Le 30 septembre 1945, « L’Amicale Des Anciens Internés Politiques de Châteaubriant-Voves » est créée. Dès lors, cette Association a pour but de maintenir le souvenir de ces hommes, objectif intégré dans la démarche du tourisme de mémoire.

Cette ambition passe par l’entretien du mémorial national érigé à Châteaubriant et par l’aménagement de la Carrière des fusillés. Le site fut classé en 1993.

Le monument inauguré le 22 octobre 1950 fut réalisé par Antoine ROHAL, sculpteur.
Depuis 1951, les alvéoles devant le monument contiennent un peu de terre des hauts lieux de la Résistance. Tout autour de la carriére sont installées en 1986 les stéles portant photographie et les indications personnelles de chaque fusillé.

Elle passe également par l’organisation de commémorations et de conférences. Actuellement, le titre est « Amicale de Châteaubriant-Voves-Rouillé-Aincourt ».

Pour transmettre cette histoire au public, le Musée de la Résistance à Châteaubriant,implanté dans la ferme qui jouxtait la carrière où ont été fusillés 27 hommes dont Guy Môquet, est inauguré en 2001 par l’Amicale. En 2007, l’Amicale délègue la gestion et l’animation du Musée à l’« Association des Amis du Musée de la Résistance de Châteaubriant ». Des expositions permettent de mieux comprendre la vie des internés et la Résistance dans le pays de Châteaubriant. Chaque année, une exposition en lien avec le thème du Concours National de la résistance et de la Déportation.

L’Office de Tourisme Intercommunal du Castelbriantais propose des visites guidées payantes de la Carrière et du Musée. Le Musée peut également être visité de manière libre et gratuite. Des documents sont mis à la disposition du public.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance à Châteaubriant

Since it was founded in 1679, Mont-Louis has experienced an extraordinary military past. In addition to the political decisions made by King Louis XIV, the enlightened plans drawn up by the well-known French architect Vauban and the very active and rigorous surveillance of the Secretary of State for War Louvois, the place has been the home and domain of soldiers!

Following the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 and on the behest of King Louis XIV who wished to secure this region only recently reclaimed by Spain, Vauban, General Commissioner of Fortifications, designed this stronghold from the ground up in 1679. The special strategic location, at the crossroads of the comarques of Conflent, Capcir and Cerdanya, determined the final choice of the site. Moreover, this position gave easy access to materials, pastures, mills, wood and fields.

Mont-Louis was planned over two terraces: the citadel and the town.

The original plans included a lower town for the sutlers, stables and feedstores as well as a redoubt but they were never built for lack of funds.

As concerns the military citadel, the view from which stretched from the Canigou to the Serra del Cadi, the defences were based on typical Vauban features: bastions, battered curtain walls and demi-lunes. While the chapel, the arsenal and two powder stores were completed, the governor's house, chaplain’s quarters and the hall to provide shelter for the soldiers never got off the ground.

Adhering to simple principles, Vauban then set about organising the interior layout of the new town to house a small middle class of craftsmen with infantry barracks either side of the sole entryway into the citadel. It met military requirements and was also a practical place to live and work with a simple and well-ordered layout where the command, combat and civilian activities were harmoniously integrated.

During this period of temporary peace, the soldiers provided most of the labour, in particular the Vierzet-Famechon, Stoppa Brendelé, Furstemberg and Castries regiments. There were many soldiers living around Mont-Louis - 3,700 were present when Louvois visited the site in 1680, all paid a poor daily wage for such harsh labour in tough conditions, not least the severe climate in Mont-Louis. They were supervised by specialised craftsmen (masons, stonecutters, carpenters, joiners, blacksmiths, well-diggers and the like) and overseen by quartermasters and engineers working for the King. Any prestige from wearing the uniform was sacrificed to the meanliness of their task.

