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Ouvrage Hackenberg - my forensic eye matched up the stains on the wall, despite the heroic (and understandable) efforts to delete the tell-tale signage.

 

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/84266591.jpg

 

I'm curious - was that heavy, insulator-mounted metal bar across the whole front above the doors and windows an electrified defence system? Or a detector of some kind? Or just an exposed power line?

Andy,

 

I asked exactly the same question and just got blank looks. You are totally correct, the Hackenberg Ouvrage. Having just read the history of the Maginot line, what a sad litany of errors, not helped by France being stabbed in the back by Leopold III of Belgium's cancellation of the joint defence strategy in 1934 and absurd declaration of neutrality. Obviously another leader who learns nothing from history. This would have built a series of jointly manned forts on Belgium's much more defensible eastern frontier, rather than the hopless task of building in the flat and boggy Pas de Calais. The other major problem was the over-centralisation of French military command, which allowed little to no room for manoeuvre for field commanders, to permit flexible defense of the gaps between the grand ouvrages. When central command suffered from terminal indecision and paralysis, the field commands just froze, awaiting orders, which rarely if ever arrived.

 

The Hackenberg Ouvrage is well worth a visit. They have got most of its internal narrow gauge electric railway running again. It was in action again in late 1944, manned by the Wermacht, fighting against Patton's tank corps. It held the progress up for some time, while only manned by a tiny number of troops.

 

Your turn

 

Wilson

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Let see what happens with this.

 

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Mike got it. Although in this scale, the Guardsman does look a bit like a wax model...

I've always imagined it wouldn't be much fun to live in these, surrounded by tourists at all times, at least thew bulk of their living quarters is outside the keep and not accessible by the public.

 

I'll see what I can dig out in the way of a building this evening.

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Name this building:

 

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OK. This may be no challenge to some. The name of the building would be a minimum, and a little more salient detail will get you a small discount on something you don't really want. If you can correctly provide the name and serial number of the lens I used, there will be an honourable mention in my Christmas Card list.

 

BTW. I will be on the road Friday - Sunday so responses may lack haste.

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