Ouvrage Bois-Karre

Ouvrage Bois-Karre
Part of Maginot Line
Northeast France
Machine gun turret — note two GFM cloches to the rear
Coordinates	49°26′48″N 6°12′14″E / 49.44676°N 6.20389°E / 49.44676; 6.20389Coordinates: 49°26′48″N 6°12′14″E / 49.44676°N 6.20389°E / 49.44676; 6.20389
Built by	CORF
Construction materials	Concrete, steel, deep excavation
Current condition	Preserved
Open to the public	Yes
Controlled by	France
Battles/wars	Battle of France, Lorraine Campaign

Ouvrage Bois-Karre

Type of work:	Small infantry work (Petit ouvrage - infantry)
sector └─sub-sector	Fortified Sector of Thionville └─Hettange-Grande
Work number:	A11
Constructed:	1930-1935
Regiment:	168th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF)
Number of blocks:	1
Strength:	2 officers, 91 men

Ouvrage Bois- Karre is located in the Fortified Sector of Thionville of the Maginot Line, facing the France - Luxembourg border. The petit ouvrage is situated in the Cattenom Forest between the gros ouvrages Soetrich and Kobenbusch, just south of Boust. It is unusual for a Maginot fortification in its construction as a single blockhouse, with no underground gallery system or remotely-located entries. Bois-Karre has been preserved and is maintained as a museum.

Design and construction

Bois-Karre was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in 1930. Work by the contractor Degaine-Dubois began in 1931,^[1] and the position became operational in 1935,^[2] at a cost of 10 million francs.^[3][4]

Bois-Karre was planned as an anchor point for a fortified line of retreat from the Cattenom salient formed by Kobenbusch and Oberheid. A firing chamber is arranged to cover the reinforcing line (bretelle de Cattenom), which was to be anchored at its other end by Block 2 of Ouvrage Galgenberg. The reinforcing line was never built.^[5]

Description

The single two-level combat block comprises two firing chambers and one machine gun turret. The west firing chamber was armed with a machine gun embrasure and a machine gun/47mm anti-tank gun embrasure (JM/AC47). The east firing chamber was equipped with two JM/AC47 embrasures and a JM embrasure. Three automatic rifle cloches (GFM) on the surface provided spotting for ouvrage Métrich, along with a machine gun turret.^[1][6] The integral usine was equipped with two 40 horsepower (30 kW) Renault engines.

Several casemates, observatories and infantry shelters are located around Bois-Karre, including

• Casemate de Basse-Parthe Ouest: Single clasmate flanking to the west with one JM/AC37 embrasure, one JM embrasure and one GFM cloche.
• Casemate de Basse-Parthe Est: Single clasmate flanking to the east with one JM/AC37 embrasure, one JM embrasure and one GFM cloche.
• Abri du Bois-Karre: Surface shelter for one infantry section, with two GFM cloches.
• Abri du Rippert: Sub-surface shelter for two infantry sections and the quarter command post, two GFM cloches.
• Abri du Bois-de-Cattenom: Surface shelter for one infantry section, two GFM cloches.

None of these are connected to the ouvrage or to each other. All were built by CORF.^[1] The Casernement de Cattenom provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Bois-Karre and other ouvrages in the area.^[7]

Manning

The garrison comprised 91 men and two officers of the 168th Fortress Infantry Regiment under Sub-Lieutenant Boulay.^[1]

History

See Fortified Sector of Thionville for a broader discussion of the events of 1940 in the Thionville sector of the Maginot Line.

Current condition

The ouvrage which retains a large portion of its equipment, has been restored and may be visited.^[5][8]

See also

• List of all works on Maginot Line
• Siegfried Line
• Atlantic Wall
• Czechoslovak border fortifications

Notes

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Mary, Tome 3, p. 93
2. ^ Kaufmann 2006, p. 25
3. ^ Wahl, J.B.. (P.O.) Bois Karre - A12 "Infanteriewerk (P.O.) Bois Karre - A12" (in German). darkplaces.org. http://www.darkplaces.org/Frankreich/WW2/Ligne_Maginot/SF_de_Thionville/PO/Bois_Karre/Bois_Karre.htmltitle=Infanteriewerk (P.O.) Bois Karre - A12. Retrieved 12 March 2010. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Mary, Tome 1, p. 52
5. ^ ^{a b} "Petit ouvrage du Bois Karre" (in French). Association Ligne Maginot du Secteur Fortifié du Bois de Cattenom. 2009. http://forticat.com/spip.php?article16. Retrieved 12 March 2010. 
6. ^ Puelinckx, Jean; Aublet, Jean-Louis & Mainguin, Sylvie (2010). "Bois-Karre (po A12 de)" (in French). Index de la Ligne Maginot. fortiff.be. http://www.fortiff.be/maginot/index.php?p=3318. Retrieved 12 March 2010. 
7. ^ Wahl, J.B.. "Festungsabschnitt Thionville" (in German). darkplaces.org. http://www.darkplaces.org/Frankreich/WW2/Ligne_Maginot/SF_de_Thionville/SF_de_Thionville.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
8. ^ Kaufmann 2011, p. 221

Bibliography

• Allcorn, William. The Maginot Line 1928-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-646-1
• Kaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W. Fortress France: The Maginot Line and French Defenses in World War II, Stackpole Books, 2006. ISBN 0-275-98345-5
• Kaufmann, J.E. , Kaufmann, H.W., Jancovič-Potočnik, A. and Lang, P. The Maginot Line: History and Guide, Pen and Sword, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84884-068-3
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 1. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2001. ISBN 2-908182-88-2 (French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 2. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2003. ISBN 2-908182-97-16 (French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 3. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2003. ISBN 2-913903-88-6 (French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 5. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009. ISBN 978-2-35250-127-5 (French)

External links

• Boise-Karre at Ligne Maginot du Secteur Fortifié du Bois de Cattenom (LM SFBC) (French)
• Bois Karre at fortiff.be (French)
• Bois-Karre at darkplaces.org (French)