Cette maison fut le lieu de retrouvailles familiales pendant toute son enfance et sa jeunesse. C’est dans une famille unie autour de valeurs communes (patriotisme, ferveur religieuse, sens de l’engagement…) et dans un contexte géopolitique en plein bouleversement, que s’est forgé le caractère du futur Président de la Ve République.

Monument historique, la Maison natale Charles de Gaulle a pour vocation de faire découvrir à un large public l’enfance et la genèse de celui qui deviendra le plus illustre des français.

La Maison natale Charles de Gaulle a fait l’objet d’une campagne de travaux de grande ampleur en 2020 qui a permis de conforter la structure de l’habitation mais aussi de la rénover complètement (décors restaurés, pièces de vie réhabilitées, jardin d’hiver restitué…). La maison recrée l’ambiance d’un intérieur caractéristique de la bourgeoisie industrielle du Nord à la fin du XIXe siècle telle que Charles l’a connue enfant.

Une visite 100 % immersive !

Avec ses 19 blocs de combat et ses 10 km de galeries, l’ouvrage du Hackenberg est le géant de la Ligne Maginot.

Sa construction débuta dès 1930 parmi les tout premiers. Il fut en fait le prototype des ouvrages d'artillerie de la ligne Maginot. 1800 ouvriers environ travaillèrent avec des moyens relativement rudimentaires pendant six années pour construire les 19 blocs de combat et percer environ 10 kilomètres de galeries. Après 1933 et l'achèvement du gros oeuvre, on installa l'équipement intérieur et l'armée française prit livraison de l'ensemble en 1936.

Après la déclaration de guerre en 1939 et la période de vigilance maximale de la 'Drôle de guerre', le Hackenberg remplit son rôle lors de l'offensive allemande de 1940 et sa reddition ne fut effective que quelques jours après l'armistice. En novembre 1944, il fut investi par la 3e armée américaine du général PATTON lors de la terrible bataille pour la libération de la Moselle.

Sous la conduite d’un guide de l’association AMIFORT, le public y découvre des installations d’origine en parfait état de fonctionnement, une usine électrique et des groupes électrogènes en état de marche, des salles reconstituées à l’identique et un musée militaire.

La visite se poursuit à bord du petit train d’époque qui transporte les visiteurs vers les blocs de combat, dont l’imposant bloc 9 où l’on peut assister à la démonstration du fonctionnement de sa tourelle d’artillerie de 163 tonnes.

Après une sortie en surface, les visiteurs découvrent le bloc 8 qui porte encore les stigmates des combats de 1944 entre les troupes allemandes et américaines.

C'est un voyage dans le temps et dans l'Histoire d’une formidable fortification du XXème siècle que les bénévoles et salariés de l'association AMIFORT vous proposent.

L’ouvrage du Hackenberg est l’un des très rares ouvrages militaires possédant un circuit pédestre balisé par le Club Vosgien qui vous permet d'admirer les dessus de ces 19 blocs de combat en transitant par le Mur Antichar de 800 mètres de long et 8 mètres de haut, une curiosité unique en Lorraine.

La visite du fort dure environ deux heures et se déroule dans un environnement souterrain où la température est stabilisée à 12° toute l'année. Pour votre confort prévoir des vêtements en conséquence.

Compte tenu des contraintes liées à la visite d'un ouvrage souterrain ancien à plusieurs niveaux, seule la découverte de quatre-vingt pourcents du parcours est assurée pour les personnes à mobilité réduite. Les poussettes sont acceptées.

Une boutique souvenir vous est proposée à la fin de la visite.

Sources : ©GROS OUVRAGE MAGINOT DU HACKENBERG - PHOTOS libre de droit Crédit photo association AMIFORT

The House of the Last Cartridge "Thanks principally to the actions of Captain Aubert, the house was quickly readied as a last line of defence; taking a rifle, this brave officer positioned himself by one of the windows, and thanks to his wonderful example, his men kept their heads and followed his lead.

However, despite suffering heavy losses, the enemy continued to advance. Seeing that our house was about to be surrounded and being unable to walk, I tried to persuade the officers who were with me to leave me with a few men and to withdraw the majority of the division. Not a single one agreed and they all declared that they would remain with me to defend to the end... After two hours we were completely surrounded by the 15th Bavarian Regiment.

Our house was soon in a most piteous state; gaping holes in the doors and windows; our roof was half taken off by a shell that wounded four or five men. Despite this, the fight continued relentlessly. It only ended when our ammunition ran out." Commandant LAMBERT, Rapport sur la bataille de Bazeilles ("Report on the Battle of Bazeilles"), in HABENECK Charles, Martyr Regiments, Paris, Pagnerre, 1871.

