Fortified Sector of Boulay
The left (western) wing of the Boulay sector was among the earliest and strongest portions of the Maginot Line.
The right wing, started after 1931, was progressively scaled back in order to save money during the Great Depression.
Despite the withdrawal of the mobile forces that supported the fixed fortifications, the sector successfully fended off German assaults before the Second Armistice at Compiègne.
The Boulay sector was part of the larger Fortified Region of Metz, a strongly defended area between the Ardennes to the west and the Sarre valley to the east.
[5] During the general retreat from the French frontier in mid-June the sector's mobile forces were designated the division de marche Besse[6] These units were attached to the 6th Army Corps.
Colonel Viret, command post at Boulay X1[nb 2][4] Peacetime barracks and support: 160th Fortress Infantry Regiment (160e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse (RIF)), Lt.
[12] During the early part of the Battle of France in May, 1940, the SF Boulay was relatively quiet, with no serious engagement between French and German forces.
However, by late May, the entire French army contemplated extreme measures to avoid being surrounded and defeated by the rapid German advance.
In early June in the face of the German assault, and with the collapse of the left wing of the French armies in Flanders, all fortress units attached to the Third Army were ordered to prepare for withdrawal to the south and west between 14 and 17 June The interval personnel of the SF Boulay were to be consolidated into a division de marche entitled the DM Besse, consisting of the 160th, 161st, 162nd and 164th RIFs, together with the 153rd RAP and miscellaneous artillery units.
The garrisons in the Boulay and Falquemont sectors were ordered to prepare for withdrawal to avoid their isolation by German units operating behind the lines.
A poorly understood telephone call from Ouvrage Anzeling on the 15th caused the reservists manning Bousse to evacuate the position between 1600 and 2100 hours.
Before departing they sabotaged their equipment, including their telephone switchboard, preventing them from receiving the counter-order to remain in place.
Hackenberg provided covering fire to other ouvrages in the area through June as the Germans advanced eastwards behind French lines.
[15] The German 8.8 cm guns were too far from their targets to be effective, and the gros ouvrages were able to give mutual fire support as intended.
[19][20] Berenbach and the positions to its east played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944,[22] although on 21 June Mottenberg fired in support of Ouvrage Kerfent, its neighbor in the SF Faulquemont.
Mont des Welches was partially appropriated by the Reichspost, serving as a depot for post office equipment.
The regiment's interval troops retreated beginning 13 June toward Metz and Nancy with the DM Besse, acting as a rear-guard.
[28] During the Occupation, the Germans occupied Hackenberg and posed a considerable obstacle to American advances in 1944 during the Lorraine Campaign.
Block 8, with its battery of 75 mm guns, proved particularly troublesome, with 99 rounds falling on the American position in 90 seconds.
[29] After an attack using tank destroyers failed, the Americans used a 155 mm self-propelled gun against the rear of Block 8 in the morning of 16 November.
[30] Following World War II, the French military reclaimed the Maginot Line with the aim of renovating and improving it against a possible attack by Warsaw Pact forces through southern Germany.
The strongest positions, Hackenberg, Mont des Welches, Michelsberg, and Anzeling were designated the môle de Boulay ("breakwater") in 1951 and were placed back into service after a period of rehabilitation.
After the establishment of the French nuclear strike force, the importance of the Line declined, and maintenance ceased in the 1970s, with most of the casemates and petit ouvrages sold to the public.
In 1975, residents from nearby villages started to organize sightseeing tours, which led to the founding of a volunteer association for the preservation of Hackenberg.
[36] Ouvrage Bousse is under the care of a preservation society, the Association Fort aux Fresques, which organizes tours for the public.
The Abri du Sud-du-Bichel is being restored by the Association mémoire des intervalles de la Ligne Maginot.
