Battery Merlot

Today we walked about 25 km (15.5 mls) around the old city of Laon on another level of the hill on which the old city is built. A bit more of the nearby countryside so to speak. Halfway we visited the remains of Battery Morlot.

In 1878 Laon was integrated into a defensive system supposed to be the last line of defense protecting Paris. The task of fort Morlot was to establish communications through an optical telegraph with the other artillery forts of the Laon region.

Here Margriet is standing in what used to be the former heart of that telecommunication system pointing in the direction of the next fortification in line.

The optical telegraph was replaced by the electric telegraph around 1890. But never outfitted with 'modern' long-range canons. So the Germans occupied Laon practically without firing a shot as of September 1914.

Nevertheless troops were stationed in Battery Morlot again for four years (1940-1944) during World War II.

An optical telegraph used a set of mirrors that caught and redirected the sun rays to send out messages up to 60 km away. At night or during cloudy weather a patrol lamp was used. The messages couldn't be seen by enemy forces stationed below.

Thank you for your comments on yesterday's Porte de Soissons.