The museum at the House of the Last Cartridge is one of the most striking sites commemorating the war of 1870; it recalls the two days of fighting between the two brigades of General de Vassoigne's Blue Division of Marines and the Bavarian soldiers commanded by General Von der Tann. The battle got properly underway around noon on 31st August when General Martin de Pallières's second brigade received the order to retake the strategically important village of Bazeilles, which had just fallen into enemy hands. After a day of fierce fighting and thanks to the reinforcements from General Reboul's 1st Brigade, which arrived around 4pm, the village was completely retaken by nightfall. But at dawn on 1st September, General Von Der Tann's soldiers attacked Bazeilles once again. Despite many assaults that enabled the enemy to be driven back several times, at the end of the morning the Marine Division - overwhelmed by the Bavarian numerical advantage and firepower - was forced to retreat towards Sedan. It was at this time that the episode known as the House of the Last Cartridge took place.

In a burnt out village, destroyed by artillery fire from the day before, around thirty officers, NCOs and men from the Marine infantry took cover, alongside Commandant Lambert, in the modest two-storey inn belonging to the Bourgerie family - the last house in the village of Bazeilles on the road to Sedan. Here, for almost four hours, they put up fierce resistance to the Bavarian troops. At last surrounded and out of ammunition, in mid-afternoon Captain Aubert fired the last cartridge from the window of the master bedroom on the first floor. A white handkerchief tied to a rifle then announced the marsouins' surrender with Commandant Lambert, wounded in the foot, the first to leave the house. Throughout the hours of the battle, the Marine Division lost 2,700 men including around a hundred officers.
The Bavarian soldiers lost more than twice that number; the day after the fighting they began a series of horrifying reprisals against the population of Bazeilles, some of whom had taken the side of the Marine Troops; the village was set on fire, with some inhabitants shot, burned alive or arrested and deported. Civilian victims from the village numbered more than forty. For this heroic resistance, Bazeilles was awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1900, an emblem still found today on the town's crest, alongside the anchor of the marine troops and a house in flames. Following the defeat, the town also became an important site of remembrance and pilgrimage. Thus, on 19th March 1875, the Courrier des Ardennes published an article in which a museum in Bazeilles was announced: "Mr Bourgerie and his son, along with others, have collected a considerable number of objects, which together form an extremely interesting museum. Objects were exhibited in one of the ground floor rooms of the house. In May of the same year, General de Vassoigne visited the ruins of the House of the Last Cartridge and an initial monument was erected there in November opposite the church. But the first major ceremony took place on 31st August 1895, 25 years after the events, attended by the former Commandant Lambert, who by then was a General.

But it wasn't until 1899 that Arthur MEYER, director of Le Gaulois newspaper, launched a public appeal to finance the purchase of the house in order to "convert it into a modest museum dedicated to the memory of the heroes who died there". On 1st August 1909, the paper finally handed it over to the French heritage organisation Le Souvenir Français. Nevertheless, it was not until 3rd September 1950 that the first national commemoration of the fighting of 1870 was held. That same year, with the agreement of le Souvenir Français, the upkeep, administration and management of the Bazeilles museum was placed in the hands of National Committee for the traditions of the Marines, which also owns museum collections. To this task was added the management of the ossuary, built between 1876 and 1878 a hundred or so metres from the museum that contains the remains of 3,000 German and French soldiers

The House of the Last Cartridge, which receives 2,000 visitors a year on average, is currently closed, following the decision of the National Committee for the traditions of the Marines to restore it. Part of the work will be to upgrade the facilities and make them safe. The museum-related work carried out by specialists Mostra Conseil, will enable the house to retain its authentic feel and moving character whilst making it more attractive through the use of new technology. On the ground floor, visitors will find a reception area and the first museum exhibition room, called the Lambert room, dedicated to the 1870 war and the role of the Marines in this conflict. On the first floor, the Delay Room presents the Battle of Sedan. But the museum's most significant exhibits will be found in the Aubert and Lambert Rooms. The former will recount the fighting over Bazeilles whilst the latter, including the bedroom from where the final action was fought, will honour the memory of The Last Cartridge. In this room visitors will find Alphonse de Neuville's famous work painted in 1873, entitled "The Last Cartridge". Eventually, the Marines' Museum will form part of the "Remembrance Centre" that the Sedan regional authorities hope to establish in Sedan itself, and which will enable the main remembrance sites of the area to form a network.
The issue of accepting disabled people was studied and partly resolved by the construction of a specially adapted toilet block. However, those in wheelchairs are unable to visit the first floor. To allow them to do so would have involved demolishing the house and rebuilding it around a specially adapted staircase. Eventually, the Marines' Museum will form part of the "Remembrance Centre" that the Sedan regional authorities hope to establish in Sedan itself, and which will enable the main remembrance sites of the area to form a network.
 

