Defense Bunker VM24bis

This is bunker VM24 bis of the 1st defense line of La Position Fortifiée de Liège, PFL 1.

It is the 25th of a total of 34 bunkers in this sector, Vesdre-Manaihant. Because bunker VM1 and VM24 have a secondary bunker, VM1ter and this bunker, this is the 25th bunker in this sector.

The bunker is located in the middle of a meadow. Part of the plot is still cordoned off with the original concrete posts between which barbed wire was stretched. The barbed wire is no longer there. It seems that there is one plot pole present (see photo 5) Although on this pole there is no indication of what number it was. The plots were cordoned off with 4 corner posts with a number from 1 to 4 and the letters DN. This meant Defence National. This indicated it as a military plot.

Once the bunkers lost their strategic value for the Belgian Army, all the steel and wood was sold. The plots on which they stood were also sold. For this reason, they now often stand in farmers' backyards or meadows and are privately owned.

The bunkers of the PFL were built in the 30s, with walls and ceilings of 1.30 m reinforced concrete. They could withstand shells of 150 mm.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Joost Verheijden (1, 2, 3), Ed Lewandowski (4, 5)