Camp de Souge

Camp de Souge

Camp de Souge was a French military camp and training ground established in the late 19th century near Martillac in the Gironde département. The site served as a conscription and mobilization center for the French Army, hosted artillery and cavalry exercises linked to the École Polytechnique and École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, and was repurposed during the Second World War as an internment and prisoner transit facility tied to occupation authorities. Its evolution reflects interactions with major institutions such as the Préfecture de la Gironde, the French Third Republic, the Vichy regime, and post-war reconstruction agencies.

History

The origins date to the Franco-Prussian War era when the French Ministry of War sought new staging areas near Bordeaux, alongside sites like Camp de Mailly, Camp de Mourmelon, and Camp de Satory. During the Belle Époque the camp accommodated units from the 19th Corps d'Armée and hosted maneuvers involving officers trained at the École de Guerre and veterans from engagements recalling the Crimean War and the Franco-Prussian War. In the interwar period the facility integrated doctrine developments from the Centre des Hautes Études Militaires and the Service Historique de la Défense, while neighboring infrastructures such as the Gare de Bordeaux-Saint-Jean and the Port of Bordeaux were used for logistics. With the German invasion of France in 1940 the occupation authorities, collaborating with Vichy ministries, converted parts of the site for internment, echoing transformations at locations like Camp de Rivesaltes and Camp des Milles. After 1945 the camp returned to French control, intersecting with reconstruction efforts overseen by the Conseil National de la Résistance and later military reforms instigated by the Fourth Republic and Fifth Republic defense ministries.

Location and Layout

Located in the Bordeaux metropolitan area within Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the camp lies near Martillac, Saucats, and Le Barp and is accessible via the RN10 corridor connecting Bordeaux to Bayonne. The layout comprised firing ranges, parade grounds, cantonments, stables, a railway spur linked to the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi, sanitation blocks, and a chapel modeled on others found at Camp de La Valbonne and Camp de Chalons. Surrounding communes such as Le Taillan-Médoc, Talence, and Mérignac provided billets and hospital support analogous to collaborations between military installations and regional hospitals like Hôpital Saint-André. Cartographic surveys by the Institut Géographique National plotted sectors for infantry, artillery, and cavalry maneuvers, while nearby forests echoed the terrain used for training at Camp de Canjuers and Camp de Draguignan.

Use as Military Camp and Training Ground

Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries the camp hosted conscripts from depots associated with regiments such as the 35th Infantry Regiment and the 22nd Hussars, as well as detachments of the 1st Artillery Regiment. Exercises incorporated doctrines from publications of the École Supérieure de Guerre and manuals used by the 12th Armored Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division. The site held combined-arms maneuvers reminiscent of those at Camp de Mourmelon and engaged with arms production centers like the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault for small arms familiar to troops. Medical support drew on personnel trained at the École du Service de Santé des Armées and collaborations with the Société Française de Médecine. During the lead-up to the Second World War, the camp formed part of mobilization plans coordinated with the Préfecture and the Région Militaire de Bordeaux.

World War II: Prisoner and Internee Camp

Under German occupation and Vichy administration the camp was repurposed as an internment and transit point for prisoners, displaced persons, and political detainees in a pattern similar to that at Camp de Gurs and Camp de Rivesaltes. It held foreign nationals from countries affected by Axis expansion, detainees associated with networks tied to the French Resistance and the Gestapo, and military prisoners processed by Feldkommandantur offices. Organizations such as the Croix-Rouge and Comité International de la Croix-Rouge monitored conditions episodically, while railway deportation networks employed lines used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and the SNCF. The camp features in archival records connected to trials and inquiries overseen by Allied occupation authorities and tribunals like those influenced by the Nuremberg framework and the Conseil de Guerre procedures after liberation. Survivor testimonies link the site to broader narratives involving groups affected by collaborationist policies implemented by the Vichy Secretariat.

Post-war Period and Legacy

After liberation the installation reverted to national authorities and supported demobilization efforts for units returning from campaigns in North Africa, Indochina, and the European theaters, paralleling demobilization centers elsewhere such as Camp de Sissonne. In the Cold War era it continued as a training area used by formations adapting to NATO doctrines and later French withdrawal from integrated NATO command structures. The camp influenced regional planning conducted by the Conseil Général de la Gironde and development projects touching Bordeaux Métropole, while environmental assessments referenced by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique considered reuse of former ranges. Memorialization efforts, local archives at the Archives départementales de la Gironde, associations of veterans from the Armée de Terre, and publications by historians from the Université de Bordeaux document the camp’s role in 19th–20th century military history. Contemporary sites in the area echo its footprint and municipal land-use decisions reflect debates similar to those around redevelopment of Camp de Satory and Camp de Mourmelon.

Category:Gironde Category:Military installations of France Category:World War II internment camps in France