Ouvrage Roche-la-Croix
France · Europe
About
Ouvrage Roche-la-Croix is a work (gros ouvrage) of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also known as the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of one entry block, two infantry blocks, one artillery block and two observation blocks in the vicinity of the Col de Larche. An aerial tram was provided for better access. The position is located at the top of a sheer escarpment that dominates Meyronnes and the valley of the Ubayette.
The ouvrage replaced an earlier fortification, the Redoute de Roche-la-Croix (or Fort Inférieure), built as part of the Séré de Rivières system between 1883 and 1889. The earlier fort's walls and ditches were kept on two sides of the ouvrage. The fort's pre-Maginot armament was six 138mm guns in casemates with a magazine excavated in the rock. Most of the fort apart from the ditch and caponiers was obliterated by the Maginot construction.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.