A French fort adapted by the Germans which was part of the first line of defences around Metz (1867-1918)

The Fort de Queuleu was part of the first chain of defensive fortifications around the city of Metz. Its construction, begun by the French under the Second Empire, in 1867, was largely resumed by the Germans following the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). The fort had been occupied by French troops during the siege of the city between August and October 1870. The barracks, powder magazines, artillery positions, adjoining batteries, galleries of countermines and shelters all bear witness to the changes in military architecture and the advances in weaponry between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Meanwhile, the central cavalry barracks constitutes a very fine example of Séré de Rivières architecture in Metz.

However, with the construction of Metz’s second chain of fortifications, beginning in 1899, the Fort de Queuleu lost its strategic importance and only minor alterations were made to it. As a result, the fort remains as it was in the second half of the 19th century.

During the First World War, it may well have been used by the Germans as a camp for French prisoners of war, although there is little information available on the subject. A complex network of trenches preserved outside the fort is evidence of the defences built by the Germans to safeguard Metz between 1914 and 1918.

A Nazi concentration camp in Metz (1943-1944)

During the Second World War, the fort served as a barracks for the soldiers of the Maginot Line. Following the defeat of 1940, it was briefly used as a detention camp for prisoners of war (a Stalag). Between March 1943 and September 1944, it went on to be used as a KZ-Außenkommando, or ‘subcamp’, subordinated to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, in Bas-Rhin, mainly for use by the SS. A hundred prisoners were held here, mostly German common-law criminals and Poles. Some were put to work on building the Metz-Frescaty airbase. It was one of the Reich’s westernmost concentration subcamps.

A special camp at the centre of Nazi repression in Moselle (1943-1944)

Between October 1943 and August 1944, a Sonderlager, or ‘special camp’, run by the Gestapo was installed in Barracks II. Between 1 500 and 1 800 prisoners (men and women) were interrogated and interned there before being sent to concentration camps (Natzweiler-Struthof, Dachau, etc.), ‘re-education’ camps (Schirmeck) or prisons. Among them were Resistance fighters, saboteurs, smugglers, hostages, those who tried to avoid the compulsory labour camps in Germany, and Russian prisoners. Most were held in overcrowded cells, unable to wash and not allowed to speak or move, under the brutal supervision of SS guards and camp commandant Georg Hempen. Resistance leaders were kept in solitary confinement - dark, dank dungeons to which only the commandant had access. The SS officers ‘industrialised’ interrogation and used torture. The conditions in which the prisoners were held were horrific, and most were cooped up blindfolded with their hands and feet bound. Thirty-six people died in the fort, while four managed to escape, in April 1944.

An important monument from the Battle of Metz (1944)

During the liberation of Metz, the fort had its baptism of fire between 17 and 21 November 1944, in fighting between the US army and German troops aided by the Volkssturm (armed civilians, First World War veterans, members of the Hitler Youth, etc.), who were entrenched here. The fort was severely damaged in the bombardment, before finally surrendering.

One of the biggest ‘guarded residence centres’ (1944-1946)

The fort was used as a centre de séjour surveillé, or ‘guarded residence centre’, by the French government between December 1944 and March 1946. Initially reserved for German civilians and their families, the site went on to serve as a detention centre for administrative internees arrested on charges of collaboration, propaganda, anti-patriotism or informing (up to 4 400 people were interned here). It was one of the largest centres of its kind in France. People of various nationalities were interned here, including French, Germans, Italians, Luxembourgers, Poles, Spaniards and Yugoslavs.

A camp for German prisoners of war (1946-1947)

Between 1946 and 1947, the Fort de Queuleu was a camp de prisonniers (‘prisoner camp’) for German soldiers. Assigned this purpose on 1 June 1946, it was subordinated to Depot 211 for prisoners of war in Metz. Run by Monsieur Massu, the camp was visited by the Red Cross on 13 February 1947. One hundred and forty-five prisoners were being held there at the time, in Barracks II/Pillbox A. The accommodation was heated, the rations were adequate and there was hot water for washing. An infirmary was run by Dr Dietrich Ostler. The prisoners were assigned to unloading goods trucks, clearing a canal and carrying building materials.

