Day 3


On Saturday, June 26th, we were scheduled to meet Phillipe Schmalz of Association A 15 at the Ouvrage du Galgenberg. We had some time so we headed north out of Metz towards the SF de Boulay. We decided to look for the large abandoned Casernment du Ban St. Jean, located east of Boulay. This is an enormous complex consisting of several dozen buildings for officers and NCOs.
Casernment - Ban St. Jean Casernment - Ban St. Jean

Along the road leading to the caserne is a firing range made up of elements found in the Maginot forts and casemates, mainly infantry and A-T embrasures.
From here we headed north through Denting and turned left on D954 to the base of the Foret d'Ottonville.
Stand de Tir - Ban St. Jean

A couple of hundred metres back in the woods is the Casemate d'Artillerie du Bois d'Ottonville. I think this casemate, similar to the Casemate de Boverberg is definitely worth a visit. These were type RFM casemates built around 1937.
They were originally constructed to provide anti-tank cover using the 47mm Marine model but ended up with the 75mm model 1897, used in the earlier Bourges casemates.
Casemate Bois d'Ottonville Bois d'Ottonville - Embrasure for 75 mm gun Bois d'Ottonville - Communications Post Bois d'Ottonville - Position for 75 mm gun

The photos detail the overall scheme, the large embrasures, the interior showing the placement of the cannon and a small communications post.
From Ottonville we drove along the Maginot Line, crossed the Moselle near Koenigsmaker and found our way to the Ouvrage du Galgenberg.


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