Situated in the eastern part of the Alpes-Maritimes département, the village of Sospel lies to the south of the green valley of la Bévera, on the edge of the Mercantour park and the valley of les Merveilles, 15 km from Menton and the Mediterranean. Fort Suchet, also known as du Barbonnet, is one of a group of fortifications in the region that constitutes the last bastion ahead of the road to Nice that prevents any potential invader coming from the col de Tende pass.

2 km south of Sospel, perched on the narrow rocky outcrop of Mount Barbonnet, Fort Suchet looks down on the village from an altitude of 847 m. Constructed between 1883 and 1886 with the objective of sealing the la Bévéra and le Merlanson valleys, this compact, Séré de Rivières type fort is pentagonal in shape, surrounded by a wide moat and flanked by three caponniers.
The building work was carried out by Captain Azibert, whose name is still engraved on the façade of the entrance to the fort. In 1891 a cavity was dug out of the rock in order to contain a powder store. Then, in 1914, two three-storey high turrets, armoured with lead were added to the structure. One of the two double 155 mm Mougin turrets has been perfectly preserved until the modern day, which is extremely rare.
This first construction was seconded by a Maginot fort built into the rock on the side of the mountain, constructed between 1931 and 1935. It was an artillery block, controlling the le Merlanson valley as far as the col de Castillon, with an entrance and barracks protected by more than twenty metres of rock.
In June 1940, the 95th artillery foot regiment, who resisted the Italian attacks with orders not to surrender until after the armistice, occupied the place. Tours organised in the holiday season allow comparisons to be made between the defensive systems of the 19th century Séré de Rivières fort with the more recent structure, most of which is underground.
In addition to Fort Suchet and the Maginot structure built on Mont Barbonnet, there are several fortified structures close to Sospel, and the most notable ones played an active part in the fighting of June 1940.
Constructed between 1932 and 1936 on the crest of Mount Agaisen, this fort is one of the links in the Maginot line, in the heart of the fortified sector of the Alpes-Maritimes. Equipped since its completion with powerful artillery, the structure is composed of three concrete blocks set upon an infrastructure of underground galleries. Owned by the town of Sospel since 1964, it is currently undergoing restoration and its annex has been converted into a water tower. Public tours are organised in season, with groups welcome all year round by appointment. Site: perso.wanadoo.fr/agaisen/contacts.htm
The impressive Fort Saint-Roch was constructed between 1931 and 1933 and flanks the Maginot structure at l'Agaisen. The four blocks in reinforced concrete were built above a network of galleries dug out of the rock, which were used for logistical purposes. . Reaching depths of up to thirty metres, this fort was designed to hold more than two hundred soldiers for three months. Fort Saint-Roch is open to the public and holds a permanent exhibition tracing the history of its building and the battles fought there, highlighting its technological prowess at the time if its construction.
Getting to Sospel 40 km from Nice via the A 8 (exit no. 59 "Menton and Sospel ") and then the D 2566. Sospel Tourist information and activity centre Le Pont-Vieux 06380 Sospel Tel. + 33 (0) 4 93 04 15 80 Fax + 33 (0) 4 93 04 19 96 e-mail: infos@sospel-tourisme.com

As well as the glamour and glitz and the façade of the local 'gendarmerie' that graced the French silver screen, Saint-Tropez boasts a long and eventful historical past, of which the most obvious example is the citadel that dominates the town.

