Bunker Ag 7 Argenteau

This bunkers is known as Ag7, sector Argenteau, from the 3rd line of defense around the city of Liège (PFL 3). The lines of defense are known as 'La Position Fortifiée de Liège" (PFL). It had to guard te bridge from Argenteau.

The bunker is located at the corner of an intersection and became part of a house. This is a larger type of bunker. There is no overgrowth so the details of the bunker and the shape are well visible.

The opening on the left site is for the searchlight. The opening in the middle is for the machinegun and the on on the right is for the 47mm gun. The bunker also was standard equiped with a manual operated ventilation unit. By repetive turning a crank the air could be refreshed. It must be borne in mind that when fyring the machingun ore the canon, the tight space would be full of smoke in no time. (Additionally there were some small standard ventilation shafts.See the small grille on the outside of the bunker). Also must be borne in mind the firing the gun ore the machinegun will produce madmaking noise in such a small room, and the noise will be isolated inside the bunker !

The small square shaped and sloping downward shafts were used for disposal of shell casings. These details can be seen on all bunkers of the PFL.

On the bunker there is a panel with more information about the bunker. It also shows what the bunker looked like inside when it still was in use. You can see the gun is placed on rails so it could be easily moved when for example the shutters had to be closed. The machinegun is mounted on a carrier so it can be easely moved form left to right while operating.

The image gives us a good example how most of the bunkers of the PFL were build and were aranged inside. The walls are 1,30 m thick. They had to be able to withstand shells of 150 mm.

The bunkers were built in the 1930s.

After the war, when the bunkers lost their strategic value for the Belgian army, the plots of land on which they stood were sold. All the metal of the hatches and doors was sold as scrap metal. Hence the that most bunkers are now on private plots.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski
• La Posistion Fortifiée de Liège, Coenen & Vernier