Flèche (fortification)

A flèche (Fr. for "arrow") is an outwork consisting of two converging faces with a parapet and an open gorge, forming an arrowhead shape facing the enemy.A Dictionary of Military Architecture Fortification and Fieldworks from the Iron Age to the Eighteenth Century by Stephen Francis Wyley. Retrieved 23 May 2015.

The flèche is similar in plan to other defensive works like the ravelin (or demi-lune), but smaller and built in front of the glacis. It was thus part of the outworks of a fortress. It was usually placed in front of the point of a bastion in order to create an additional level of fire.

References

Literature Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich, Barbara Schock-Werner (eds.): Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen. Reclam, Stuttgart, 2004, Wolfgang Klefisch: Die Neuendorfer Flesche – Vom Festungsmodell zum neupreußischen Festungswerk. Bornheim (Rhl) 2006 (3rd edn.)