Fortified Sector of the Escaut

The Fortified Sector of the Escaut (Secteur Fortifié de l'Escaut), also known as the Fortified Sector of the Schelde, was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line between the French border with Belgium and Valenciennes, a distance of about 30 kilometres (19 mi). Named for the Escaut River (more commonly known as the Schelde), the Maginot line in the Escaut sector consists of a single position, the petit ouvrage Eth, together with its supporting casemate Jeanlain, as well as an upgraded fort of the Séré de Rivières system, the Fort de Maulde. The remainder of the sector's fortifications consist of blockhouses and casemates arranged along a line of principal resistance about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) behind the frontier, with a second line on the edge of the Raismes Forest. The Escaut sector and the Fortified Sector of Maubeuge were the final sections of the Maginot line to be authorized, and were termed the "New Fronts." The Escaut sector was attacked during the Battle of France in late May 1940, resisting for a few days.

Initial work in the sector established a series of casemates in the Raismes Forest, between Valenciennes and the Belgian border. The casemates were built by the Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées (CORF), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency. As the fortification of the Escaut Front was commenced later than the main section of the Line to the east, funds were restricted by the impact of the Great Depression, which had reached France. The plan was also affected by political considerations, in which the fortification of the Belgian frontier was seen as a betrayal of the French plan for forward defense on Belgian territory. Most of the Escaut blockhouses built in 1936-37 were built under local initiatives to designs by the Army Engineering Service Section Technique du Génie (STG). The CORF lines in the Raismes Forest were augmented by lesser positions in the principal line of resistance constructed in 1936-37. In 1940 a few hasty fortifications were built to the rear of Valenciennes under the authority of the Study Commission for the Fortified Zones (Commission des Études des Zones Fortifiées" (CEZF) ).

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