The ', renamed Fort des Bordes by the French in 1919, is a military structure located in the district of Boric in Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt of the
forts of Metz
The forts of Metz are two fortified belts around the city of Metz in Lorraine.Not to be confused with the French works in the List of Maginot Line ouvrages, Région fortifiée de Metz from the later Maginot Line, ligne Maginot. Built according to t ...
. Buried since the construction of the Eastern expressway in 1968, it is covered by a green space, although some remnants of the fort remain visible.
Plappeville
Plappeville (; german: Papolsheim) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Population
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
* Fort de Plappeville
The Fort de Plappeville, or Feste Alvensleben, i ...
(1867) and
St. Quentin
Saint Quentin ( la, Quintinus; died 287 AD) also known as Quentin of Amiens, was an early Christian saint.
Hagiography
Martyrdom
The legend of his life has him as a Roman citizen who was martyred in Gaul. He is said to have been the son of a ...
(1867), most unfinished or still in the planning stages is in 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War burst out. During the
Annexation
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
, Metz will oscillate between a German garrison of 15,000 and 20,000 men at the beginning of period, and will exceed 25,000 men before the First World War. gradually became the most important stronghold of the German Reich.
Construction and facilities
The fort Zastrow is designed in the spirit of the "detached forts" concept developed by
Hans Alexis von Biehler
Hans Alexis von Biehler (16 June 1818 – 30 December 1886) was a Prussian general. He designed fortifications in many famous locations. Beginning in 1873, he saw fort construction in Cologne, Strasbourg, Poznań, Toruń, Königsberg, Ingolstadt, ...
in Germany. The goal was to form a discontinuous enclosure around Metz with strong artillery batteries spaced with a range of guns. The interval between the Fort Queuleu ( ''Goeben'' ) and the Fort Saint-Julien ( ''Manteuffel'' ), being judged excessive, it was decided to strengthen the fortified line by building Fort Zastrow. The ''Feste Zatrow was ''quickly built by German engineers between 1873 and 1875.
Successive assignments
From 1890 the relief of the garrison is guaranteed by the fort troops Corps XVI stationed at Metz and Thionville. The Fort des Bordes serves as a depot and barracks from 1873-1918. Then it is reinvested by the French army in 1919, and serves as an internment camp for draft evaders and deserters. In 1940, the fort is reinvested again by the German army. It is not remilitarised after 1945. The Fort des Bordes is closed permanently in 1954.
Second World War
In early September 1944, at the beginning of the
Battle of Metz
The Battle of Metz was a battle fought during World War II at the city of Metz, France, from late September 1944 through mid-December as part of the Lorraine Campaign between the U.S. Third Army commanded by Lieutenant General George Patton and ...
. the German command integrated the defenses around Metz. On September 2, 1944, Metz was declared in effect by the Reich fortress Hitler. The fortress must be defended to the last by German troops, whose leaders were all sworn to the Führer. The next day, September 3, 1944, General Krause, then commander of the fortress of Metz, established his ''High Command, ''the main command post in the barracks fort Alvensleben. Fort Plappeville was indeed the center of the defenses of Metz, with the west fort Manstein (''Girardin''), run by the SS colonel Joachim von Siegroth, North Fort Zastrow (''Les Bordes'') held by SS Colonel Wagner and south Fort Prince August von Württemberg (''Saint-Privat'') held by the SS colonel Ernst Kemper. The same day, the troops of General Krause took position on a line from
Pagny-sur-Moselle
Pagny-sur-Moselle (, literally ''Pagny on Moselle'') is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
* Parc naturel régional de Lorraine
Lorraine Regional Na ...
to
Mondelange
Mondelange (; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Population
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France.
The c ...
, passing to the west of Metz by
Chambley-Bussières
Chambley-Bussières () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.Mars-la-Tour, Jarny and Briey.
On November 9, 1944, no less than 1,299 heavy bombers, both B-17s and
B-24
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
s, dump hundreds of bombs on fortifications and strategic points in the combat zone of Third army. Most bombers dropped their bombs without visibility from over 20,000 feet, so they often missed. In Metz, 689 loads of bombs hit the seven forts designated as priority targets. The bombing did nothing but cause collateral damage. At Thionville and Saarbrücken, the result is inconclusive, proving once again the inadequacy of the massive bombing of military targets..
But one by one, the isolated forts, attacked by the advancing troops of the 95th Infantry Division to the north, and 5th Infantry Divisionto the south, succumb. The Fort des Bordes was taken by 5th Infantry Division, part of
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
's army, on November 21, 1944. at the end of the
Battle of Metz
The Battle of Metz was a battle fought during World War II at the city of Metz, France, from late September 1944 through mid-December as part of the Lorraine Campaign between the U.S. Third Army commanded by Lieutenant General George Patton and ...
. The fort Jeanne-d’Arc was the last of the forts of Metz to surrender. Determined German resistance, bad weather and floods, inopportunity, and a general tendency to underestimate the firepower of the fortifications of Metz, have helped slow the US offensive, giving the opportunity to the German Army to withdraw in good order to the
Saar
Saar or SAAR has several meanings:
People Given name
*Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player
* Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist
*Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor
Surname
* Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...
.. The objective of the German staff, which was to save time by stalling US troops for the longest possible period, before they could advance to the front of the
Siegfried Line
The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the west ...
Battle of Metz
The Battle of Metz was a battle fought during World War II at the city of Metz, France, from late September 1944 through mid-December as part of the Lorraine Campaign between the U.S. Third Army commanded by Lieutenant General George Patton and ...