A first 'enceinte' or protective wall with its bastioned structure was built around the town in the 15th century for the dual purpose of protecting the site from invasion and to ensure the King's authority over the inhabitants. In 1589, Maréchal de Villars supervised the construction of a small fort on the hill known as 'colline des Moulins' overlooking Saint-Tropez. This fort was destroyed in 1595, but the military engineer Raymond de Bonnefons chose the same site to build further defensive structures from the start of the 17th century.
1607 saw the completion of the citadel's present-day keep, a thick-walled hexagonal tower concealing a huge interior courtyard, accessible via a drawbridge, and strongly defended by an artillery platform and three round flanking turrets with cannon embrasures. A few years later, a bastioned outer wall was built around the keep and lined with a system of moats and counterscarps. Situated between Toulon and Antibes, Saint-Tropez became a strategic port of call in the protection of the French coastline, and all its defences faced out towards the Mediterranean. In 1637, the inhabitants of Saint-Tropez saw off a surprise attack on the port by around twenty Spanish ships and four royal navy vessels. No major changes were made to the citadel until the 19th century, when military engineers gave the structure its current silhouette. The outer walls were pierced and adapted to store gunpowder, and the entry to the internal courtyard was rendered accessible to vehicles, via a bascule drawbridge designed in 1830. During World War 1, the fortified town became a detention camp for German prisoners, who carried out various public works in the local area. From 1942, the citadel was occupied by Italian troops, then by the Germans. The citadel and the town was liberated by the Allied troops and the First French army after the landing on the Mediterranean beaches between Saint-Raphaël and Hyères in August 1944.
The citadel is located in a harmonious setting of wooded hills, accessed by following a footpath lined with eucalyptus and rosebays, where it is not unusual to find wild peacocks. Since 1958, the edifice has housed a naval museum comprising of a dozen rooms offering the visitor the opportunity to discover the naval heritage of Saint Tropez from antiquity to the modern day. The permanent exhibition presents archeological submarine equipment, models, engravings and paintings of boats, as well as a collection of documents recording the extraordinary lives of famous local people: two rooms are devoted entirely to Pierre André de Suffren, bailiff to the King, and Jean-François Allard, an officer under Napoleon who became generalissimo of the forces of an Indian Prince. Naturally, the history of the Allied landing is also covered, in particular courtesy of exceptional military staff maps from the period retracing the progress of the liberators. Access to the upper terrace of the museum offers visitors a superb panoramic view. Looking towards the sea the view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and Sainte-Maxime is extraordinary with a combination of jagged rocky coastline, headlands, bays, creeks and islands. Looking inland, when the hot mistral wind is blowing, the view spans both snowcapped mountains and the red rocky landscape of the Estérel hills. On the terrace, four Spanish cannons seized from the enemy continue to symbolically scan the horizon in anticipation of an attack that will no longer materialise.
Access to the Citadel of Saint-Tropez 70km from Toulon via Hyères by the A 57, then the N 98 to Bertaud, and the D 98a. 100km from Nice by the A 8 (exit no. 38 Fréjus, St-Raphaël), then the N 98 via Sainte-Maxime, and the D 98a. 120km from Aix-en-Provence via Brignoles by the A 8 (exit no. 13 Le-Cannet-des-Maures, Vidauban, La Garde-Freinet), then the D 558 to Bertaud, and the D 98a. Visiting the naval museum Open all year round except Tuesdays and some public holidays. Possibility of guided tours (also in English during the tourist season). Saint-Tropez Tourist Office Quai Jean Jaurès 83990 Saint-Tropez Tel. 33/ (0) 494 974 521 Fax 33/ (0) 494 978 266 Minitel 36 15 VAR e-mail: tourism@ot-saint-tropez.com

Because the Normandy landing memorial sites are well worth a detour, a tourist route dedicated to D-Day would not be complete without a visit to the site of Bénouville Bridge,called "Pegasus Bridge" since 1944. Installed in 1934, this lift bridge, just over thirty metres long and nearly seven metres wide, was at the cutting-edge of modernity of the time, as it was driven by an electric motor, the task of which was made easier by an impressive concrete counterweight. 

In the night of 5 to 6 June 1944, three Horsa gliders from the British 6th airborne division, under the orders of Major Howard, landed in silence, just a few metres from Bénouville Bridge. Their insignia, a Pegasus, was the name given to the structure thence onwards.
 

The mission of the British 6th Airborne glider infantry was to seize the bridge. Along with the taking of the neighbouring Ranville bridge, the idea was to prevent German reinforcements from hitting the eastern side of the imminent landing.
In addition, cutting the artery between Caen and the sea would preserve a passage for later expansion of the Allied Beach Head. Armed by around fifty men, a 50 mm canon and a little bunker housing a machine gun, the German garrison defending the strategic structure was rapidly dominated by the first liberators on Normandy soil.

"Ham & jam, ham & jam": a few hours after the gliders arrived, this was the radio signal given to announce Major Howard's mission was a success. The commando still had to fight against enemy counter-attacks, notably by elements of the 21st Panzer.

