Kazemat (B10), Bloklaan bij 9

English translation

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Description

Cluster 15. Gun Casemate.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE Introduction

GUN CASEMATE as an added component of the access defence at Fort Spion. The gun casemate at Fort Spion lies almost on the axis of the Bloklaan and could provide frontal fire. The existing access defence of the Bloklaan was expanded from 1933 onwards with a number of concrete works, including a gun casemate at Fort Spion. Besides the defence of the access, the deconcentration of the defence that had already been initiated at the beginning of the 20th century also played a role in the construction of scattered casemates and other concrete works. Deconcentration of the defence was among other things a response to the advent of rifled artillery (with rotating projectiles), the high-explosive shell (with high-explosive bursting charge) and the appearance of long-range artillery. In the last decades of the 19th century, forts became easy and vulnerable targets that posed great risks due to the concentrated functions within them. From the end of the 19th century onwards, deconcentration of functions was therefore carried out, among other things in the form of the construction of intermediate batteries. Furthermore, (in linear connection) between the forts (semi)permanent and temporary works were laid out, such as kilometres-long 'covered ways' and often also dozens of brick, earthen and concrete works. Among these were looptrenchces and personnel positions, shelters and earthen and concrete gun positions (casemates), etc. to be constructed during mobilisation time (composed of wood and earth). The emergence of much faster means of attack and transport - both over land and through the air - which made surprise attacks possible, also played a role here, especially in the run-up to the Second World War. Deconcentration of the defence was a phenomenon that occurred in many places, but especially in the flat and 'open' Netherlands. Thus in the 1930s approximately 40 so-called VIS-casemates were built in the Vesting Holland (after: Regulation for Arranging Positions no. 77, from 1928). These casemates usually came about because of changes in traffic infrastructure, which meant a weakening of a defence line. The costs were therefore usually borne by the cause of the weakening and not by the Ministry of War.

Description

GUN CASEMATE from 1933, located at the front side of Fort Spion. The casemate had a frontal field of fire on the Bloklaan. The reinforced concrete structure is rectangular in form and one storey high. It has a flat roof, which is largely covered with earth. The wall thicknesses vary from 1.00 metre to 1.80 metres and 2.30 metres at the firing port. At the top there is a covering of 1.50 metres of concrete, with some decimetres of earth on top of it. The entrance to the casemate is located on the right in the only partially earth-covered facade; above the access is a relief with "Spion1933". In front of the gun there is a frontal, large firing port reinforced with rail tracks. Perpendicular to the entrance lies a corridor to which two rooms adjoin. The first room was a guard room for the personnel and had a periscope; the second was the fighting room for the gun. Both rooms have a rifle firing port facing the corridor. The casemate is provided with a protective wall of reinforced concrete.

Valuation

The GUN CASEMATE at Fort Spion is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially realised from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and Major-Engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others for approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic architecture, which is based on the system of:

a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th and 20th centuries),

b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive means (20th century)

c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century)

This concerns a component from 1933 which is an example of a reinforced concrete gun casemate.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline in general and because of the mutual functional, functionally-spatial and physical coherence with the other components of the complex and in particular with the access of the Bloklaan.

* The component is a representative example of a VIS 77-casemate which was added as extra defence to an existing fort.

* The component is reasonably well preserved and can be clearly recognised in the field as a built component.