Observation Bunker MN12 Aubel

This is bunker MN 12 of the PFL 1, the 1st defense line of the 'Position Fortifiée de Liège'.

MN refers to the sector 'Les Margarins-Neufchâteau' where it is the 12th of a total of 31 bunkers.

The bunker lies along the road against in a meadow and is camouflaged as if it were a chapel. Against the front is a chapel built with stones common in the region. Some ornaments were also built against the sides and back of the bunker to make it look like a chapel from the air or from a distance. In the chapel, the statue of the Virgin Mary is still present. Even the facade stone is an original copy of probably a chapel that was demolished. The year indicates 1760. The chapel was restored in 1982.

This is one of the most beautifully camouflaged bunkers in the entire PFL line. There are a number of bunkers that are also clad in natural stone, but they are all camouflaged as cattle shelters or storerooms. See, for example, bunker CS 10 at Aywaille.

The bunker can be entered. But due to heavy bush growth (with thorns) it was not possible to enter the bunker.

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 1930s. 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.

The holes above and below the gun opening served for ventilation. When both doors of the bunker were closed and the machine gun was fired, the smoke had to be able to get out quickly and fresh air supplied. That is what these ventilation holes, in addition to the gun opening, served for. They are laid out in the concrete in such a way that they do not have a straight connection from outside to inside. They run through the concrete in the shape of a periscope, so to speak.

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 12 now lies on the edge of the road in a meadow.

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Source

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