Maginot Line - Fort Koenigsmacker

The construction of this fort began in 1908. After the First World War, the region Lorraine was returned to France and the fort came under French controle. It was modernised during the '30s as part of the Secteur Fortifiée de Thionville of the Maginot Line and armed with new 105mm guns. It saw little action in 1940, as it was bypassed and encircled by German forces.

On 9 November 1944, elements of the U.S. 90th Infantry Division came under heavy fire by the 105mm guns of the Fort Koenigsmacker, which was manned by the 74th Volksgrenadier Regiment van de 19th Volksgrenadier Division. Combat engineers succeeded to reach the fort and used explosives to destroy seal openings and ventilation shafts. During this phase, the guns kept firing on U.S positions. The next day, Company C of the 358th assaulted the fort from the south, while Company B and A kept detonating the fort. The guns remained entirely intact and fired the howl day on U.S. units who tried to bypass the fort. On 11 November, most of the fort was under U.S. control, but the armament remained German. A patrol of 145 Germans attempting to relieve the fort was ambushed and captured. On the 12th, while Company G attacked the back side of the fort, Company A & B drove the defenders to Company G, to whom they surrendered.

The casualties were high on both sides. The 74th Volksgrenadier Regiment lost more than 300 KIA, wounded or prisoners of war. The Americans lost 111 men.

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Source

• Text: Kaj Metz
• Photos: Flickr
• Johnston, C., "In Her Father's Footsteps: With the 90th - Normandy to the Moselle, 1944" (2016)