Bomvrij militair object, Waaldijk 29

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Cluster 73.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P as 20th-century, mass-produced additions to the existing defence. At various locations on and around the Fort bij Vuren, group shelters Type P are located; they are indicated on the map attached to this document. (Concrete) (group) shelters were 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 artillery and the protection against it, there is a classification into resistance or protection classes, consisting of two numbers, e.g. W 12-15. The first indicates that the protection is sufficient for impacts from 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 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 standard design in the years 1939-1940 at multiple locations in the Netherlands. The total number of built examples is approximately 700, of which around 570 in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie; the majority (approximately 400) of these still exist. The construction programme for the group shelters Type P was not completed when the Second World War broke out and a number of examples visibly remained unfinished. Type P (also called 'the pyramid' because of its distinctive shape) is presumably the best-known type of concrete defensive structure in the Netherlands. The type originated from the so-called VIS 77 (Voorschrift Inrichten Stellingen no. 77), from 1928, and had among other purposes the aim of forming part of the defence of a number of new accesses, especially (motorway) roads. The group shelter Type P usually came about in the immediate vicinity of already existing or contemporaneously realised casemates, gun emplacements, fortifications or trenches. The front or face of the group shelters Type P, which was traditionally entirely closed, 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 mostly no longer present or only barely recognisable, but in particular on forts or in otherwise terrain characterised by relief, there is sometimes still cover. 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 examples built in the 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). Numerous examples of Type P were built in inundatable areas, in which in a number of cases a visibly visible pile foundation was used, while often a retaining wall or trough with steps against inundation water was introduced in the then high-set, square entrance and in yet others a concrete foundation slab protruding all around is present.

Description

GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P are single-storey, usually in reinforced, approximately 100 to 180 cm thick cast concrete, grenade-proof, military shelters, which could provide shelter 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 gables and the throat side are executed vertically to a height of approximately 3 m. Above this, these gables go inward at an angle of approximately 45°, then transition to a flat roof. On the right in the throat side, at locally varying height above ground level, is an entrance opening (later either closed off or not). 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 were cast into the gable(s) which could serve to secure 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. 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 a few descending steps) and from there a 'lock' oriented to the left which could be sealed by a heavy steel door (consisting of several parts) with bars. Via a second, similar door, a rear, virtually square space could be reached to the right, the actual shelter. The entrance could be covered from this space via a loophole. In practice, however, the doors were rarely or never installed. The ceilings 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 examples at the Fort bij Vuren are situated on the fort structure and/or in the immediate vicinity of the fort on the north-east side outside the encircling ditch in the glacis. Possibly there are still unknown (whether or not completed) examples under the ground level or in the lake to the east of the fort.

Valuation

The GROUP SHELTERS TYPE P on and at the Fort bij Vuren 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 realised from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and Major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others for more than a century.

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

These are components from the period 1939-1940. These components are examples of reinforced concrete enlisted shelters.

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

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

* The components are fairly well preserved and as built components are usually easily recognisable in the field.