Bunker MN 15 Saint-Jean-Sart

This is bunker MN 15 of the PFL 1, the 1st line of defense of the 'La Position Fortifiée de Liège 1'.

MN refers to the sector 'Les Margarins-Neufchâteau' where it is the 15th of a total of 31 bunkers.

The bunker is located in the middle of a meadow where cows use it as a shelter. Inside, you can still see the mount on which the machine gun could be moved from left to right. The shelf supports and wall hooks are also still present. It should be reminded that the interior space is very limited. Anything that could be put on shelves or hung from the equipment on hooks prevented the soldiers from tripping over it in the heat of battle. Especially at night when the bunker was only lit with a storm lamp.

Parts of the original fence are still present. The posts to which the barbed wire was attached to demarcate the area where the bunker stood. Also the corresponding boundary posts with the letters 'DN' and a number from 1 to 4. They demarcated the corners of the military plot. DN stands for Defense National.

As general information, it can be mentioned that this bunker like most bunkers of the PFL are made of reinforced concrete and were built in the early 1930s. The walls and ceiling are 1.30 m thick. They had to withstand shelling with 150mm shells. Only the walls at the rear are slightly less thick, because in principle they were not exposed to enemy fire.

When the bunkers lost their strategic value for the defense of Belgium after the war, the metal of the hatches and doors was sold as scrap metal. Also, most of the plots on which they stood were sold, so many bunkers now stand on private plots. Such as bunker MN 15.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski