VERDUN - Duzey - German Artillery Base - 380 Gros Max Gun
duda-wsm • 21 March 2019
Year of visit: 2006
"Behind the German lines", 30 km. north-east of Verdun, west of Spincourt and Loison. Artillery Bunkers near Mangiennes, Billy s/s Mangienne, and the 380 mm. canon base at Duzey.
We depart from the Bois des Caures along the D66, on our way to the former German 380 MM Artillery Base near Duzey, when we detect this landmark for orientation
, on the northern side of the road, just before the village of Mangiennes: a post war Maginot Line Casemate type STG B1, number “CEZF-48”
.
This second Maginot line consisted of several bunkers between Pierrepont and Mangiennes, hence the name of the "bretelle Pierrepont-Mangiennes".
(Info from the Maginot Line expert: Martin Rupp, www.maginotlineatwar.com ).
Then we turn right to the D 16 in the direction of Billy s/s Mangienne, to find these three 1915 artillery bunkers in the fields on the west side of the country road.
These bunkers were used as shelters for long range artillery guns, which where directed at Verdun, some 27 km from here.
The northern bunker, or "right" bunker. Nowadays the farmer canalized a stream through it.
The bunker in the centre of the three bunkers.
The "left", or rather southern bunker of the three bunkers. A sandy country road beneath it.
The two most northern bunkers seen from the southern bunker.
As we cross the hamlet of Billy, we detect this German shelter, now being used as a goat shed.
At Billy we turn eastward to the D105 and we go via Muzeray north to Duzey, to the German 380mm "Gros Max" Artillery Base.
Bois de Warphemon t, in the woods west of Duzey; relics of the concrete base of a German 380 mm "Gros Max"Canon , and the shells distribution depot bunkers.
Bois de Warphemon t, in the woods west of Duzey; relics of the concrete base of a German 380 mm "Gros Max"Canon , and the shells distribution depot bunkers.
This site in Warphemont Wood has been one of the most secret places of high strategic value to the Germans.
The Siegfried SKL 45 Max 380 mm artillery gun
In October 1915 the Germans made this artillery base operational. They builded this concrete "bear-pit" as a base for
their Siegfried SKL 45 Max 380 mm artillery gun. The Germans exploited 2 of these canons on this location, but I could only find one concrete base.
Siegfried SKL 45 Max
, made by Krupp Werke
Calibre: 380 mm
Barrel length: 19,6 m
Range: 56 Km
Muzzle velocity: 1050 m/s
Weight of Gun in action: 24 Tons
Weight of shell: 495-800 Kg
Rate of fire: 1 round every 4 minutes
Besides this model on a concrete base there were also other Siegfried-canon-type models, a marine model, and a rail-road model. The concrete base has a depth of 4 m and a diameter of 23 m.
The Germans directed their 380 mm artillery gun
at the battlefields around Verdun and Verdun itself.
In particular during the start of the battle of Verdun
and during the battle itself this gun has been very active.
Images of the concrete base.
The shells of the gun (left on the image) were around 2.00 m high...
... as you may compare here in this image below to my modest length of 1.70 m.
This site was connected by railways via Spincourt to the railroad line Nancy - Longuyon.
The entrance to the underground ammunition bunker for the "Gros Max".
From here the Germans mounted and distributed other types of shells to artillery guns closer to the lines.
The entrance to one of the tunnel bunkers, where used to be a 60 cm. gauge railway.
A relic of one of the small ammunition wagons.
Inside the tunnel, where the ammunition trains were loaded.
More to the north, another 30 m. long assembly tunnel, which divides itself in the centre in two tunnel tubes.
Along the outside of the tunnel tube we detect exits for personnel,..
... and more airshafts in the roof like this one.
At the other end of the tunnel both rail tracks come together, just outside the exit.
Some relics of the gauge railway are still visible for the eager eye.
In the direction of the front again another Y junction, splitting the ammunition track in two directions.
The red star marks my camera-position on the photo above, the yellow star marks the exit of the other tube.
A last view at this impressive site, which is a French National Monument since 1924.
