Ouvrage Sentzich is part of the Fortified Sector of Thionville of the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

. The ''petit ouvrage'' for infantry is located to the south of ''gros ouvrage'' Galgenberg, on the edge of the main road to

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

near the village of Sentzich. ''Gros ouvrage'' Métrich is to the east. As a small work, it was not considered for use after World War II and was abandoned. It is secured and is not open to the public.

Design and construction

The Sentzich site was approved by CORF (''Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées''), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in February 1930 and construction by contractor Verdun-Fortifications started the same year. The construction cost was 7.5 million francs.Mary, Tome 1, p. 52

Description

The single infantry block possessed two firing chambers and one machine

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

. The north chamber was equipped for a machine gun/ 37 mm anti-tank gun combination (JM/AC37), and was surmounted by an automatic rifle cloche (GFM). The south firing chamber was equipped similarly. The ''usine'' was equipped with two Baudouin motors, of each.

Casemates and shelters

The Blockhaus de Sentzich is immediately to the south of the main ''ouvrage'' on the other side of the Sentzich village. The blockhouse was armed with a JM/AC47

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of Age of Gunpowder, gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a sp ...

.Mary, Tome 3, p. 95

Manning

The ''ouvrage'' was manned by 66 men of the 168th Fortress Infantry Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Legrand. The Casernement de Cattenom provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Sentzich and other ''ouvrages'' in the area.

History

:''See Fortified Sector of Thionville for a broader discussion of the events of 1940 in the Thionville sector of the Maginot Line.'' Sentzich, closely associated with Galgenberg, did not see significant action in the

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, Luxembour ...

in 1940, nor in the Lorraine Campaign of 1944.Mary, Tome 5, p. 208 The Germans largely bypassed the area, advancing along the valley of the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas 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 total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

and

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name * Sarr Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist * Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), E ...

rivers, threatening the rear of the Thionville sector. An order to fortress troops by sector commander Colonel Jean-Patrice O'Sullivan to prepare for withdrawal on 17 June was reversed by O'Sullivan. 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. While a number of the larger ''ouvrages'' in the Thionville sector were renovated immediately after World War II for duty in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Sentzich was not rearmed.Mary, Tome 5, p. 172 It remained secured, owing to its position next to Galgenberg, which was used as a communications facility.

Current condition

The ''ouvrage'' is owned and maintained by the commune of Cattenom. It is not presently accessible to the public.

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

Official site

Sentzich
at fortiff.be
L'ouvrage de Sentzich
at alsacemaginot.com

at lignemaginot.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sentzich, Ouvrage SENT Maginot Line