Militair verblijfsgebouw, Wapenplaats bij Asperen Asperen (West Betuwe 25)

English translation

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Description

Cluster 68.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

At the Wapenplaats near Asperen there is a GROUP SHELTER TYPE P, on the western half of the work. The group shelters Type P were built in more or less uniform or standard design in the years 1939-1940 in several places 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 building 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 to have never been completed. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its striking shape) is presumably the most well-known type of concrete defensive work in the Netherlands. The type originated from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for Setting Up Positions no. 77) of 1928 and had among others the purpose of forming part of the defence of a number of existing and newly created accesses, including especially (motor)roads. The group shelter Type P usually came into being in the immediate vicinity of already existing or contemporaneously realised casemates, gun emplacements, fortifications or trenches. Because the trenches and other (earth)works were subsequently almost everywhere levelled or demolished, the concrete shelters nowadays sometimes lie partially below ground level. The from of old completely closed front or face side of the group shelters Type P was in many cases covered by earthworks which could form part of a glacis to protect 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 broken terrain they are sometimes still present. Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundable areas, in which in a number of cases a now still visible pile foundation was applied; in others a foundation plate projecting all around or also a trough against inundation water is visible. The example at the Wapenplaats near Asperen lies behind the Nissen hut, but clearly visible and without earth covering near the road over the earth body.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P is a one-storey, executed in reinforced, approximately 100 to 180 cm thick cast concrete, splinter-proof, military shelter that could provide protection for 10-12 infantry / artillery personnel, at protection class W 21-28. The example at the Wapenplaats belongs to the heaviest class of this type built in various versions. 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 m (w x d x h). The visible height above ground level varies, however. Both blind side walls and the throat side are executed vertically to a height of approximately 3.00 m. Above this these walls slope inward with an angle of approximately 45 degrees, after which they transition into a flat roof. On the right in the throat side is at locally varying height above ground level an (access opening which was later either blocked or left open, usually square in shape). The entirely vertical, closed front side reflects the angles of 45 degrees and thus ends as a 'truncated pointed gable'. In a number of cases iron hooks or brackets were cast into the gable(s) which could serve for the attachment of 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. In practice, however, these periscopes were never installed. The interior of the group shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and usually some descending steps) and an 'airlock' directed from there to the left which could be sealed by a heavy steel door (consisting of multiple parts). Via a second, similar door the rear, virtually square space could be reached from the right, the actual shelter. The entrance could be covered from this space by a rifle loophole. However, the steel doors were rarely or never installed and the entrances were later often sealed with brickwork and plastered. The ceilings located 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 rest for the hand firearm for the covering of the entrance. The example at the Wapenplaats near Asperen is not accessible.

Valuation

GROUP SHELTER TYPE P at the Wapenplaats near Asperen is of general interest because of:

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

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

This concerns a component from the years 1939-1940, namely a reinforced concrete group shelter type P / Pyramid, executed in reinforced concrete.

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

* The component is representative (characteristic) because within a 19th-century fort it was added as part of a deconcentrated defence line to the existing fortification system.

* The component is reasonably well preserved and as a built component can be well recognised in the field - and in this case on a fort.