ACHEN AND THE MAGINOT LINE: 2 sectors, 1 history....

The Saarland defensive sector is located between the fortified sector of Faulquemont in the west and the fortified sector of Rohrbach in the east, in the Moselle department.

It forms a line of about 40 kilometers along the Franco-German border, from Lelling in the west to the Saar in the east, and extends on the other bank for a few kilometers to Achen and the Sattelbach river. The defensive system is based on water reservoirs and flooding zones, also known as the "aquatic Maginot Line".

The fortified sector of Rohrbach is located between the fortified sector of the Saar in the west and the fortified sector of the Vosges in the east.

It forms a line along the German-French border, just north of Rohrbach-lès-Bitche and Bitche, from Singling to Sturzelbronn.

The communal bank of Achen contains 1 structure, 5 casemates and small blocks straddling these 2 sectors.

The Haut-Poirier fortress is a small infantry fortress with four blocks. Built in 1934, it is part of the Kalhausen sub-sector at the eastern end of the fortified sector of the Saar.

Designated O 220 and located on hill 340, it was part of the "main line of resistance" between the CORF interval casemates of Grand-Bois to the west and North-West Achen to the east, but with the evacuation of the interval troops in June 1940 and being out of range of the guns of the large artillery works, it was vulnerable.

The structure was composed of three above-ground combat blocks and an entrance block, with underground ammunition stores, headquarters, water, diesel and food stocks, ventilation and air filtering facilities, an electrical plant, all connected by a deeply buried gallery.

The energy is supplied by two generators, each consisting of a SMIM 3 SR 19 diesel engine (providing 75 hp at 600 rpm), supplemented by a small auxiliary unit.

The construction work was spread out from 1934 to 1938 and its characteristics are then as follows:

- Block 1: Infantry casemate: 1 AM slot (replaced by a pair of Reibel MAC 31 machine guns), 2 AM bells, 2 GFM B bells.

- Block 2 : Infantry pillbox : 1 turret for 2 AM, 1 GFM B bell.

- Block 3 : Infantry casemate and entrance : 1 twinned Reibel MAC 31 machine gun turret interchangeable with a 47 mm AC gun on a bi-rail, 1 twinned Reibel MAC 31 machine gun turret, 1 AM turret (replaced by a twinned Reibel MAC 31 machine gun), 1 AM bell, 2 GFM B bells (one with a J2 periscope).

- Block 4 : Reduced type entrance and emergency exit, grafted on the visitable sewer, 3 slots for FM.

The theoretical crew of the structure was composed of 160 men and 3 officers mainly from the 133rd RIF, 66th RAP and 208th Bon du Génie de Forteresse. Captain Gambotti was in command of the fortress.

Main source and more information on wikimaginot.eu

JUNE 1940 : An episode of the Battle of France in the Saar Gap

At the beginning of the conflict on the western front, the French army launched the short-lived Operation Saar and briefly penetrated German territory.

Offensive took place from September 4 to October 16, 1939. The "funny war" then began and ended definitively on May 10, 1940, when the German armies launched the Fall Gelb and launched a vast offensive against the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, violating the neutrality of these states. They then crossed the Ardennes and broke through the French front at Sedan in order to take the Maginot Line from behind.

On 26 May 1940, the Saar sector received the first detachments of the 1st Polish Grenadier Division.

On June 14, 1940, at dawn, the Wehrmacht launched operation Tiger between Biding and Sarralbe, on an eighteen-kilometer front encompassing the water line and the defenses located to the west of it.

The offensive of 90,000 infantrymen of Army Group C, commanded by General von Witzleben, started from the Siegfried Line and was preceded by a preparation of artillery fired by a thousand cannons and supported by a hundred Stukas.

By the evening of the battle, 1,200 German soldiers had been killed. 750 defenders, from the French and Polish forces with a strength of 17,600 and 39,400 soldiers, lost their lives.

On June 20, 1940, General Theißen's 262nd Infantry Division deployed its units on the rear of the fortified sector of the Saar, thus to the south of the Haut-Poirier structure and the Achen casemates.

On Friday 21 June 1940, the Germans, who had just broken through the Saar sector, attacked the Haut-Poirier from the south, i.e. from the rear of the fortification.

Around 2.30 pm, the German 105 and 150 mm guns made their first adjustments on the structure, the destruction fire on the Haut-Poirier started at 3 pm. The Stosstrupps (assault troops) of the 486th Infantry Regiment prepared themselves and carried out harassment fire with machine guns and 37mm cannon.

