Verdun was the site of one of the most horrific battles of the Great War. Over 18 months the German Imperial Army bombarded and besieged the ring of fortresses surrounding the city, while the French poured reinforcements into the salient to prevent its fall. This was German General Erich von Falkenhayn's goal, to attack the French at point they could not afford to lose and bleed them white. The Battle of Verdun certainly had that effect. It has been estimated that every French soldier on the Western Front was cycled through Verdun at least once. https://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/verdun.htm
Even before the Great War, Verdun was an important fortress city near the border with Germany. Verdun was surrounded by a ring of major fortresses. Between the major fortresses the French established smaller fortified gun emplacements, called Ouvrages. The countryside is still littered with their ruins.
The Ourvage de la Falouse is located four kilometres south of Verdun. It was constructed between 1906 and 1908.
The Ourage was constructed at the summit of a low hill. The concrete barracks is excavated from the centre of the hill, protecting it from direct artillery and rifle fire. The window are protected with steel screens with gun ports. Any troops attempting to assault the fort would be caught in a devastating crossfire.
The main entry is protected by armored steel doors, also fitted with gun ports. You will notice in this photo that the size of the ports can be adjusted open or closed.
The Ouvrage museum has an excellent diorama of life during the war.
Life inside the Ouvrage. The barracks.
Should you wear boots in bed?
The kitchen
What's a meal without wine?
Excuse moi!
It's a long climb up to the observation positions
The gun crew
The gun crew
The 75 millimetre gun turret
The left had gun had taken a hit.
Sited above the turret is the armored gun-aimer's cupola.
Machine gun turret positions. The Ouvrage had two defensive machine gun emplacements in retractable turrets.
As you can see from this photo above the gun-aimer's position, the machine guns had excellent coverage over approaches to the Ouvrage.
Looking back down towards the barracks from the turret position. The barracks are completely invisible from here.
The ground around this observation post has subsided around it and the position, which is constructed of reinforced concrete has begun to slip down the hillside.
View out of one of the gun sights at the Ouvrage entrance.
From the outskirts of the site, the Ouvrage is almost completely invisible. During the war the trees would have been cleared to ensure a clear field of fire.
The turret emplacements resemble an ironclad battleship stranded on land. Being sufficiently south of Verdun, the Ouvrage escaped damage during the Great War. It was later incorporated into the Maginot Line, but again, escaped the destruction that occurred further north.
An aerial view of the entire site from the museum's website. The Ouvrage is not as big or impressive as the Hackenberg Fortress, but it is a very good museum and well worth a visit.
http://www.ouvragedelafalouse.fr/presentation.html
There are many more fortresses and Ouvrages in this area of France and many are well worth a visit.
Check out our visit to the Hackenberg Fortress. https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/06/hackenberg-ouverage-maginot-line-france.html
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