Fort de Bois Bourrus

After the completion of the so called "panic forts" which were constructed in great haste almost immediately after the end of the Franco-Prussian war, work began on a further ring of fortresses to enhance the protection of Verdun and block potential German progress along the most direct route to Paris. On the left bank of the River Meuse along a prominent ridge a series of forts were built which effectively closed down any route around Verdun to the west. The old print shown  here gives a good idea of the geography of the Verdun area and the strategic locations of the forts.

 Click on the image to open a much bigger version of the original print.

Of a much more advanced design compared with the basic panic forts, these later additions to the fortress town had many features which the earlier forts lacked and they were built to withstand the German's new heavy artillery right from the outset. Reliance upon portable artillery pieces sited within the fort, together with huge masonry and concrete shelters for the crews and ammunition storage, was dramatically reduced. Instead the fort was intended to be armed with a twin short barrelled 75mm artillery battery in a retractable armoured turret, and two armoured retractable double Hotchkiss machine gun turrets, each capable of acting independantly. In the event though, the 75mm installation was never finished.

To further sharpen the teeth of the fort two Bourges Casemates were built, each armed with two 75mm quick firing artillery pieces, the famous "Soixante-quinze", arguably the best light artillery piece of The Great War. The variant shown in our photograph  - LEFT -  (which you may click upon to open a much larger version) has no wheels or axle for horse drawn transportation like the field version of the gun, rather it has a fixing point at the front which was anchored to a pivot point directly behind the firing port of the casemate, and a pair of small wheels set at 90 degrees to the barrel (which can be clearly seen in the photograph) enabled the gun to run on semi-circular tracks within the casemate through a fixed arc, thus facilitating the fastest possible traverse to the point of aim.

To protect the moat of the fort two casemates were built into the forward left and right corners, each with a field of fire back towards the entrance elevation. The front centre of the moat had a double casemate with fields of fire along the moat to left and right, and finally at the entrance elevation a double caponniere was constructed which jutted out into the moat to the right of the entrance drawbridge.

The galleries of these strong points were armed with Hotchkiss "Revolver Canons" which are a kind of Gatling Gun style weapon with five 37 mm barrels  SEEN RIGHT  They are capable of firing 43 rounds per minute with an accurate range of 2000 yards, more than adequate for the defence of the short moat sections. Additionally infantry could man firing ports within the fighting galleries armed with their rifles or light machine guns, and large horizontal ports at knee level allowed the "posting" of hand grenades down into the moat onto an attacking enemy. The likelihood of the fort being successfully taken by infantry attacking along the moat was therefore very remote indeed.

Some of the Verdun forts are built with their heavily gated main entrances located at ground level, Forts du Regret and Vaucheraville for example. In this construction form the body of the fort was built on top of, or slightly into the ground, and then it was covered over with reinforced concrete, a deep layer of sand, more concrete, and finally a massive earth layer. The moat floor is therefore on the same level as the fort floor although there are further levels still within such a fort excavated down below the ground level. A second narrow moat some seven or so feet deep was constructed below the level of the normal moat floor directly at the base of the fort wall proper in order to prevent an attacking enemy from getting close enough to the walls of the fort to attempt entry through any of the firing ports. Thus approach to such forts is through the moat. Not so Fort de Bois Bourrus which is built with the moat excavated out of the ground and the fort itself sitting mostly below ground level with only the peace time barrack blocks and Bourges Casemates etc. remaining on top. As a result of this design Bois Bourrus's moat is very deep and hence very difficult to cross without the drawbridge, which of course is long gone now! On our first visit to this fort back in June 2011 we could not find an easy way to cross the moat so we planned to go back and abseil down into the moat and then "Jumar" back out again afterwards, attempting to gain entry via one of the revolver canon firing ports in the moat protection galleries. In the event this did not prove necessary as we found a much easier way in!

The outlines of most of the Verdun fortifications are still very clear when seen from altitude - not so Fort de Bois Bourrus or it's closest neighbour Fort Marre. It is extremely difficult to make out much of the layout of these two forts now and only close scrutiny at maximum magnification reveals that there is actually something down there beneath the deep forest canopy. ABOVE is a "floor plan" of Fort de Bois Bourrus, shown here by kind permission of Cedric and Julie Vaubourg. I would strongly recommend a visit to their excellent site where comprehensive information and masses of superb photographs document this and all the other Verdun forts, AND many other fortifications throughout the whole of France - it is a "must see" site and there is a picture link to it at the bottom of this page.

