Culture

Culture

Les Aittes Maginot fortification

In the commune of Cervières, on the left bank of the Cerveyrette, at the entrance to the Vallée des Fonds, this structure is remarkable in more ways than one.
For the Maginot Line of the Alps, it is of average size. MOM (Main d'œuvre militaire) began work in 1932, but the structure wasn't actually in use until 1937.
In June 1940, Lieutenant Renon commanded the 92-strong crew* of the 75th DBAF (Demi brigade alpine de forteresse).

Completely carved out of the rock at the base of the Lasseron mountain, the structure comprised three combat blocks in addition to the entrance block, as well as living quarters such as a kitchen, food store and infirmary. All blocks were interconnected by a series of circulation galleries, often made of unconcrete bedrock, totalling around 300 m in length, with the longest internal distance between entrance block 1 and combat block 2, the furthest away, being 215 m.
Blocks 2 and 3 are accessed by ladders in vertical shafts, themselves located at the top of staircases of around fifty steps each.

The original armament consisted exclusively of light automatic weapons: FM 24/29* and Reibel* twins. In the midst of the battle, so to speak, an attempt was made to modify Block 4 so that it could accommodate a mixed weapon: a Reibel twin and/or a 25 m/m anti-tank gun. The work could not be completed before the end of hostilities.
In the midst of battle? Indeed, the Aittes structure, while probably not the only one, is certainly one of the few Maginot defenses in the Briançonnais region to open fire on enemy targets. It drove back the 'fanti '* who had ventured into the Vallée des Fonds.

The structure, along with the peace barracks built next to it and now half-collapsed, was purchased by the commune of Cervières a few years ago.

*équipage = the garrison and personnel of a Maginot structure.
*MF 24/29 = Machine Gun model 1924, modified 1929, caliber 7.5 m/m
*Reibel pairing = two machine guns, 7.5 m/m caliber, firing alternately or, if necessary, simultaneously.
*fanti = infantrymen, in Italian

Source : Drac Paca