Bunker MN 4 Les Margarins

This is bunker MN 4 of the PFL 1, the 1st line of defense of the 'Position Fortifiée de Liège'.

MN refers to the sector 'Les Margarins-Neufchâteau' where it is the 4th of a total of 31 bunkers. The sector borders sector Manaihant-Les Margarins to the south, and sector Neufchâteau-Visé to the north.

With the owner's permission, I was allowed to take a few photos. The bunker is located in a private plot and is completely overgrown with ivy. Only by its shape could it be recognized that it was a bunker. The bunker was still accessible, both entrance doors had been removed after the war, as with most bunkers. However, the floor of the bunker was full of asbestos debris, so entering was not an option.

No so-called "DN" (Defense National) posts were present anymore. The military plot was cordoned off with four of these posts and a fence to indicate that it was a military domain. The original metal entrance gate was still present in the hedge along the road. This gate accessed the military plot and was set in concrete posts with barbed wire.

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 were situated were sold, so many bunkers are now on private plots. Like bunker MN 4.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski
• La Position Fortifiée de Liège, Coenen & Vermeer