Ouvrage Oberheid, also called Ouvrage Oberheide, forms a portion of the
Fortified Sector of Thionville
The Fortified Sector of Thionville (''Secteur fortifié de Thionville'') was the French military organisation that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line immediately to the north of Thionville. The sector describes an arc of about , ...
of the
Maginot Line in northeast
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. The ''petit ouvrage d'infanterie'' is located on a salient point of the Cattenom Forest between the ''gros ouvrages''
Kobenbusch (to the north) and
Galgenberg (to the south), which provided covering fire during June 1940, when Oberheid faced daily bombardments and infiltrations. Oberheid has been abandoned and after extensive vandalism has been sealed.
Design and construction
Oberheid was surveyed by CORF (''Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées''), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in 1930.
[Mary, Tome 3, p. 93] and the position became operational in 1935,
[Kaufmann 2006, p. 25] at a cost of 8 million francs.
It was built by the contractor Verdun-Fortifications.
[Mary, Tome 1, p. 52]
Description
The single combat block has two firing chambers and a central barracks surmounted by a machine gun turret. Each firing chamber has a mixed armament of a machine gun and a
37mm anti-tank gun at one embrasure and a machine gun at the other. The ''ouvrage'' is surmounted by a machine gun turret and four
automatic rifle cloches (GFMs), which provided artillery spotting for the ''ouvrage''
Métrich. The small ''usine'' is equipped with two Baudouin engines.
Manning
The ''ouvrage'' possessed a garrison of 78 men of the 168th Fortress Infantry Regiment, under the orders of Lieutenant Pobeau and his assistant, Lieutenant Sépulchre.
History
:''See
Fortified Sector of Thionville
The Fortified Sector of Thionville (''Secteur fortifié de Thionville'') was the French military organisation that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line immediately to the north of Thionville. The sector describes an arc of about , ...
for a broader discussion of the events of 1940 in the Thionville sector of the Maginot Line.''
Oberheid did not see significant action in the
Battle of France in 1940, nor in the
Lorraine Campaign of 1944. In 1940 German infiltrators occupied the surface of Oberheid, requiring suppressing fire to be directed from neighboring Kobenbusch.
[Mary, Tome 5, p. 208] The Germans largely bypassed the area, advancing along the valley of the
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
and
Saar
Saar or SAAR has several meanings:
People Given name
*Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player
* Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist
*Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor
Surname
* Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...
rivers, threatening the rear of the Thionville sector. The garrison therefore remained in place. Following negotiations, the positions on the left bank of the Moselle finally surrendered to the Germans on 30 June 1940.
[Mary, Tome 5, p. 230]
Current condition
The
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
continues to control Oberheid. After extensive vandalism, the entrances have been buried to prevent access.
See also
*
List of all works on Maginot Line
*
Siegfried Line
*
Atlantic Wall
*
Czechoslovak border fortifications
Czechoslovakia built a system of border fortifications as well as some fortified defensive lines inland, from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany. The objective of the fortifications was to prevent t ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*Allcorn, William. ''The Maginot Line 1928-45.'' Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003.
*Kaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W. ''Fortress France: The Maginot Line and French Defenses in World War II'', Stackpole Books, 2006.
*Kaufmann, J.E., Kaufmann, H.W., Jancovič-Potočnik, A. and Lang, P. ''The Maginot Line: History and Guide'', Pen and Sword, 2011.
*Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. ''Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 1.'' Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2001.
*Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. ''Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 2.'' Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2003.
*Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. ''Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 3.'' Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2003.
*Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. ''Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 5.'' Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009.
External links
Ligne Maginot de Cattenom et environs official site
Oberheidat fortiff.be
Ouvrage de l'Oberheideat wikimaginot.eu
L'ouvrage de l'Oberheidat alsacemaginot.com
at lignemaginot.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberheid, Ouvrage
OBEr
Maginot Line