Flèche (fortification)
A flèche is an outwork consisting of two converging faces with a parapet and an open gorge, forming an arrowhead shape facing the enemy.
The flèche is similar in plan to other defensive works like the ravelin, but smaller and built in front of the glacis. It was thus part of the outworks of a fortress. It was usually placed in front of the point of a bastion in order to create an additional level of fire.
Literature
- Horst Wolfgang Böhme, Reinhard Friedrich, Barbara Schock-Werner : Wörterbuch der Burgen, Schlösser und Festungen. Reclam, Stuttgart, 2004,
- Wolfgang Klefisch: Die Neuendorfer Flesche – Vom Festungsmodell zum neupreußischen Festungswerk. Bornheim 2006