Fort de Saint-Julien

The Fort Saint-Julien, renamed Feste Manteuffel in German, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.

Historical context
The first fortified belt consisted of Metz forts de Saint-Privat (1870) of Queuleu (1867), des Bordes (1870), Saint-Julien (1867), Gambetta, Déroulède, Decaen, Plappeville (1867) and St. Quentin (1867), most of them were unfinished or simply used as is in 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War burst out. During the Annexation following this war, Metz, which oscillated between a German garrison of 15,000 and 20,000 men at the beginning of this period, and which overtook 25,000 men before the First World War, gradually became the first stronghold of the German Reich.

Construction and facilities
Fort Saint-Julien is located in the hills above Saint-Julien-lès-Metz and overlooks the city of Metz and the valley Moselle. The fort was designed in the spirit of the "detached forts" 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 made of artillery forts spaced with a range of guns. Work began in 1867. The fort was not completed in 1870, when war broke out between France and Germany. The defensive system was completed and perfected by German engineers between 1871 and 1891. The fort, pentagonal, is a bastion. Half buried behind a defensive system on a slope, the main fire station is designed to withstand artillery fire. The fort is surrounded by a system of dry moats, evoking the fortifications of Vauban.

Successive assignments
During the annexation of the Alsace-Lorraine, the fort became a training camp for German imperial troops. From 1890 the troops in the fort were provided by the troops Corps XVI stationed at Metz and Thionville. From 1914-1918, the fort served as a relay for the German soldiers at the front line. Taken over again by the French army in 1919, the fort was retaken twenty years later by the Germans. The German army retake over in fact takes place during World War II, when the second annexation takes place. Beginning in September 1944, German troops reorganized its defense, and integrated the fort with the defensive system set up around Metz. After World War II, the fort was abandoned. Part of the fort now houses a restaurant specializing in dishes from Alsace and Lorraine.

Second World War
In late August 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Metz, the German command integrated the defensive system set up around Metz. On September 2, 1944, Metz was declared Reich fortress Hitler. The fortress was to be defended to the last by German troops, whose leaders were all sworn to the Führer. The next day, September 3, 1944, General Krause, then commander of the fortress of Metz, established his High Command,  the main command post in the barracks was fort Alvensleben. The same day, the troops of General Krause took position on a line from Pagny-sur-Moselle to Mondelange, passing to the west of Metz by Chambley, Mars-la-Tour, Jarny and Briey. After an initial withdrawal, starting 6 September 1944, the German lines now rested firmly on the forts of Metz.

The US offensive, launched September 7, 1944, on the west line of the forts of Metz was cut short. American troops eventually stopped on the Moselle, despite taking two bridgeheads south of Metz. Being better defended against them that they had thought, US troops were now out of breath. General McLain, in agreement with the General Walker, decided to suspend the attacks, pending new plans of the General Staff of 90 Infantry Division. When hostilities resumed, after a rainy month, the soldiers of the 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division still held firmly the forts of Metz, though supplies were more difficult under artillery fire and frequent bombings.

As a prelude to the assault on Metz, November 9, 1944, the Air Force sent no less than 1,299 heavy bombers, both B-17 and B-24, and dumped 3,753 tons of bombs, and 1,000 to 2,000 livres, on fortifications and strategic points in the combat zone of III army. As most bombers, having no visibility, dropped bombs at over 20,000 feet, the military targets were often missed. In Metz, 689 loads of bombs hit the seven forts of Metz, identified as priority targets, but merely cause collateral damage, proving once again the inadequacy of the massive bombing of military targets.

In the morning fog of November 18, 1944, Colonel Bacon gave the signal for the attack to 2is  Battalion 378 Infantry Regiment on the Fort Saint-Julien. The fort's strong position on the main road from Metz was in fact an essential goal. The assault battalion silently encircled the fort and attacked at 7:00 am precisely. The road down to Metz was then held by a company of the 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division that the US artillery campaign finally dislodged from the houses below, completing the encirclement of the fort around noon. American tanks and self-propelled guns then took position around the fort. For an hour, the 240-mm howitzers of Task force fired tirelessly preparing for the infantry attack. The soldiers of the 378 Infantry Regiment then rushed through a gap at the back of the fort, but under fire from machine guns. Two light tanks provide covering fire, while a tank destroyer took position near the entrance and shoots at the fort, which nevertheless resisted. Finally, a self-propelled 155mm gun managed to break the door. In the absence of heavy weaponry, the 200 German soldiers of the 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division are now trapped in the fort. They can do nothing against the American firepower. The next morning, in the mist of November 19, 1944, the small detachment of 462 Volks-Grenadier-Division finally agreed to surrender to US troops.

The fort Jeanne-d’Arc was the last of the forts of Metz to disarm. Determined German resistance, bad weather, floods, inopportunity, and a general tendency to underestimate the firepower of the fortifications of Metz, have helped slow the US offensive, giving the opportunity to the German Army to withdraw in good order to the Saar. The objective of the German staff, which was to gain the most possible time in keeping the US troops from arriving at the front of the Siegfried Line, was largely achieved.

Related articles

 * Forts of Metz
 * Fortifications of Metz
 * Battle of Metz