In 1681, some 29 months after Vauban’s visit, most of the work was completed and the fortress was considered to be in a state of defence. On 26 October, the first governor, François de Fortia, Marquess of Durban, took possession of the place during a sumptuous celebration amid “loud cries of 'Long live the King!’ by the people of Cerdagne who came in droves and were delighted to witness such a ceremony”. Henceforth, Mont-Louis marked the final military southern border and was well positioned to keep close watch over the stronghold of Puigcerdà in Spanish Cerdagne. The excellent choice of location has persisted through the centuries to today.

In 1793, the fortress was central to the military events taking place in Cerdagne. Mont-Louis was renamed Mont-Libre. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation in France, the King of Spain used the French regicide as an excuse to send in his troops to invade the entire region of the Pyrénées-Orientales. In Cerdagne, General Dagobert pushed back the Spanish army twice. In July 1793, the Spanish troops occupying the Col de la Perche passage were routed out and in September those camped above Canaveilles were resoundingly defeated. General Dagobert continued his efforts and invaded Spanish Cerdagne and Puigcerdà, where he died in 1794 (Monuent Dagobert stands on Place de l’Eglise).

Peace returned on 1 August 1795 and Mont-Libre was essentially used as a storehouse by the army stationed in Cerdagne. Monte-Libre reverted back to its name of Mont-Louis on 24 October 1803. In 1808, Mont-Louis became a huge transit camp and a hospital for the Spanish army. With the Restoration, Mont-Louis’s defensive importance was more related to its topography than to the fortress itself. The work resumed with intensity in 1887 to improve the Mont-Louis’ defences in particular its immediate surroundings.

The World Wars saw floods of emigrants crammed within the fortress, during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 before the German Occupation and the liberation of the site by the Free French Forces. In 1946 the fortress reclaimed its original function as a military stronghold when the 11th BPC parachute regiment were stationed there and then in 1964 the site became the National Commando Training Centre.

This centre dedicated to French expertise in commando training instructed military personnel (officers, NCOs and other ranks) from the land and air forces, the national gendarmerie and foreign armies, but was also a training centre with special programmes for war correspondents, STAPS students (physical education) and personnel from the justice and interior ministries.

But the fortress did retain one unique architectural feature: the Puits des Forçats (Convicts’ Well), with its enormous wheel that supplied water to the site (open all year round to visitors). The town walls also harbour the first solar furnace with double reflection built in 1949 (also open to visitors through the year). Its church, dedicated to St Louis, was started in 1733 based on the model of the chapel in the citadel. Inside there is a series of Roussillon baroque altarpieces dating from the 17^th and 18^th centuries with a very fine statue of Christ made of polychrome wood (17^th century) in the Rhenish style.

Mont-Louis Tourist Information Office

3 rue Lieutenant Pruneta 66210 Mont-Louis, France

Tel/fax: +33 (0)4 68 04 21 97

E-mail: otmontlouis@wanadoo.fr

Guided tours: Fortress/Puits des Forçats well: during winter, every day except Sunday from 11 am to 2 pm. Village: in winter every day except Sunday at 3.30 pm. Solar furnace: Low season: every day at 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm. Summer: every day from 10 am to 6 pm, tours every 30 minutes.

Originally conceived as a military camp, Rivesaltes was, successively, southern France’s principal internment camp for Spanish Republicans, foreign Jews and gypsies, in 1941-42; a “guarded residence centre” for collaborators and depot for Axis POWs between 1944 and 1948; and a holding camp for harkis and their families between 1962 and 1964.

To tell its story, a memorial was built on the site of Block F of the camp, amid the ruins of the huts that were home to more than 60 000 people. Designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti, the building, with an area of 4 000 m², is both a reference centre for the history of the forced displacement and detention of people, and a key remembrance site.

