L’OUVRAGE DE VILLY-LA-FERTE - The Fort of Villy-La-Ferte |
The little Fort is seated on an anabranch of the River Maas, close to the village of Villy-La-Ferté, thus making it the north-westernmost flank of the Maginot Line. To get there, take the N.43 from Montmédy.
It consists of only two casemates which are connected by a
subterranean corridor of 275m length. Among other things, Block 2 has a
rotatable turret, which was put out of order by an explosive charge
placed there by the German attackers. The turret was armed with one
25mm cannon and two MG.
The Fort of La-Ferté is the only Fort of the Maginot Line to be captured after heavy combat on may 19., 1940. In the course of the four day's fighting, the entire crew of 107 men died. The ones who were not killed in action suffocated in the tunnel connecting the two blocks. The sign on the entrance of the Fort (Block 1) says in French, Dutch, English and German:
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