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Fort Jeanne D'Arc
Fort Jeanne d'Arc, also called Fortified Group Jeanne d'Arc, is a fortification located to the west of Metz in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany to the west of the town of Rozérieulles in the early 20th century as part of the third and final group of Metz fortifications. The fortification program was started after the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War, which resulted in the annexation of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from France to Germany. The Fort Jeanne d'Arc was part of the ''Moselstellung'', a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace and Lorraine, with construction taking place between 1899 and 1908. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Jeanne d'Arc, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. These later forts were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortifications Of Metz
The fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became the ''Reichsland'' Alsace–Lorraine. The German Army decided to build a fortress line from Mulhouse to Luxembourg to protect their new territories. The centerpiece of this line was the ''Moselstellung'' between Metz and Thionville, in Lorraine.Clayton Donnell (2008), ''The German Fortress of Metz 1870–1944'', Osprey Publishing. Overview The fortifications around Metz consisted of casemates, concrete barracks, infantry strong points, and concrete batteries, equipped with rotating steel turrets (100–150 mm). Each position was surrounded by several ditches, or concrete trenches, with shelters and observation cupolas. A large barbed wire belt, defended by machine gun and rifle position ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caponier
A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall (fortification), curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' is a castrated male chicken). In some types of bastioned fortifications, the caponier served as a means of access to the outworks, protecting troops from direct fire; they were often roofless. Although they could be used for firing along the ditch, the flanks of the bastions were the main defence of the ditch by fire. In later polygonal forts, caponiers were often roofed and were not intended as a type of ''covered way'', but as the main way of keeping the ditch clear of a besieger. History Originally the term referred to a covered passageway that traversed the ditch (fortification), ditch outside the curtain of a fortress. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall (fortification), cu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Fort Driant
The Battle of Fort Driant was a constituent battle in the 1944 Battle of Metz, during the Lorraine Campaign and the greater Siegfried Line Campaign. The battle was on occupied French territory between the forces of the United States Third Army under the command of General George S. Patton and the forces of Nazi Germany under General Otto von Knobelsdorff and was given the code name ''Operation thunderbolt''. Location and fortifications left, 175px, Map of the defenses of Fort Driant Fort Driant was located southwest of Metz, just west of the Moselle River. Built in 1902 by the Germans and renamed in 1919 after Colonel Émile Driant, the fort was continually reinforced by both the French and German armies. Fort Driant was made from steel reinforced concrete; it was also surrounded by a deep dry moat and barbed wire. At the time of the battle it housed five main gun batteries of 150 mm guns, infantry trenches, and armored machine gun and observation posts. From its c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Army (Wehrmacht)
The 1st Army () was a World War II field army. Operational history 1939 The 1st Army was activated on 26 August 1939, in Wehrkreis XII with General Erwin von Witzleben in command. Its primary mission was to take defensive positions and guard the western defences ( West Wall) of Germany against Allied forces along the Maginot Line during the attack on Poland, making it the principal German combatant during the short-lived French Saar Offensive. 1940 During the Western campaign it belonged to the Army Group C and initially remained passive towards the Maginot Line. the 1st Army continued its defensive assignment on the French border until June 1940, when the Battle of France had turned decisively to Germany's favor. Starting on 14 June 1940, the 1st Army began the penetration of the Maginot Line, breaking through French defenses, it began concentrating its forces in the frontier sector south of Saarbrücken. Another penetration was conducted north of Wörth am Main on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
462nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)
The 462nd ''Volksgrenadier'' Division () was a ''Volksgrenadier'' division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1942 to 1944. It was initially known as Division Nr. 462 and subsequently became the 462nd Infantry Division before assuming its ''Volksgrenadier'' designation in late 1944. Operational history The 462nd ''Volksgrenadier'' Division was originally formed in October 1942 as a replacement division in the French town of Nancy, in the French Region of Lorraine Province, under the command of ''Generalmajor'' Otto Schilling. It took responsibility for many of the units of the former 182nd Reserve Division and was expanded with various fortress and training troops stationed at Luxembourg, Saarburg and Metz. After D-Day it was designated as a ''Volksgrenadier'' division and reorganized for combat and was dispatched to the frontlines in August 1944. At the start of November 1944, now commanded by ''Generalleutnant'' Vollrath Lübbe, the division, less th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort François De Guise
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ("strong") and ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large cyclopean stone walls fitted without mortar had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek '' phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Driant