Sources : ©MEMORIAL DU CAMP DE RIVESALTES

© Maxppp - Belloumi

The Plateau de Californie, near l'Ailette in the Chemin des Dames region, is an important place of remembrance for the Great War, associated with the failed offensive of Nivelle in April 1917 and with the later mutinies. The site takes its name from an American saloon called "The California" created by Henry Vasnier before 1914. There was also a hotel there, a zoo and an exotic garden with American Indian plants, next to vines, agricultural land, market gardens and woodland. The 18th Infantry Regiment (I.R.) is closely linked to the fate of the place. In reserve at the time of the assault of the 16th April 1917, they became involved from the 4th May, when Craonne and the plateau de Californie were captured. During this fighting they were to lose 40% of their men. Traumatised, these men, then resting in Villers-sur-Fère, refused to return to the front on 27th May 1917, thus starting the first mutinies. Twelve soldiers were brought before the war council on the 7th June; five were sentenced to death for "armed revolt", of whom one was pardoned, another escaped and three were shot on the 12th June at Maizy. Craonne Hill is now classified as a red zone, in the same way as are another 18,000 hectares of land that was totally destroyed by the intensity of fighting, most of which has since been entrusted to the national Forestry Office. Pine trees have been planted there.

Forgotten until the 1990's, this spot has since been developed and has a panoramic viewpoint, orientation table, car park, signage and sign-posted pathways to the heart of what remains of the trenches and shell craters. Sculpture-the monument erected in memory of the soldiers of the 18th I.R. on an old German concrete bunker. This creation was a publicly funded commission by the department of culture and communication, in partnership with the General Council of the Aisne. It is by the sculptor Haim Kerner. Constructed in 1998 in memory of soldiers from all wars, this monument in horizon-blue coloured bronze is made up of heads, all identical, imprisoned behind barbed wire, symbolising the shackles of history with the inscription "They did not choose their burial place". It was inaugurated on the 5th November 1998 by the Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, on the 80th anniversary of the victory of 1918.
Plaque to the 18th I.R. This plaque dedicated to the 18th I.R. is situated on the far eastern edge of the plateau de Californie.. It was built in 1927 on top of an old German concrete bunker and bears the dedication: "To the glory of the 18th Regiment (Béarn - Basque Country - Gascony), an elite regiment whose duty was to capture the plateau of Craonne, a position that had been judged impregnable, and who scaled it with magnificent spirit. Mentioned in despatches - 4th -5th May 1917".

In May 1940, the village of Stonne was the scene of fighting between the Wehrmacht and French tanks. Taken and retaken seven times in four days, the place was completely destroyed.

A memorial, which today also marks the start of a tourist trail in the centre of the village, commemorates the French army’s efforts of resistance against the German invasion. 

In 1940, France believed it was protected by the Maginot Line. The Ardennes mountain range was considered impassable. The defence in Meuse was assured by the 2nd Army under Huntziger from the Bar valley to Longuyon, whereas the Sedan region was defended by the 10th army corps under Grandsard.

In the month of May, the Germans attacked the Ardennes in order to breach the mountains at Sedan.

On 11th May, the French cavalry, which had gone ahead of the Germans in Belgium, retreated. Huntziger changed his system, in vain: the Wehrmacht was at the entrance to Sedan on 12th May and began operations to cross the Meuse the very next day.

On 14th May, the Germans forced their way through at Nouzonville cemetery and were in a position to take the defenders of Monthermé from the rear. Huntziger reinforced the defensive system in place on the Stonne-Forêt du Mont Dieu line. However, he had to abandon the area of land between Chiers and Meuse, which ended up widening the distance between the 1st and the 10th armies.

On 15th May, the Germans took the offensive on Stonne with aircraft and panzers. Between the 15th and 18th May, the village changed hands 19 times and the losses – 33 French tanks and 24 German panzers – are a testament to the fierceness of the battle to hold this strategic position. In order to turn the position around, the Wehrmacht started an offensive in the direction of Tannay, on 23rd May, took down the 1st Hussards Regiment there and seized the village on 24th May. Nearby, the 3rd Colonial Infantry Division (3rd DIC), that held the Forêt du Mont Dieu, was forced to withdraw along a narrow corridor the night of the 24th May and permanently abandon the area. This battle took the lives of 3,000 Germans and 1,000 members of the French Army.