A camp for Indochinese workers (1948-1950)

To replace the mobilised workforce, the ‘Mandel Plan’, drawn up in 1938 by the then Minister for the Colonies, Georges Mandel, provided for colonial workers to be brought to France to take the place of those men who had been called up to fight. Around 20 000 workers from French Indochina arrived in France at the beginning of the Second World War. The labour ministry’s indigenous, North African and colonial labour service (MOI) was put in charge of recruiting the necessary colonial workers, shipping them to France and allocating them to the national defence industries. Most were recruited by force from among the poor peasantry of the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin and the colony of Cochinchina. These unskilled workers were used mainly as forestry, agricultural and industrial labour, in particular in the armaments factories and powder magazines. After the French defeat, they were lodged in huge camps in the Free Zone, where they were subjected to military discipline as well as very harsh living conditions. At Liberation, the majority wanted to return home as soon as possible, but their repatriation was delayed due to postwar disorganisation and events affecting French Indochina. As a result, several hundred Indochinese workers occupied the Fort de Queuleu between 1948 and 1950: 537 in October 1948, 438 in December 1948, 323 in March 1949, 296 in April 1949, 188 in May 1949, 163 in August 1949, 176 in September 1949, 213 in October 1949, 156 in December 1949, 191 in January 1950, 35 in April 1950 (repatriations to Vietnam gathered pace in this period) and 79 in May 1950. The suffering of exile gave way to exasperation and anger. Echoing the Vietminh independence movement in Indochina, the Indochinese workers in metropolitan France called for emancipation and equal rights with other workers. Graffiti on the walls of the Fort de Queuleu is a sign of their presence here.

A remembrance site (since 1971)

At the entrance to the fort stands a memorial to resistance and deportation, inaugurated on 20 November 1977, which marks the entrance to the remembrance site. The monument, containing the ashes of an unknown deportee, was designed by Metz-born architect Roger Zonca, who was involved in the reconstruction of the area.
 

Since 1971, the protection and promotion of the Fort de Queuleu in Metz has been the task of the Association du Fort de Metz-Queuleu pour la mémoire des internés-déportés et la sauvegarde du site (formerly the Amicale des anciens déportés du fort de Queuleu et de leurs familles), made up of volunteers.

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From left to right: Entrance gate and entrance to the Nazi special camp - Cells
- Area damaged by the bombardments of 1944 - The commandant’s office
- Corridor of the camp - Main access bridge to the Fort de Queuleu.

Membership form

Sources : ©Fort de Metz-Queuleu

Situated at the foot of the Croix de Lorraine in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises, the Charles de Gaulle memorial completes a walk of remembrance consisting of the family residence, La Boisserie and the de Gaulle family tomb, a place for contemplation, steeped in austerity.

La Boisserie. Source : Charles de Gaulle memorial

The village of Colombey-les-deux-Eglises is famous for having been chosen by General de Gaulle as the site of his family home, La Boisserie, on 9th June 1934. The main place of contemplation and writing of the man who made the call of 18th June, La Boisserie immerses the visitor in its family atmosphere, stamped with simplicity. Open to the public, visitors can tour the dining room and lounge, admire the view from the office and immerse themselves in the private life of Charles de Gaulle and his family.

Office of Charles de Gaulle in la Boisserie. Source : photo Philippe Lemoine

Charles de Gaulle memorial, life-size history

However, the one thing was lacking to help visitors understand the man; the Memorial fulfils this role.

Guided tour of the permanent exhibition

The memorial - permanent exhibition. Source : photo Philippe Lemoine

The Educational Department

Kits

Educational kits are provided to teachers. These tools assist students through the exhibition. They also allow them to familiarise themselves with and to summarise the content of the exhibitions. In relation with the official history-geography and civic instruction curricula of the National Education department, they are adjusted to the students' level: primary, secondary, college or sixth form and vocational college.

Educational walks

The walks are led by a Memorial teacher, who can provided a general or more detailed approach of the exhibitions.

Educational workshops

The Memorial also offers:

Practical information

Mémorial Charles de Gaulle
52330 Colombey-les-deux-églises

Educational Centre Team

Céline Anché

Courriel : celine.anche@memorial-charlesdegaulle.fr

Zeitenlick French military cemetery in Thessalonika, Greece, is the resting place of 8,309 soldiers killed in action for France on the Eastern front during the First World War.

In autumn 1915, the French-British expedition of the Galipoli Campaign (also called the Dardanelles Campaign) intended to cut off the Turks from the Central Powers, was an Allied failure. Bulgaria entered the war in October and soon overwhelmed the Serbians. The Entente troops landed in Thessalonika, in an initially neutral Greece, divided between Entente supporters rallied around Prime Minister Vénizélos and the sympathisers of the Central Powers represented essentially by La Cour.

