The Fort de la Pompelle, also known as Fort Herbillon, is one of a number of forts built around

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

after 1870 as part of a fortification belt in the

Séré de Rivières system The system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 along the frontiers, ridges and coasts of France. The fortifications were named after their architect, Brigadier-General Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières. The fortresses were obso ...

. The forts saw combat during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the defense of Reims. The fort is located about north of the town of Sillery, next to the N44 road, between Reims and

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

. Constructed as a supporting position for larger forts and disarmed in 1913, it saw the heaviest fighting of the Reims forts. It was bombarded during the war and remains in a state of ruin.

Description

The Fort de la Pompelle was built between 1880 and 1883 to complete the fortification belt around Reims that was started by General

Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières (; 20 May 1815 – 16 February 1895) was a French military engineer and general whose ideas revolutionized the design of fortifications in France. He gave his name to the Séré de Rivières system of fortificat ...

after the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870. This secondary work was planned to support the principal forts of Witry-les-Reims, Nogent-l'Abbesse, Brimont, Saint-Thierry, Fresnes and Montbré. The relatively small rectangular fort was surrounded by a ditch defended by two-level

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 ...

s. With a surface area of , it was provided with six 155mm

de Bange Charles Ragon de Bange (17 October 1833 – 9 July 1914) was a French artillery officer and Polytechnician. He invented the first effective obturator system for breech-loading artillery, which remains in use. He also designed a system of field g ...

1881 guns, four 138mm guns and a variety of lesser pieces. An artillery company of 277 men garrisoned the fort. In 1917-18 a number of underground passages were cut from the chalk to provide access points a few hundred meters to the rear of the fort.

First World War

The fort was disarmed in 1913, immediately prior to the First World War. During the offensives of 1914, the fort was briefly taken by German forces on 4 September. Following the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...

it was reoccupied by French forces of the 138th Infantry Regiment on 24 September 1914. The fort then became a principal part in the defense of the Reims sector. In the remainder of the war, the fort was assaulted and bombarded many times by the Germans, but never changed hands again. A total of 180 different regiments, including two special Russian brigades sent by Tsar

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

in 1916 would defend the fort in turn. The garrison was supported by naval artillery stationed on the canal between Sept Saulx and Courmelois, which bombarded the German lines. The fort saw particularly strong assaults in the spring of 1918 in the Second Battle of the Marne, when it was assaulted three times, on 1 June with fifteen tanks. Each assault was repelled by the elements of the 1st Colonial Infantry Corps. The fort was depicted in the 1931 Raymond Bernard movie ''Les Croix de Bois''.

Abandonment and restoration

After the First World War, the Fort de la Pompelle was abandoned for nearly forty years and was finally listed for sale by the ''Administration des Domaines'' in November 1955. Supported by veterans' groups, the fort was purchased by the Fédération Nationale André Maginot which sold the site to the city of Reims for one symbolic franc.

Musée du Fort de la Pompelle

Classified as an historic monument on 23 March 1922, the fort is today a museum, inaugurated on 10 November 1972. The museum features an unusual collection of German army headgear, collected by Charles Freise. file:Fort de la pompelle 185.JPG,

Canon de 155mm GPF The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) modèle 1917 was a WWI-era French-designed 155 mm gun used by the French Army and the United States Army during the first half of the 20th century in towed and self-propelled mountings. His ...

. file:Fort de la pompelle 046.JPG, Russian infantry sergeant and French artillery lieutenant. file:Casque escadrille Cigognes 12171.JPG, Cigognes squadron helmet. file:Casques du grand-duché de Mecklenburg.jpg, Helmets from the Grand Duchy of

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolphus Frederick II divided ...

. file:Casque de général du Wurtemberg.JPG, General's helmet from the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. file:Casque adrian M Raou.JPG, Adrian helmet. file:Sabres des royaumes d'Allemagne.JPG,

Smallsword __NoTOC__ The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: or claybeg, French: , lit. “Sword of the court”) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier (''espada ropera'') of ...

s of the German kingdoms. File:Choppe 12185.JPG,

Beer stein A beer stein ( ), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American Vogue (magazine), ''Vogue'' magazin ...

References

External links