Militair verblijfsgebouw, Fort bij Asperen Acquoy (West Betuwe 25)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 67.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

At various locations on the Fort at Asperen there are GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P. The Group Shelters Type P were built in approximately uniform or standard design in the years 1939-1940 at multiple locations in the Netherlands. The total number of built examples is approximately 700, of which in the New Hollandic Waterline approximately 570; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The construction programme of the Group Shelters Type P was not completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of examples are known never to have been completed. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its distinctive shape) is presumably the most well-known type of concrete defensive structure in the Netherlands. The type arose from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for the Installation of Positions no. 77) from 1928 and had among other purposes the aim of forming part of the defence of a number of existing and newly constructed accesses, including in particular (high-speed) roads. The Group Shelter Type P usually came into being in the direct vicinity of already existing or contemporaneously constructed casemates, gun positions, fortifications or trenches. Because the trenches and other earthworks were later virtually everywhere levelled or demolished, the concrete shelters nowadays sometimes lie partly below ground level. The entirely closed front or facing side of the Group Shelters Type P was in many cases protected by earthworks that could form part of a glacis for the protection of the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are now mostly no longer present or only with difficulty recognisable, but particularly on forts or in otherwise accidental terrain they are sometimes still present. Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in which in a number of cases a visible pile foundation was used; in others a foundation slab projecting all around or also a trough against inundation water is visible. The examples on the Fort at Asperen lie relatively well protected in or behind the earthworks.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey, usually in reinforced, approximately 100 to 180 cm thick cast concrete constructed, shrapnel-proof, military shelters, which could provide shelter for 10-12 infantrymen / artillery personnel, at protection class W 12-15 or W 21-28. The Group Shelters on the Fort at Asperen belong to the heaviest class. The Group Shelters Type P were 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, however, varies. Both blind side gables and the rear side are executed vertically to approximately 3.00 m height. Above this these gables go inward with an angle of approximately 45° and subsequently transition into a flat roof. On the right in the rear side is at locally varying height above ground level an (later either closed or not), usually square access opening. The entirely vertical, closed front 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 gable(s) that could serve to fasten camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the shelter type P is the conical, concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the application of a periscope. These periscopes were, however, never actually installed in practice. The interior of the Group Shelters Type P consists of a short passage (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and ordinarily a few descending steps) and from there a 'lock' directed to the left that could be sealed by a (consisting of multiple parts) heavy steel door. Via a second, similar door one could reach rightward a rear-lying, virtually square space, the actual shelter. The access could be covered from this space by a rifle loophole. The steel doors, however, are rarely or never installed and the entrances were later often sealed with brick 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 hand-held firearm for covering the entrance. The examples on the Fort at Asperen are scattered across the terrain along the inner side of the earthworks and some are accessible, but sometimes they are (largely) covered by earth.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P on the Fort at Asperen are of general importance because of:

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

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

These are components from the years 1939 - 1940, namely reinforced concrete group shelters type P / Pyramid, executed in reinforced concrete, partly (still) with earth covering.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical cohesion with the other components of the complex.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they were added within a 19th-century fort as part of a deconcentrated defence line to the existing fortification system.

* The components are fairly well preserved and can ordinarily be well recognised as built elements in the field - and in this case also on the fort.