Maison Forte n°11 de la Hatrelle

Fortified House No. 11, known as La Hatrelle, is an advanced roadside defensive post located near the Belgian border in the Ardennes. Designed to monitor access routes, delay potential surprise attacks, and alert the main line of resistance, it consists of a blockhouse for an anti-tank gun and light machine gun, topped by a house serving as accommodation for its garrison. 

Armed with a 37mm cannon, machine guns, grenades and anti-tank mines, the post is manned by only six men — a non-commissioned officer, a corporal and four soldiers — belonging to the 15th company of the 147th RIF. 

On May 12, 1940, Sergeant Lhernoux, having received no evacuation orders, suddenly found himself facing the armored vehicles of Kampfgruppe Krüger. The position, strategically located below a hill overlooking a recently destroyed bridge, proved formidable. The first two German tanks were destroyed in minutes. Barbed wire, anti-tank mines, and the terrain prevented any flanking maneuver. For three hours, a handful of men armed with an old 1916 cannon held off an enemy armored column until a retreat order was finally relayed by a cavalryman from the 12th GRCA (Groupement de Chasseurs de Chasseurs et d'Aviation de Combat). 

Today, the fortified house is in ruins.