Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Marsdijk bij 2

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Cluster 42.

Introduction

SHELTERS TYPE 1918/I in the glacis or the outer wall of the Fort bij Vechten, as part of the adaptation of the fort to changed military techniques. Shelters type 1918/I and type 1918/II were built according to more or less uniform or standard design in 1918 in multiple locations in West Netherlands. Both types occur in any case within the Stelling van Amsterdam (amongst others at Spaarndam) and at various locations in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (amongst others at Naarden, in the area between Fort bij Rijnauwen and Fort bij Vechten (= the Houtense Vlakte) and at Fort Everdingen. The total number of built examples in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie amounts to approximately 225; the majority (approximately 165) of these still exist. The largest concentration of shelters Type 1918/I and II is still found on the Houtense Vlakte, where 147 were constructed. The shelter Type 1918/I (approximately 125 units) usually came into being at the outer of double trench systems. The shelter Type 1918/II (approximately 100 units) was mostly built along the rear trench. Because the trenches and other earthworks were levelled almost everywhere later, the concrete shelters nowadays lie almost always partly below ground level. The wholly closed front or front side of the shelters was usually covered by earthworks that formed part of a glacis for the protection of the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are now usually no longer present or only recognisable with difficulty. In a number of cases (total 35 units) the earthwork on the front side in the years 1936-1938 was (partly) deliberately removed or not reinstated in order to convert the then 20-year-old shelters Type 1918/I into machine-gun casemates. Of these converted examples, 25 are still present in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, including some at the Fort bij Vechten.

Description

SHELTERS TYPE 1918/I are single-storey, usually executed in approximately 1.00 m thick reinforced cast concrete, grenade-proof, military shelters, which could provide protection for 4 infantrymen / artillerymen, at protection class W 15-21. The shelters 1918/I were built on a rectangular ground plan, at dimensions of approximately 5.00 x 5.50 x 3.70 m, (w x d x h), of which the base is rarely visible. The visible height above ground level varies. Both blind side walls and the closed front / front side are executed vertically, in order to transition with a sharp bend into the roof surface rising slightly towards the rear. This roof surface descends after a blunt angle under a slope of approximately 45 degrees towards the often not, or only partly visible, low, vertical wall on the throat side. A variant of Type 1918/I has a less steep slope here. In a number of cases iron hooks were cast into the walls which could serve for the attachment of camouflage material. The shelters Type 1918/I were constructed as monolithic concrete structures and were only accessible via one access opening, on the trench side - the throat side. These eccentric, right-positioned entries in the wall are surrounded by a thickened concrete frame, which is positioned in the same plane as the rear, sloping roof surface. Variations occur in these frames, amongst others with a reinforcement at the top. The low-positioned entries were later usually sealed off by means of brickwork or concrete, but examples also occur with rubble stuffed in. In some cases the shelters are still open or have been reopened. (Remains of) doors or hatches have not been found and are in any case extremely rare; iron hooks are, however, still present in the ceilings at the entries, in which presumably iron hatches could be hung. In a number of cases during the years 1936-1938 an extra wall opening was made at the front, diagonally or to the side to serve as a firing port for a machine gun. This changed the function of such a structure from shelter to machine-gun casemate. The interior of the shelters Type 1918/I consists of an approximately half below current ground level rectangular space, which is accessible in a crouched position via the concrete stairs of a few steps located in the corner. The ceilings, located at approximately two metres above floor level, of approximately one metre thickness slope slightly at the front.

Evaluation

SHELTERS TYPE 1918/I are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and in the first phase from 1815 realised by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Military-historical values as part of a continuous military defensive line between the former Zuiderzee and the Biesbosch. This consisted mainly of a cohesive system of inundation fields and associated inundation means and firing fields. This system was supplemented with various, from different periods dating types of built or constructed (defensive) structures which served or contributed to the closure of non-inundatable terrain or other accesses.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building craft, which was based - on the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th century), - on the race with increasingly strengthened offensive means (20th century) - on the system of living defence in depth (20th century).

These concern examples of shelters of Type 1918/I situated on and around the Fort bij Vechten, of which at least part has original 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 parts of the complex and with some tens of identical and comparable (Type 1918/II) examples situated in the vicinity of the fort.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they are clearly recognisable as an addition to the existing fortification system as part of a deconcentrated defensive line.

* The components are reasonably well preserved because they are still readily recognisable as built elements in the field.