Mont Chaberton

Mont Chaberton
Southeast face of Chaberton
Highest point
Elevation	3,131 m (10,272 ft)
Prominence	1,281 m (4,203 ft)
Parent peak	Pic de Rochebrune
Listing	Alpine mountains above 3000 m
Coordinates	44°57′25″N 6°45′04″E / 44.95694°N 6.75111°E / 44.95694; 6.75111Coordinates: 44°57′25″N 6°45′04″E / 44.95694°N 6.75111°E / 44.95694; 6.75111
Geography
Mont Chaberton France
Location	Hautes-Alpes, France
Parent range	Cottian Alps

Mont Chaberton is a 3,131 metres (10,272 ft) peak in the French Alps in the group known as the Massif des Cerces in the département of Hautes-Alpes.

Chaberton is in the municipality of Montgenèvre in the Briançonnais region. It is easily recognisable by its pyramidal shape and flat top.

Until 1947 Mont Chaberton was in Italy, located in the municipality of Cesana Torinese.

In 1883 Italy joined the Triple Alliance and started strengthening its defences against France. Between 1898 and 1910 Italian troops built an artillery battery on the summit that pointed towards France, in particular at the town of Briançon, and the pass to Italy over the Col de Montgenèvre. A road was built to the summit from the village of Fénils in the Susa Valley by soldiers and engineers led by Major Engineer Luigi Pollari Maglietta. They flattened the summit by about 6 metres to provide a surface for the eight towers. Their height of 12 metres was designed to overcome the highest snowfall recorded.

Each emplacement was manned by seven men, who were protected by a relatively lightly armoured dome because the battery was thought to be out of reach of conventional artillery. Eight 149mm guns were mounted in the individual masonry towers. The fort was dubbed the "Fort of the Clouds" because it was often hidden in the clouds.

During the First World War, when Italy entered the war alongside the Triple Entente, the guns were removed to be used on the front against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Under the Benito Mussolini's regime, Chaberton was rearmed again to threaten Briançon. In 1940, the garrison had about 340 men under the command of Captain Spartaco Bevilacqua.

The French army installed four 280mm mortars dating back to the battle of Verdun in the First World War, divided into two batteries and camouflaged: one on Eyrette, the other at Poët Morand below Fort de l'Infernet. Both sites were outside the view of the Italians. These two sections manned by the 6th Battery of the 154th Régiment d'Artillerie de Position (154th RAP). Because of the altitude of the mortars and their target, special artillery tables had to be calculated.