A remembrance memorial was created comprising:

• 1 monument in pink granite engraved with the names of all the units that fought in the region,

• 1 B1 bis battle tank, the same as those that won fame here during the first tank battle in the last world war,

• 1 viewpoint indicator showing the different lines of resistance,

• 1 wall representing the ruins embedded with two black marble plaques, one showing the progress of the battle, the other a map of the history trail.

At the bottom of the hill in Stonne (known locally as "Sugar Loaf Hill"), a modern AMX 13 tank is a tribute to all armoured armies, from the first to the last: the Leclerc tank.

The remembrance tourist trail passing through the villages bearing witness to the battles of May and June 1940 is signposted and dotted with information panels. Fourteen stages retrace the events that unfolded in these villages, an homage to the 5,000 French soldiers who fell on the field of honour in this area during the Battle of the Ardennes.

Tourist Information Office for the cantons of Carignan, Mouzon and Raucourt Le Paquis de Frappant

08110 Mogues

Tel.: 03.24.29.79.91

Fax: 03.24.29.79.45

E-mail : officedetourismedes3cantons@wanadoo.fr

The Fort of Michelsberg is a major artillery structure on the Maginot Line. Its construction began in 1930 and was completed four years later. The structure is made up of an entrance block and five combat blocks; it could thus align 6 cannons (from 47 mm to 135 mm), two 81-mm mortars and several dozen rifles and machine guns. It had a fire capacity of one metric tonne of shells a minute with a range of up to 13 km. This small subterranean town, located 30 m under ground, was operational thanks to its 515-man crew. In 1939-40, the Fort of Michelsberg was put to the test and had to push back an attack by the German 95th Infantry Division.
Weaponry Block 1: machine gun turret, Block 2: infantry casemate, Block 3: 81-mm turret, Block 5: 75-mm turret, Block 6: 135-mm turret.

Designed to house 495 men, operating with four 120-horse SGCM engines.

 

The structure is located between Thionville and Bouzonville just outside the village of Dalstein, heading toward Ebersviller.

Association Ouvrage du Michelsberg "22 Juin 1940"

6, rue du Docteur Schweitzer 57100 Thionville

Tél. 03 82 34 66 67

Email: o.michelsberg@wanadoo.fr

Open every Sunday from April to September, from 2 pm to 6 pm, and year round by appointment.

Fortweb website on European fortifications

Website dedicated to the Maginot Line

Quizz : Forts and citadels

The Plateau des Glières and the Gilioli Monument A magnificent plateau situated at the heart of the Haute Savoie at an altitude of 1440m, the site of les Glières is not to be missed. An important place for the Résistance movement during the Second World War, its mountainous and therefore strategic territory made the Plateau des Glières an ideal place for parachuting in weapons for the local resistance movement. On the 31st January 1944, because of the "insurrectionary" situation, on the orders of the German authorities the collaborating Vichy government decided to bring the Resistance movement to an end and imposed a state of siege on the département. The same day, 120 maquisards under the orders of Lieutenant Tom Morel, head of the resistance fighters of the Secret Army in the Haute Savoie, climbed up to the Plateau des Glières to receive some parachute drops. The maquisards were former officers of the 27th Battalion of Alpine Chasseurs of Annecy, Spanish Republicans and Francs-Tireurs et Partisans(Partisan irregular riflemen) united by the same desire to liberate France. On the 26th March 1944, a large scale attack involving around 10,000 men was carried out by German troops and the French militia. The numbers involved were disproportionate to the 465 maquisards on the Plateau. After carrying out reconnaissance missions, the maquisards received the order from Captain Maurice Anjot, now in charge of the underground movement (maquis) following the death of Tom Morel, to retreat in the evening. 129 maquisards and 20 resistance fighters from the valleys, who had been unable to escape being surrounded by the forces carrying out the order, were killed during the fighting or were shot by firing squad or died during their deportation. From the start, the Battle of les Glières was the symbol of the French Resistance movement, thanks to radio broadcasts from London. In the months that followed, the maquis restructured in order to arrange a new parachute drop, which would take place on the 1st August. This allowed the liberation of the Haute-Savoie on the 19th August 1944, before the allied troops even arrived. On the 2nd September 1973 Emile Gilioli's National Monument to the Resistance, built on the initiative of the Survivors of les Glières, was inaugurated by André Malraux. It is not a monument to the dead, but rather a symbol of hope. Today there is a sign-posted circuit accessible for all levels of walkers along the parachute drop areas, guiding visitors along the Plateau des Glières which is now very much a part of the collective memory. The information boards along the walk tell of the daily life of the maquisards and the events of February and March 1944.

