page_title: Ouvrage Thonnelle
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ouvrage Thonnelle / History
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le bloc 3 (entrée) de l'Ouvrage de Thonnelle English: The block 3 (entrance) at the work of Thonnelle
context_page_description: Ouvrage Thonnelle is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line, located in the Fortified Sector of Montmédy between the towns of Thonnelle and Verneuil-Petit, facing Belgium. It possesses four combat blocks. It is located between gros ouvrages Vélosnes and Chesnois. The position was sabotaged and abandoned by French forces that were ordered to retreat from the exposed position in June 1940 during the Battle of France. The ouvrage is abandoned.
context_section_description: During the Battle of France the garrisons of the Tête de Pont de Montmédy were ordered to withdraw the night of 10–11 June 1940 to straighten French lines. The fortifications' arms and infrastructure were sabotaged before they were abandoned. Evacuation was complete by 12 June. The German 169th Infantry Division  advanced to take possession of Thonnelle and other ouvrages in the salient  on 13 June 1940. The nearby Ouvrage La Ferté was less fortunate. It had already been taken by the Germans, its entire garrison killed, on 20 May. The fate of La Ferté influenced the decision to evacuate the remaining three positions.
  The area saw no action during the Lorraine Campaign of 1944. The interior of the ouvrage had been stripped by the Germans, and again after the war by scrap dealers.
caption: Block 3
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