Stelling van Amsterdam - Sectorpark Sloten, Afdeling Munitie (Kamp Kruithuis Halfweg)

Halfweg housed five brick warehouses for storage and laboratory use. The roof of the northern warehouse bears the inscription "1800 rods"—the distance to the Haarlemmerpoort gate in Amsterdam.

An electric narrow-gauge railway connected the site to the Ringvaart canal; transport continued by boat, sometimes via the Lijnden steam pumping station.

On January 27, 1918, an attack by five youths failed thanks to a police officer and a wet fuse. They received severe punishments.

The complex was in use before 1929, and from 1950 onwards as a return warehouse. In 1936, the Amsterdam Mobilization Center presumably took it over; it contained, among other things, machine gun carts and cannons.

After 1945, it became Camp Kruithuis Halfweg, housing approximately 500 political prisoners. From 1965 onwards, it served as a UN food depot for 1,300 soldiers.

The warehouses can still be visited today.

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Source

• Text: TracesofWar
• Photos: TracesofWar
• - stelling-amsterdam.nl