It managed to keep its position and kept the bridge intact until back-up arrived on Sword Beach.

The meeting was finally achieved at around 1pm, with the famous bagpipes of Bill Millin, personal piper of Lord Lovat, playing in the background. Major Howard's parachutists, in control of the only points for crossing the two rivers between Caen and the Channel, made the first D-Day attack, which gave allied troops control of communications between the east and the west of the River Orne and its canal.

A symbolic site

Immortalised on screen in 1962 during the film The longest day, the first Normandy site under allied control still has many signs of the heroic actions that happened here and which preceded the Landing of 6 June 1944.
In 1960, Pegasus Bridge was extended by five metres following widening of the canal and was then replaced in 1993 by a new, wider and more modern structure. The new bridge is raised, like its glorious predecessor, and has reproductions of the old railing and wooden pathways from the time. In the centre of the site, visitors can still see the German anti-tank canon in its basin, the role of which was to defend access to the port.
Near the banks of the canal which the bridge spans is a path lined with a bronze bust of Major Howard and three stones mark the exact position of the three gliders. On the opposite bank is the first Normandy house liberated by the allied troops, which is in fact the famous Café Gondrée. In summer, the site puts on a sound and light show which stages the intermingled destinies of Bénouville Bridge and Major Howard's men.

Installed between the River Orne and the canal, the Pegasus Memorial was inaugurated on 4 June 2000 by the Prince of Wales and the French defence minister. In addition to the real Bénouville Bridge, which was reassembled after being taken town in 1993, the memorial has a "Bailey" bridge from 1944: named after a British engineer, these bridges could be assembled by forty sappers in less than three hours and were used to allow heavy military vehicles to pass.
Recently, the ministry of defence (general secretariat for administration; department of memory, heritage and archives) made a financial contribution to the installation of a life-size replica of a Horsa glider in the middle of the park around the memorial.
 

The permanent exhibition areas in the memorial give visitors the opportunity to see films of archives and showcases with an impressive collection of objects and documents to the glory of the British 6th airborne division: fragments of gliders from 1944, soldiers' equipment, Major Howard's personal objects and Bill Millin's bagpipes!
For young visitors and their teachers, the Pegasus memorial offers free of charge an educational file which traces a journey rich in emotions, thus emphasising the necessary orientation of memory actions to the younger generations.

Mémorial de Pegasus Bridge

Avenue du Major Howard 14860 Ranville
Tel. +33 (0)2.31.78.19.44.
Fax: +33 (0)2.31.78.19.42.
Email: memorial.pegasus@wanadoo.fr

Tours
The Pegasus Memorial is open every day, except in December and January. Guided tours (in French or English) are organised upon reservation.

Getting there
Five kilometres from Ouistreham, via the Ranville/Cabourg.exit 

Pegasus Bridge Memorial site

Website of Normandy’s regional tourist committee

Situé dans l’ancien couvent des Sœurs de la Providence du XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle rue Neuve Saint-Etienne, au cœur au quartier de la Cité, il propose sur 1400 m2 un parcours muséographique retraçant les faits historiques de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et particulièrement la Résistance, l’occupation et la déportation en Haute-Vienne.

At the end of the Second World War, the radar was in its infancy; however, some models were capable of detecting movements at sea, day and night, at a distance beyond the reach of the human eye.

The occupying forces and the allies stepped up their research into and installation of these “wizard’s ears”.

In Douvres, due to its altitude, a long-range radar was installed in late 1942 as a means to notify the military staff of any attempt to land in the region. 

However, as happens each time a weapon of war is invented… a means to neutralise it quickly follows suit. The countermeasure of fog and false echoes were extremely popular during the night of the 5^th of June 1944!

The Radar Museum

The radar station remained an entrenched camp until 17 June (10 days after the liberation of Douvres itself).

Today attached to the Memorial of Caen, the radar station is the only one of its kind on the coast.

Two remarkably preserved bunkers and original displays help visitors to understand the role of radars and their technical development.

A couple of miles from the Juno landing beaches, the German radar station in Douvres, along the Route de Basly, served as an entrenched camp for several days. An advanced surgical unit was set up near a convent in La Délivrande. 

The first bodies buried here were soldiers killed on 6 June 1944.

