Ouvrage Cap Martin
Ouvrage Cap Martin is a work (gros ouvrage) of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The ouvrage, located on high ground in Roquebrune, consists of two artillery blocks and one combination block facing Italy. The ouvrage was at the southernmost end of the Alpine Line and overlooked the Mediterranean Sea coastline at an altitude of 21 meters between Nice and Menton, facing towards Italy. The ouvrage and its advance casemate at Pont Saint Louis controlled the coastal roads along the Mediterranean. Description The ouvrage was built between October 1930 and October 1933 by a contractor named Borie, at a cost of 17 million francs, of which 1.6 million francs were for property acquisition and 2,776,000 francs were for the fort's armament. Three observatories reported to Cap Martin. Block 1 (entry): one FM embrasure, two machine gun cloches, one grenade launcher cloche, two 81mm mortars Block 2: (bloc de barrage) one 75mm gun, two twin machine guns and one observation cloche. Block 2 covered the plain of Menton and supported the casemate at Pont Saint Louis. The block was damaged during the German retreat in 1944. Block 3: (flanking block) two 75mm guns,