Breaking the Fortress Line 1914 by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Format: epub
Published: 2014-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

The vicinity of Fort Manonviller in French Lorraine. (Author)

A regiment of Bavarians arrived in the vicinity of the Côtes de Benamenil-Cirey north of Blâmont. Because of heavy fog they chose the road that led them towards the Vezouze river and the approaches to the fort. They were hit and dispersed by shells from the turret guns. At 1100 the Mougin turrets fired two rounds of 15.5cm rounds at a German field-gun battery on the outskirts of Embermenil. Another battery was being set up close to the fort. Commandant Rocolle ordered the troops to fire rifle shots over the heads of the artillerymen, rather than waste the turret ammunition on them. After the crews had been chased off, the guns were destroyed by the turrets. At the end of the afternoon two Uhlans entered the village of Manonviller, just 1km from the fort. Their horses were shot out from under them and they fled on foot to Haut Dormant east of Manonviller, despite heavy fire from the fort.

By 1915 the Germans were in control of the villages around the fort. Cavalry had infiltrated from Gondrexon. At 1800 a German plane flew over the fort and was fired on by riflemen of the 7th Dragoons. At 1955 several rounds were fired at enemy infantry to cover the retreat of VIII and XVI Corps in the Forêt de Mondon and against enemy convoys coming out of Croismare northwest of Marainviller.

On the morning of 24 August the investment of the fort was complete. During the night German infantry moved in from Besmanil. A violent bombardment began at dawn from the direction of Montigny.

At 0930 Lieutenant Claudel, accompanied by three other officers, was badly wounded by the violent explosion of the first shell to fall on the fort. Building F was hit and a horse belonging to one of the civilian workers inside the fort was killed. The shelling scattered a group of men cleaning their guns in the barracks courtyard and they ran for cover. At 1015 a 21cm shell fired from the German battery at Buriville penetrated the gallery running underneath the ditch on the south side of the fort. Engineers blocked the hole with sacks of dirt held up to the ceiling with a wooden beam. It was dangerous work: shells were falling steadily on the southern part of the fort. The engineers quickly built an observation post of rails and dirt sacks on top of the peacetime barracks in order to get a better view of where the German batteries were located.

Around noon the counterscarp gallery on the head flank was struck and the tunnel was blocked. Moving from one side of the head front to the other required a detour through the central part of the fort. The exterior exits were reinforced by sliding iron rails into slots on each side of the openings and then covering them with sacks of dirt and bed mattresses.51

At around 1300 a shell penetrated the barracks and hit a bank of batteries that powered the lighting in the barracks.

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