The plan to be followed has been presented and the happenings prior to the initial jump off
enumerated. I now wish to describe the terrain and features that the battalion was to operate over. The
Cattenom Forest, in which the battalion had been bivouacked, ranged from 193 to 160 meters in height
and was very heavily wooded. This furnished perfect cover for the bivouac.
After leaving the forest to the east and southeast the ground tapered off to a flat of about 150
meters. This extended from the towns GAROHE, KOEKING, HUZANGE and CATTENOM to the
near bank of the Moselle as a table top. This area was devoid of cover and afforded little protection.
There was no cover for boat assembly points along the river. This was a reason for selecting Huzange as
a pickup point for the boats, thus the long haul to the riverbank. The area across the river, on the enemy
side, was essentially the same as on the near side, extending as far in as the railroad track.
Just to the southeast and east of Basse Ham, the ground began to rise to form the heights upon
which Fort Koenigsmacher rested. This rise was almost abrupt, rising from 150 meters to 210 meters, in
the distance of about 400 meters. This ridge-like peak was the dominant feature in the area. From this
could be viewed the entire flat area extending over to Cattenom Forest. Thionville, approximately 6
miles to the south, as well as all intervening ground could be viewed with ease. The view to the north
extended to Metrich. This piece of terrain was not so decisive as was the fort that rested on its crest.
46
Fort Koenigsmacher was a member of the MAGINOT group that tied in with the Metrich Fort
some 4000 yards to the northeast, on the east of the Moselle River. Some 3 miles to the southwest was
FORT D’ILLANGE, a sister fort of the Maginot group. The three above-mentioned forts completely
commanded the Moselle basin and the parallel highways extending along either side. In addition to
these mentioned the main Maginot belt extended from these positions to the southeast to Boulay. There
were some 10 forts in this group. Each fort’s artillery tied in with that of the other.
47
A description of Fort Koenigsmacher is typical of the general layout of the forts of the Maginot
line. The fort mounted four-100 mm guns in its top. These were seated in completely revolving turrets
of steel of 3 to 4 inches in thickness. The casemates, that had exposed sides, were constructed so as to
be covered by machine guns emplaced in adjoining wings with sufficient traverse to interlock with the
opposite machine gun. All approaches to the steel doors of the forts were blocked by a complete barrier
of spiked steel fence about 7-8 feet in height. This fence was covered by machine gun emplacements.
The general shape of the fort was five sided. To the outside of the main fort structure was a series of
shelter points numbered from 1 through 8. These consisted of one-story concrete pillbox projections.
Each entrance was protected by guard room.
The corridors inside the shelter points led to a staircase which, in turn, led to the basement floors
in the underground corridors of the main fort. In the top of the main concrete fort structure was a series
of blister-looking affairs that were armored observation posts. These had a series of slits around them
from which very safe observation could be made. Artillery fire had no effect on them. To the outside of
the shelter points was a complete trench of a depth to permit a man to stand and fire. This completely
circled the fort. Within this trench firing stations were dug so that a man did not have to silhouette
himself while firing. To the outside of this trench, on the forward slope and extending completely
around the hillside, was a barbed wire entanglement of from five to twelve aprons. These were of the
permanent type entanglements with the heavier aprons facing the east side of the fort.
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