Ouvrage Otterbiel

Ouvrage Otterbiel
Part of Maginot Line
Northeast France
Front of Block 2: the embrasure on the right is equipped with an AC 47 anti-tank gun
Ouvrage Otterbiel
Coordinates	49°03′48″N 7°26′23″E / 49.06333°N 7.43972°E / 49.06333; 7.43972
Site information
Owner	French Army
Controlled by	France
Site history
Built by	CORF
Materials	Concrete, steel, deep excavation
Battles/wars	Battle of France, Lorraine Campaign, Battle of the Bulge

Ouvrage Otterbiel
Type of work:	Small artillery work (Petit ouvrage)
sector └─sub-sector	Fortified Sector of Rohrbach └─Sub-Sector of Bitche
Work number:	O 400, Ouvrage B
Constructed:	1933
Regiment:	37th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF)
Number of blocks:	5
Strength:	7 officers, 98 men
Localisation

Ouvrage Otterbiel forms part of the Maginot Line in the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach, Sub-sector of Bitche, and is located on the Camp de Bitche of the French Army. It is located between gros ouvrage Schiesseck and petit ouvrage Grand Hohekirkel. Part of the Fortified Sector of Rohrbach, the petit ouvrage comprises four combat blocks and an entry block. Due to budget restrictions, a planned flanking infantry block was never constructed. Otterbiel saw no significant action in the Battle of France, and limited action during the 1944/45 Lorraine Campaign. It was renovated for use during the Cold War. Otterbiel is used for ammunition storage by the French Army.

The site was surveyed by Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées (CORF), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, and was approved for construction in August 1931. The petit ouvrage was initially planned as a gros ouvrage with additional blocks for an 81mm mortar turret and two 75mm gun casemates, as well as a separate personnel entry.

Otterbiel is unusual for having an artillery block in a petit ouvrage, a vestige of its original intention as a gros ouvrage. It also possesses three infantry blocks and a single entry block.

A series of detached casemates and infantry shelters are in the vicinity of Otterbiel, including

In 1939 the garrison comprised 98 men and 7 officers of the 37th Fortress Infantry Regiment under the command of Captain Le Guanec. The units were under the umbrella of the 5th Army The Casernement de Bitche provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Otterbiel and other positions in the area.

Otterbiel saw relatively little action in 1940 compared to its neighbors, and surrendered to the Germans with the rest of the Bitche fortifications on 30 June 1940.

At the end of November 1944 the U.S. Seventh Army under General Alexander Patch had reached the Vosges region. Otterbiel was occupied by elements of the German 25th Panzer Grenadier Division. Otterbiel was to be the next position 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.