg border. The petit ouvrage is situated in the Cattenom Forest between the gros ouvrages Soetrich and Kobenbusch, just south of Boust. It is unusual for a Maginot fortification in its construction as a single blockhouse, with no underground gallery system or remotely located entries. Bois-Karre has been preserved and is maintained as a museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Otterbiel</span>

Ouvrage Otterbiel forms part of the Maginot Line in the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach, Sub-sector of Bitche, and is located on the Camp de Bitche of the French Army. It is located between gros ouvrage Schiesseck and petit ouvrage Grand Hohekirkel. Part of the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach, the petit ouvrage comprises four combat blocks and an entry block. Due to budget restrictions, a planned flanking infantry block was never constructed. Otterbiel saw no significant action in the Battle of France, and limited action during the 1944/45 Lorraine Campaign. It was renovated for use during the Cold War. Otterbiel is used for ammunition storage by the French Army.

Ouvrage Eth is an isolated petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line, built as part of the "New Fronts" program to address shortcomings in the Line's coverage of the border with Belgium. It is located between the villages of Eth and Wargnies-le-Grand, in Nord département. Eth is the sole Maginot fortification in the Fortified Sector of the Escaut, which primarily consisted of individual casemates, blockhouses and the improved 19th-century Fort de Maulde. During the Battle of France the ouvrage resisted artillery attack for four days before the garrison evacuated through a drain to a neighboring casemate.

Ouvrage Les Sarts is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line, built as part of the "New Fronts" program to address shortcomings in the Line's coverage of the border with Belgium. Like the other three ouvrages near Maubeuge, it is built on an old Séré de Rivières system fortification, near the town of Marieux.

Ouvrage Bersillies is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line, built as part of the "New Fronts" program to address shortcomings in the Line's coverage of the border with Belgium. Like the other three ouvrages near Maubeuge, it is built on an old Séré de Rivières-system fortification, near the town of Bersillies. The preserved Ouvrage La Salmagne is nearby to the southeast. Bersillies is not open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Les Aittes</span>

Ouvrage Les Aittes is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, three infantry blocks and one observation block, about two kilometers east of Cervières, Hautes-Alpes at an altitude of 2,029 metres (6,657 ft)..

Ouvrage Valdeblore is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, one infantry artillery block and one observation block at an altitude of 842 metres (2,762 ft). Valdeblore was built starting in November 1930 by Poiljeux contractors, and was completed by Thorrand et Cie in April 1933 at a cost of 1.6 million francs.

Ouvrage Col du Fort is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one infantry block and one observation block at an elevation of 1,717 metres (5,633 ft). An additional block was planned but not built.

References

  1. Mary, Tome 1, p. 52
  2. Kaufmann 2006, p. 13
  3. Kaufmann 2006, p. 20
  4. 1 2 3 4 Mary, Tome 3, p. 109
  5. Puelinckx, Jean; Aublet, Jean-Louis; Mainguin, Sylvie (2010). "Coume (petit ouvrage de) Bloc 1". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Coume (petit ouvrage de) Bloc 2". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  7. Mary, Tome 3, p. 99
  8. Wahl, J.B. "Festungsabschnitt Boulay" (in German). darkplaces.org. Retrieved 25 May 2010.[ permanent dead link ]

Bibliography