Drocourt-Quéant Line

The Drocourt-Quéant Line (German: Wotan Stellung) was a set of mutually supporting defensive lines constructed by Germany between the French cities of Drocourt and Quéant during World War I. This defensive system was part of the northernmost section of the Hindenburg Line, a vast German defensive system that ran through northeastern France.

Contents

Description

The Drocourt-Quéant Line ran between the French cities of Drocourt and Quéant and was part of a defensive system that ran from a point within the Hindenburg Line, eleven miles west of Cambrai, northward to within seven miles west of Douai and terminated along the front east of Armentières.[1] The Drocourt-Quéant Line was a system in depth and incorporated a number of mutually supporting lines of defence. The system consisted of a front line system and a support line system, each consisting of two lines of trenches.[2] The system incorporated numerous fortifications including concrete bunkers, machine gun posts and heavy belts of barbed wire.[2]

Defeat

The D-Q line was overwhelmed in attacks by the Canadian Corps on the 2 and 3 September 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive, also known as Canada's Hundred Days

Memorials

The Canadian Dury Memorial commemorates the Canadian Corps' attack on the Drocourt-Quéant Line in 1918.

References

  1. ^ History of the Corps of Royal Engineers’ (Volume V), Chatham, The Institution of Royal Engineers, 1952, p.416, f.n.1.
  2. ^ a b Military Operations. France and Belgium, 1918’ (Volume IV), compiled by Brigadier-General Sir James E Edmonds, London, HMSO, 1947, p.396

External links