Fort de Battice The Fort of Battice ( ) is a Belgian fortification located just to the east of the town of Battice . The fort was built in the 1930s as part of the fortified position of Liège , augmenting the twelve original forts built to defend Liège in the 1880s with four more forts closer to the Belgian frontier with Germany . Battice is nearly as large as the more famous Fort Eben - Emael . Work began in April 1934 , with some finish work continuing in 1940 when war broke out . Following the successful German surprise attack on Eben - Emael , Battice held out against the Germans until 22 May 1940 ( 12 days ) . On 28 May 1940 all Belgian forces surrendered . Battice has been preserved and may be visited by the public . Situation . The fort is located between Fort d ' Aubin - Neufchâteau to the north and the Fort de Tancrémont to the south , about east of Liège . Tancrémont and Aubin - Neufchâteau are smaller than Eben - Emael and Battice . Collectively , the line was known as the Fortified Position of Liège I ( " Position Fortifiée de Liège 1 " ( PFL I ) ) , the original Liège forts constituting PFL II . Description . The Fort de Battice was a greatly enlarged development of the original Belgian fortifications designed by General Henri Alexis Brialmont before World War I . Even in its larger form , the fort comprised a relatively compact ensemble of gun turrets and observation posts , surrounded by a defended ditch . This was in contrast with French thinking for the contemporary Maginot Line fortifications , which were based on the dispersed " fort palmé " concept , with no clearly defined perimeter , a lesson learned from the experiences of French and Belgian forts in World War I . The new Belgian forts , while more conservative in design than the French " ouvrages " , included several new features as a result of World War I experience . The gun turrets were less closely grouped . Reinforced concrete was used in place of plain mass concrete , and its placement was done with greater care to avoid weak joints between pours . Ventilation was greatly improved , magazines were deeply buried and protected , and sanitary facilities and general living arrangements for the troops were given careful attention . Battice , along with Eben - Emael , featured 120 mm and 75 mm guns , giving the fort the ability to bombard targets across a wide area of eastern Liège region . The 120 mm guns had sufficient range to provide artillery cover to Tancrémont and Aubin - Neufchâteau , but not with 75 mm guns , nor could the other forts ' 75 mm guns or Eben - Emael ' s 120 mm guns reach Battice . The Fort de Battice comprised at least twelve combat blocks just to the east of Battice , north of the present - day E40 highway . The roughly pentagonal fort has a surface area of about , of a total site area of about . The fort was armed similarly to Eben - Emael in both scale and equipment , only with fewer 60 mm anti - personnel guns . All of Battice ' s heavy artillery was housed in turrets , while Eben - Emael also disposed heavy guns in casemate s . The fort also included counterscarp positions arranged to fire along the ditches with 47 mm guns , machine guns and grenade launchers , one designated B . IVce . Three blocks designated B . J . , B . O . and B . W . provided air and access . B . W . was located above the main living accommodations and was the combat entrance , armed with machine guns , while J and O were emergency exits . All were outside the defended perimeter , above deeply buried galleries . Block B . I also served as an entrance , with truck access along the railway grade . The subterranean accommodations and utilities are outside the surface perimeter . The fort included a false 120 mm cupola . The subterranean galleries total about of passages buried between and below the surface , linking troop accommodations , a command post , ammunition magazines and utility plants . Personnel . In 1940 Battice was commanded by Commandant - Captain Guery of the 5th Battalion of the Liègeois Fortress Regiment . The battalion was commanded by Major Bovy from Battice . Major Bovy had been hospitalized on 6 May for heart problems , but returned to the fort on the 10th at 0430 . He died of a heart attack at 0600 the same day . History . The Fort de Battice was largely complete by 1940 . On 10 May 1940 German forces attacked all four PFL I forts , having largely neutralized Eben - Emael by airborne assault and driving its garrison below , unable to operate the fort ' s turrets . Battice supported Tancrémont and Aubin - Neufchâteau with suppressing fire , as well as Fléron and Evegnée . German 305 mm mortars fired on Battice on the 12th without significant damage . German infantry attacks started on the 13th . On 21 May Block B . I ' s sally port had been struck by an aerial bomb . A nine - hour cease - fire was negotiated to remove the thirty dead and four survivors . After Aubin - Neufchâteau was forced to surrender , the German commander , General Fedor von Bock demanded the surrender of Battice and Tancrémont . Battice finally surrendered on 22 May after twelve days of fighting 34 defenders were killed in action and 36 died while prisoners of war , out of a garrison of 939 personnel . Present day . The fort is preserved and open for public tours . Much of the fort ' s equipment and armament was removed during and after World War II . A memorial to the 36 dead is located on the side of Block B . I .