Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord

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Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord
Part of Maginot Line
Northeast France
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Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord
Coordinates 49°11′21″N6°34′46″E / 49.18917°N 6.57944°E / 49.18917; 6.57944
Site information
Controlled byFrance
Site history
In useAbandoned
MaterialsConcrete, steel
Battles/wars Battle of France
Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord
Type of work:Small artillery work (Petit ouvrage)
sector
└─sub-sector
Fortified Sector of Boulay
└─Tromborn
Work number:A30
Regiment:161st Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF)
Strength:1 officer, 35 men

Ouvrage Coume Annexe Nord is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) 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.

Contents

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 July 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 in effect designed and built as an isolated casemate, as opposed to an ouvrage with multiple combat blocks, deep underground support services and accommodations [4]

Description

Coume Annex Nord comprises a single casemate. Armament includes two automatic rifle cloches (GFM), one retractable twin machine gun turret, one twin machine gun embrasure and one machine gun/anti-tank gun embrasure (JM/AC47). [4] [5]

Manning

The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Lieutenant Dillenschneider comprised 35 men and 1 officer of the 161st Fortress Infantry Regiment. [4] The units were under the umbrella of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2. [6] The Casernement de Ban Saint-Jean provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Village Coume and other positions in the area. [4] [7]

History

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

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

Current condition

Coume Annexe Nord remains in good condition, in private ownership. [5]

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 Bousse, also known as Ouvrage Bois de Bousse, is a lesser work of the Maginot Line in the Fortified Sector of Boulay. The ouvrage is located between petit ouvrage Hobling and gros ouvrage Anzeling, near Hestroff in the Bois du Bousse, facing Germany. A small position, it was manned primarily by reservists. It is noted for the events of 15 June 1940, when it received orders to prepare for an evacuation as German forces advanced along the Line in the Battle of France. As the garrison prepared to abandon the position, sabotaging equipment, they destroyed their telephone connection, leaving them unable to receive the order countermanding the evacuation. The garrison was captured three days after leaving Bousse. Bousse is now managed as a museum and is open to public visitation.

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 is a lesser work 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.

<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 Billig</span>

Ouvrage Billig, a gros ouvrage or large fortification of the Maginot Line, was located in the Fortified Sector of Thionville, Moselle in northern France. It is located between the gros ouvrages Metrich and Hackenberg, facing Germany. It saw relatively little action during World War II and after a period of reserve duty in the 1950s, was abandoned in the 1970s.

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

Ouvrage Sentzich is part of the Fortified Sector of Thionville of the Maginot Line. The petit ouvrage for infantry is located to the south of gros ouvrage Galgenberg, on the edge of the main road to Luxembourg near the village of Sentzich. Gros ouvrage Métrich is to the east. As a small work, it was not considered for use after World War II and was abandoned. It is secured and is not open to the public.

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 Saint Ours Nord-est is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks. The associated underground support galleries are arranged with a short gallery connecting Blocks 1 and 2, with parallel stubs at Block 2. While it is listed in some sources as an ouvrage owing to its construction by CORF, it is more like an infantry abri or shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouvrage Col de Crous</span>

Ouvrage Col de Crous is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one infantry block at an altitude of 1,963 metres (6,440 ft). Additional blocks were planned but not built.

Ouvrage Col du Caire Gros is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of two entry blocks at an altitude of 2,048 metres (6,719 ft). Additional blocks were planned but not built.

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.

Ouvrage Col d'Agnon is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of two entry blocks and one observation block facing Italy at an altitude of 998 metres (3,274 ft). The ouvrage was manned by 59 soldiers in 1940 under Sub-Lieutenant Lacour. The position was sited to observe the Roya valley.

Ouvrage Croupe du Réservoir is a lesser work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. Located on the heights of Roquebrune at an elevation of 139 meters, the ouvrage consists of one entry block and one observation block facing Italy and covering the Grande Corniche road. The fortification was manned by 60 troops of the 58th Demi-Brigade Alpin de Forteresse (DBAF) under the command of sous-lieutenant Roman.

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. 1 2 Puelinckx, Jean; Aublet, Jean-Louis; Mainguin, Sylvie (2010). "Coume (petit ouvrage A30 annexe nord de)". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. Mary, Tome 3, p. 99
  7. Wahl, J.B. "Festungsabschnitt Boulay" (in German). darkplaces.org. Retrieved 25 May 2010.[ permanent dead link ]

Bibliography