[3] The fortified group Saint-Quentin is one of "detached forts", a concept developed by the engineering lieutenant colonel Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières in France and Hans Alexis von Biehler in Germany.

The goal was to form a discontinuous enclosure around Metz with strong artillery batteries spaced with a range of guns.

These buildings are connected by covered ways, where a rail track of 60 cm wide allows trucks to carry equipment and ammunition.

To the west of the plateau, the Germans built Feste von Manstein from 1872 to 1874 to control the Moselle valley to the south and the neck of Lessy to the north.

But on the night of August 31 to 1 September 1944, two casemates of the fort, where manuscripts and incunabula from the Metz library had been stored, were burned[5] along with stocks belonging to the German stewardship.

[6] During the three months of fighting, Fort Plappeville, under the command of the artillery Colonel Vogel, and that of Saint-Quentin, successively commanded by Colonels Siegroth Von, Von Richter and Stössel, will cover each other, blocking access by US troops to the valley Moselle, west of Metz.

[7] When hostilities resumed after a rainy month, the soldiers of the 462th Volks-Grenadier-Division still hold firmly the forts of Metz, though supplies are more difficult under artillery fire and frequent bombings.

[8] On November 9, 1944, as a prelude to the assault on Metz, as many as 1,299 heavy bombers, B-17s and B-24s, dump 3,753 tons of bombs, and 1,000 to 2,000 "livres" on fortifications and strategic points in the combat zone of IIIrd army.

Despite the efforts of the combative troops of the 462th Infantry Division, the forts fall one after the other, as a result of fighting or simply running out of food and ammunition.

The M101 howitzer from 359th Field Artillery Battalion opened fire on the area located on either side of the Fortified group Jeanne-d'Arc, between the Fort Francis de Guise and the fort Driant to pave the way for 379th Infantry regiment whose goal is to reach the Moselle.

After two deadly counterattacks, the men of Major Voss, belonging to the 462th ID return soon to the fortified group Jeanne-d'Arc.

[11] On the evening of November 17, 1944, the situation is critical for the commander of the fortress of Metz, General Heinrich Kittel.

The main objective of the 95th Infantry Division is now the city of Metz, the forts are just surrounded and neutralized by covering fire.

Metz is liberated on November 22, 1944, but the forts Plappeville and St. Quentin still resist for two long weeks in accordance with the orders of the Führer.

As night fell on this cold winter day, Colonel von Stossel symbolically submitted his Luger pistol to the commander of 2nd Battalion 11th Infantry regiment, the lieutenant-colonel Dewey B. Gill[12] before leaving in captivity with his men.

[13] The objective of the German staff, which was to stall the US troops at Metz for the longest possible time before they could reach the front of the Siegfried Line, was largely achieved.