bunker MM 4 Chaineux

This is bunker MM4 of the 1st defense line of La Position Fortifiée de Liège, PFL 1.

It is the 4th of a total of 20 bunkers in this sector, Manaihant-Les Margarins.

The bunker features an almost intact affuit except for the machine gun (Type F.R.C. for a Maxim machine gun). No such complete affair has yet been found in any of the PFL bunkers. Most fell prey to steel dealers after the war. When after the war the bunkers lost their strategic value for the Belgian army, all the steel from the bunker was sold as scrap metal, and the plots of land on which the bunkers stood were sold so that most now stand in gardens on pastures as private property.

Also, this bunker still has both doors, which is also quite exceptional. Clearly visible is that the doors made it possible to discharge smoke gases. When firing the machine gun, the room would be full of toxic fumes in a short time, causing the soldiers present to incapacitate themselves. Only in the event of an attack from behind would the crew be vulnerable.

The walls of the bunkers from the PFL line were 1.3 meters thick reinforced concrete. They could withstand shelling with 150mm shells.

The bunkers were built in the early 1930s.

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Source

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