Alarmpost Hockai

This is one of the few remaining so-called ‘postes d'Alerte’ alarm posts of La Position Fortifiée de Liège (PFL). The number of this post is not yet known.

The posts were numbered from 0 to 32 if they were located along the border. The numbers of the posts that were located closer to the PFL are unknown. However, the line of P.A.s consisted of 35 posts. A number of them had a double number with an additional designation ‘bis’. These posts then guarded both sectors. The line ran from the village of Loën, located near the Albert Canal near Eijsden (NL), to Losheimergraben (east of Honsveld) on the German border.

The posts were located at strategic points along roads and railway lines, and the soldiers (four soldiers and one non-commissioned officer) who manned these posts during mobilization had to sound the alarm when the enemy approached. In this case, this post guarded the area of Hockai and Stavelot.

The P.A. therefore had a radio or telephone with which they could reach the nearest barracks.

It was a simple building with a corrugated asbestos roof. The room had a coal shed and toilet that were accessible from the rear. See photo 4. At this P.A., these two rooms were later bricked up. The interior walls that separated this room from the rest of the P.A. were also demolished later. The asbestos-containing corrugated iron roof was removed in later years due to environmental regulations.

Barriers were installed on the road that had to be guarded during mobilization so that traffic could be controlled. There was also a guardhouse for the soldier on duty at the barriers.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski
• La Positions Avancée de la Position Fortifiée de Liège, Coenen & Vernier