Bomvrij militair object, te Vuren

English translation

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Description

Cluster 71.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P as part of linear and access defence with trench systems, casemates and similar. At several locations along the Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk between Asperen and the Spijkse Waard there are small concrete defence works, including Group Shelters Type P; they are located on both sides of the dike. the kilometres-long dike body emphasises the linear character of the defence line in this area. One of the group shelters type P - a specimen built at approximately 200 metres distance from the dike and situated slightly west of the Wapenplaats at Asperen - was until recently difficult to recognise. (Concrete) group shelters formed a response to the arrival of heavy projectiles and high-explosive grenades. The latter have a high-explosive charge. Depending on the weight of the gun and the protection against it, there has been a classification system since 1928 into resistance or protection classes, consisting of two numbers, e.g. W 12-15. The first indicates that the protection is sufficient for impacts of projectiles up to that calibre (in cm); the second that protection also exists against one or at most a few impacts up to this higher calibre. The earliest types of concrete (group) shelters offered only protection against grenade fragments and were called 'fragment-proof'. The Group Shelters Type P were built according to a more or less uniform or standard design (mainly) in the years 1939-1940 at several locations in the Netherlands. The total number of specimens built amounts to approximately 700, of which around 570 in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The building programme for the Group Shelters Type P was not completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of specimens visibly remained unfinished. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its distinctive shape) is presumably the best-known type of concrete defence work in the Netherlands. The type originated from the so-called VIS 77 (Regulation for the Arrangement of Positions no. 77), from 1928, and had among other things the purpose of forming part of the defence of a number of new accesses, including in particular (motorway) 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. The closed front or front side of the Group Shelters Type P from old tradition was intended to be covered by earthworks, which could form part of a glacis to protect the trench or a covered way. These earthworks are now usually no longer present or only barely recognisable, but particularly on forts or in otherwise relief-characterised terrain, there is sometimes still protection.

There are various variants of Type P, both in terms of dimensions and protection class as well as in execution and detailing. Thus there are specimens built in protection classes W 12-15 and W 21-28 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). Furthermore, various executions differ in the access openings, which are sometimes rectangular and sometimes smaller and square. Numerous specimens of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in some cases applying a (later) visible pile foundation, whilst often a retaining wall or trough with stairs against inundation water was incorporated into the then high-situated, square access and in yet others a protruding concrete foundation slab is present all around.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey, usually in reinforced, approximately 100 to 180 cm thick cast concrete executed, shrapnel-proof, military shelters, which could provide protection for 10-12 infantrymen / artillerymen. Group Shelters Type P were built on a rectangular ground plan. The visible height above ground level varies. Both blind side walls and the gorge side are executed vertically up to approximately 3 m height. Above this these walls go inward with an angle of approximately 45° before transitioning into a flat roof. On the right of the gorge side is an access opening (later either sealed or not) at locally varying height above ground level. The entirely vertical, closed front side reflects the angles of 45° and thus ends as a 'truncated gable'. In a number of cases, iron hooks were cast into the wall(s) that could serve to attach camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the shelter type P is the conical, concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the use of a periscope. These periscopes were in practice however 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 a 'lock' directed to the left from there which could be sealed off by a (consisting of multiple parts) heavy, steel door with bolts. Via a second, similar door, a rear, virtually square room could be reached by turning right, the actual shelter. The access could be covered from this room via a gun port. The doors in practice were however rarely or never installed. The ceilings situated at approximately 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 firearm for covering the entrance. The specimens within the complex Tussenstelling Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk are reasonably to well observable in the field; the interior of none of them has been visited.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P within the complex Tussenstelling Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk are of general interest because of:

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

* 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 (20th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (20th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

These are components from the period 1939-1940, namely personnel 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 other components of the complex.

* The components are representative (characteristic) because they are clearly recognisable as components of a deconcentrated defence line added to the existing fortification system.

* The components are reasonably well preserved and remain readily recognisable as built components in the field.