Ouvrage Roquebrune

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Ouvrage Roquebrune
Part of Maginot Line, Alpine Line
Roquebrune
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Ouvrage Roquebrune
Coordinates 43°46′08″N7°27′58″E / 43.76885°N 7.46624°E / 43.76885; 7.46624
Site information
Controlled byFrance
Open to
the public
No
Site history
Built1931 (1931)
Built byCORF
In useMunicipal maintenance facility
MaterialsConcrete, steel, rock excavation
Battles/wars Italian invasion of France, Operation Dragoon
Ouvrage Roquebrune
Type of work:Large artillery work (Gros ouvrage)
sector
└─sub-sector
Fortified Sector of the Maritime Alps
└─Corniches, Quartier Menton
Work number:EO 13
Regiment:58th DBAF, 157th RAP
Number of blocks:4
Strength:9 officers, 284 men

Ouvrage Roquebrune is a work (gros ouvrage) of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, two artillery blocks and one observation block facing Italy. The fortification is located on the heights behind Roquebrune at an elevation of 321 meters overlooking Cap Martin and the bays of Roquebrune and Menton. The ouvrage was manned by 293 men of the 58th Demi-Brigade Alpin de Forteresse (DBAF), supported by the 157th Régiment d'Artillerie de Position (RAP), under the command of Captain Gayot. [1]

Contents

Description

The ouvrage was built between November 1931 and July 1933 by Thorrand et Cie., at a cost of 20.3 million francs. [2]

Block D was unbuilt, planned for four 81mm mortars, and Block E, also unbuilt, was planned as an infantry block. The subterranean connecting galleries, ammunition magazines, usine and barracks are arranged in a branching pattern. Four observation posts are associated with Roquebrune, including the Abri Est de Mont-Gros and the Observatoire Croix-de-Muratoire. [7]

Block 3 is essentially the same as the large artillery casemates built by CORF for the main Maginot line in northeastern France, with 75mm guns on the upper level and 81mm mortars firing upwards out of the pit in front of the guns. The block is sunk into the ground, compared to the more typical batteries in the Alps, which were usually built into the side of a cliff or rock wall. [8] Block 2 fired 599 rounds of 75mm shells and 770 81mm mortar rounds in June 1940. [4]

Roquebrune retains its peacetime barracks overlooking the Mediterranean. The barracks have recently been restored. [9] The ouvrage is occupied by the maintenance department of the local parks and recreation authority. The interior is not accessible but is in good condition, while the exteriors of the blocks are easily accessible. [1] [4] [5]

The observatory Mont-Gros de Roquebrune 43°45′58″N7°26′35″E / 43.76611°N 7.44306°E / 43.76611; 7.44306 is an observation block intended to spot the fall of shot for Ouvrage Mont Agel, and is more closely associated with that fortification. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Ouvrage Restefond

Ouvrage Restefond is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one artillery block and three observation blocks at the summit of the Col de la Bonnette. The entry block and an artillery block were not completed, and a further block was never built. At 2,733 metres (8,967 ft), Restefond is the highest Maginot ouvrage.

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Ouvrage Flaut

Ouvrage Flaut is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, one infantry block and one artillery block at an altitude of 771 metres (2,530 ft). The position was intended, acting with Ouvrage Gordolon, to stop an approach by Italian forces from the north towards Nice through the Vésibie Valley.

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Ouvrage Monte Grosso

Ouvrage Monte Grosso is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, four artillery blocks and two observation blocks facing Italy. It was the largest ouvrage in the Alps It is part of the fortifications surrounding Sospel, which protect the approaches to Nice from the north.

Ouvrage LAgaisen

Ouvrage L'Agaisen is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, two artillery blocks and one observation block above Sospel. Additional blocks were planned but not built. The ouvrage is located at an altitude of 663 metres (2,175 ft) on the Agaisen massif overlooking Sospel from the north. The position fired 1821 shots from Block 3's 75mm gun turret in 1940. It has an unusual 75mm gun turret in Block 3.

Ouvrage Saint-Roch

Ouvrage Saint-Roch is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. Small for a gros ouvrages, the ouvrage consists of one entry block, one artillery block and two observation blocks overlooking Sospel at an altitude of 426 metres (1,398 ft). The position is located just to the southwest of Sospel, its entrance block in a narrow valley and the artillery block on the other side of the ridge overlooking Sospel. The ouvrage is laid out along a single line, with the entry block to the rear, immediately followed by the usine, with barracks farther along and Blocks 2 and 3 at intervals. The position's main armament is concentrated in Block 4, a massive blockhouse designed to protect against rockfalls from higher up the mountain.

Ouvrage Castillon

Ouvrage Castillon is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, two infantry blocks, and two artillery blocks in a narrow ridge just to the west of Castillon, Alpes-Maritimes. It was built on the original site of Castillon, destroyed by an earthquake in 1887. It is the next gros ouvrage in the line to the north of Ouvrage Sainte-Agnès, and is within firing range of the Mediterranean coastline.

Ouvrage Mont Agel

Ouvrage Mont Agel is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The 1930s ouvrage was built in and around the earlier mountaintop Fortress of Mont Agel. The ouvrage forms a backup to the main curtain of Alpine Line forts, and was not initially planned as part of the Alpine Line proper. Its intended function was primarily to provide heavy, long-range artillery support from a location well to the rear of the line. However, the planned 145mm heavy guns were never installed. Its site on Mont Agel, at an altitude of 1,118 metres (3,668 ft), is the highest point in the vicinity of Nice and Menton and commands the entire coastline, as well as the approaches from Sospel to the north. The site is now occupied by Base Aérienne 943 of the French Air Force and functions as an air defense control station.

Ouvrage Cap Martin

Ouvrage Cap Martin is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage, located on high ground in Roquebrune, consists of two artillery blocks and one combination block facing Italy. The ouvrage was at the southernmost end of the Alpine Line and overlooked the Mediterranean Sea coastline at an altitude of 21 meters between Nice and Menton, facing towards Italy. The ouvrage and its advance casemate at Pont Saint Louis controlled the coastal roads along the Mediterranean.

Ouvrage Sainte-Agnès

Ouvrage Sainte-Agnès was a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The fortification was built between 1932 and 1938. The site is at the south edge of the hill town of Sainte-Agnès, Alpes-Maritimes at an elevation of 780 metres overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

References

  1. 1 2 Puelinckx, Jean; Aublet, Jean-Louis; Mainguin, Sylvie (2010). "Roquebrune (gros ouvrage de)". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  2. Mary, Tome 4, p. 29
  3. Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Roquebrune go de) Bloc 1". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Roquebrune (go de) Bloc 2". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  5. 1 2 Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Roquebrune (go de) Bloc 3". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  6. Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Roquebrune (go de) Bloc 4". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  7. Mary, Tome 5, p. 71
  8. Mary, Tome 4, p. 67
  9. Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Roquebrune (go de) Casernement". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  10. Puelinckx, Jean; et al. (2010). "Mont Gros de Roquebrune (observatiore due)". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 25 January 2010.

Bibliography