Bersillies Ouvrage

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Ouvrage de Bersillies is a small work of the Maginot Line, in the Maubeuge fortified sector, near the Belgian border. Approved in 1934 and built from 1934 to 1938 at a cost of about 6.04 million francs, it forms part of the "new fronts" programme. It was fitted out inside an old trapezoidal fort of the Séré de Rivières system (1884–1895), surrounded by a ditch, which had surrendered with the other Maubeuge forts in September 1914. In May 1940, the garrison under Captain Pujade (97 men and 3 officers of the 84th RIF) resisted the attack of the German 28th Division; after the bombardment of 23 May, which destroyed cupolas and air intakes, it surrendered the work. The site, owned by a hunting society, is not open to visitors but retains numerous murals painted by the garrison.