Imagine me in the Maginot line

[Dinner]

By George Formby

[Dinner]

The Maginot Line (IPA: [maʒi'noː], French: Ligne Maginot), named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and in the run-up to World War II. Generally the term describes either the entire system or just the defenses facing Germany, while the Alpine Line is used for the Franco-Italian defenses.

The French established the fortification to provide time for their army to mobilize in the event of attack and/or to entice Germany to attack neutral Belgium to avoid a direct assault on the line. The success of static, defensive combat in World War I was a key influence on French thinking. The fortification system successfully dissuaded a direct attack. However, it was an ineffective strategic gambit, as the Germans did indeed invade Belgium, flanked the Maginot Line, and proceeded relatively unobstructed.[1] It is a myth however that the Maginot line ended at the Belgian border and was easy to circumvent.[citation needed] The fortifications were connected to the Belgian fortification system, of which the strongest point was Fort Eben-Emael. The Germans broke through exactly at this fortified point which made it possible for them to invade France.

Planning and construction

The defenses were first proposed by Marshal Joffre. He was opposed by modernists such as Paul Reynaud and Charles de Gaulle who favoured investment in armour and aircraft. Joffre had support from Henri Philippe Pétain, and there were a number of reports and commissions organised by the government. It was André Maginot who finally convinced the government to invest in the scheme. Maginot was another veteran of World War I, who became the French Minister of Veteran Affairs and then Minister of War (1928–1931).

Part of the rationale for the Maginot line stems from the horrific French losses during the First World War, and their effects on French demographics. The drop in the national birth rate during and after the war, resulting from a national shortage of young men created an "echo" effect in the generation that would provide the French conscript army in the mid-1930s. Faced with inadequate personnel resources, French planners had to rely more on more elderly and less fit reservists, who also would take longer to mobilize. Static defensive positions were therefore intended not only to buy time, but also to defend an area with fewer and less mobile forces.

The line was built in a number of phases from 1930 by the STG (Service Technique du Génie) overseen by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées). The main construction was largely completed by 1939, at a cost of around 3 billion French francs.

The line stretched from Switzerland to Luxembourg, although a much lighter extension was extended to the channel sea after 1934. The original line construction did not cover the area chosen by the Germans for their first challenge, which was through the Ardennes in 1940, a plan known as Fall Gelb. The location of this attack, probably because of the Maginot line, was through the Belgian Ardennes forest (sector 4) which is off the map to the left of Maginot line sector 6 (as marked).
Map of the principal fortified section of the Maginot line
Map of the principal fortified section of the Maginot line

[edit] Purposes

The Maginot Line was built to fulfill several purposes:

* To avoid a surprise attack and to give alarm.

* To cover the mobilization of the French Army (which took between 2 and 3 weeks).

* To save manpower (France counted 39,000,000 inhabitants, Germany 70,000,000).

* To protect Alsace and Lorraine (returned to France in 1918) and their industrial basin.

* To be used as a basis for a counter-offensive.

* To push the enemy to circumvent it while passing by Switzerland or Belgium.

* To hold the enemy while the main army could be brought up to reinforce the line.

[edit] Organization
Block 14 at Ouvrage du Hochwald in 1940
Block 14 at Ouvrage du Hochwald in 1940

Although the name "Maginot Line" suggests a rather thin linear fortification, the Line was quite deep, varying in depth from between 20 to 25 kilometers. It was composed of an intricate system of strong points, fortifications, and military facilities such as border guard posts, communications centers, infantry shelters, barricades, artillery, machine gun, and anti-tank gun emplacements, supply depots, infrastructure facilities, observation posts, etc. These various structures reinforced a principal line of resistance, made up of the most heavily armed "ouvrages", which can be roughly translated as fortresses or major defensive works.

From the front and proceeding to the rear, the Line was composed of:

* Border Post line (1): This consisted of blockhouses and strong houses which were often camouflaged as inoffensive residential homes, built within a few metres of the border, and manned by troops so as to give alarm in the event of sneak or surprise attack as well as delay enemy tanks with prepared explosives and barricades.

* Outpost and Support Point line (2): Approximately 5 kilometres (~2.5-3 miles) behind the border, a line of anti-tank blockhouses were intended to provide resistance to armoured assault sufficient to delay the enemy so as to allow the crews of the "C.O.R.F. ouvrages" to be ready at their battle stations. These outposts covered major passages within the principal line.

* Principal line of resistance (3): This line began 10 kilometres (~6 miles) behind the border. It was preceded by anti-tank obstacles which were metal rails planted vertically in 6 rows with heights varying from 0.70 to 1.40 m (2-4 feet) and buried to a depth of two meters (6-7 feet). These anti-tank obstacles extended from end to end in front of the major works across hundreds of kilometres, interrupted only by extremely dense forests, rivers, or other nearly-impassable terrain.

The anti-tank obstacle system was immediately followed by an anti-personnel obstacle system made primarily of very dense barbed wire. Anti-tank road barriers also made it possible to block roads at necessary points of passage through the tank obstacles.

Casemate de Dambach Nord - The frontage
Casemate de Dambach Nord - The frontage

* Infantry Casemates (4): These bunkers were armed with twin machine-guns (abbreviated as JM in French) and anti-tank guns of 37 or 47 mm. They could be single (with only one firing room in only one direction) or double (two firing rooms, in 2 opposite directions). These generally had 2 floors, with a firing level and a support/infrastructure level that provided the troops with rest and services (power generating units, reserves of water, fuel, food, ventilation equipment, etc…). The infantry casemates often had 1 or 2 "cloches" or turrets located on top of them. These GFM cloches sometimes were used to emplace machine guns or observation periscopes. Their crew was 20 to 30 men.

