| Ouvrage Vélosnes | |
| Partof: | Maginot Line |
| Location: | Northeast France |
| Coordinates: | 49.4992°N 5.4531°W |
| Map Type: | France |
| Map Size: | 280 |
| Builder: | CORF |
| Materials: | Concrete, steel, deep excavation |
| Condition: | Abandoned, nature preserve |
| Ownership: | Lorraine region |
| Controlledby: | France |
| Battles: | Battle of France, Lorraine Campaign |
| Type: | GO |
| Sector: | Fortified Sector of Montmédy |
| Sub-Sector: | Tête du Pont de Montmédy |
| Regiment: | 155th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF) |
| Blocks: | 4 |
| Strength: | 6 officers, 246 men |
Ouvrage Vélosnes is a gros ouvrage (large work) of the Maginot Line, located in the Fortified Sector of Montmédy between the towns of Othe and Vélosnes, facing Belgium. It possesses four combat blocks and one entrance block. It is located to the east of petit ouvrage Thonnelle. The position was sabotaged and abandoned by French forces that were ordered to retreat from the exposed position in June 1940 during the Battle of France. The ouvrage is abandoned and is administered as a nature preserve.
The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, with plan approval in 1934. Work by the contractor Demenois-Beaumont of Verdun began in 1934 at a cost of 35.3 million francs.[1] [2]
Vélosnes is one of four positions in the so-called Tête du Pont de Montmédy, a salient in the French defensive lines along the Belgian border. The isolated area was one of the "New Fronts" to the west of the main Maginot Line, created to defend against the increased threat of a German advance through Belgium. The New Front positions suffered from restricted funding, as well as discontinuity in the fortification lines. Large distances between fortifications compared to earlier portions of the Line made mutual support between ouvrages difficult.[3]
Vélosnes is a relatively small gros ouvrage, with its underground barracks, usine (generating plant) and ammunition magazine branching off its short main gallery just inside the entrance block. A fifth combat block was planned with a second 75mm gun turret, but was never carried out. The ouvrage occupies a hilltop site with the turret block at the summit and the entrance to the rear.[2]
A number of small blockhouses are associated with Vélosnes, as well as four casemates:
None of these are connected to the ouvrage or to each other.
The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Captain Sachy comprised 246 men and 6 officers of the 155th Fortress Infantry Regiment. The units were under the umbrella of the 2nd Army, Army Group 1.[9] The Casernement de Saint-Jean-Marville provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Vélosnes and other fortifications in the area.[2]
See Fortified Sector of Montmédy for a broader discussion of the events of 1940 in the Montmédy sector of the Maginot Line.From September 1939 to June 1940 the 75mm turret at Vélosnes fired 10,000 rounds at German forces and positions.[10] During the Battle of France the garrisons of the Tête de Pont de Montmédy were ordered to withdraw the night of 10–11 June 1940 to straighten French lines, and to avoid the fate of nearby Ouvrage La Ferté, whose entire garrison was killed when it was isolated and attacked three weeks earlier. The fortifications' arms and infrastructure were sabotaged before they were abandoned. Evacuation was complete by 12 June. The German 169th Infantry Division advanced to take possession of Vélosnes and other ouvrages in the salient on 13 June 1940.[11]
The area saw no action during the Lorraine Campaign of 1944. The interior of the ouvrage was stripped by the Germans, and again after the war by scrap dealers. However, a number of 75mm artillery rounds were found in Block 5 in 1994. The army removed the material and blocked access to the block. The openings for the missing turrets have been blocked with rails.[12]
The site is a nature preserve administered by the Lorraine region. The ouvrage itself is a habitat for bats and is not accessible to the public. Openings are grilled off to allow access for the bats. A trail with interpretive plaques winds through the surface features.[12] [13]