Which part of the Maginot Line is this?

[IanC]

Friends,

At the start of The World At War episode France Falls there is a shot of what I think is part of the Maginot Line. Could anyone tell the location?

Here is a youtube link to the episode and the part I am interested in is shown at the very start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Umlu-bcuIY

Screenshot

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

i'm not a Maginot Line specialist, but i searched yesterday for hours (!) and i was unable to identify the location...

We can see that the bunker showed in the video is having at least 2x GMF turrets + 1 81mm mortar.

I was also unable to identify the church... I'm still working on it.

See You

Vince

[IanC]

Thanks!

Hi Vince,

Thanks for the update - I appreciate your help so far.

Regards

Ian

[Reichsword]

Ian, I'm no expert, but it looks very much like the fort in FERMONT, as pictured in AFTER THE BATTLE magazine #60.

Fletcher

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

i checked that one but unfortunately the location does not match... And there is no village and church near it.
All the churches around are different.

See You

Vince

[eldenwaff]

Wonder what vintage the photo may be, unless colorized would be fairly rare for pre WW2 would it not ?

Turret looks mint, suggesting that it is.

[Steve Sherlock]

[QUOTE=eldenwaff;7663780[I]]Wonder what vintage the photo may be, unless colorized would be fairly rare for pre WW2 would it not ?

Turret looks mint, suggesting that it is.[[/I]/QUOTE]

The film from which this photo was taken is from the 1970s, not pre WW2. If you actually watch the very beginning of the clip referenced above, you will see that the turret has been painted, or some such thing, thus making it look in well preserved condition.

Steve

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

i asked some specialists, i hope to get an answer as i'm sure they will find the locations very easily.

See You

Vince

[eldenwaff]

[QUOTE=Steve Sherlock;7663810]

]Wonder what vintage the photo may be, unless colorized would be fairly rare for pre WW2 would it not ?

Turret looks mint, suggesting that it is.[[/I]/QUOTE]

The film from which this photo was taken is from the 1970s, not pre WW2. If you actually watch the very beginning of the clip referenced above, you will see that the turret has been painted, or some such thing, thus making it look in well preserved condition.

Steve

Thanks, rarely ever click video links.
Never knew these turrets were OD, I was thinking camo grey or something.

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

Finally, finally i have the time to write my long report on this “mystery”.

Before all, I must point out that there was a trick in video : not one but TWO locations from the same area were filmed… This may explain why I was unable to find this frankensteined ouvrage.

Fortunately, one specialist was able to answer our answer :
this is “l’électro-mécanicien”, a voluntary member from…
one of the two ouvrages that was filmed by Thames !

So a big thank you to him !
Here is his reply on the Ligne Maginot messageboard :
http://www.ligne-maginot.fr/forum/vi...?p=18379#18379

I will try to update at least the wikipedia pages in English and French, to help people to visit this amazing Maginot Line ouvrage.

See You

Vince

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

"The World At War" episode 3 on the Maginot Line was broadcasted on November 14, 1973, so it is more than probable that the short introducting film on the Maginot Line (0.11 to 0.57) was filmed during spring of 1973. It seemed that the weather is still between winter and spring.

so i personally started my search by checking the various weapons/turrets that were showed on the Thames documentary.

As it will be shown, two locations in the same area were filmed, so it was impossible to find an ouvrage... that didn't exist.

I started then to look for the Church, but again, without any luck.

"l'électro-mécanicien" found every part of the puzzle, and the Church is the one of the little village of Veckring, located 30 km to the North-East of Metz, or 35 km to the South-East of Luxembourg.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veckring

WWII maniacs will notice that there is a M10 GMC Tank Destroyer at the West entrance to Veckring.

http://www.mablehome.com/militaria/b...0-Veckring.htm

See You

Vince

[IanC]

Amazing work Vince, thank you so so much - I have just been on Google maps and looking at the church in Veckring.

Please pass on my thanks to “l’électro-mécanicien on the other forum (unfortunately my understanding of French is very limited and getting a logon to that forum is way outside of my capabilities!)

The Ouvrage Hackenberg looks like a good place to see some of the Maginot Line. Hopefully I should be able to get over there at some point soon.

Thanks again mate it is really appreciated.

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

now we are able to identify the two Maginot Line ouvrages that were filmed by Thames.

The first one we see is the South bunker C56 of the Veckring ouvrage X21.

http://www.wikimaginot.eu/visu.php?id=10727

http://www.wikimaginot.eu/visu.php?id=10743

The Veckring ouvrage is located in the -South-East of the village.

The South bunker is similar to the North bunker C55, with a GFM turret.
The only difference is that the turret of the North bunker was partly destroyed by a shaped charge, there is an hole in the top of it.

We can see the GFM turret of the South bunker on "The World At War" episode 3 :

- from 0.11 to 0.23 (looking to the West)
- from 0.29 to 0.33 (looking to the North)
- from 0.34 to 0.41 (looking to the North)
- from 0.42 to 0.45 (looking to the North-East)

Today the trees and grass seemed to have hidden the whole location.

See You

Vince

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

the second ouvrage is the Bloc 9 of the famous Hackenberg Ouvrage A19.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouvrage_Hackenberg
http://www.wikimaginot.eu/visu.php?id=10709

At the time of the Thames documentary, the Hackenberg was not restored as it is today.

http://maginot-hackenberg.com/?page=home&lang=en
NOTA : the first two pictures on the top left on the main website page are the 135mm 2x howitzer guns of the Bloc 9 and the front of Bloc 9 (see the picture below, taken looking to the South).

The Hackenberg ouvrage is a massive and incredible piece of art, you can visit it many months of each year, and a lot of books were written about it.

See You

Vince

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

we can see Bloc 9 :

- from 0.24 to 0.28 (looking to the North-West)

Included below, screenshot from the documentary, and recent picture.

See You

Vince