* Petits ouvrages (5): These small fortresses reinforced the line of infantry bunkers. The petits ouvrages were generally made up of several infantry bunkers connected by an underground tunnel network to which were attached various buried facilities, such as barracks, electric generators, ventilation systems, mess halls, infirmaries, and supply caches. Their crew consisted of between 100 and 200 men.

* Ouvrages (6): These fortresses were the most important fortifications on the Maginot Line, having the sturdiest construction and also the heaviest artillery. These were composed of at least six "forward bunker systems" or "combat blocks", as well as two entrances, and were interconnected via a network of underground tunnels that often featured narrow gauge electric railways for transport between bunker systems. The various blocks contained necessary infrastructure such as power stations with generating units, independent ventilating systems, barracks and mess halls, kitchens, water storage and distribution systems, hoists, ammunition stores, workshops, and stores of spare parts, food, etc. Their crews ranged from 500 to more than 1000 men.

A blockhouse
A blockhouse

* Observation Posts (7) were located on hills that provided a good view of the surrounding area. Their purpose was to locate the enemy and direct and correct the indirect fire of artillery from the artillery fortifications as well as to report on the progress and position of key enemy units. These are large reinforced buried concrete bunkers, equipped with armored turrets containing high-precision optics that were connected with the other fortifications by field telephone and wireless transmitters (known in French by the acronym T.S.F.).

* Telephone Network (8): This system connected every fortification in the Maginot Line, including bunkers, infantry and artillery fortresses, observation posts, and shelters. Two telephone wires were placed parallel to the line of fortifications, providing redundancy in the event of a wire getting cut. There were places along the cable where dismounted soldiers could connect to the network.

* Infantry Reserve Shelters (9): These were found between 500 and 1000 meters (~.3-.6 miles) behind of the principal line of resistance. These were buried concrete bunkers designed to house and shelter up to a company of infantry (200 to 250 men), and had such features as electric generators, ventilation systems, water supplies, kitchens and heating, which allowed their occupants to hold out in the event of an attack. They could also be used as a local headquarters and as a base from which to carry out counter-attacks.

* Flood Zones (10) were natural basins or rivers that could be flooded on demand and thus constitute an additional obstacle in the event of an enemy offensive.

Anti-tanks rails around the casemate 9 of Hochwald ditch
Anti-tanks rails around the casemate 9 of Hochwald ditch

* Safety Quarters (11) were built near the major fortifications in order to make it possible for fortress ("ouvrage") crews to reach their battle stations within the shortest possible time in the event of a surprise or sneak attack during peacetime.

* Supply depots (12).

* Ammunition dumps (13).

* 60 cm (~24 inch) Narrow Gauge Railway System (14): A network of narrow-gauge railways was built so as to rearm and resupply the major fortresses ("ouvrages") from supply depots up to 50 kilometers (35 miles) away. Gasoline-powered armored locomotives pulled supply trains along these narrow-gauge lines. (A similar system was developed with armored steam engines back in 1914-1918.)

* High-voltage Transmission Lines (15), initially above-ground but then buried, and connected to the civil power grid, provided electric power to the many fortifications and fortresses.

* Heavy rail artillery (16) was hauled in by locomotives to predesignated locations so as to support the pre-emplaced artillery located in the fortresses, which was intentionally limited in range to 10-12 kilometers.

[edit] Inventory

[edit] Ouvrages

There are 142 ouvrages, 352 casemates, 78 shelters, 17 observatories and around 5,000 blockhouses in the Maginot Line.[2]

[edit] Armoured cloches

There are several kinds of armoured cloches. The word cloche is a French term meaning bell due to its shape. All cloches were made in an alloy steel. Cloches are non-retractable turrets.

* The most widespread are the GFM cloches, where GFM means Guettor - Rifle machine-gun. They are composed of 3 to 4 openings, called crenels or embrasures. These crenels may be equipped as follows: Rifle machine-gun, direct vision block, binoculars block or 50mm mortar. Sometimes, the cloche is topped by a periscope. There are 1,118 GFM cloches on the Line. Almost every block, casemate and shelter is topped by one or two GFM cloches.

Main article: GFM cloche

* The JM cloches are the same as the GFM cloches except that they have one opening equipped with a pair of machine-guns. There are 174 JM cloches on the Line.

Main article: JM cloche

* There are 72 AM cloches (mixed weapons) on the Line, equipped with a pair of machine guns and a 25mm anti-tank gun. Some GFM cloches were transformed into AM cloches in 1934. (The aforementioned total does not include these modified cloches.)

* There are 75 LG cloches (lance-grenade/grenade launcher) on the Line. Those cloches are almost completely covered by concrete, only a hole is kept open to launch the grenades.

Main article: LG cloche

* There are 20 VP cloches (periscopic vision) on the Line. These cloches could be equipped with several different periscopes. Like the LG cloches, they were almost completely covered by concrete.

* The VDP cloches (direct and periscopic vision) are similar to the VP cloches, but have two or three openings to provide a direct view. Consequently, they were not covered by concrete.

Main article: VDP cloche

[Dinner]

[notyoueither]

I'd say you could benefit from a social life, or doing charity work, or a girl/boyfriend.

[Dinner]

Have a girlfriend. Thanks.

[notyoueither]

Wiglaf in a dress doesn't count.

[Dinner]

Thanks. I'm well aware.

[Dinner]

German troops attacking the Maginot Line (Jun 1940)

[Tattila the Hun]

Hey, it worked. It was just too short.

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Tattila the Hun
Hey, it worked. It was just too short.

Where is AC with sexual innuendo when you need her?

[Zkribbler]

I was hoping to see Oerdin dancing the can can in the Maginot Line.

[Elok]

You're already like the Maginot Line, Oerdin. You put up a rugged defense on your positions, but half of us laugh at you and the other half simply ignore you.

[Dinner]