Ouvrage Cave-à-Canon

Ouvrage Cave à Canon
Part of Maginot Line, Alpine Line
Southeast France
Site information
Controlled byFrance
Site history
Built1937
Built byCORF
In useAbandoned
MaterialsConcrete, steel, rock excavation
Battles/warsItalian invasion of France
Ouvrage Cave-à-Canon
Type of work:Small artillery work (Petit ouvrage)
sector
└─sub-sector		Fortified Sector of Savoy
└─Tarentaise
Regiment:70th Batailllon Alpin de Fortresse
Number of blocks:1
Strength:1 non-commissioned officer, 18 men

Ouvrage Cave-à-Canon is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. Started in 1937, the ouvrage consists of one infantry block about one kilometer east of Bourg St. Maurice, on the south bank of the Isère. A short gallery with cross galleries extends into the rock, with an emergency exit and ventilation shaft halfway back. The ouvrage was incomplete in 1940, under the command of Lieutenant Courteaud.[1][2]

Cave-à-Canon, and with Ouvrage Chatelard across the valley to the north, and several pre-1914 forts on the heights around Bourg-Saint-Maurice, were placed to block an advance over the Little St Bernard Pass toward Albertville.[2]

Description

  • Block 1 (combination): one machine gun turret planned and three machine gun embrasures, three heavy twin machine gun embrasures and one 47mm anti-tank gun embrasure.[1][2]

The Tarentaise region was liberated by Allied forces in March and April 1945.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Puelinckx, Jean; Aublet, Jean-Louis; Mainguin, Sylvie (2010). "Cave à canons (petit ouvrage de la)". Index de la Ligne Maginot (in French). fortiff.be. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Mary, Tome 5, pp. 9–12
  3. ^ Mary, Tome 5, p.145

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 4 - La fortification alpine. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009. ISBN 978-2-915239-46-1 (in 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 (in French)


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45°36′58″N 6°47′11″E / 45.61611°N 6.78639°E / 45.61611; 6.78639