Bunker MN24

This is bunker MN 24, Les Margarins-Neufchateau of La Position Fortifiée de Liège 1, PFL 1.

It is the 24th bunker of a total of 31 bunkers in this sector.

This bunker is an excellent example of a a camouflage bunker. The bunker is camouflaged as being a barn. Over the ages, the roof has disappeared. The bunker itself is still intact. Even now, the camouflage makes it look like the bunker is open from above, now that there is no roof. Nothing could be further from the truth. Inside, the bunker is well preserved. Almost all the original parts are still there. For example, there are the wall hooks and wall shelves, the so-called “Chardome-affuit” on which the machine gun could be moved from left to right.

On the outside, the bunker appears to have suffered battle damage. It is also clear that the wall in front of the artillery opening has been erected separately as it begins to diverge from the rest of the bunker. It is one of the few surviving bunkers disguised as a barn in the PLF.

Given that the bunker is currently located on an agricultural plot, it has been put to use as a storage facility for various disused items.

As general information, it can be mentioned that this bunker, like most bunkers of the PFL, are made of reinforced concrete and were built in the early 30s. The walls and ceiling are 1.30 m thick. They had to withstand shelling with 150mm shells. Only the walls at the rear are slightly less thick, because in principle they were not exposed to enemy fire.

When the bunkers lost their strategic value for the defense of Belgium after the war, the metal of the hatches and doors was sold as scrap metal. Most of the plots on which they stood were also sold. Bunker MN 24 now lies in an apple plantation.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Joost Verheijden (1, 2), Ed Lewandowski (3, 4, 5)
• La Position Fortfiée de Liège, Coenen & Vernier