The Battle of Fort Driant was a constituent battle in the 1944 Battle of Metz, during the Lorraine Campaign and the greater Siegfried Line Campaign. The battle was on occupied French territory between the forces of the United States Third Army under the command of General George S. Patton and the forces of Nazi Germany under General Otto von Knobelsdorff and was given the code name ''Operation thunderbolt''. Location and fortifications left, 175px, Map of the defenses of Fort Driant Fort Driant was located southwest of Metz, just west of the Moselle River. Built in 1902 by the Germans and renamed in 1919 after Colonel Émile Driant, the fort was continually reinforced by both the French and German armies. Fort Driant was made from steel reinforced concrete; it was also surrounded by a deep dry moat and barbed wire. At the time of the battle it housed five main gun batteries of 150 mm guns, infantry trenches, and armored machine gun and observation posts. From its comma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
90th Infantry Division (United States)
The 90th Infantry Division ("Tough 'Ombres") was a unit of the United States Army that served in World War I and World War II. Its lineage is carried on by the 90th Sustainment Brigade. World War I *Activated: August 1917. *Overseas: June 1918. *Major Operations: St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne. *Casualties: Total-7,549 (KIA-1,091; WIA-6,458). *Commanders: Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen (25 August 1917), Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Gaston (23 November 1917), Brig. Gen. William Johnston Jr. (27 December 1917), Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen (1 March 1918), Brig. Gen. Joseph P. O'Neil (24 November 1918), Maj. Gen. Charles H. Martin (30 December 1918). *Returned to U.S. and inactivated: June 1919. The 90th Division was constituted in the National Army by the War Department on 5 August 1917, and was directed be organized at Camp Travis, Texas, from draftees from Texas and Oklahoma. The division was organized beginning in the first week of September from a cadre of officers and men of the Regular Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th Infantry Division (United States)
The 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)—nicknamed the "Red Diamond", or the "Red Devils" —was an infantry division of the United States Army that served in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War, and with NATO and the U.S. Army III Corps. It was deactivated on 24 November 1992 and reflagged as the 2nd Armored Division. World War I Organization On 17 November 1917, the War Department directed the organization of the 5th Division with headquarters at Camp Logan, Texas, around a cadre of Regular Army troops that had been stationed at Camp Logan, Camp Forrest, Georgia, Camp Greene, North Carolina, Camp Johnston, Florida, Camp Stanley, Texas, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Major General Charles H. Muir assumed command on 11 December 1917.''Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War'', Center of Military History 1988 The organization was a "square" division (i.e., there were four infantry regiments) with an authorized strength of 28,105 personnel. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armistice Of 22 June 1940
The Armistice of 22 June 1940, sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed at 18:36 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, France by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It became effective at midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel, a senior military officer of the Wehrmacht (the German armed forces), while those on the French side held lower ranks, including general Charles Huntziger. Following the decisive German victory in the Battle of France, the armistice established a German occupation zone in Northern and Western France that encompassed about three-fifths of France's European territory, including all English Channel and Atlantic Ocean ports. The remainder of the country was to be left unoccupied, although the new regime that replaced the Third Republic was mutually recognised as the legitimate government of all of Metropolitan France except Alsace–Lorraine. The French were also p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and French Third Republic, France. The plan for the invasion of the Low Countries and France was called (Case Yellow or the Manstein plan). (Case Red) was planned to finish off the French and British after the Dunkirk evacuation, evacuation at Dunkirk. The Low Countries and France were defeated and occupied by Axis troops down to the Demarcation line (France), Demarcation line. On 3 September 1939, French declaration of war on Germany (1939), France and United Kingdom declaration of war on Germany (1939), Britain declared war on Nazi Germany, over the German invasion of Poland on 1 September. In early September 1939, the French army began the limited Saar Offensive but by mid-October had withdrawn to the start line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Army (France)
The Third Army () was a Field army of the French Army, which fought during World War I and World War II. Commanders World War I *General Ruffey (Mobilization – 30 August 1914) *General Sarrail (30 August 1914 – 22 July 1915) *General Humbert (22 July 1915 – Armistice) World War II *General Charles-Marie Condé (2 September 1939 – 20 June 1940) See also * 3rd Army Corps (France) The 3rd Army Corps () was a corps-sized military formation of the French Army that fought during both World War I and World War II, and was active after World War II until finally being disbanded on 1 July 1998. Cold War Reformed at Ste Germain- ... * List of French armies in WWI External links Robert Thibault, 3rd Army, 8th Infantry Division, 12ème Régiment d'Artillerie, 1939-1940 03 Field armies of France in World War I Field armies of France in World War II Military units and formations established in 1914 1914 establishments in France {{france-mil-unit-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
