The Fortified Sector of Faulquemont (Secteur Fortifiée de Faulquemont) was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line in the area of Faulquemont to the east of Metz. With five petit ouvrages the sector was poorly equipped with fortress artillery, limiting the ouvrages ability to provide mutual support. The sector was attacked in 1940 by German forces in the Battle of France. Despite the withdrawal of the mobile forces that supported the fixed fortifications, the sector mounted a strong resistance. Two of the petit ouvrages fell to German attack, the remainder holding out until the Second Armistice at Compiègne. The surviving positions and their garrisons finally surrendered on 2 June 1940. During the Cold War, Ouvrage Kerfent was partially reactivated as a communications station for Royal Canadian Air Force units stationed in northwestern France with NATO. At present, most of the underground works in the sector are flooded by groundwater. Only Ouvrage Bambesch has been preserved and may be toured by the public.