Footpaths of Remembrance On the plateau, there are footpaths to help you learn about the site of the parachute drops and the how the defence of the plateau was organised: The "Tom Morel" footpath, the only way of accessing the plateau in winter, was the route taken by supplies for the maquis. The footpath of "The Attack", which is relatively difficult due to its unevenness, was used by liaison agents of the Maquis of Les Glières. The Germans also took it during the attack of the 26th March 1944 at Monthièvret. The "Skirmish or "Black Water" footpath, which owes its name to the stream that comes from the Ablon valley and runs across blackish detrital rocks, was taken mainly by resistance fighters from Thorens. This is where the Militia lost heir first man. The footpath of the "Final Assault" allows access to the alpine pasture land of Champ-Laitier, which was attacked on the 16th March 1944. The "Spanish" footpath was the crossing point of a group of Spaniards from Nâves-Parmelan, as well as three Italians. Before them, the forest ranger of the sector had taken this path to accompany young draft dodgers to the Compulsory Work Service on the Plateau des Glières. A lookout post established on the Pas du Roc by the resistant fighters effectively sealed this crossing point. No attacker dared try his luck there. The footpath of "the Ultimatum" was a royal access route to the Plateau des Glières. It was secured down in the valley by the Vichy forces and up on the plateau by the maquisards. Two days before the German assault, it was taken by a group delivering the ultimatum for surrender. The Site of Morette
Located at the gateway to the Thônes valleys, the historic departmental site of Morette is composed of three major places: the National Necropolis of Les Glières the Departmental Museum of the Resistance the Departmental Memorial of the Deportation The National Necropolis of Les Glières The bodies of 105 resistance fighters, mainly soldiers from Les Glières, killed by the Germans and French forces of law and order rest in the Necropolis. The Departmental Museum of the Resistance is located in a high mountain chalet dating back to 1794 and representative of those that housed the maquisards. Created in 1964 by the Association of Survivors of les Glières, the original idea was to house all the souvenirs and documentation held by the Survivors in the museum. It became a departmental museum in 1978. It has displays on 3 levels offering an opportunity to follow the successive periods of the worldwide conflict, from 1939 up to the liberation of the Haute-Savoie in August 1944. The Departmental Memorial of the Deportation provides a deeply moving insight into the Nazi camps (photographs, maps of the Nazi camps, poetry by the deportees and uniforms etc.) Created in 1965 by the Association of Deportees, Internees and Families of the Haute-Savoie and associated with the National Union of Associations of Deportees, Internees and Families (l'Union Nationale des Associations de Déportés, Internés et Familles or UNADIF), it has now become a departmental Memorial. The current building houses an intentionally low key exhibition that claims to bear a message of remembrance and vigilance.
Site de Morette 74230 La Balme de Thuy Tel: +33 (0) 4 50 32 18 38 Memory of the Maquis Tel: 04 50 33 21 31 Opening hours of departmental websites Every day except Saturday from 9:30 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 17H In July and August, 7 / 7 days from 10am to 12.30pm and from 14H to 18H Morette site: closed in December and January Plateau Glières: closed from 1 October to 1st Saturday of the Christmas holidays included Information and reservations Guided tours can be arranged throughout the year, during the opening hours, by reservation. Educational activities on reservation.
Conseil Général de la Haute-Savoie Direction des Affaires Culturelles Service Mémoire et Citoyenneté 18, avenue du Trésum 74000 Annecy Tel: +33 (0) 4 50 51 87 00 Fax: +33 (0) 4 50 51 86 98 E-mail: resistancedepartementale74@cg74.fr

