Fortress Saint-Maurice

The National Redoubt was first conceived in the 1880s as an easily defensible area to secure the survival of the Swiss Confederation.

In the late 1930s and 1940s when neutral Switzerland was threatened with invasion from Germany, the National Redoubt and its components were modernized and expanded on a massive scale.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the possibility of a Warsaw Pact invasion disappeared, and by 1995 many positions were abandoned by the military.

The only comparatively easy access to the upper Rhône valley, and thus to the western National Redoubt, is through Saint-Maurice.

Fortress Saint-Maurice is a series of fortifications set into the mountains on either side of the valley, dominating the region as far as Lac Léman with their artillery.

These steep cliff walls, framing a flat valley floor averaging about 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) wide, create a natural gauntlet.

[3] While the Saint-Maurice area has been fortified since medieval times, work on the National Redoubt began in the 1880s with Forts Dailly, Savatan and Scex.

[5] Virtually every constriction, bridge, tunnel or other defensible position in the valley was fortified with blockhouses, anti-tank barriers, permanent minefields or pre-surveyed artillery coverage.

All construction was carefully camouflaged using light shells to simulate rock formations, or with a house-shaped superstructure.

The barrier, made up of dragon's teeth and a deep ditch, spans the Rhône valley north of Saint-Maurice.

[8] Fort du Scex (A166) 46°12′50.03″N 6°59′45.62″E / 46.2138972°N 6.9960056°E / 46.2138972; 6.9960056 comprises part of a fortress complex encased in rock high above the strategic Saint Maurice valley.

The Ermitage battery of four 75 mm guns was constructed in 1938-39, with further improvements to habitation during and after World War II.

Located in rock galleries in a northern continuation of the Scex cliff, the fort controlled the narrow defile of the Rhône river.

Dailly was the scene of an ammunition explosion on 28 May 1946, when about 5500 105 mm shells, amounting to 449 tons, exploded in three separate magazines successively.

From the beginning of April 2014, guided tours will be organized during the week for groups of a minimum of 10 persons Fort de Savatan (A200) 46°12′40.77″N 7°01′15.33″E / 46.2113250°N 7.0209250°E / 46.2113250; 7.0209250 occupies a shelf on the northwest side of the Dailly massif on the eastern side of the Rhône valley, overlooking Saint-Maurice to the northwest.

The fort flanks the west side of the "dragon's teeth" anti-tank line that spans the flat floor of the valley.

[19][20] Fort Follatères (A66) 46°07′31.22″N 7°04′02.30″E / 46.1253389°N 7.0673056°E / 46.1253389; 7.0673056 is located near Martigny on the north side of the Rhône, and a point where the river bend at a right angle and joins the Drance.

The fort occupies a unique location at the mouth of the Trient Gorges overlooking the rail line and Verayaz.