Ouvrage Village Coume

Ouvrage Village Coume is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between petits ouvrages Bovenberg and Coume Annexe Nord, facing Germany. The position saw little action in World War II. It was sold in the 1970s and stripped by salvagers.

Ouvrage Village Coume
Part of Maginot Line
Northeast France
Site information
Controlled by	France
Location
Ouvrage Village Coume
Coordinates	49.19833°N 6.56083°E / 49.19833; 6.56083
Site history
In use	Abandoned
Materials	Concrete, steel, deep excavation
Battles/wars	Battle of France

Ouvrage Village Coume
Type of work:	Small artillery work (Petit ouvrage)
sector └─sub-sector	Fortified Sector of Boulay └─Tromborn
Work number:	A29
Regiment:	161st Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF)
Strength:	2 officers, 135 men

Location plan of the Coume village structure

Design and construction

The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency; Village Coume was approved for construction in May 1931. It was completed at a cost of 12 million francs by the contractor Duval-Weyrich of Nancy.^[1] The petit ouvrage^{[nb 1]} was planned for construction in two phases. The second phase was to provide a separate entry block less than 100 metres (330 ft) behind the ouvrage.^[4]

Description

Village Coume comprises three infantry blocks. A separate entrance block was planned for a second phase of construction which was never undertaken.^[4] The blocks are linked by deep underground galleries, which also provide space for barracks, utilities and ammunition storage. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 metres (98 ft).^[5]

• Block 1: Entry/infantry block with two automatic rifle cloches (GFM), one twin machine gun cloche (JM) and one machine gun/anti-tank gun embrasure (JM/AC47).^[6]
• Block 2: Infantry block with two GFM cloche and two twin machine gun embrasures.^[7]
• Block 3: infantry/observation block with one GFM cloche and one twin machine gun turret.^[8]

Manning

The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Lieutenant Lussus comprised 135 men and 2 officers of the 161st Fortress Infantry Regiment.^[4] The units were under the umbrella of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2.^[9] The Casernement de Ban Saint-Jean provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Village Coume and other positions in the area.^[4][10]

History

See Fortified Sector of Boulay for a broader discussion of the Boulay sector of the Maginot Line.

Village Coume played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944.

Current condition

Village Coume has been stripped by salvagers and is largely buried.^[11]

See also

• List of all works on Maginot Line
• Siegfried Line
• Atlantic Wall
• Czechoslovak border fortifications

Notes

1. English-language sources use the French term ouvrage as the preferred term for the Maginot positions, in preference to "fort", a term usually reserved for older fortifications with passive defenses in the form of walls and ditches.^[2] The literal translation of ouvrage in the sense of a fortification in English is "work." A gros ouvrage is a large fortification with a significant artillery component, while a petit ouvrage is smaller, with lighter arms.^[3]