Later, the bodies of soldiers killed between the coast and Caen were buried here.

The British cemetery

At the entrance to the town, on the road from Caen, the entrance to the cemetery is immediately identifiable.

A square pavilion with a peaked roof covered in stone is surrounded by pergolas. In line with the porch, the Cross of Sacrifice stands at the far end of the central walkway. It is erected on a small grassy mound and surrounded by low walls.

The steles are symmetrically placed either side of the central walkway bordered by trimmed yew trees. The German plot with the various stone stele and two-sloped roof stands in the right section of the site. Curiously, the grave of the only Polish soldier is set apart.

Big lime trees and magnolias mainly planted around the edges of the site separate the cemetery from neighbouring houses. The cemetery is enclosed by trimmed hedges of hornbeams or beeches.

Musée Franco-Allemand « Station Radar 44 » Route de Bény – CD83 – 14440 Douvres-la-Délivrande

Tél. : 07.57.48.77.32

Site internet : www.musee-radar.fr - Courriel : contact@musee-radar.fr

Choisissez votre mode de visite :

 en autonomie : en suivant les panneaux

 Avec Audiospot : en téléchargeant une application gratuite qui transforme son propre smartphone en Audioguide

 Visites Commentées (par un guide bénévole) réservation sur le site internet obligatoire

 Musée du Radar - Douvres-la-Délivrande. Michel.dehaye@avuedoiseau.com

Clinging to a rocky outcrop above Condamine-Chatelard and towering over the right bank of the Ubaye, the most impressive fort in the Ubaye valley extends over more than 77 metres of uneven ground. In 1709, the French installed an entrenched camp on the rocks around Tournoux, which was designed to defend against the Savoyards and Piedmontese. Construction of the fort was agreed in 1837 by General Haxo, the director of fortifications under the reign of Juillet. Work started in 1843, to be completed in 1866 and required the participation of some 1,500 workmen.

At the end of the 19th century, General Séré de Rivières ordered the strengthening of the defence system using higher forts culminating at an altitude of over 1,800 metres: particular examples are the construction of the batteries of Vyraisse, Mallemort and le Cuguret and the redoubt of Roche-la-Croix. Liaison tunnels were dug into the rock between the high parts of the fortress and a cable car - which has since disappeared - linked the high battery and the middle fort with the valley below. During the First World War, the fort accommodated Serb volunteers, who underwent military training before going into action and it later served as a place of imprisonment for German soldiers. In June 1940, the fort housed the command posts of the units that defended the Ubaye valley. It had a baptism of fire, as its artillery fire accompanied that of the more modern forts in order to stop the Italian troops.
In April 1945, the fort was the French base for the troops who seized back the forts of Saint-Ours and Roche-la-Croix from the Germans. The fort was used as an ammunition store until 1987. Designed like a staircase along a ridge, the fort de Tournoux is composed of an upper fort and a middle fort, linked by a winding road. The upper fort is a square-shaped building and has a tunnel leading to a double caponnier. The scarp has vaulted casemates.
Access to the middle fort is through a fortified entrance with a wooden bridge. It comprises an officers' wing and barracks on the earth platform above the bastions, and is remarkable for its barrack rooms accessed by long external walkways attached to the rock. Troglodyte premises used for logistical purposes were built inside the excavated caves. The middle fort was completed with a casemated battery in 1934. Nicknamed the "19th Century Military Versailles" and often compared to a miniature Wall of China or to a Tibetan monastery, this majestic construction clinging to a steep slope has been the nucleus of the strategic system of the Ubaye valley since the middle of the 19th century.
The fort de Tournoux and the principal forts of the Ubaye valley are open to the public. Guided tours are regularly organised in season. Access to Barcelonnette, the heart of the Ubaye 85 km from Digne-les-Bains, via the D 900. 100 km from Briançon via the N 94, and then the D 954 (via Savines-le-Lac) and the D 900. Links Tourist centre of the community of towns of the Ubaye. 4, avenue des trois frères Arnaud 04400 Barcelonnette Tel. + 33 (0) 4 92 81 03 68 Fax + 33 (0) 4 92 81 51 67 e-mail: info@ubaye.com

November 11th 1918 at 5:15 a.m. the German plenipotentiaries accepted the armistice conditions of Marshal Foch. Some hours later at 11:00 a.m., the ceasefire announced the end of four years of horrible war. Fit out, in 1922 by the architect Mages in collaboration with M. Binet Valmer, president of the league of the Veterans, the Armistice Glade will become a symbol of victory and peace. Decorated by a monument for the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine ( piece of Edgar Brandt), it is pierced by an alley measuring 250 meters, leading to a sort of roundabout of 100 meters of diameter. It commemorates the end of the war, under the constant glance of Marshal Foch's statue.

