Ouvrage Saint Ours Bas is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line. The ouvrage consists of one infantry block. The location is unusual in lacking the underground galleries typical of a Maginot fortification, making it more like a blockhouse than an ouvrage. It was armed with two machine gun cloches and three heavy twin machine guns and six light machine gun embrasures. The interior is laid out on two levels.Mary, Tome 5, p. 34
Construction began in July 1931, and cost 4.2 million francs to complete.Mary, Tome 4 - La fortification alpine, p. 29 The position controlled movement along RN 100.
See Fortified Sector of the Dauphiné for a broader discussion of the Dauphiné sector of the Alpine Line.
Present condition Saint-Ours Bas has been preserved and is now a museum, associated with Ouvrage Saint Ours Haut, as part of the Museum of Saint-Ours-Bas.Kaufmann 2011, pp. 264-264
See also List of Alpine Line ouvrages
References
Bibliography Allcorn, William. The Maginot Line 1928-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003. Kaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W. Fortress France: The Maginot Line and French Defenses in World War II, Stackpole Books, 2006. Kaufmann, J.E., Kaufmann, H.W., Jancovič-Potočnik, A. and Lang, P. The Maginot Line: History and Guide, Pen and Sword, 2011. Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 1. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2001. Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 4 - La fortification alpine. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009. Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 5. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2009.
External links Saint-Ours (petit ouvrage bas) at fortiff.be