Schuilplaats, Rijksstraatweg bij 9

English translation

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Description

Cluster 19. Group Shelters type P.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P as armed concrete works added to an existing defensive line. This concerns several still-existing group shelters built on the east side of the Vecht, which formed part of the reinforcement of the main defensive line of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie near Breukelen. Of any contemporary earthworks, wooden or concrete works such as covered ways, trenches and the like, little or nothing remains visible on the surface. An unknown number of examples of group shelters have been lost over the years for various reasons. The Group Shelters Type P were built in the years 1939-1940 in multiple locations in the Netherlands according to more or less uniform or standard designs. They occur in large numbers in particular on the South Front of the so-called Vesting Holland (on the Nieuwe Merwede and the Hollandsch Diep) and in various locations in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie - then called the East Front of Vesting Holland (among others in the area east of the Vecht, between Fort Rijnauwen and Fort Vechten (the Houtense Vlakte) and on and near Fort Everdingen). The total number of built examples is approximately 700, of which about 570 in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The building programme for Group Shelters Type P had not been completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of examples are known never to have been completed. Thus an unknown number remained closable only by means of wooden doors. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' due to its distinctive shape) is presumably the most well-known type of concrete defensive work in the Netherlands. The type emerged from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for Setting Up Positions no. 77), from 1928, and had among other purposes the function of forming part of the defence of a number of new accesses, particularly (motorway) roads and (electrified) railways. The Group Shelter Type P usually came into existence in the immediate vicinity of already-existing or contemporaneously-realised casemates, gun positions, fortifications or trenches. Because the trenches and other earthworks were subsequently levelled or demolished in most places, the concrete shelters nowadays sometimes lie partly below ground level. The front face or forward-facing side of the Group Shelters Type P, which was entirely closed from the outset, was in many cases covered by earthworks that could form part of a glacis to protect the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are now usually no longer present or can still only be recognised with difficulty, but particularly on forts, in dykes or in otherwise uneven terrain they are sometimes still present. Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in some cases still showing visible piled foundations; in others a surrounding projecting foundation plate or also a trough against inundation water is visible.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey, usually executed in reinforced cast concrete approximately 100 to 180 cm thick, grenade-proof military shelters, which could provide protection for 10-12 infantrymen / artillerymen, with protection class W 12-15 or W 21-28. On the East Front, most belong to the heaviest class. The Group Shelters Type P were built on a rectangular ground plan, with measurements ranging from approximately 5.50 x 7.20 x 4.70 m to 6.50 x 8.20 x 4.90 m (width x depth x height). The visible height above ground level varies, however. Both blind side walls and the rear wall are executed vertically up to approximately 3 m height. Above this, these walls bend inward at approximately 45 degrees, before subsequently transitioning into a flat roof. On the right side of the rear wall is an access opening (later either open or filled in), usually square, at locally varying height above ground level. The entirely vertical, closed front wall reflects the 45 degree angles and thus ends as a 'truncated pointed gable'. In a number of cases, iron hooks or brackets were cast into the wall(s) that could serve for securing camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the Group Shelter type P is the conical concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the use of a periscope. These periscopes were in practice, however, rarely or never installed. The interior of the Group Shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (possibly with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and several descending steps) and from there a 'vestibule' directing to the left that could be sealed by a heavy steel door (consisting of multiple parts). Via a second similar door, a rear, virtually square space could be reached to the right, the actual shelter. Access could be covered from this space by a loophole. The steel doors were in practice, however, rarely or never installed. The ceilings situated at just over two metres above floor level are flat and rectangular. In a number of cases, interior components still remain present, such as (remains of) wooden benches or a support for the machine gun for guarding the entrance. The examples in the complex Concrete Works between Fort Nieuwersluis and Fort Tienhoven are clearly recognisable in the field.

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P of the Complex Concrete Works between Fort Nieuwersluis and Fort Tienhoven are of general importance because of:

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

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building art, which was based on the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

This concerns components from the period 1939-1940, namely dozens of men's shelters of type P (pyramid).

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie in general and because of the mutual functional, functionally-spatial and physical coherence with the remaining components of the complex.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they have been preserved in a clearly recognisable linear relationship.

* The components are reasonably well preserved because the principal physical characteristics from the construction period have remained recognisable.