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Friday 24 January updated on 01-24-2025 at 8:06
Friday 24 January updated on 01-24-2025 at 8:06
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![[Translate to English:]](/fileadmin/user_upload/headergeants.jpg "[Translate to English:]")
Often considered a natural rampart, the Alps are however not impassable. Through the presence of the Petit-Saint-Bernard, Bonhomme and Iseran passes, the Haute-Tarentaise valley has brought together important places of passage since prehistoric times. Since Antiquity, the Petit-Saint-Bernard pass has been a link between local Alpine populations. During the Roman conquest, Emperor Augustus completed the construction of the Roman road. Troops, sovereigns, pilgrims, merchants, bankers and peddlers cross paths on the roads. At the end of the Middle Ages, the County of Savoie controlled five crucial passes, including the Petit and Grand Saint-Bernard.
« “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 against Prussia and its German allies, I invented a defense 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," military personnel responsible for postal services, are eagerly awaited by soldiers isolated in the fortifications. On the road to the fort of Truc, they are accompanied by Saint Bernard dogs, used for pulling sleds or for mountain rescues.
