ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Visiting the Pont-Saint-Louis Casemate, Menton, France: Remembering Some World War Two History

Updated on May 18, 2017
Flag of France
Flag of France | Source
Small bunker, Pont-Saint-Louis, Menton; part of the Maginot Line
Small bunker, Pont-Saint-Louis, Menton; part of the Maginot Line | Source
André Maginot
André Maginot | Source
Map of the Côte d'Azur, France
Map of the Côte d'Azur, France | Source

Part of ill-fated fortifications which were the brainchild of André Maginot

This casemate or casement, built between World Wars One and Two, was an extension of the Maginot Line: the series of fortifications intended to defend France from German (and, in the south, Italian) invasion. The Alpine portion of the Maginot Line is sometimes referred to as the Alpine Line.

Thus, the casemate at Pont-Saint-Louis, Menton, together with fortifications at nearby Cap-Martin with which it was linked in military administration, was the southernmost part of the Maginot Line, which, with breaks at intervals, stretched for hundreds of kilometres. The Maginot Line was the brainchild of André Maginot (1877-1932)(1),

This casement, which up to World War Two was armed with a 37mm anti-tank gun and machine guns, was opened to the public a number of years ago. I was privileged to have the opportunity to be given a brief, guided tour of the facility as the sole visitor. Here into the sheer rock of the Alpine cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean at Menton, France, narrow tunnelling led to storage and accommodation facilities; the Casemate seemed to my unlearned eye to be very solid and almost impregnable.

In essence, this is what it proved to be in 1940. On June 24, 1940, Italian forces attacked, but French troops dug into the Pont-Saint-Louis Casemate held position, being thoroughly well fortified. Rather than expend costly munitions at an overwhelming level, the Italian invaders chose to wait for the Armistice with France, which occurred on June 25; only after the Armistice did French troops dug into the Pont-Saint-Louis Casement voluntarily relinquish their stronghold.

So: success or failure for the Pont-Saint-Louis Casemate? Certainly its defences held, but there is no military weapon against political capitulation.

The Pont-Saint-Louis Casemate is situated at Esplanade Jojo Arnaldi , Menton, in France's Alpes-Maritimes department, on the French Côte d'Azur (see map), very close to the Italian border.

November 6, 2012

Note

(1) André Maginot was successively a French civil servant, decorated soldier, Parliamentary deputy and, later, French Minister of War in the Inter-war years. Following the costly German invasion in World War One which decimated — though did not defeat — France, conceived of fortifications which would run along France's eastern borders in order to ward of any such future invasion. He died in 1932, and thus never learned of the eventual fate of the defence Line which was named for him.

Also worth seeing

At Pont-Saint-Louis , what is now known as the Esplanade Jojo Arnaldi was also the scene of conflict in 1944, commemorated by an historical plaque.

In Menton itself, visitor attractions include the 17th century Archangel Michael Basilica (French: Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange ), the Palais Carnolès , which used to be the property of the Prince of Monaco (the town's former ruler), the Jean Cocteau museum in the Bastion , and many others.

...

How to get there:

The nearest sizable international airport to Pont-Saint-Louis is Nice, France (Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur ). Delta Airlines flies direct from New York to Nice. The French railroad company SNCF serves stations between Nice and Menton-Garavan, which is within walking distance of Pont-Saint-Louis. Enquire also at Nice Airport for bus links to Menton. You are advised to check with the airline or your travel agent for up to date information. Please refer to appropriate consular sources for any special border crossing arrangements which may apply to citizens of certain nationalities.

MJFenn is an independent travel writer based in Ontario, Canada.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)