 The 102nd DIF was the successor organization to the Defensive Sector of the Ardennes, which had administered a weak section of the Maginot Line fortifications.The sector was composed principally of scattered casemates and blockhouses, as the French command regarded the Ardennes sector as unsuitable for mechanized warfare.On 14 May 1940 the fort was bombarded by German forces, while the first and third battalions of the 148th RIF faced direct German attack.