Bomvrij militair object, Tussenstelling Spijksche Veld

English translation

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Description

Cluster 72. See also monument number 532020.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P as components of the defence of and at the inundation-retaining dike and the surveillance of the inundation area in front of it between the Linge at the Spijksche Waard and the Waal at the Fort at Vuren. Concrete (group) shelters were a response to the arrival of heavy projectiles and high-explosive grenades. The latter have a high-explosive charge. According to the weight of the artillery and the protection against it, there has been a classification 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'.

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 design. The total number of built examples is approximately 700, of which around 570 are in the New Hollandse Waterlinie; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The construction programme for group shelters Type P had not been completed at the outbreak of the Second World War and a number of examples remain visibly unfinished. Type P (also known as 'the pyramid' because of its distinctive shape) is presumably the best-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), from 1928, and was intended, amongst other things, to form part of the defence of a number of new accesses, including especially (motorway) roads. The group shelter Type P usually came into being in the immediate vicinity of existing casemates, gun emplacements, fortifications or trenches realised at the same time. The historically completely closed front or frontal side of the group shelters Type P 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 just recognisable with difficulty, but in particular on forts or in terrain otherwise characterised by relief, there is sometimes still some cover.

Various variants of Type P exist, both in terms of dimensions and protection class, as well as in execution and detailing. For example, specimens were built in protection classes W 12-15 and W 21-28 in sizes 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 implementations distinguish themselves in the access openings, which are now rectangular and then again smaller and square. Numerous specimens of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in which in a number of cases a (subsequently) visible pile foundation was used, while often a retaining wall or trough with stairs against inundation water was inserted in the then high-positioned, square access and in yet others a protruding concrete foundation slab is present all around.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey military shelters, usually executed in reinforced concrete, approximately 100 to 180 cm thick, grenade-proof, which could provide shelter for 10-12 infantrymen / artillerymen. In the minimum of 10 Group Shelters Type P that form part of the Intermediate Position Spijksche Veld complex, the linear siting is still clearly recognisable, but due to the extensive excavation of the dike to which they owed their location, the original 'defensive overall image' with the physical spatial support of the defence has become blurred.

Group Shelters Type P were built on a rectangular ground plan. The visible height above ground level varies. Both blind side gables and the rear side are executed vertically to approximately 3 m in height. Above this, these gables go inward with a bend of approximately 45 degrees, and then transition into a flat roof. On the right in the rear side is an access opening at locally varying height above ground level (later sealed or not). The completely vertical, closed front side reflects the 45 degree angles and thus ends as a 'truncated pointed gable'. In a number of cases, iron hooks were cast into the gable(s) which could serve for the attachment of camouflage material. A characteristic component on top of the Type P shelter is the conical, concrete 'outlet', which was intended for the application of a periscope. These periscopes were never actually installed in practice. The interior of the Group Shelters Type P consists of a short corridor (usually with a concrete retaining wall or balustrade and usually a few descending steps) and from there a 'sluice' directed to the left which could be sealed off by a (consisting of several parts) heavy, steel door with bolts. Via a second, similar door, a rear, virtually square space could be reached to the right, the actual shelter. The entrance could be swept from this space via an embrasure. In practice, however, the doors were rarely or never installed. The ceilings, located 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 sweeping the entrance.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P of the Intermediate Position Spijksche Veld complex are of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New 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 strengthened and improved by others for more than 125 years.

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

These are reinforced concrete enlisted men's shelters, now without earth cover and largely stripped of the spatially connecting dike structure.

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

* The components are reasonably representative (characteristic) because they are clearly recognisable as elements of a deconcentrated defence line added to the existing fortification system, although their spatial relationship has become blurred by the excavation of dikes.

* The components are fairly well preserved and can still be easily recognised in the field as built elements.