Schans Schilde

The Schans Schilde is part of the Defense Line of Antwerp.
This brick and concrete sconce was built between 1909-1912.
During the First World War the schans shot fire to the German army.
On 9 October 1914 the Belgian army withdrew from the ramp and the ramp was blown up so that it would not end up in the hands of the enemy.
The building has been unused since then.

The Schans Schilde has an elongated structure (like the other sconces) with a total width of approx. 65 m. It was surrounded by a 15 m wide moat. The surface was more than 2 hectares. The sconce was built from unreinforced concrete and had to withstand 21 cm caliber. Later the concrete composition was adjusted by a higher cement content to withstand 28 cm guns.

The armament of Schans Schilde for the maintenance fire consisted of two times two 12 cm howitzers and two times two 7.5 cm guns on plate mounts.

A number of adjustments were made between the two World Wars. Two flanking bunkers were placed and two abri conjugués, armed with machine guns. Another important measure was the construction of the anti-tank ditch.

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: Fortengordels + TracesOfWar
• Photos: Peter van Steenbergen