Ouvrage Fermont is a gros ouvrage of the Maginot Line, part of the Fortified Sector of the Crusnes in northeastern France, near the community of Montigny-sur-Chiers. It is located near the commune of Montigny-sur-Chiers, between the petit ouvrage Ferme Chappy and the gros ouvrage Latiremont. The position is near the western end of the Line, about four kilometers east of Longuyon, facing Belgium. There was significant combat at Fermont during the last stages of the Battle of France. It was repaired and reactivated during the 1950s and 1960s as a strongpoint in the event of an invasion by Soviet forces. After being abandoned by the military, it has been restored and is maintained as a museum.
Design and construction
The site was surveyed by the Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées (CORF), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in early 1931. Fermont was approved for construction in May 1931. It was completed at a cost of 77 million francs by the contractor Allary of Paris. While the existing ouvrage is a fully realized gros ouvrage of the typical fort palmé ("palm-shaped") form, a second phase, never executed, was planned to add four more combat blocks. The fort palmé is a distributed fortification, with its entrances and underground support areas more than a kilometer to the rear, connected to the combat blocks by a long underground gallery. The "palm" is composed of the grouped combat blocks, linked by galleries to the main trunk.
Description
Fermont comprises two entrance blocks, three infantry blocks, three artillery blocks, and one observation block. The combat blocks are connected to the entries and support areas by a gallery system extending over from end to end. The munitions and personnel entries are located far to the rear of the compactly arranged combat blocks, with the entries hidden in the woods. Both entry blocks required elevators to reach the level of the gallery, as the preferred inclined or level tunnel could not be achieved in the local topography. A partial "M1" ammunition magazine is located just inside the ammunition entry, while the underground barracks are located near the junction of the two entry galleries. From there a long, straight gallery runs at an average depth of to the combat blocks. Fermont was served by a 60 cm-gauge narrow-gauge railway, which enters at the munitions entrance and runs all the way out through the galleries to the combat blocks. On the surface, the railway connects to supply points to the rear and to other ouvrages.
Block 1: artillery block with one retractable turret for two 75mm guns, one grenade launcher cloche and one light machine gun cloche. Block 2: infantry block with one retractable turret for two machine guns and one light machine gun cloche. Block 3: observation block with one observation cloche, one light machine gun cloche and two retractable machine gun turrets. Block 4: artillery block with three embrasures for 75mm guns, one retractable machine gun turret and one light machine gun cloche. Block 5: artillery block with one retractable turret for two 81mm mortars and one light machine gun cloche. Block 6: infantry block with one retractable turret for two machine guns and one retractable 81mm mortar turret. Block 7: infantry block with one twin heavy machine gun embrasure, one machine gun/47mm anti-tank gun embrasure (JM/AC47), one grenade launcher cloche and one light machine gun cloche. Personnel entry: one JM/AC47 embrasure, one light machine gun embrasure and two light machine gun cloches. Ammunition entry: one JM/AC47 embrasure, two light machine gun embrasures, one grenade launcher cloche and two light machine gun cloches.
Unbuilt blocks:
Block 8 (unbuilt): artillery block with one retractable turret for two 75mm guns and one light machine gun cloche. Block 9 (unbuilt): artillery block with one retractable turret for two 135mm guns, one grenade launcher cloche and one light machine gun cloche. Block 10 (unbuilt): infantry block with two twin heavy machine gun embrasures, JM/AC47 embrasure and two light machine gun cloches. The block was to be located well in advance of the main combat blocks. Block 11 (unbuilt): infantry block with two twin heavy machine gun embrasures, two JM/AC47 embrasures, two heavy twin machine gun cloches and two light machine gun cloches.
The additional blocks were planned for the late 1930s, but were not built as resources were diverted elsewhere. The M1 magazine was to be doubled in size at the same time.
Casemates and shelters
A series of detached casemates and observation points surround Fermont, including the: