Fort Saint-Privat is a fortification near Metz. Part of the :fr:Forts de Metz|forts of Metz, it had its baptism of fire in late 1944 during the Battle of Metz.
The fort, built by German engineers from 1872 to 1875, was designed in a style similar to the "detached fort" concept developed by Hans Alexis von Biehler in Germany. The goal was to form an enclosure around Metz of forts and artillery, with a variety of guns and spaces between them.
Assignments
In 1890, the forts were staffed by German Corps XVI troops from Metz and Thionville. The :fr:145e régiment d'infanterie du roi |145th King's Infantry Regiment garrisoned the fort before 1914. Invested by the French army in 1919, the Prinz August von Württemberg Fort was renamed Fort Saint-Privat. It was soon encompassed by the perimeter of the Metz-Frescaty Air Base, which was developed after World War I. The fort was captured in 1940 by the Wehrmacht, which held it until 1944. It is no longer in use.
On September 2, 1944, Metz was declared a Reich fortress by Adolf Hitler. The fortress was to be defended to the last by German troops, whose leaders had sworn allegiance to Hitler. Faced with the 5th American Division, the German :fr:462e division d'infanterie |462nd Infantry Division defended the Reich. When fighting began in September, its defense was commanded by Waffen-SS Colonel :fr:Ernst Kemper|Ernst Kemper. During the Battle of Metz, several units succeeded each other in the fort. On November 9, 1944 the United States Air Force sent 1,299 heavy bombers, B-17s and B-24s, dumping 3,753 tons of bombs and 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of ammunition on fortifications and strategic points in the combat zone of the US Third Army. Most of the bombers dropped their payloads blind from over 20,000 feet, and military targets were often missed. In Metz 689 loads of bombs hit the seven forts identified as priority targets, causing collateral damage and demonstrating the practical inadequacy of massively bombing military targets. The final attack arrived from the south and west on November 16, 1944. Facing the 11th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division, the 462nd Infantry Division resisted with German MG 34 and MG 42 machine guns. Troops commanded by Lieutenant GeneralHeinrich Kittel defended the airfield's hangars and air raid shelters before falling back towards Fort Saint-Privat and the last hangars. During the cold, wet night of November 16, 1944, the 11th Infantry regiment lost four officers and 118 men on the ground; German losses were also heavy. Fighting resumed northeast of the base the following day, with shots fired primarily from Fort Saint-Privat. The fort was commanded by :fr:Werner Matzdorff|Werner Matzdorff, a Waffen-SS Sturmbannführer and a Schutzpolizei :fr:Major |major. Matzdorff commanded his troops with an iron fist, knowing that he could not hold out for long. Entrenched in the fort, he refused to surrender. On November 20, Matzdorff emerged from the fort with a white flag. The 11th Infantry commander thought that he was surrendering, but Matzdorff said that he and his men were ready to fight to the death "if necessary" and only wanted to evacuate twenty of his most severely-wounded men. On November 21, General Kittel was captured, and Metz was liberated at 14:35 the following day. That evening, the troops at Fort Saint-Privat began surrendering to the Americans. Although morale in the fort was low, resistance was fierce. After a week the situation became critical, with shortages of food and ammunition. On November 29, Matzdorff agreed to surrender unconditionally with 22 officers and 488 men. The swastika no longer flew over the air base. The German General Staff objective, to play for time by stalling US troops as long as possible ahead of the Siegfried Line, was largely achieved.