June 2011 and we have just rocked up at the moat drawbridge...   ...and of course the bridge is long gone!   ...and the moat is tres deep!   Our last look in 2011, and then we were gone.   It's May 2012 now and there's an eejit on top of the gate wall...   ...on the wrong side of the drawbridge!   The inside of the bricked up main gate...   Looking out of a revolver canon firing port across the moat...   ...and through a rifle port.   A peace time masonry constructed barrack block...   ...and two more.   Inside the accomodation is rather spartan!   Heading inside to find the business end of the fort. On the left are several drinking water storage cisterns.   This is the optical signalling station where messages could be flashed to other forts in Morse Code using an Aldis Lamp.   Heading off underground now into the reinforced bombardment proof sections of the fort.   The fumes from weapon firing had to be manually pumped out of the fort using hand cranked ventilators like this one.   The red line painted on the wall denotes a bombardment proof reinforced concrete area of the fort.   The remains of a circular staircase leading up to one of the twin machine gun turrets.   A corridor in the war time barrack section of the fort. The window to the right opens out on the moat.   Firing points cut through the wall allow infantry men to fire on any enemy down in the moat.   There are several skeletal three abreast bunk beds abandoned within the barrack rooms.   A small door opening up to the outside world has been comprehensively bricked up in modern times.   Grafitti left behind by SS soldiers during the Nazi occupation in the Second World War. "Honour and loyalty" (the SS motto) "in memory of 18".   Heading back up towards the level immediately below ground the reinforced concrete gives way to masonry once more.   This tunnel leads directly to the gorge caponniere.   Inside the gorge caponniere.   Revolver canon firing ports.   below the firing port can be seen a grenade shoot.   The way back up to the light!   Collapsing "Travaux 17" excavations.   At the junction of a staircase and a tunnel along the moat wall. In the distance can be seen a "tunnel break" where a firing port covers the tunnel against enemy who have managed to get inside.   The garrison would stand to in times of action along these corridors. The iron bars on the wall (left) are what remains of wooden benches which folded flat against the wall or hooked into the seating position...   The benches are long gone...   Back at the surface once more we went towards the front of the fort between the peace time masonry built barrack blocks.   Inside one of the ground floor level ablution blocks adjacent to the peace time barracks.   The opposite block seen from a barrack room window.   This tunnel running through the barrack blocks is the main fort thoroughfare.   Inside another peace time barrack room.   The Boulangerie (bakery).   With entrances at either end of each block this accommodation must have been very draughty in winter!   Light at the end of the tunnel - literally!   This is the exit from the tunnel in the previous picture, out on to the Rue du Rempart, which is much smaller in this fort compared with the earlier moveable artillery heavy forts such as Belleville.   A latrine for infantry posted to the Rue du Rempart.   A heavy steel door opens into a Bourges Casemate.   Inside the casemate.   The remains of what appears to be a light gauge railway line is propped up outside the casemate's right hand firing port.   Bourges Casemates have an underground level for storage of ammunition and for the gun crew to shelter in very heavy bombardments.   There appeared to be a bed stead at the bottom of the stairs so we went down to see why...   ...it has been used to partially cover the entrance to a Travaux 17 tunnel across to the main subterranean part of the fort.   This is all that remains of a double machine gun turret. It appears it was been demolished with explosives by the Germans in WW2.   The remains of the same emplacement seen from outside.   One of the few shelters built on the Rue du Rempart.   It is possible to descend to the moat floor from the top of the fort here. Below is one of the moat protection emplacements built into the counterscarp.   A better view of the counterscarp emplacement.   This caponniere juts out into the moat at the apex of the fort and protects the moat by affording the defenders enfilade fire in either direction along the moat bottom.   This hefty chunk of 7" thick steel has been blown off the top of one of the defensive installation's attached observation cupolas...   ...and here is the remains of shaft up which the fire control officer had to climb to get into the cupola.   The door into another Bourges Casemate.   The first "Soixante-Quinze" gun platform in the casemate.   And inside the compartment for the second gun.   ...and finally...   During another visit in 2013 I chose to abseil out of the fort...   Easy! Well... once I had got going it was, but it took umpteen attempts to even get started! Click above to navigate back to the Verdun forts main page once more... Click above to navigate to Cedric & Julie Vaubourg's excellent and informative site on the forts of France... Thanks for looking...