Maginot Line

Who knew that just 30 miles from our house is a French military fortification meant to keep people from Germany out of France? I didn't! But it sounded so interesting we had to go for a visit. The Maginot Line was built along the German/French border after World War I to defend France from a possible German invasion. The Line itself was a series of forts and outposts that would defend the border. It turned out not to be an effective defense as Germany still invaded and conquered France during World War II, but it was an impressive effort by France. If you want to learn more about the history of the whole thing this is a good site http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/maginot_line.htm

Samantha at the beginning of the path down to the Fort. I'm not sure why she chose to wear her Easter dress and bring a white patent leather purse but at least she looked cute.

Becca, Samantha, and I walking through one of the passageways in the Fort. The lights were spaced pretty far apart, but we were told that when the Fort was used there were 2/3 fewer lights so it was a very dark place to live for six months at a time.

We toured Fort Simserhof which has 5 km of underground passageways and rooms as well as an underground railway for transporting munitions and supplies. When the Fort was occupied it housed 876 soldiers. The tour was interesting, but a little cold since we were underground. The Fort is in the middle of a forest and it was a nice walk to and from the actual site. Samantha was our official photographer this day and Natalie was the official Zombie finder. There were lots of different strange noises in the Fort and she was convinced they were coming from Zombies. And that was alright because it kept her moving along and looking for them.

This is one of the soldier's barracks. They slept in double wide, triple decker bunks so that meant enough room for six soldiers in each set of bunk beds. The beds were used around the clock with six different men rotating in each eight hours. They had one set of bedding for each bed for the entire six months that they lived in the fort.


Jared took this picture of some of the weapons they would have had in the armory during the time the fort was occupied.

Fort Simserhof is close the the city of Bitche, France (pronounced BEACH) so the whole way there we were following signs that are shaped like arrows pointing to Bitche. We really wanted to stop and have me stand next to a sign for a funny picture, but didn't want to look too much like tourists!

Comments

  1. LarisaJune 29, 2010 at 11:37 PM

    That photo would have been HILARIOUS, but soooo baaaad. Glad you chose the right :-)

    ReplyDelete

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