page_title: Fortified Sector of the Crusnes
section_title: Battle of France
hierarchical_section_title: Fortified Sector of the Crusnes / History / Battle of France
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le gros ouvrage du Fermont&#160;; sur la commune de Montigny-sur-Chiers faisait partie du Secteur fortifié de la Crusnes de la Ligne Maginot.
context_page_description: The Fortified Sector of the Crusnes was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line extending eastwards approximately 28 kilometres from Longuyon. The sector roughly follows the valley of the Crusnes river. Crucially, the trace of the Maginot Line in the Crusnes sector is about 7 kilometres behind the industrial city of Longwy which sits directly against the French borders with Belgium and Luxembourg. The Crusnes sector was one of the strongest Maginot Line sectors. It was attacked in 1940 by German forces in the Battle of France. Despite the withdrawal of the mobile forces that supported the fixed fortifications, the sector successfully fended off German assaults before the Second Armistice at Compiègne. The positions and their garrisons finally surrendered on 27 June 1940. Following the war many positions were reactivated for use during the Cold War. Three locations are now preserved and open to the public, with a fourth position under restoration.
context_section_description: In February 1940 General Condé decided to protect the exposed city of Longwy, forming the Position Avancée de Longwy (PAL), using a combination of hastily built blockhouses and field units. A series of anti-tank obstacles were built between Longwy and the border, defended by elements of the 58th and 51st Infantry Divisions. Artillery cover was provided by the 75mm gun turret of Ouvrage Fermont, which could cover all of the area except Longwy itself. Two 75mm gun casemates were built between Mexy and Haucourt to cover this gap.
  Troops of the German 17th Infantry Division attacked the Longwy position beginning 11 May 1940.  The Germans quickly surrounded the city, with German forces in view of the main Maginot Line. The situation declined over the next two days, the reserve divisions performing poorly, and on the 13th General Condé ordered the evacuation of the PAL. The French 3rd Light Cavalry Division (3e Division Légère de Cavalerie (DLC)) advanced into Luxembourg in an attempt to spoil the attack before it was ordered back to French territory. The division, composed of one motorized regiment and two of horse, attempted to disrupt the German advance into the Longwy salient, but did not attack in sufficient concentration to accomplish much. Condé was content to reorganize behind the Maginot Line. His passivity has been criticized; the abandonment of Longwy presented a missed opportunity for a counterattack by French forces.
  By June, faced with the progressive collapse of the French First Army to the west, the interval troops began to pull back to avoid being encircled behind the Maginot Line. Measure A, issued by 3rd Army headquarters, called for the withdrawal of the interval troops on 15 June, protected by the casemates and ouvrages. Measure B was the withdrawal of artillery forces from the intervals late that day and into the 16th, protected by the ouvrages. Measure C was the withdrawal of all but skeleton forces from the fortifications. The forces left behind were to withdraw themselves by the 18th after sabotaging all equipment and weapons. As the withdrawal was developing, the Germans planned  to pierce the Line between Mauvais-Bois and Bois-du-Four on the 14th, but called off the operation. At the same time, the garrisons of the Fortified Sector of Montmédy evacuated ahead of schedule, leaving the Crusnes sector's western flank exposed.
  Ouvrage Ferme Chappy, a two-block petit ouvrage, was now the westernmost extant outpost of the Maginot Line.  While it was not in itself strong, it was well within the ranges of the guns of Fermont and Latiremont. Although the interval troops had escaped, by the 17th the Crusnes sector had been enveloped by the Germans from the east and west. Retreat was impossible. Through the day on 17 June, two 8.89cm anti-tank guns of the German 183rd Infantry Division fired at Fermont's Block 4, breaching it after 160 rounds, but stopping, unaware that they had nearly succeeded in knocking out the position. The damage was repaired overnight. The German 161st Infantry Division took over the next day.  Under the impression that morale in the ouvrages was low, the division's commander, Lieutenant General Hermann Wilck ordered an attack on Ferme-Chappy and Fermont for 21 June. The assaults failed under fire from the two ouvrages and supporting fire from Latiremont. Casualties were 46 German dead and 251 wounded, with two French dead, one each at Fermont and Ferme-Chappy. The Germans were allowed to retrieve their dead and wounded under a flag of truce. An assault against Latiremont was cancelled  when the army group commander, General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb ordered all attacks against Maginot fortifications to stop, as a waste of resources. Action between the 21st and the date of the June 25 armistice was limited to sporadic shelling and, on the French side, to firing off ammunition at the Germans before it could be captured.
  Other German formations carried out harassing attacks on Aumetz and Bréhain, as well as on individual casemates. Moving behind the French lines, the Germans were able to cut
caption: Fermont entrance
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