Fort de la Pompelle: A First World War Defensive Fort near Reims
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page8 sections
History
Fort de la Pompelle is a French military fort in Puisieulx, France, southeast of Reims. Built between 1880 and 1883 in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, it formed part of the Séré de Rivières system, a network of forts created to protect France’s eastern frontier and important cities. The work completed Reims’s fortified belt and served as a secondary position supporting the principal forts at Montbré, Nogent-l’Abbesse, Berru, Witry-lès-Reims, Fresne, Brimont, and Saint-Thierry.
Construction and changing names
The fort was initially known as Pompelle, a name associated with an annual procession that reached a roadside cross near the site. It was temporarily renamed Fort Herbillon after General Émile Herbillon. A presidential decree put into effect by War Minister Georges Boulanger on 21 January 1887 required forts and other military installations to bear the names of former commanders. Boulanger’s successor, Théophile Ferron, reversed the measure on 13 October 1887, and the fort returned to the name Pompelle.
Fort de la Pompelle was designed as an artillery position rather than chiefly as an infantry stronghold. It was disarmed in 1913, but its position became important soon afterward when the First World War reached the Reims sector.
Capture and First World War defense
German forces occupied the fort without combat on 4 September 1914. French troops of the 138th Infantry Regiment retook it on 24 September, following the First Battle of the Marne. That September 1914 battle halted the German advance toward Paris and left Fort de la Pompelle in French hands as part of the defense of Reims.
During the war, the fort endured repeated German infantry attacks, bombardments, and mining operations. About 180 regiments took turns defending it, and the garrison sometimes numbered between 1,500 and 2,000 men. Two special Russian brigades sent by Tsar Nicholas II also served there in 1916. Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, dispatched Russian troops to France as part of the Franco-Russian alliance. More broadly, 17,000 Russian soldiers were sent to France, and Russian units fought in the Reims area for nine months, from July 1916 to March 1917.
French naval gunboats positioned on the canal between Sept-Saulx and Courmelois supported the fort by shelling German positions. Fort de la Pompelle was attacked three times during the spring 1918 fighting connected with the Second Battle of the Marne, a major German offensive followed by an Allied counteroffensive. During the assault of 1 June, which involved 15 armored vehicles, German troops briefly captured the fort. Units of the 1st Colonial Army Corps under General Mazillier then retook it. French forces held the position until the Armistice, and the fort was among the Reims defenses that experienced the heaviest fighting.
The struggle around Fort de la Pompelle formed part of the wider battle that devastated Reims during the First World War. The fort also became associated with the death of French fighter pilot René Dorme, who was shot down over it in 1917 by the German pilot Heinrich Kroll. Its wartime history later appeared in Raymond Bernard’s 1931 film Les Croix de Bois.
Preservation and museum history
After the war, the fort stood abandoned for nearly forty years. The Administration des Domaines offered it for sale in November 1955, but veterans’ associations objected. The Fédération Nationale André Maginot acquired the property and transferred it to the City of Reims for one symbolic franc. Reims has remained the owner.
The fort was classified as a historic monument on 23 March 1922. Protection was extended in 1951 to the fort, its access route, and its surroundings, while the land was registered in 1952. On 11 November 1968, Mayor Jean Taittinger declared the fort and its grounds part of Reims’s civic heritage, recognizing the sacrifice of the thousands who had defended the city.
The Musée du Fort de la Pompelle opened on 10 November 1972. Colonel Abrial initiated the museum, and Colonel Raoul Jahan de Lestang subsequently developed it. During the First World War centenary commemorations, the fort underwent renovation that improved the surrounding grounds, added rooms, and revised the museum presentation. A Russian commemorative monument was inaugurated at the fort on 4 September 2010 in memory of the Russian expeditionary force that fought in the Reims area.
Remains
Plan and defensive construction
Fort de la Pompelle occupies 2.31 hectares near present-day Route Départementale 944, formerly the Nationale 44, between Reims and Châlons-en-Champagne. Its relatively small rectangular plan has a bluntly re-entrant gorge, the rear side of the fort. Stone and brick form the main construction, while approximately 2.5 metres of earth covered the roof.
A ditch encircled the fort and was protected by a steel fence. A drawbridge crossed the gorge ditch, and two flanking galleries on either side of the entrance helped defend this rear approach. A double caponier, a fortified structure projecting into a ditch so defenders could fire along it, protected the front and left flank from the left shoulder. A single caponier performed the same role on the right flank.
Artillery and wartime modifications
The fort’s artillery included six 155 mm de Bange guns, French rifled breech-loading weapons designed by Charles de Bange and widely used in the late nineteenth century. Four 138 mm guns, five revolving cannons for flanking defense, and machine guns added to its firepower. Three older 12-pounder guns remained among the equipment used to defend the ditch.
During 1917 and 1918, underground passages were cut through the chalk behind the fort. These passages provided relatively protected access points several hundred metres to the rear. Heavy bombardment during the First World War left the fort in a ruined condition, while its accessible portion now accommodates the museum.
Museum collections and memorial features
The museum presents 560 German military headpieces formerly assembled by Charles Friesé. The collection is described as unique in the world. Other displayed material includes sabres, trench art, tankards, medals, uniforms, and objects connected with military aviation. Items identified at the site include a 155 mm GPF cannon, a trench-art clock, German and Russian military headgear, a beer stein, sabres, and a Vauthier boundary marker.
An ossuary dated 1923 forms part of the fort’s commemorative remains. The Russian monument erected in 2010 recalls the Russian troops who served in the Reims sector, while a memorial plaque commemorates René Dorme and his death over the fort in 1917. Together with the surviving military fabric and museum collections, these features preserve the fort’s place in the defense of Reims during the First World War.
