Kazemat (B10), tussen Rijnauwen en Vechten Vechten (Bunnik 26)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 41.

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are reinforced concrete troops' shelters, which usually formed part of dispersed defensive works. The group shelters Type P were built according to a more or less uniform or standard design in the years 1939-1940 in several places in the Netherlands. They occur in large numbers at the Southern front of the so-called Vesting Holland (at the Nieuwe Merwede and the Hollandsch Diep) and in various places in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie - at that time called the Eastern front of Vesting Holland (among other places in the area between the Fort bij Rijnauwen and the Fort bij Vechten (= the Houtense Vlakte) and at Fort Everdingen. The total number of built examples amounts to approximately 700, of which approximately 570 in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie; the majority (circa 400) of these still exist. The construction programme for group shelters Type P was not completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of examples were never finished. Various variants of Type P exist, both in terms of dimensions and protection class as in execution and detailing. For example, examples were built in protection classes W 15-21 and W 21-28 with dimensions ranging from approximately 5.50 x 7.20 x 4.70 m to 6.50 x 8.20 x 4.90 m (w x d x h), but to conserve materials these standard dimensions were sometimes deviated from. Type P (because of its distinctive shape also sometimes called 'pyramid') is presumably the most well-known type of concrete defensive work in the Netherlands. The type stemmed from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for Arranging Positions no. 77), from 1928, and had among other things the purpose of forming part of the defence of a number of new or improved accesses, including especially (motor)roads. The group shelter Type P usually came into being in the immediate vicinity of already existing or at the same time constructed casemates, gun emplacements, fortifications or group nests. The hitherto completely closed and flat front or frontal side of the group shelters Type P was in many cases covered by earthworks which could form part of a glacis to protect a group nest. These earthworks are now usually no longer present or only recognisable with difficulty, but particularly on forts or in otherwise uneven terrain they sometimes still exist. Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in some cases applying a pile foundation made visible by ground subsidence; in others a projecting foundation plate all around and occasionally a trough against inundation water is visible. Only a few examples of the concrete works Group Shelters Type P lie within the complex 'Tussenstelling Rijnauwen-Vechten', including one to the north of the Fort bij Rijnauwen, near a Cast-Steel Dome Casemate Type G.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey, executed in reinforced, approximately 1.00 to 1.80 m thick cast concrete, shrapnel-proof, military shelters, which could provide protection for 10-12 infantry / artillery personnel, at protection classes W 15-21 or W 21-28. At the Eastern front of Vesting Holland most belong to the heavier class. The group shelters Type P are built on a rectangular ground plan, with dimensions ranging from approximately 5.50 x 7.20 x 4.70 m to 6.50 x 8.20 x 4.90 (w x d x h). The visible height above ground level varies, however. Both blind side facades and the gorge side are executed vertically up to approximately 3.00 m height. Above this these facades bend at approximately 45° inward, and then proceed into a flat roof, making them look like a truncated pyramid. On the right in the gorge side is at locally varying height above ground level a (later either sealed or not), usually square, sometimes rectangular, entrance opening. The entirely vertical, closed frontal side reflects the 45° angles and thus ends as a 'truncated pointed gable'. In a number of cases iron hooks or brackets were cast into the facade(s) which could serve to attach camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the shelter type P is the conical, concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the use of a periscope. These periscopes were however never actually installed in practice. The interior of the group shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and usually several descending steps) and from there a 'lock' directed to the left which, when the work was completed, could be sealed off by a (consisting of several parts) heavy steel door. Via a second, similar door, a rear, nearly square room could be reached to the right, the actual shelter. Access from this room could be covered by a loophole. The steel doors are rarely installed in practice; in a number of cases wooden doors are present. The entrances were later often sealed with brickwork and plastered. The ceilings, located at just over two metres above floor level, are flat and rectangular. In a number of cases interior components are still present, such as (remains of) wooden benches or a support for the shutter to close the loophole for covering the entrance.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P within the complex Tussenstelling Rijnauwen-Vechten are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values, as components of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially implemented from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and thereafter by others for approximately 125 years strengthened and improved.

* Military-historical values as part of a continuous military defence line between the former Zuiderzee and the Biesbosch. This consisted primarily of a coherent system of inundation fields and associated inundation means and fields of fire. This system was supplemented with diverse types of built or constructed defensive works dating from different periods which served to or contributed to closure of non-inundatable terrain or other accesses.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building craft, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), b. the race with ever-strengthening offensive means (20th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

These are components from the period 1939-1940. These components are examples of reinforced concrete troops' shelters, now without earth covering.

* Ensemble value and situational values as components of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they are clearly recognisable as part of a dispersed defence line added to the existing fortification system.

* The components are reasonably well preserved and can still be readily recognised in the field as built elements.