Vallorbe, the Pré-Giroud Fortress - Thursday, July 30th

The class took a field trip today to Vallorbe, a city near the border of France and Switzerland. Our first stop was at the Pré-Giroud fortress. This underground fort was built in 1939 to protect the border. Since Switzerland was neutral in World War II, it was never really used for protection, but was a measure of security.

First we all piled onto a bus. Jeff’s son, Max, kept us amused during the hour and a half trip, first with his monster nose

and then with his impression of Gary.

I tried not to look at the drop out the window as the bus drove up a kind of scary mountain path. After we parked we walked a short way to the fort.

There were tanks and barbed wire along the way.

Here is the view from the Pré-Giroud fortress. The French border is just to the left of the middle, where those rows of trees meet.

The part of the fort that is above ground was camouflaged. They painted fake windows on the building so that it would look like a chalet, build fake rock outcroppings to hide machine gun bunkers, and even added fake metal trees. The trees have turned rusty over the years.

Brenda and Max studying the map of fortifications around Vallorbe.

The outside temperature was almost 90 degrees fahrenheit, but inside the fort it was only about 47. So we all put on sweaters and Sharman bundled the baby up for the tour.

After we entered we had to go down 150 steps to get to the main area of the fort.

It was dark, damp, and musty down below ground in the fort. We saw rooms filled with military equipment and then an actual machine gun opening.

Looking down the barrel of the machine gun.

We went down halls filled with weapons, uniforms, and various necessities for living like lanterns and pots and pans. Of course, being Swiss they had their ammunition in cute little baskets.

The living areas were less damp and musty due to various airways and air locks. They depended on the body heat of the soldiers for heating, and it was enough to keep the living areas relatively comfortable. Soldiers went outside a bit each day because it was easy to mix up days and nights being so far underground. It was actually considered a good assignment to be at the fort, as other soldiers were living out in the elements.

Angie needed to make a quick call.

Resting on a stairway.

Doug was tired and considered climbing in one of the bunks for a nap.

This map was interesting. The Germans, apparently confident in their powers, renamed many Swiss cities with the more German sounding names listed on the map.

The kitchen had all of its original equipment, pots and pans, etc.

Meghan and Karyn grabbed the giant whisk and started to cook us some lunch.

Scenes were set up throughout the fort to give an idea of what it was like when the soldiers were manning it.