The Fort du Télégraphe, or Fort Berwick, is located in the
Maurienne
Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) is one of the provinces of France, provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
...
valley on the road to the
Col du Galibier
The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France.
It connects Saint-M ...
between
Valloire
Valloire (; frp, Valouère, ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.
The ski resort Valloire-Galibier is located in the commune, at the foot of the Col du Télégraphe and next to th ...
and
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (, literally ''Saint-Michel of Maurienne''; frp, Sin Mestyé) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.
Geography Climate
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne has a ocea ...
, at the
Col du Télégraphe, dominating the valley of the
Arc
ARC may refer to:
Business
* Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s
* Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services
* ...
. The location at an altitude of previously accommodated a
telegraph of the
Chappe system using articulating arms to send messages between Lyon and Milan, and after 1809, Venice. The fort has two entrances with
drawbridge
A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...
s to allow access to different levels of the fort, with inclined ramps to allow easy movement of artillery pieces. When completed in 1884 after four years of construction, the fort was manned by 170 men, firing four artillery pieces at the main fort and four more at detached batteries.
History
The site was first occupied by
Marshal Berwick in the early 18th century.
[ ] The Fort du Télégraphe was completed between 1886 and 1890 as a part of the
Séré de Rivières system of fortifications. It saw no action until 1940, when it fired on Italian forces with 155 mm guns.
The fort was part of the "Second Position" (''Deuxième Position''), a backup to the main fortifications of the modern
Alpine Line
The Alpine Line (french: Ligne Alpine) or Little Maginot Line (French: ''Petite Ligne Maginot'') was the component of the Maginot Line that defended the southeastern portion of France. In contrast to the main line in the northeastern portion of Fra ...
, the southwestern component of the
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...
. The fort was armed with six 155 mm and four 95 mm guns, manned by the 6th battery of the 164th Position Artillery Regiment (''164
e Régiment d'Artillerie de Position (RAP)'').
In 1944 the fort was used by the
French Forces of the Interior (FFI) as an artillery position. The fort's peacetime barracks have been retained as high-altitude quarters for the 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment (''Regiment d'Artillerie de Montagne (RAM)'') of the
27th Mountain Infantry Brigade.
The Fort du Télégraphe is open for visitation during the summer months. The continuing military use has resulted in its preservation, much as the fort's advantageous position has resulted in its continued use as a communications post, albeit using microwaves in place of semaphores.
References
External links
Fort du Télégraphe at fortiffsere.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telegraphe, Fort Du
Séré de Rivières system
Fortified Sector of Savoy