Used for the signature of the armistice in 1918, the carriage n° 2419D was fit out in an office for Marshal Foch, by the Company "Wagons-Lits". Installed in 1927 on the glade, this symbolic wagon will be used by Hitler for the armistice of 1940 before being confiscated and burned in Germany in April 1945. Today the museum exhibits another carriage of the same series of 1913.
(...) When Marshal Foch had to determine the place, where he would call together the congressmen in charge for the armistice demand, he had many solutions. Would it be a more or less important locality? Would it be better to chose a place in the rear or a recently released region? Wasn't the Headquarter of the Commander-in-chief meant to be the place, where those who implored the suspension of hostilities had to be meet? (...) he will chose the forest of Compiègne, near the train station of Rethondes. Many times, during the war he established his Headquarter in his train. The congressmen will visit him at his headquarter. The loneliness of that place will ensure the tranquillity, the silence, the isolation and the respect of the adversary (...) Maxime Waygand, November 11th, 1932.
November 12th 1918, Marshal Foch addresses to his armies the following message: "Officers, Warrant Officers and Soldiers of the allied armies; after having resolutely stopped the enemy, during several month, you have attacked him without rest and tireless faith and energy. You just won the biggest battle of history and saved the a holy cause : the world's freedom. Be proud of an immortally glory, you have defended your national flags and the posterity will be forever thankful."
The Glade of the Armistice - 60200 Compiègne Phone number / Fax : 03 44 85 14 18 Opening : Opening From April to August 10h 18h last admission 5:30 p.m. daily September to March last admission 5:30 p.m. 10h 17h closed on Tuesday except school holidays price Adult : 5 euros Child rates 7-13 years : 3 euros

Despite the many restoration projects, the former Château of the Counts Deux-Ponts was in ruins when Louis XIV took Bitche in 1680. Aware of the strategic importance of the rocky crag overlooking the city and the region, Louis XIV decided to have a first citadel built, entrusting the work to Vauban, who completed it in 1683.

The citadel was razed by French troops in 1697, when the Treaty of Ryswick handed Lorraine over to Leopold I, Duke of Lorraine. Louis XV took possession of Lorraine on 21 March 1737 and ordered the reconstruction of the citadel using plans by the engineer Cormontaigne based on Vauban’s construction. The end of the work was marked by the installation of a marble plaque above the main entrance that we can still see today: “Louis XV, Roy de France, auguste, victorieux et pacifique, en réédifiant cette forteresse de fond en comble, a voulu qu'elle fermât les Vosges et la Lorraine à ses ennemis, qu'elle défendit la frontière de l'Alsace et qu'au pied de ses murs les camps des armées françaises trouvassent une puissante protection. Année 1754” (Louis XV, King of France, august, victorious and pacific, by fully rebuilding this fortress, desired that it should close off the Vosges and Lorraine from their enemies, that is should defend the Alsace border and that at the foot of its walls the French army camps might find powerful protection. Year 1754). From 1846 to 1852, the citadel was reinforced with the construction of a fortified perimeter wall, defended to the north by Fort St Sébastien.


During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, German troops laid siege to Bitche and carried out deadly bombardments targeting first the citadel, and then the city. The Bitche garrison resisted gloriously for six long months before opening the doors of the fortress on 27 March 1871, not before receiving Battle Honours. Now German, the citadel was once again refurbished to house a garrison: the perimeter walls were destroyed, the chapel was used to house troops and two barracks were built. When Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France, the city received the Legion of Honour from the hands of President Poincaré in testimonial to the suffering endured during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.
During the Second World War, Bitche was the theatre of fighting starting in the winter of 1944, during which the population took refuge in the underground galleries of the citadel. Liberated by American troops, the city received the War Cross in 1949, and was commended in the Army Order.