Go
to the next chapter, " The Destroyed Villages of Bezonvaux and Ornes
"
Inleiding: Franz Von Papen & Werner Horn; schaker en pion Onlangs stuitte ik in een oud boek (1) van 1919 op een opmerkelijk verhaal over een Duitse Luitenant, die in begin februari 1915 een half geslaagde bomaanslag pleegt op een spoorbrug over een grensrivier tussen de Verenigde Staten en Canada. Ook al staat de bekentenis van de dader, Werner Horn, deels in het boek te lezen, de naam van zijn opdrachtgever zal Horn blijven verzwijgen. Na wat verder zoeken vond ik ook de naam van Horn’s opdrachtgever, Franz von Papen, een van de aangeklaagden van het latere Neurenberg Proces in 1946. In een Grote Oorlog als de Eerste Wereldoorlog is Horn’s aanslag op de brug uiteraard slechts een bescheiden wapenfeit. Toch vermoed ik dat dit relatief onbekende verhaal, dat de geschiedenis is ingegaan als de “ Vanceboro International Bridge Bombing ”, nog interessante kanten kent. Het is onder andere een spionageverhaal over hoe in een groter plan een sluwe schaker zijn naïeve pion offert. Beknopte situatieschets Canada en de Verenigde Staten in 1915
This trip we start at the Léomont near Vitrimont and we will with some exceptions concentrate on the Battle of Lorraine of August-September 1914 in the area, called, the “Trouée de Charmes”, the Gap of Charmes. After the Léomont battlefield we continue our explorations to Friscati hill and its Nécropole Nationale. Next we pay a visit to the battlefield of la Tombe to go on to the Château de Lunéville. There we cross the Vezouze to move on southward to the Bayon Nécropole Nationale. At Bayon we cross the Moselle to pass Charmes for the panorama over the battlefield from the Haut du Mont. North-west of Charmes we will visit the British Military Cemetery containing 1918 war victims. From Charmes we go northward to the battlefield of the First French Victory of the Great War, the Battle of Rozelieures of 25 August 1914. North of Rozelieures we will visit the village of Gerbéviller. From there we make a jump northward to visit the ruins of Fort de Manonviller to finish with an interesting French Dressing Station bunker, west of Domjevin.
Though we depart from Badonviller in the Northern Vosges , we make a jump northward to the east of Lunéville and Manonviller . We start at Avricourt on the border of Alsace and Lorraine. From the Avricourt Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof we explore the southern Lorraine battlefields ; the mine craters of Leintrey , the Franco- German war cemetery and Côte 303 at Reillon , and some German bunkers near Gondrexon , Montreux , and Parux .
We depart from Raon-l’Etape to drive northward via Badonviller to Montreux to visit the " Circuit du Front Allemand 14-18", the Montreux German Front Walk 14-18, with its trenches , breastworks , and at least twenty bunkers.
North-east of Nancy, east of Pont-à-Mousson, and south-east of Metz we visit the battlefields of the Battle of Morhange of 14 until 20 August 1914. We follow mainly topographically the route of the French advance eastward over the Franco-German border of 1871-1918. During this visit, we try to focus on the day that the momentum of the battle switched from the French side to the advantage of the Bavarian side: the day of 20 August 1914, when the Bavarians rapidly re-conquered the territory around Morhange , being also the day of the start of their rather successful “Schlacht in Lothringen”. We will visit beautiful landscapes of the "Parc Naturel Régional de Lorraine", memorials, ossuaries, and cemeteries. Sometimes we will divert to other periods of the Great War, honouring Russian and Romanian soldiers, who died in this sector. We start our route at the border village of Manhoué, and via Frémery, Oron, Chicourt, Morhange, Riche, Conthil, Lidrezing, Dieuze, Vergaville, Bidestroff, Cutting, Bisping we will finish in Nomeny and Mailly-sur-Seille, where the Germans halted their advance on 20 August 1914, and where they constructed from 1915 some interesting bunkers.
South of Manhoué we start this trip at Lanfroicourt along the French side of the Franco-German 1871-1918 border, marked by the meandering Seille river. We visit some French bunkers in Lanfroicourt, near Array-et-Han and in Moivrons. From there we go northward to the outskirts of Nomeny and the hamlet of Brionne to visit the ( second ) memorial, commemorating the events in Nomeny of 20 August 1914. We continue westward to finish at the Monument du Grand Couronné at the Côte de Géneviève, a former French artillery base, which offers several panoramic views over the battlefield.
North of Pont-à-Mousson and south of Metz, we explore the relics of German bunkers and fortifications along the Franco-German 1871-1918 border. We start at Bouxières-sous-Froidmont to visit the nearby height of the Froidmont on the front line. This time we will show only a part of the Froidmont, focusing on its military significance. From the Froidmont we continue via Longeville-lès-Cheminot and Sillegny to the “Forêt Domaniale de Sillegny” to explore some artillery ammunition bunkers. Next we continue to Marieulles for its three interesting bunkers and to Vezon for its line of ammunition depot bunkers. From Vezon we continue to the “Deutscher Kriegsgräberstätte Fey – Buch”. From Fey we go eastward, passing 6 bunkers near Coin-lès-Cuvry to finish our trip at the top construction of the “Feste Wagner” or “Fort Verny”, north of Verny.
From Badonviller or the Col du Donon we continue north-eastward for a visit to an extraordinarily well restored sample of German fortifications: the Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II, or Fort de Mutzig, lying on a height, some 8 km. away from the 1871-1918 Franco-German Border.
We concentrate on the German side of the front around "Markirch", Sainte Marie-aux-Mines, the so-called "Leber" front sector . We first pay a visit to the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof, and next to the southern side of the Col de Ste. Marie for the many interesting bunkers of the German positions at the Bernhardstein, at the north-eastern slopes of the Tête du Violu. On the next photo page about the Haut de Faîte we will continue with a visit to the northern side of the pass and the "Leber" sector.