At about 6.30 pm, without infantry fire and artillery support, block 3 was pierced by a 150 mm shell which entered the firing chamber. The explosion killed the 3 men left behind: Sergeant BEAUVERGER, Master Corporal SCHOEB and Warrant Officer GOURAUD.

The fighting also resulted in the death of Oberfeldwebel Gerhard RESKE of the 486th Infantry Regiment on the German side.

In the evening, the command decided to surrender and the five casemates of Wittring, Grand-Bois, Achen North-West, Achen North and Achen North-East gave up their weapons, just before the armistice on 22 June 1940.

In the Faulquemont sector, the Bambesch surrendered on June 20 and the Kerfent on June 21. In the Rohrbach sector, after the surrender of the Haut-Poirier on the 21st, it was the turn of the Welschhof on June 24th.

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Master Corporal Marcel François SCHOEB of the 133rd fortress infantry regiment (133rd RIF) was born on 19-11-1917 in Paris, France.

Warrant Officer Henri Armand François GOURAUD of the 133rd fortress infantry regiment (133rd RIF) was born on 11-02-1912 in St Nazaire, France.

Sergeant Paul Joseph Marie BEAUVERGER of the 133rd fortress infantry regiment (133rd RIF) was born on 08-09-1915 in Pleumeur-Gautier, France.

Oberfeldwebel Gerhard RESKE of the 486th infantry regiment was born on 07-13-1915 in Glumpenau, Upper Silesia, former German Reich (present Poland).

DECEMBER 1944: An episode of the American advance

On July 25, 1944, the German front was broken in Normandy. In August, the advance of the Third Army troops from Brittany was rapid. Motorised groups supported by armoured vehicles chased the armies of the Reich eastwards.

The rapid advance caused logistical problems and it was not until 10 September that the Seventh Army joined up with the Third Army. The front was now continuous in eastern France. In Lorraine, the offensive operations of the Third Army resumed on 8 November and continued until December with the liberation of our villages.

On 4 December, the road junction of Sarre-Union, essential for the continuation of the offensive towards the Saar, was entirely under American control.

On the evening of December 5, the whole 26th infantry division was regrouped between the Saar and the Eichel on a line Voellerdingen-Oermingen-Herbitzheim, while the German forces were positioned on a new defense line extending from Weidesheim, the Grand Bois to Achen, Singling and Bining, relying on the Maginot Line works.

On the morning of December 6, an American battalion advanced towards Kalhausen and the sections were met by automatic weapons fire from the Grand Bois.

Another American battalion was blocked by fire from pillboxes north of Achen.

On 8 December, the 26th Infantry Division was facing the Maginot Line between Wittring and Achen and in the morning the US artillery opened fire on the works, followed by an air attack by fighter bombers. These aircraft dropped 12 cluster bombs and 16 canisters containing 6800 liters of napalm. A can of napalm fell near the Walckmüle in Achen and set fire to the barn, the stable and the surrounding fields.

Also on the 8th, around noon, a battalion of the 104th Regiment discovered the defences of the Haut-Poirier and during the night a passage was established in the barbed wire network. In the meantime, the American troops liberated Achen in the afternoon, without encountering any opposition.

On the morning of the 9th, covered by bazooka fire, four soldiers led by Major Gladding entered the enclosure. The Germans returned fire, mortally wounding one of the attackers, Private Fred G Scaggs, and another combatant. Gladding threw a white phosphorus grenade into an opening, which gave off thick smoke, and shortly afterwards the 20 German defenders surrendered.

The breakthrough of the Maginot Line in the Wittring-Achen sector was made without too much difficulty for the GIs of the 26th division, but the Nordwind operation, the German surge in January 1945, reminds us that the war is not over. The definitive liberation of our region was not effective until mid-March 1945.

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Fred C Scaggs, serial number 35655421 of Company B, 1st Battalion, 104th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division, Third Army was born on April 2, 1924 in Accoville, Logan County, West Virginia, USA, son of Alfred Dow Scaggs and Anna May (Duncan) Scaggs.

He was drafted on March 24, 1943 at Fort Thomas Newport Kentucky. He died on 10 December 1944 at the age of 20.

On July 31, 1945, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. In 1948, his mortal remains were transferred to the United States and on August 22, 1948, he was buried in Mc Connell Cemetery, Logan County, West Virginia, USA.