In 1938, Fort Tancr\u00e9mont was the last fort of the Li\u00e8ge belt to be completed. It was also the last to surrender. Indeed, Captain Devos and his men fought with tenacious resistance for Fort Tancr\u00e9mont. On May 10, 1940, the Germans launched an offensive on the fortifications of Li\u00e8ge. But Fort Tancr\u00e9mont was not yet fully able to defend itself. Indeed, still in the middle of the “overpressure” works, the fort walls were very vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n
However, Captain Abel Devos, in charge of the fort, did not admit defeat. He decided to fill in the excavations with his men using whatever means were available: bags of cement, tools, machines, anything! At noon, the fort was ready to be defended.<\/p>\n\n
It resisted the German assaults for 19 days and only announced its surrender on May 29, 1940, one day after the official announcement of the Belgian Armistice. Captain Devos refused to believe the words of the German army, stating that King Leopold III had asked the troops to surrender. The German General Spang had to swear to Devos, on his honor as a soldier that this was true, and only then did Fort Tancr\u00e9mont finally surrender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-5945","temoignages","type-temoignages","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n