page_title: Fortified Sector of Rohrbach
section_title: 1944-45
hierarchical_section_title: Fortified Sector of Rohrbach / History / 1944-45
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le bloc 2 du petit l'ouvrage de l'Otterbiel English: Block 2 at the lesser work of Otterbiel
context_page_description: The Fortified Sector of Rohrbach was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line in the vicinity of Bitche. The sector was bordered to the west by the Fortified Sector of the Sarre and to the east by the Fortified Sector of the Vosges. With lower priority than other sectors, the SF Rohrbach was built somewhat later than its neighbors to the east and west, and in company with positions on the extreme western end of the Maginot Line, became one of the "New Fronts." The sector contains several major ouvrages and was the scene of fighting in both 1940 and 1944. It was attacked in 1940 by German forces in the Battle of France. The sector was heavily engaged by German forces in mid-June 1940, with several casemates and the petit ouvrage Welschhof surrendering before the Second Armistice at Compiègne. The remaining positions and their garrisons finally surrendered on 27 June 1940. In 1944 German forces occupied several positions in the SF Rohrbach, forcing advancing American forces to attack them individually or to bypass them.
context_section_description: American forces reached the Bitche area at the very end of 1944. At the end of November the U.S. Seventh Army under General Alexander Patch pursued the Germans. Simserhof was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division.
  From 15 November the U.S. 44th Infantry Division assaulted Simserhof, using tank destroyers to fire at firing apertures in block 5. Combat engineers were assigned to attack individual blocks. The Germans abandoned Simserhof by an emergency exit after booby-trapping the installations during the night of 19–20 November. The 44th Infantry yielded to the U.S. 100th Infantry Division, which occupied the ouvrage during the first days of 1945.
  Schiesseck was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. From 17 November the 100th Infantry Division assaulted Schiesseck, in December after an aerial and artillery bombardment, even using captured German 8.8cm guns and 8" howitzers. The most effective bombardment used American tank destroyers in direct fire against the position's embrasures. By late on the 18th the Americans occupied the surface in all areas except Block 2, which resisted until 20 December. The following day tank-dozers covered the firing positions and ditches.
  The U.S. 397th Infantry Regiment took up positions around Welschof, with no resistance from the ouvrage, which was not occupied by the Germans. Rohrbach was liberated by advancing American forces on 10 December 1944, after the German evacuated, sabotaging the installation.
  Otterbiel was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. Otterbiel was to be the next position to be attacked by the 100th ID, but the American advance was interrupted by the Battle of the Bulge in late December, followed by the German counter-offensive Operation Nordwind. The Seventh Army was pulled back to occupy positions previously held by the U.S. Third Army, abandoning Schiesseck. The 100th returned on 15 March 1945 and attacked the area on a broad front. Because Schiesseck's visible installations had been effectively destroyed in December, the ouvrage itself played no role in the German defense. Otterbiel was lightly defended, and the Americans, backed up by heavy artillery, were able to capture Otterbiel and the Ensemble de Bitche with few casualties. Bitche was finally liberated on 16 March 1945.
caption: Otterbiel Block 2
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