Defense Bunker NV19

The reinforced position of the city of Liege (Belgium) was a part of an extensive network of fortresses as a protection against an invasion by an enemy. It forms an arc that reaches from Comblain-au-Pont to Visé.

The defence lines around Liege stretched over a length of 60 kilometres and comprised strong ‘modern’ blockhouses (Tancremont, Battice and Aubin-Neufchâteau) and smaller bunkers. The line formed a shield around the city of Liege and was constructed in the period 1934 – 1935.

The reinforced position of Liege was divided in defensive lines:
- The front positions with 65 shelters;
- Defence area Liege 1 included 178 bunkers and the three aforementioned strong blockhouses;
- Defence area Liege 2 consisting of 62 bunkers and 6 modernized old fortresses;
- Defence area Liege 3 with 41 bunkers;
- Defence area Liege 4 with 37 bunkers and 2 modernized old forts.

The bunker NV19 is located in the Neufchâteau-Visé sector of the 1st line of defense for the city of Liège, la Position Fortifiée de Liège 1, PFL 1.

The bunker is located in a grassland. The bunker was equipped with two machine gun emplacements. The steel door and hatch were sold as scrap after the war, when the bunkers had lost their strategic value for the defense of Belgium.

Now the bunker lies rather plumply lost in plain sight in the middle of the meadow. In the 1930s, the bunker must have been well hidden.

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Source

• Text: Eric vd Reek en Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Joost Verheijden (1, 2, 3), Fedor de Vries (4, 5)
• Tekst aangepast 18-2-2024 Ed Lewandowski.