The citadel still bears the scars of its close ties to the history of France. Some buildings of the bastioned central plateau central have miraculously escaped the many bombardments that have tried to conquer the legendarily invulnerable fortress. The chapel can still be admired – it is only vestige of the château built under Vauban – as well as the former bakery and the arsenal. Visitors to the site can notably admire the two bastions placed at the ends of the citadel, protecting the long south curtain wall, the “Grosse Tête” and “Petite Tête” walls, which defend the short curtain walls, and the wealth of the fortress’s underground network built by Louis XV’s engineers. A first museum is located on two levels in the chapel and presents a collection of weapons as well as a relief map of the citadel in the 18th century. In the former bakery, the second permanent exhibition houses a museographical area dedicated to Bitche during the Second Empire.

Visitors to the citadel can enjoy a unique feature: infrared transmitters placed along the itinerary provide commentaries in several languages through audio headphones, while olfactory effects give visitors a realistic perception of life at the citadel over the centuries.


Citadel of Bitche
Tel.: +33 (0)3 87 96 18 82
Fax: +33 (0)3 87 06 11 78

Opens the last Saturday of the month of March and closes the first Sunday of November. Every day from 10 am to 5 pm. Sundays, bank holidays and the months of July and August: 10 am – 6 pm.

Visits take 2 hours. Group visits by appointment

Access: From Strasbourg (65 km): Take the A4 motorway in the Strasbourg-Paris direction, and take the Haguenau Nord exit. Before reaching Haguenau, take the Sarreguemines exit and continue on toward Bitche. From Metz (110 km): Take the A4 motorway in the Paris-Strasbourg direction, take the Sarreguemines exit and continue on toward Bitche.

http://www.siegebitche.com

Website of the Pays de Bitche Tourism Office

Quizz : Forts and citadels

In West Africa, tata is a Wolof word meaning “plot of sacred land”, the place where warriors killed in combat are buried.

In Chasselay, in the Rhône, this name takes on its true meaning when you delve into the local annals and learn the history of the events that took place here during the Second World War.

The battles

On 19 and 20 June 1940, ignorant of the fact that Lyon had just been declared an “open city”, the 25^th Senegalese Infantry Regiment confronted the German army in Chasselay and the surrounding area.

Despite their bravery, they were finally forced to lay down arms. The battles were terminated by the massacre of African prisoners by the SS division Totenkopf (Death’s Head).

The tata

Rectangular in shape, surrounded by high walls surmounted on each corner and above the entrance by a spiked pyramid, the tata is architecturally inspired by Sudanese architecture.

The massive oak door bears eight different stylised sculpted masks displaying idols that keep watch over the deceased at rest. The surrounding walls and grave stones are red ochre in colour.

The cemetery holds the remains of 196 infantrymen of various nationalities from West Africa. They originated from Senegal but also Burkina Faso (Upper Volta at the time), Dahomey, Sudan, Chad and other nations.

The origins of the cemetery

This unique building in France is owed to Jean Marchiani. A veteran of the war of 1914-1918, in 1940 he held the position of General Secretary of the Departmental Office of disabled ex-servicemen, veterans and victims of war.

As soon as he heard about the events of 19 and 20 June, he decided to bring together the bodies of the African soldiers, some of whom were buried in local cemeteries while others were often simply left to lay in ditches in the middle of the countryside.

After identifying the villages where bodies were buried, Jean Marchiani bought a plot of land in Chasselay, near the locality of Vide-Sac where 50 Senegalese prisoners were shot by the enemy, and raised funds. He was backed by General Doyen, former commander of the Army of the Alps, and Senegal Deputy Calendou Diouf.

The inauguration took place on 8 November 1942, three days before the invasion of the free zone by the Germans.

This memorial and site for contemplation was classified as a national cemetery in 1966. The property of the Ministry of Defence, it is managed by the interdepartmental department of veterans’ affairs for the Rhône-Alpes region.

Nécropole nationale de Chasselay (Chasselay National Cemetery)

Getting there: Take the D100 in the direction of Les Chères Chasselay (Rhône)

Opening times: 10 am to 6 pm

Guided tours: 10 am to 12 pm and 2-5 pm

Admission: free of charge