Bunker BV Mont

This is bunker BV Mont from sector Barchon-Vesdre (BV) of the 2nd line of defense for the city of Liège (La Position Fortifiée de Liège 2 (PFL 2) and belongs to fort Tancrémont.

The bunker is named after the village of Mont and is located at the border of a field.

The bunker has two gunopenings. One for a machinegun and one for the 47 mm anti-tank cannon.

Afther the war when the bunkers became out of use, the iron shutters and door were sold as scrap.

Inside the bunker one can see how these bunkers interior looked like. There was a toilet, two separated rooms for the cannon and the machinegun, a communicationsroom and the standard two-door entrance.

In the left wall of the cannon-room the so called "porte voix" (voice at distance) was applied. The 'porte voix' was connected to the other room with a tube which was fitted inside the wall, through the ceiling to the left ! wall of the gunroom.

When firing the machinegun and cannon it was very difficult communicating. Through this devisce communication was possibale.

Photgraph 5 shows the disposal for casings of the cannon. This would lead to the outside of the bunker.

Today the bunker is in use by a farmer for storage.

The walls and ceiling of the bunkers from the PFL were standard 1.30 m. thick and of reinforced concrete. They had to be able to withstand shells of 150 mm. To illustrate, the caliber of shells a Königstiger could fire was caliber 88 mm. Thus, only heavier caliber field guns could penetrate the concrete and potentially destroy the bunker.

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 Position Fortifiée de Liège, Coenen & Vernier