Situé dans l’Ain, la Maison d’Izieu perpétue le souvenir des enfants et adultes juifs qui y avaient trouvé refuge entre mai 1943 et le 6 avril 1944.

Attaché au présent et tourné vers l’avenir, le mémorial suscite la réflexion sur le crime contre l’humanité et les circonstances qui l’engendrent.

À travers l’évocation des enfants juifs d’Izieu et de leurs éducateurs, c’est contre toute forme d’intolérance et de racisme qu’il entend lutter.

En mai 1943, Sabine et Miron Zlatin, en lien avec l’Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE), installent une quinzaine d’enfants juifs à Izieu, alors en zone d’occupation italienne, ce qui les met temporairement à l’abri des poursuites antisémites.

Jusqu’en janvier 1944, date de la dernière liste du registre des présences tenu par Miron Zlatin, 105 enfants ont séjourné à la colonie d’Izieu.
Celle-ci est souvent un lieu de passage dans un réseau de sauvetage plus vaste, composé d’autres maisons, de familles d’accueil ou de filières de passage en Suisse.

Au matin du 6 avril 1944, 44 enfants, âgés de 4 à 17 ans, et 7 adultes furent raflés puis déportés sur ordre de Klaus Barbie, parce qu’ils étaient juifs. Le directeur de la colonie, M. Zlatin, ainsi que deux adolescents furent déportés vers des camps de travaux forcés en Estonie. Le reste du groupe fut déporté à Auschwitz. Seule une monitrice, Léa Feldblum, revint.

Traqué et ramené en France par Serge et Beate Klarsfeld, Klaus Barbie fut jugé et condamné à Lyon en 1987, pour crime contre l’humanité.

Au lendemain du procès, une association se crée autour de Mme Zlatin pour l’ouverture du « Musée-Mémorial des enfants d’Izieu ».

Aujourd’hui, deux bâtiments se visitent :

La maison, espace sensible d‘évocation, est dédiée à la mémoire. L'exposition y est volontairement sobre et claire.

La grange, dédiée à l’histoire, accueille une exposition de 530 m2 qui se déploie en trois thèmes : Pourquoi des enfants à Izieu ? fait découvrir au visiteur l’histoire et le parcours des enfants de la colonie . De Nuremberg à La Haye : juger les criminels propose une réflexion sur les jugements des criminels de guerre et sur les crimes contre l’humanité après 1945 . enfin, La mémoire et sa construction invite le visiteur à découvrir les mécanismes de construction de la mémoire à partir de la construction de la mémoire d’Izieu.

Visiter la Maison d’Izieu permet à tous les publics d’aborder le génocide des enfants juifs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ainsi que l’histoire des réseaux de sauvetage qui ont cherché à soustraire ces enfants aux persécutions antisémites de la France de Vichy et de l’Allemagne nazie.

Le mémorial accueille les enfants à partir de 8 ans. Un livret de visite est remis gratuitement et permet de découvrir l'histoire des enfants d'Izieu et de parcourir le mémorial à son rythme.

Offre pédagogique :

Ateliers pour tous les niveaux scolaires, rencontres de témoins et d'artistes.

