Fortified Sector of the Escaut

Initial work in the sector established a series of casemates in the Raismes Forest, between Valenciennes and the Belgian border. The casemates were built by the Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées (CORF), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency. As the fortification of the Escaut Front was commenced later than the main section of the Line to the east, funds were restricted by the impact of the Great Depression, which had reached France. The plan was also affected by political considerations, in which the fortification of the Belgian frontier was seen as a betrayal of the French plan for forward defense on Belgian territory. Most of the Escaut blockhouses built in 1936-37 were built under local initiatives to designs by the Army Engineering Service Section Technique du Génie (STG).[1] The CORF lines in the Raismes Forest were augmented by lesser positions in the principal line of resistance constructed in 1936-37.[2] In 1940 a few hasty fortifications were built to the rear of Valenciennes under the authority of the Study Commission for the Fortified Zones (Commission des Études des Zones Fortifiées" (CEZF) ).[3]

Ouvrage Eth is the sole Maginot fortification in the sector, two blocks linked by a deep underground gallery. A third block was planned but never completed, to be equipped with a 75mm gun turret, along with expanded support facilitites and a separate entrance block. A drainage tunnel of sufficient size for human passage linked Eth to the Casemate de Jeanlain, about 600 metres (2,000 ft) away to the west.[4] The Fort de Maulde was improved under the auspices of STG, with a unique casemate for 155mm Fillioux field gun. Work was begun on an underground link between the observation post and the 75mm and 155mm casemates in 1939, but was never completed.[5]

Insignia of the fortified sector.

The Escaut sector was under the overall command of the French 1st Army, under the command of General Blanchard, which was in turn part of Army Group 1 under General Gaston Billotte. The SF Escaut was commanded by General Echard, then General Béjard from May 1940.[2]

The sector included, in order from west to east, the following major fortified positions, together with the most significant casemates and infantry shelters in each sub-sector:[nb 1]

54th Fortress Infantry Regiment (54e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse (RIF)), Lt. Colonel Delcure

Both the Ouvrage d'Eth and the Fort de Maulde are abandoned. The Casemate du Cimitière-du-Mont-des-Bruyères has been open to visits by the public since 2009.[14]

• Fortified Sector of Lille, a more lightly fortified border sector to the west

• Allcorn, William. The Maginot Line 1928-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-646-1
• Kaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W. Fortress France: The Maginot Line and French Defenses in World War II, Stackpole Books, 2006. ISBN 0-275-98345-5
• Kaufmann, J.E., Kaufmann, H.W., Jancovič-Potočnik, A. and Lang, P. The Maginot Line: History and Guide, Pen and Sword, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84884-068-3
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 1. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2001. ISBN 2-908182-88-2 (in French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 3. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2003. ISBN 2-913903-88-6 (in French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 5. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009. ISBN 978-2-35250-127-5 (in French)
• Romanych, Marc; Rupp, Martin. Maginot Line 1940: Battles on the French Frontier. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2010. ISBN 1-84176-646-1

• Fortified Sector of the Escaut at fortiff.be (in French)
• Ouvrage Eth at fortiff.be
• Fort de Maulde (in French)
• Le secteur fortifié de l'Escaut at wikimaginot.eu (in French)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Secteur fortifié de l'Escaut.