Fort des Ayvelles The Fort des Ayvelles , also known as the Fort Dubois - Crancé , is a fortification near the French communes of Villers - Semeuse and Les Ayvelles in the Ardennes , just to the south of Charleville - Mézières . As part of the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications , the fort was planned as part of a new ring of forts replacing the older citadel of Mézières with dispersed fortifications . With advances in the range and destructive power of artillery , the city ' s defensive perimeter had to be pushed away from the city center to the limits of artillery range . The Fort des Ayvelles was the only such fortification to be completed of the ensemble , as resources were diverted elsewhere . At the time of its construction the fort controlled the Meuse and the railway line linking Reims , Montmédy , Givet and Hirson . The Fort des Ayvelles was reduced in status in 1899 , its masonry construction rendered obsolete by the advent of high - explosive artillery shells . However , it was re - manned for the First World War before it was captured by the Germans on 29 August 1914 . The fort was partly destroyed in 1918 . During the Battle of France in 1940 the fort was bombarded . French resisters were executed at Ayvelles during both world wars . At present the fort is maintained by a preservation society , and may be visited . Description . Built starting in 1876 under the direction of Captain Léon Boulenger , the fort was completed in 1878 . The fort ' s four faces form a square perimeter , surrounded by a ditch wide and deep . The fort features particularly elaborate double caponier s to protect the outer wall and ditch on opposite corners , as well as counterscarp s . The caponiers were provided with unique projecting watch - stations , or " échauguettes " . The fort and a subsidiary battery featured Mougin casemates , each armed with a single de Bange Model 1877 155mm gun . The fort possessed 53 artillery pieces in 1899 , manned by 880 men , and disposed in two - level casemates on a north - south line . The battery is about to the east , connected to the main fort by a covered causeway . The caponiers were damaged by both world wars and by the French military in explosives tests in 1960 in preparation for demolition of the urban fortifications of Charleville Mézières . The Mougin gun was removed at about this time , but the casemate remains . In addition to its own Mougin casemate , the pentagonal detached battery was armed with 10 artillery pieces , served by 150 men . The battery was provided with a wall and ditch , with caponiers and counterscarps for defense . The battery was built in 1878 and was never modernized . The battery ' s Mougin casemate was entirely demolished after World War II by the French Army . 1914 . In 1914 the fort was manned by personnel of the French Fourth Army , under the overall command of General Fernand de Langle de Cary . The fort had been hastily garrisoned after the defeat of French forces in Belgium with two companies of the 45th Territorial Infantry Regiment and 300 territorial artillerymen , under the command of Commandant Georges Lévi Alvarès . These were reserve formations , largely composed of local residents . As French forces retreated and maneuvered in the face of the German attack , the fort was the only French force holding almost of the front between Rimogne and Flize . Under these circumstances , Georges Lévi Alvarès requested permission from the Fourth Army to evacuate the fort in the event of German attack . However , before receiving a reply , he decided to evacuate after sabotaging the fort ' s arms . The garrison evacuated on August 25 . Arriving at Boulzicourt , the troops were ordered back to the fort . At the same time , the Germans were preparing a bombardment of the fort . When the garrison returned to the fort on the 26th , the Germans opened fire . The French column retreated . Reaching Launois , the troops were sequestered . Georges Lévi Alvarès , who had remained at the Fort des Ayvelles , committed suicide on the 27th . His body was found by the Germans and was buried nearby , with honors . German forces had bombarded the fort on the 26th and 27th , and waited until the 29th to enter the fort . They stripped the fort of its remaining metals for scrap . While they occupied the area Germans used the Fort des Ayvelles as a munitions depot and as a prison . The fort was the execution site for three French civilians , executed by the Germans between October 1915 and January 1916 . The fort was reoccupied by France at the close of the war in November 1918 . 1940 . In 1940 the Fort des Ayvelles was manned by the second battalion of the French 148th Fortress Infantry Regiment under the command of Commandant Marie , which was in turn part of the weak 102nd Fortress Infantry Division . The 102nd DIF was the successor organization to the Defensive Sector of the Ardennes , which had administered a weak section of the Maginot Line fortifications . The sector was composed principally of scattered casemates and blockhouses , as the French command regarded the Ardennes sector as unsuitable for mechanized warfare . On 14 May 1940 the fort was bombarded by German forces , while the first and third battalions of the 148th RIF faced direct German attack . During the night of 15 May the fort was abandoned by French forces . The remaining troops of the 148th RIF nonetheless found themselves encircled and surrendered . Once again , the fort was the scene of civilian executions , with thirteen members of the French Resistance executed there . The most notable victims were " les quatres cheminots d ' Amagne " ( " the four railway workers of Amagne " ) , René Arnould , Georges Boillot , Robert Stadler and Lucien Maisonneuve , executed on 26 June 1944 for sabotage at the Amagne - Lucqy depot . Blockhouses . Two blockhouses are near the fort , constructed in the 1930s as part of the Defensive Sector of the Ardennes : the Blockhaus du Fort des Ayvelles Sud , and the Blockhaus de Villers - Semeuse . Both were lightly armed . Present status . The fort is maintained by the Association du Fort et de la Batterie des Ayvelles , and may be visited .