German aerial photograph of the Citadel of Lille, France, c. 1916, showing the star-shaped citadel designed by Vauban.

No. 145; Citatelle Lille



Reverse handwritten message:

Couldn't get any good pictures of Lille when I was there but here in Germany I find their official aeroplane photos are pretty fair.

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A fortified structure, designed to withstand a siege, typically part of a line of defense.

Fortified cities such as Liège and Verdun were protected by rings of forts. In the siege of Liége, the forts held against German infantry assaults, but were reduced by heavy artillery. In the siege of Verdun, the losses of the outer forts of Douaumont and Vaux threatened the loss of the city. Their recapture later in the year by Robert Nivelle convinced him he had learned the secret of victory. The government gave him command of the French Army and learned, several months later, he had learned nothing of the sort.

Fort is a fortification.

Some books about Fort (2)

Title	Author
The Forts of the Meuse in World War I	Clayton Donnell, Illustrated by H. Johnson, L. Ray, and B. Delf
Betrayal at Littlel Gibraltar: A German Fortress, a Treacherous American General, and the Battle to End World War I	William Walker