Fort Decaen

From 1890 the garrison manned by the Corps XVI, stationed at Metz and Thionville. When it was taken over by the French army in 1919, the fort was renamed Fort Decaen. It was taken in 1940 by the Germans, who occupied it 1940–1944. Fort Decaen is no longer in use.

In early September 1944, at beginning of the Battle of Metz, and the German command integrated the defensive system set up around Metz. On September 2, 1944, Metz was declared one of the "Hitler fortresses", that must be defended to the last by German troops.^[4] The next day, September 3, 1944, the troops of General Walther Krause took position on a line from Pagny-sur-Moselle to Mondelange, passing west of Metz by Chambley-Bussières, Mars-la-Tour, Jarny and Briey. After an initial withdrawal on 6 September 1944, German lines rested firmly on the Forts of Metz. On November 9, 1944, as a prelude to the Allied assault on Metz, as many as 1,299 heavy bombers, B-17s and B-24s, dumped hundreds of bombs on fortifications and strategic points in the combat zone of the United States IIIrd army.^[5] Most bombers dropped their bombs without visibility from over 20,000 feet, so the military targets were often missed. At Metz the 689 loads of bombs destined to strike the seven forts, designated as priority targets, did nothing but collateral damage.^[6]

The Fort Jeanne d'Arc was the last of the forts of Metz to surrender. Determined German resistance, bad weather and floods, inopportunity, and a general tendency to underestimate the firepower of the fortifications of Metz, helped slow the US offensive, giving the opportunity to the German Army to withdraw in good order to the Saarland.^[7] The objective of the German staff, which was to stall US troops for the longest possible time at Metz before they could reach the Siegfried Line, was largely achieved.

• Fortifications of Metz

• Cole, Hugh M. (1950), The Lorraine Campaign, Washington, Center of Military History{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)