Fortified Sector of the Escaut

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.

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.

Pressure was increased on 26 May, when Block 2 of Eth was damaged by the German 28th Infantry Division's artillery and Maulde's peripheral casemates were captured.

Captain Dobos of Eth moved his garrison by a connecting drainage tunnel to Casemate Jeanlain, but was forced to surrender there.

[4][9][10][11] The Germans stripped the Escaut fortifications during the Occupation, removing weapons for re-use and salvaging the massive steel cloches for scrap.

First contact with the Germans was made on 17 May when two mobile companies of the 54th undertook the defense of the Escaut bridges between Valenciennes and Bouchain, holding until the 26th when they fell back towards Dunkerque.