Defense Bunker VM32

This is bunker VM32 of the 1st defense line of La Position Fortifiée de Liège, PFL 1.

It is the 28th of a total of 34 bunkers in this sector, Vesdre-Manaihant. Since bunker VM1, VM 24 and 29 had a “side” bunker, it is the 28th bunker in this sector. Bunkers 26 through 31 were never built.

The bunker is camouflaged as if it were a house. Witness to this are the trim and the “window” on the side. Inside the bunker, a large part of the affair is still present. In this case a so-called type F.R.C. and comes from 'la Fonderie Royales de Canons, F.R.C.'.

The shelf supports and hooks are also still present. The hooks were used to hang the soldiers' equipment. Supplies were placed on the shelf supports. All this to keep the floor as empty as possible. To consider that if the machine gun was fired, the bunker was enveloped in smoke within a short time so anything one could trip over had to be removed from the floor. In addition, most bunkers were not connected to the electricity grid. They were lit only with a stormlight.

As with the other bunkers, the steel shutters and doors have disappeared. Once the bunkers lost their strategic value to the Belgian army, all the steel was sold. The plots of land on which they stood were also sold. For this reason, they now often lie in backyards or in farmers' pastures and are privately owned.

The walls and ceilings of these bunkers were of 1.30 m reinforced concrete. They could withstand shells of 150 mm.

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.

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Source

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