The fort was built in the 1880's and 1890's as part of the new defences following the Franco-Prussian War and the loss of Alsace and large parts of Lorraine to Germany.
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| The French provinces that were lost in 1871. |
It is located just outside Toul, to the west of Nancy and on the River Moselle.
The friends have been restoring the fort for some time and have completed the Mougin turret.
The turret was designed by Commandant Mougin in 1875 and built by the de Bange artillery company. The cannons are 155mm. They were pivoted at the end of the barrel so that to increase or decrease range the breaches swung through a vertical arc. The cannons were fired at the enemy, then the turret would revolve so that the thicker armour would face any incoming fire whilst the cannons were being reloaded and relaid. By the time the turret had turned through 360 deg, the cannons would be ready to fire again.
I have copied the photos from the Fort Villey de Sec Facebook page. This contains many more photos of the work in progress and open days, and of some highland cattle which I assume are used for ground maintenance.
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