|
Ouvrage Roche-la-Croix is a work (''gros ouvrage'') of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, two infantry blocks, one artillery block and two observation blocks in the vicinity of the Col de Larche. An aerial tram was provided for better access. The position is located at the top of a sheer escarpment that dominates Meyronnes and the valley of the Ubayette. The ''ouvrage'' replaced an earlier fortification, the Redoute de Roche-la-Croix (or Fort Inférieure), built as part of the Séré de Rivières system between 1883 and 1889. The earlier fort's walls and ditches were kept on two sides of the ''ouvrage''.〔Mary, Tome 5, p. 35–37〕 The fort's pre-Maginot armament was six 138mm guns in casemates with a magazine excavated in the rock. Most of the fort apart from the ditch and caponers was obliterated by the Maginot construction. ==Description== Construction began in March 1931. Costs amounted to 16.7 million francs, including 1.7 million francs for the aerial tram.〔Mary, Tome 4 - La fortification alpine, p. 29〕 *Block 1 (entry): one machine gun embrasure. The space around the entry block is very limited. The aerial tram entrance on the upper level was linked to the main ''ouvrage'' in 1937 via an avalanche-protected tunnel-like shelter constructed above grade and armored with rocks, using a counterweighted 60 cm rail system at a 50% slope.〔 *Block 2 (infantry): two machine gun embrasures and one grenade launcher embrasure. This block and Block 3 are effectively counterscarp positions, covering the ditch of the old Séré de Rivières fort, and reached by galleries outside the enclosure of the old fort.〔 *Block 3 (infantry): two machine gun embrasures and one grenade launcher embrasure. *Block 4 (observation): one machine gun cloche and one observation cloche. *Block 5 (artillery): one twin 75mm gun turret, one grenade launcher cloche, two 75mm gun embrasures and one 81mm mortar embrasure. *Block 6 (artillery): one observation cloche and one grenade launcher embrasure.The position was called the ''observatoire de l'égout'' ("observatory of the sewer"), on a lower level, perched on a vertical cliff face. It was added in 1937-38 to provide additional flamking coverage to Saint-Ours.〔 A proposed gallery to connect the ''ouvrage'' to the nearby above-ground peacetime barracks was not pursued.〔 The Roche-la-Croix supérieure battery , or "Fort Supérieure", was built between 1884 and 1889 to protect the original Fort Roche-la-Croix (or Fort Inférieure). It continued in that role, equipped with two machine guns and an 81mm mortar. The Abri du Ancien Camp as well as the observation posts La Duyère and Les Calanches were associated with Roche-la-Croix. Additional fortifications on the opposite site of the valley form a barrier to an advance through the Ubayette valley.〔 The battery and the original Redoute de Roche-la-Croix are closely associated with the system of fortifications centering on the Fort de Tournoux to the west, built in the late 19th century. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ouvrage Roche-la-Croix」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|