MEASURES AND EXCESSES OF THE MAGINOT LINE VOL. 2 - Infantry Casemates and Casemate Blocks

Second title in a series of books that Frédéric Lisch devotes to the components of the Maginot Line.

The volume covers the 1929 and 1930 model casemates, armoured casemates, blockhouses in demolition zones, the 1936 model casemates with offset embrasures, and the casemates and infantry blocks of the Alpine sectors.

At the end of the volume, a chapter devoted specifically to GFM cloches provides further insight into this type of armoured cupola.

Frédéric Lisch details the design and construction of the infantry casemates forming the backbone of the great fortified regions of Metz and the Lauter, as well as the three Alpine fortified sectors. The author's extensive study is the fruit of work begun many years ago through his collaboration with Jean-Bernard Wahl on several of his publications, then with Colonel Philippe Truttmann on the infographics for the reprint of La Muraille de France, the definitive reference on the history of the Maginot Line.

Reading through the chapters, one discovers the most modern fortification system of its era: an immense line of well-defiladed casemates providing mutual flanking cover and perfectly supported by the artillery of the major ouvrages. The Battle of France in 1940 would demonstrate their solid resistance, particularly in the Alps. The few casemates or ouvrages taken by the Germans in the North-East were the consequence of a tragic staff error, leaving certain works isolated by withdrawing their artillery support or interval troops. In the Alps, at the end of June 1940, the Maginot barriers repelled all Italian attacks, enabling victory in the Battle of the Alps at the very heart of France's catastrophic defeat.

Despite this disaster, France retained its empire, its national navy, an armistice army and a free zone. The high technical standard and solid resistance of the Maginot Line, principally in the Alps, convinced the Swiss Confederation to rapidly construct, in 1940 and 1941, a formidable national redoubt at the heart of the country, with numerous artillery ouvrages and infantry casemates, thereby deterring any attack by the German or Italian armies.

Frédéric Lisch's superb original infographics allow the reader to fully understand the technical choices made to achieve the greatest possible structural resistance while maintaining the best effectiveness of the defensive fields of fire — whether flanking or overhead coverage of the casemates.

In his books, the author pays tribute to the designers, but also to the politicians who decided to build this formidable fortification during the troubled years of 1928 to 1940. All too often disparaged by certain historians who regard it as a symbol of defeat, Frédéric Lisch demonstrates in this book that the Maginot Line was an extraordinary defensive achievement by France.