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Monday 23 December updated on 12-23-2024 at 8:06
Monday 23 December updated on 12-23-2024 at 8:06
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The prices and visiting days are available on My week at Les Arcs or at the Tourist Offices.
The Quartier des Alpins in Bourg-Saint-Maurice hosted the Diables Bleus of the 7th Battalion of Alpine Hunters (BCA) until 2012. This memorial site offers an opportunity to discover the Haute Tarentaise valley and the defensive structures built to protect and control communication routes to Italy. It provides a chance to explore the local military history, including its organization, the construction of fortifications, the battles, and the men who gave their lives for our freedom and peace.
« I am General R. A. Séré de Rivières. I was director of fortifications from 1873 to 1880. After 1871, the date of France’s defeat by Prussia and its German allies, I invented a defence system that bears my name.»
Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières (1815-1895)
Thus, above the town, a defensive system was built from 1890 to 1894 with:
• The Vulmix interdiction fort (1065 m).
• The Truc protection fort (1550 m).
• The Platte surveillance blockhouse (2000 m).
• The Redoute Ruinée on the ridge overlooking the hospice at the Petit Saint-Bernard Pass (2400 m).
In 1913, this system was completed with 3 batteries placed on the ridge of the Malgovert forest.
Each fortified structure has a specific mission with designated armament and garrison:
• The Vulmix battery, equipped with 8 cannons, protects the road to the Petit Saint-Bernard Pass, the Montrigon bridge, and the railway bridge.
• The Truc fort defends both Vulmix with 2 cannons and potential enemy advances on the heights with 6 additional cannons.
• The Platte blockhouse monitors the valley. It serves as barracks and houses 4 cannons.
• The Redoute Ruinée fort oversees the strategic Petit Saint-Bernard Pass.
Fort: A fortified structure designed to defend a location. It has a protective enclosure and barracks for its garrison.
Battery: Unlike a fort, a battery is a fortification that does not have barracks for its soldiers.
Blockhouse: A small fortified structure for the defense of a specific point.
Structure: Synonym for fort and battery.
Casemate: A small fortified structure or shelter protected from shellfire.
Outpost: A position located in front of the main line of defense.
Redoubt: A small isolated and enclosed fortification.
Special concrete: High-strength concrete (400 kg of cement per m3).
The vaguemestres, soldiers of the military postal service, were eagerly awaited by soldiers isolated in the fortifications. On the way to Fort du Truc they were accompanied by Saint-Bernard dogs which were used to pull sledges or during mountain rescues.