This front remained immobile until the offensive in Macedonia launched on 15 September 1918. General Franchet d’Espèrey then compelled Bulgaria to request an armistice, on 29 September. Belgrade was liberated on 1 November, the catalyst for the collapse of the Austrian-German forces.

In 1923, in anticipation of the clauses of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Greek authorities conceded land close to Thessalonika to the Allies as the site of an international cemetery. The French section shelters the remains of French soldiers interred in various cemeteries in Greek Macedonia and regrouped in the new cemetery. This site also regroups the temporary graves of Italian, Serbian and Commonwealth soldiers killed in action. The inter-ally cemetery of Salonika thus came into being.

The French part covers some 3,500 square metres and contains 8,309 individual burial places, of which 208 hold the bodies of unidentified men.

An Ottoman-style chapel stands in the centre of the square.

Upkeep of the Zeitenlick military cemetery is the responsibility of the Consulate General of France. Renovations were carried out in 2012.

The soldiers are honoured twice a year: during a ceremony in late September, attended by the French association "Memorial of the Eastern Front" and official representatives of the Allied powers, and then during the Armistice commemorations on 11 November 1918.

Information

French General Consulate in Thessalonika

8, Mackenzie King

54622 Thessalonika

Tel: (+30) 2310 244 030/031

Fax: (+30) 2310 282839

www.consulfrance-salonique.org

Email: consul@consulfrance-salonique.org

On 17 October 1920, the commune of Ly-Fontaine - witness to the combats of the battle of Guise in 1914 - was commended by the army and awarded the French Croix de Guerre (War Cross).

The Courneau military training camp

In 1916, the French military command chose to station the African soldiers on Courneau moor. These men came from the territories of former French West Africa: Senegal, Upper Senegal and Niger (present-day Mali), Mauritania, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Dahomey (present-day Benin). Forming the battalions of Senegalese tirailleurs, they landed in Bordeaux, then made their way to La Teste, where they were given military training and language classes.

In 1916 and 1917, more than 27 000 men followed this route.

Once the land had been drained, many soldiers losing their lives in the process, a camp of 400 huts was built to accommodate up to 18 000 men. Owing to the marshland surrounding the camp, the tirailleurs contracted respiratory illnesses which were sometimes fatal. Courneau was soon nicknamed the “camp of misery”. The dead were buried on site.

In autumn 1917, due to the revolution in Russia, the Russian troops were withdrawn from the front and took the place of the tirailleurs at Courneau. Eight thousand men were sent there. Discipline being practically non-existent, there was much trouble with the local population. In the first months of 1918, the camp was emptied of its occupants. Many of them joined work parties; others enlisted in the Foreign Legion.

In January 1918, the camp was reorganised to accommodate the American contingents, mostly artillery units, who landed in Bordeaux and were stationed temporarily at Courneau. From July 1918 to May 1919, successive units stayed at the camp before going to the front. During that period, 87 American soldiers died of “Spanish flu” and were buried in a cemetery created specially for that purpose on 15 February 1918, in the forest of Natus-de-Bas. After the war, the soldiers’ remains were transferred either to the United States or to the Suresnes American Cemetery in Hauts-de-Seine.

The Natus memorial

On 1 November 1967, a memorial was unveiled to the African soldiers who died at the Courneau camp. Designed by architect Phihl, the monument was built with funding from Le Souvenir Français, the veterans ministry, the President of Côte d’Ivoire, veterans’ associations and local councils around Arcachon Bay.

After several years of research, local remembrance organisations, the town council of La Teste de Buch and the Ministry of the Armed Forces succeeded in ascertaining the identities and origins of the Senegalese tirailleurs. In 2018, as part of the First World War centenary commemorations, the Ministry of the Armed Forces had five stone slabs erected, bearing the names of the 956 African soldiers buried in the cemetery, which were unveiled on 11 November. Another stone is inscribed with the names of the Russian soldiers and two French soldiers who are buried on the site.

The Ministry of the Armed Forces plans to enhance the site by creating a remembrance trail at the heart of the cemetery, to shed light on the lives of the soldiers who lived in the Courneau camp.

Another stone slab in memory of the American soldiers stands outside the camp.