Ouvrage Village Coume is a lesser work (''petit ouvrage'') of the Maginot Line. Located in the

Fortified Sector of Boulay The Fortified Sector of Boulay (''Secteur Fortifiée de Boulay'') was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line to the north and east of Metz in northeastern France. The left (western) wing of the Boul ...

, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between ''petits ouvrages'' Bovenberg and Coume Annexe Nord, facing

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The position saw little action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It was sold in the 1970s and stripped by salvagers.

Design and construction

The site was surveyed by CORF (''Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées''), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency; Village Coume was approved for construction in May 1931. It was completed at a cost of 12 million francs by the contractor Duval-Weyrich of Nancy.Mary, Tome 1, p. 52, The ''petit ouvrage'' was planned for construction in two phases. The second phase was to provide a separate entry block less than behind the ''ouvrage''.Mary, Tome 3, p. 108

Description

Village Coume comprises three infantry blocks. A separate entrance block was planned for a second phase of construction which was never undertaken. The blocks are linked by deep underground galleries, which also provide space for barracks, utilities and ammunition storage. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to .Mary, Tome 2 p. 117 *Block 1: Entry/infantry block with two automatic rifle cloches (GFM), one twin machine gun cloche (JM) and one machine gun/anti-tank gun embrasure (JM/ AC47). *Block 2: Infantry block with two GFM cloche and two twin machine gun embrasures. *Block 3: infantry/observation block with one GFM cloche and one twin machine gun turret.

Manning

The 1940 manning of the ''ouvrage'' under the command of Lieutenant Lussus comprised 135 men and 2 officers of the 161st Fortress Infantry Regiment. The units were under the umbrella of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2.Mary, Tome 3, p. 99 The Casernement de Ban Saint-Jean provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Village Coume and other positions in the area.

History

:''See

for a broader discussion of the Boulay sector of the Maginot Line.'' Village Coume played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944.

Current condition

Village Coume has been stripped by salvagers and is largely buried.

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

Village de Coume (petit ouvrage A29 du)
at fortiff.be

at lignemaginot.com
PO de Coume Village
at wikimaginot.eu {{DEFAULTSORT:Village Coume, Ouvrage VCOU Maginot Line