Ouvrage Saint Ours Bas

44°28′17″N 6°48′32″E / 44.47133°N 6.80881°E / 44.47133; 6.80881Site informationControlled byFranceOpen to
the publicYesSite historyBuilt byCORFIn usePreservedMaterialsConcrete, steelBattles/warsItalian invasion of France

Ouvrage Saint Ours Bas
Type of work:	Small artillery work (Petit ouvrage)
sector └─sub-sector	Fortified Sector of the Dauphiné, Vallée de l'Ubaye └─Ubaye-Ubayette, Quartier Meyronnes
Regiment:	83rd BAF
Number of blocks:	1
Strength:	1 officer, 24 men

Ouvrage Saint Ours Bas is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one infantry block. The location is unusual in lacking the underground galleries typical of a Maginot fortification, making it more like a blockhouse than an ouvrage. It was armed with two machine gun cloches and three heavy twin machine guns and six light machine gun embrasures.^[1] The interior is laid out on two levels.^[2]

Construction began in July 1931, and cost 4.2 million francs to complete.^[3] The position controlled movement along RN 100.

See Fortified Sector of the Dauphiné for a broader discussion of the Dauphiné sector of the Alpine Line.

Present condition

Saint-Ours Bas has been preserved and is now a museum, associated with Ouvrage Saint Ours Haut, as part of the Museum of Saint-Ours-Bas.^[4]

See also

• List of Alpine Line ouvrages

References

Bibliography

• Allcorn, William. The Maginot Line 1928-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-646-1
• Kaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W. Fortress France: The Maginot Line and French Defenses in World War II, Stackpole Books, 2006. ISBN 0-275-98345-5
• Kaufmann, J.E., Kaufmann, H.W., Jancovič-Potočnik, A. and Lang, P. The Maginot Line: History and Guide, Pen and Sword, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84884-068-3
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 1. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2001. ISBN 2-908182-88-2 (in French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 4 - La fortification alpine. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009. ISBN 978-2-915239-46-1 (in French)
• Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 5. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009. ISBN 978-2-35250-127-5 (in French)

External links

• Saint-Ours (petit ouvrage bas) at fortiff.be (in French)
• Base Mérimée: Ouvrage d'infanterie dit ouvrage bas de Saint-Ours, de l'organisation défensive de l'Ubaye, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)

Fortified Sector of Savoy (La Tarentaise)Fortified Sector of Savoy (La Maurienne)Fortified Sector of the DauphinéFortified Sector of the Maritime AlpsCorsica