Last Trip of 2012 - The Aquatic Maginot Line

At the end of our drive we stumbled upon a sign which said “Maginot Aquatic Line”. I think the correct translation should be “Aquatic Maginot Line”. But what exactly is it? According to the text on the sign,

The Maginot aquatic Line in the sector Hoste to Sarralbe was built to establish a natural barrier against the advancing German forces during the Second World War.

The water flow of the Mutterbach River being too weak and irregular, the retaining storage water ponds could feed in any event the flood gate thru a drainage system to submerge the entire area in 36 hours.

Despite the numerical and material superiority of the first German Army, these water works caused considerable delays in their progression during the battles of June 14th, 1940 of the Saar breach campaign.

Today, these ponds have brought about a remarkable conversion to fishing and tourism, thus contributing to the friendship between our two people.

I have the feeling that the original French text was literally translated to English, thus resulting in a text that sounds a bit awkward.

Anyway, as far as I understand this, the French used the force of nature against the Germans.

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Anyway, this was the last post about our last trip of 2012. Let’s move on to 2013!

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