Battle of France In early June in the face of the German assault, all fortress units attached to the Fifth Army were ordered to prepare for withdrawal to the south and west. While fortress units under the 2nd, 3rd and 8th Armies received categorical instructions to prepare to sabotage their positions and conduct an orderly retreat from 14 to 17 June, Fifth Army commander General Bourret's instructions to the SFs Rohrbach, Vosges, Haguenau and Lower Rhine were not as definitive. The personnel of the 43rd CAF (formerly SF Vosges) were to be consolidated into a
Division de Marche entitled the DM
Senselme, consisting of the 154e and 165e RIFs, along with the 143 CIF (company), the V/400e RP (
régiment de position) and the 59e RARF (''régiment d'artillerie le la région fortifié
). A partial withdrawal of fortress troops took place in the SF Vosges, with some battalions of each fortress infantry regiment remaining in their positions until the armistice to cover the withdrawal of the interval troops and the fortress infantry assigned to the divisions de marche''. On 19 June 1940, the German
215th Infantry Division attacked in the area immediately to the west of Lembach, between the river Schwartzbach and Lembach. The German objective was to break the blockhouse line between Lembach and Grand-Hohékirkel. An infantry assault on the line captured several positions. Fire support from the
ouvrages was hampered by bombing attacks and a lack of observing positions . Lembach and Four-à-Chaux were bombed by
Stukas with no significant effect on their defenses. Four-à-Chaux's 135mm and 75mm gun turrets fired on the Germans throughout the day. However, by the end of the day the Germans had captured twenty-two casemates and blockhouses, granting the 215th ID freedom to move behind the Maginot Line and to bypass the heavier fortifications. It moved on to the vicinity of Haguenau and secured the
Pechelbronn oilfield. The next day an attack on the
ouvrages was repelled with artillery support from
Hochwald. The German advance continued into the Vosges and Alsace, but did not directly attack the
ouvrages. Lembach, Four-à-Chaux and Hochwald formally surrendered on 1 July 1940.
Units The 154th RIF was stationed in the Philippsbourg sub-sector. The regiment absorbed the 21st battalion of the 37th RIF on 16 March 1940. From 7 May, the 154th RIF took fire from German positions. On 12 June, the advanced posts near the border were abandoned. Some elements of the 154th RIF withdrew to Biberkirch and La Valette. The units were finally captured near the Col du Donon on 23 and 24 June, while the units that remained in their casemates surrendered on 30 June. The 165th RIF was deployed in the sub-sector of Langensoultzbach. On 14 June the regiment detached machine gun battalions to the DM
Senselme to defend the
Marne–Rhine Canal in the area of Arzviller, but fell back to
Dabo and were finally captured near
Mont Donon on 25 June.The fortress troops who remained in their positions surrendered on 1 July.
1944 and 1945 At the end of November 1944 the
U.S. Seventh Army under General
Alexander Patch had reached the Vosges region. Grand-Hohékirkel was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. Otterbiel and Grand-Hohékirkel were to be the next positions to be attacked by the
U.S. 100th Infantry Division, but the planned operation was disrupted by the
Battle of the Bulge. The Seventh Army withdrew to cover areas vacated by the
U.S. Third Army, which moved to confront the German offensive. The 100th returned in March 1945 attacked the area on a broad front. Grand-Hohékirkel was lightly defended, and the Americans, backed up by heavy artillery, were able to capture Grand-Hohékirkel and the
Ensemble de Bitche with few casualties.
Môle de Bitche Following World War II, the French military reclaimed the Maginot Line with the aim of renovating and improving it against a possible attack by
Warsaw Pact forces. Four-à-Chaux and Lembach were grouped with Hochwald and Schoenenbourg from the SF Haguenau. They were designated the
môle de Bitche ("breakwater") in 1951 and were placed back into service after a period of rehabilitation. Schiesseck, Otterbiel (in the SF Rohrbach) and Grand-Hohékirkel, located at the Camp de Bitche army training center, were used for training in fortress systems and weapons. During Exercise
Turenne at Grand-Hohékirkel in 1953, firing exercises cast doubt on the combat viability of the exposed cloches, which had proved vulnerable to German fire in the war. A follow-up exercise (
Hoche) did, however, confirm that casemate positions remained secure against 90mm-equivalent gunfire, using
AMX-13 and
M47 Patton tanks to fire on embrasures. After the establishment of the
French nuclear strike force, the importance of the Line declined, and maintenance ceased in the 1970s, with most of the casemates were sold. ==Present status==