Garrison of Rheims

The garrison of Rheims , important since the end of the XIXe century, was at last century the parking place of many military formations.

Those added up several thousands of soldiers who were placed in many barracks. Among these barracks - today all closed down or disappeared - appeared in particular the barracks Colbert (located boulevard of Peace), the barracks Jeanne d' Arc (located Pommery boulevard), the Neufchâtel barracks and Maistre (located street of Neufchâtel).

Built as from 1853, the Colbert barracks was the first large barracks of Rheims. The barracks Jeanne d' Arc - which was composed in fact of two districts, the districts Jeanne d' Arc and Louvois - as for it was used until the beginning of the year ninety and the dissolution of the 1 {{er}} Groupe of hunters. The old barracks Neufchâtel and Maistre completely disappeared today.

The importance of the place of Rheims was reinforced in the last quarter of the XIXe century when, shortly after the Franco-German Guerre of 1870, France decided the construction of a judicious line of fortifications to defend its new borders. Rheims pertaining to the second line of fortifications, several forts were thus built between 1875 and 1885 to protect the city in direction from the east. Laid out in arc of circle, they were attached to north with the solid mass of Saint-Thierry and, in the south, the Montagne de Reims: extremely of Saint-Thierry, battery of Loivre, extremely of Brimont, battery of the Notch of Brimont, extremely of Fresne-the-Rheims, extremely of Witry-the-Rheims, watchtower and battery of Berru, extremely of Nogent-l' Abbess, Extremely of Pompelle, extremely of Montbré, tiny room of Chenay. These forts belonging to the first generation of the famous System Séré de Rivières, they were quickly exceeded, in particular because of the invention of the shell-torpedes to the mélinite. Only those of the first line - such those of Verdun - were transformed and those of Rheims, downgraded, were disarmed a little before the First World War.

Between the two world wars, Rheims is in particular the place parking of the 106e Régiment of infantry and the 132 {{E}} Régiment of infantry. At the end of 1928, current the Air base 112 “Commander Marin Meslée” of Rheims enters in service. The last regiment of the Army deployed in the garrison of Rheims left the city in 1992. It was about the 1 {{er}} Groupe of hunters, regiment in garrison with Rheims since 1956. Equipped with freight vehicles of troops AMX-10 P, of vehicles and tanks AMX-30 of before armoured tank, this regiment of mechanized infantry belonged to the 10th armor-plated Division and took seat in the 1st Army corps of the French Army corps of battle armoured mechanized. It was strong of approximately thousand two hundred men when was made the decision to dissolve it.

Since the disappearance of this regiment of the Army, the last military formation stationed in the garrison of Rheims is the Air base 112 located at the north of the city, on the territory of the communes of Bétheny, Courcy and Brimont. So the colonel ordering this air base of the Air force occupies the functions of commander of weapons of the place of Rheims.

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