Nota (1) - This division, composed of the four infantry regiments (1, 2, 3 and 4) and the 1st Marine artillery regiment, had originally been assembled with a view to carrying out a deception manoeuvre in the Baltic sea. The disasters suffered in the Alsace and in Lorraine during the initial battles forced the French high command to regroup its available forces at the camp at Chalons sur Marne in order to lend a hand to its Eastern army (Bazaine) trapped in Metz. Christened the "Blue Division" because of the colour of their uniforms, it was part of the 12th Army Corps (General Lebrun), making up its 3rd division (the two others, having been hastily cobbled together from staff picked up in warehouses and enlisted or conscripted young people, did not constitute solid units). It comprised of soldiers, the majority of whom were enlisted and experienced and had undergone severe training in distant campaigns and were already hardened. Its officers had earned their stripes under fire and the upper ranks had acquired sound fighting experience. The civilian population was well aware of this, giving them a warm welcome wherever they went.
 

La Maison de la dernière Cartouche

12 rue Dernière Cartouche - 08140 Bazeilles

Tel: 03 24 27 15 86

http://musees-de-france-champagne-ardenne.culture.fr/musee_bazeilles.html

A tableau of a heroic episode during the 1870 war depicting the Marine division known as the "Blue Division" Now completely renovated, the museum tells the story of the battles from the 31st August until the 1st September 1870, with pictures, armour and uniforms of the time.

The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Closed annually from the 20th December until the 15th January.

Museum tours from the 15th June to the 30th September from 10 am to 12 pm and from 1.30 pm until 6 pm

From the 1st October until the 14th June 10 am to 12 pm and from 1.30 pm until 5 pm

Par sa masse écrasante, par le caractère souterrain de ses installations, par la souffrance des travailleurs forcés qui l’ont édifié, le site constitue un lieu symbolique de la folie nazie.

Il s’agit de l’une des « constructions spéciales » édifiées par l’armée allemande, en 1943-1944, pour permettre la mise en opération de nouveaux systèmes d’armes V destinés à frapper l’Angleterre.

Cet immense bunker, construit par l’organisation Todt en 1943-1944, était destiné à stocker, préparer et lancer vers le centre-ville de Londres l’arme secrète de Hitler : la fusée V2.

Ce furent les bombardements, puis la percée des troupes anglo-américaines en Normandie, à la fin juillet 1944, qui incita les Allemands à abandonner le chantier de La Coupole, à quelques semaines de son achèvement. Ainsi, aucune fusée V2 n’a pu décoller d’un site conçu comme la première base de missiles stratégiques de l’Histoire.

Réhabilité en 1997, le Centre d’Histoire présente deux circuits de visite : « Les Armes secrètes d’Hitler : V1 et V2 » et « Le Nord de la France dans la main allemande » sur les grandes périodes de l’Occupation : l’invasion, l’exode, la vie quotidienne, la Résistance, la collaboration et la Libération.

Vous découvrez également que derrière cette arme, il y a le parcours d’un jeune ingénieur allemand, Wernher von Braun, inventeur de la fusée V2, récupéré par les Américains au lendemain de la guerre et qui mettra au point, l’immense fusée Saturn V qui enverra l’Homme sur la Lune….

La conquête spatiale débute donc bien ici sur les traces des premiers pas de l’Homme sur la Lune et elle se poursuit au Planétarium où vous serez plongés dans l’univers en totale immersion grâce à une technologie 10K-3D unique au monde !

Munis de lunettes actives dernière génération vous serez plongés parmi les étoiles grâce à l’écran à 360° de 15 mètres de diamètre.

Clearly visible from Place des Centenaires, the ramparts of Maubeuge, which date to Vauban's time, are an ideal site to visit. Only one gateway remains, the Mons, but its drawbridge and pediment have many interesting features. Nearby is the guardroom, which is similar to those on some of Vauban's other ramparts and structures.

