Maison Forte n°11 de la Hatrelle

Maison forte n°11, known as the Hatrelle, is an advanced roadside defensive post located near the Belgian border in the Ardennes. Designed to monitor access routes, delay surprise attacks and alert the main line of resistance, it comprises a blockhouse for anti-tank and FM guns, topped by a house housing the garrison. Armed with a 37 mm cannon, machine guns, grenades and anti-tank mines, the post was manned by just six men - a non-commissioned officer, a corporal and four privates - belonging to the 15th company of the 147th RIF. On May 12, 1940, Sergeant Lhernoux, having received no evacuation order, suddenly found himself facing the armored Kampfgruppe Krüger. The position, wisely set up at the foot of a hill opposite a bridge that had just been destroyed, proved formidable. The first two German tanks were destroyed within minutes. Barbed wire, anti-tank mines and terrain prevented any evasive action. For three hours, a handful of men armed with an old 1916 cannon stopped an enemy armored column, until an order to withdraw was finally given by a cavalryman from the 12th GRCA. Today, the fortified house lies in ruins.