Offre tous publics :

Des visites accompagnées de la maison sont proposées tous les jours.

Visites pour les enfants en famille : mercredis des vacances scolaires (zone A), à 14h.

Audioguides en anglais, italien, espagnol et allemand.

Visites en anglais, italien, espagnol et allemand sur réservation.

Sources : ©Maison d’Izieu, mémorial des enfants juifs exterminés

[align=center]Sénans who chose Free France 22 - 26 June 1940[/align] June 1940: following defeat and the signature of the armistice, not all Frenchmen gave up. Gradually, individual or collective acts of resistance developed, the most famous being the "18th June Appeal", broadcast from London by General De Gaulle, an appeal repeated several times in the days that followed. The inhabitants of Sein were among the first to respond; they were among the earliest of the "Free French". Sein is a small island off the south-west tip of Brittany, facing the Pointe du Raz, with a population of around a thousand. In June 1940, most of the men were mobilised or called to work on the mainland. A garrison of 24 men was also stationed there. The island received information from the few ships that docked or the rare wireless sets. This communication became increasingly difficult until only scraps of news arrived, rumours of an ever-deteriorating situation. Residents of the island (Sénans) learned that Rennes and Brest had fallen and saw the first soldiers pushed back by the German advance. Many ships sailed via the island, such as the Zénith which, via Ouessant and Sein, took a small troop of Chasseurs alpins to Great Britain. The threat was getting closer, with German gunfire and shelling increasing.

Warned by a keeper of the Ar-Men lighthouse that an appeal by a French General was to be broadcast that evening on the BBC, the islanders and those present on the island assembled on 22nd June around one of the radios to listen to the speech. After listening to the message the choice was quickly made. Five ships were available right away. They sailed on 24th and 26th June. The first, the Velleda, left with the garrison and the first Sénans aboard, followed by the Rouanez ar Mor, then the Corbeau des mers, the Maris Stella and the Rouanez ar Péoc'h. Some islanders followed on smaller craft. 128 Sénans finally assembled in England. Some of them would not see their island or their families again until 1944. Initially, the Sénans were assigned to the Courbet, which had the job of protecting the port of Plymouth before most of them were dispersed to serve in the Free French Navy. The Germans occupied the Ile de Sein from the beginning of July, laying mines and barbed wire. Severe restrictions were applied to movement both on the island and the surrounding seas. Physical conditions were difficult, even after the mobilised men returned. In spite of this, assistance was raised for the families of the islanders who had gone to England.

"Fort de la Crèche" is a former coastal battery set up on the site of a former Napoleonic fort, Fort de Terlincthun, built in 1806 and dismantled in 1864. This coastal battery was built in 1879 following the principles of Séré de Rivières to defend the port of Boulogne.
It comprised the northern defences, supplemented southward by the Tour d'Odre (still occupied by the French National Navy today), Mont de Couppe and Cap d'Alprech Batteries, built during the same period. Demilitarised in 2002, "Fort de la Crèche" is now owned by the Conservatoire de l'Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres (French Coastal Protection Agency).

The “Fort de la Crèche” Association, under contract, has taken on the mission of preserving, restoring and animating this built heritage. From the month of April through the month of September, it organises guided tours hosted by volunteers. It welcomes groups year round by reservation. Along with the building from 1879, the site also presents the modernisation carried out on the military facilities – occupied by the French Army and then the French Navy – from 1930 to 1940.

 

The Germans then occupied the site, building bunkers on top of the old French platforms and integrating it into the “Atlantic Wall".

The tour itinerary that is being set up will be a 200-year journey through Time with a "reading" of the landscapes and buildings.


Fort de la Crèche
Association Fort de la Crèche (AFLC) BP 25 62930 Wimereux

Entrance to the Fort on the D 96 road between the La Crèche roundabout and Terlincthun at Wimereux. Guided tours only.

Quizz : Forts et citadels