Website of the regional tourist board for the Nord

Quizz : Forts and citadels

Apart from the architectural masterpieces of the old hospital and the collegiate church, the town of Seclin also boasts a Séré de Rivières Fort that was part of the fortifications designed to protect the City of Lille and the surrounding area. But it could not keep pace with the development of late 19th century artillery and could not withstand the effects of the new projectiles. Occupying a commanding position in the Mélantois area, overlooking the valleys of the Marque and the Deûle, to the West it could rely on support from the Englos Fort above the Deûle and to the East on the fort at Sainghin en Mélantois that overlooked the Marque; but the distance of almost 10km between each of these forts was less than ideal in putting this principal effectively into practice. However, intermediate fortifications were supposed to link these forts and form advance strongpoints outside the Lille area: Enchemont, Vendeville, Noyelle, Houplin, Haubourdin (Moulin Neuf). To complete the system, mobile and fortified batteries were to be installed above the intermediate batteries that were protected by earth fortifications. The final fortifications were built in 1894. None of the required modernisation and finishing touches were carried out. This led, on 4th August 1914 to Lille being declared an open city.

After 1918, Seclin Fort was used to store artillery ammunition. Bondues was used as a barracks, and Englos as a fuel depot. In 1939, an anti-aircraft battery was stationed at Englos. Throughout the Second World War, these forts were the scene of resistance operations against the occupying forces, the history of which are recorded on stele. Seclin Fort has now been gradually and skilfully restored by the private owners, who have built up a collection of artillery and gun carriages.

Fort Seclin F-59113 Seclin Tel: +33 3 20 97 14 18 e-mail: museum@fortseclin.com Open: Weekends except holidays 2-6pm Other times by appointment (min. 5 people) Prices: Children €4, adults €5 Seclin Tourist Office Tel: +33 3.20.90.12.12

On the way between the Slack estuary and the village, visitors to this seaside resort will undoubtedly stumble across Fort Mahon, standing alone on a rocky outcrop. IT was designed by Vauban. Built between 1684 and 1690, probably on the site of the English battery of 1544, it consists of a tower accommodating a large ring-shaped casemate reinforced with a fausse-braye. The battery, flanked with two guardrooms and topped with an officer's pavilion, could contain 20 canons. The fort, which has a traditional appearance with its crenelated ramparts, has three floors of artillery. It was restored by Napoleon, and the battery was transformed during the German occupation.

Today, the fort houses an exhibition on the geographical history of the coastline.

Fort Mahon

Open on Saturday and Sunday from 3 pm to 6.30 pm in July and August and on Sunday from 3 pm to 6.30 pm in September and October. Group visits by appointment on +33 3.20.54.61.54

The Musée Historique 1939-1945 in Ambleteuse presents the noteworthy events of the second world war, from the campaign of Poland in 1939 to the capitulation of Japan on 2 September 1945, with explanations, maps, objects, uniforms and weapons, all of which are authentic and relative to this period of history. This museum is unique in France and complements the other establishments in the region. Most museums and sites in France only cover a precise period of the Second World War. Reports from the time and a film on the battle of Normandy are projected in a room which imitates 1940s' décor.

It took over thirty years of research all over the world to bring together the rich collections presented here. Of particular interest are the reconstitution of a street in Paris under the occupation and rare objects such as one of only two German regimental flags known in France.

Musée Historique 1939-1945

CD 940 62164 Ambleteuse

Tel.: +33 3.21.87.33.01

Fax: +33 3.87.35.01

Email: musee.39-45@wanadoo.fr

Open every day from 1 April to 15 October. Outside this period, open at weekends and national holidays. Closed in December, January and February.

Prices Adults: €6.90. Children (7-16 years): €5.00. Reduced price (war veterans, soldiers and students): €6.00. For groups, enquire at the museum.

Website of the regional tourist board for the Nord

Official website of the Musée Historique 3945

Quizz : Forts and citadels

This is a useful guide for anyone interested in exploring the sites associated with the events of the two world wars that had a major impact on local life.

Due to the distance separating it from the front, the area of Mont-de-Marsan and Saint-Pierre-du-Mont was not particularly affected by the fighting of the First and Second World Wars.

Nevertheless, like many other towns in France, it felt the direct and indirect consequences of the conflicts, in particular with the departure of its infantry regiments in August 1914 and the arrival of the first German prisoners of war, and the establishment of the Demarcation Line in 1940.

In 1944, the bombing of the German airbase and the fighting on Bats Bridge would punctuate the road to liberation.

Without claiming to be exhaustive, this document seeks to chart the most significant events and the sites associated with them.

 Address and contact details:

 25, place du 6ème RPIMa - 40000 Mont-de-Marsan 

 Tel.: +33 (0)5 58 44 04 31

Website

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