Bruggenhoofd Gent - Machine Gun Bunker Av14

Bruggenhoofd Gent - Machine Gun Bunker Av14 #3

It concerns a Belgian bunker, built against a slope in a meadow, as part of the Ghent Bridge Head. This defensive position was constructed between 1934 and 1938 eight kilometers south of Ghent. Its construction was part of the fortification policy that Belgium pursued after the First World War.

The actual bridgehead was made up of two resistance nests – Betsberg and Muntekouter – and three support points – Semmerzake, Eke and Astene.
Bunker Av14 was an advanced bunker on the A-line (first line of defense) northeast of the Betsberg resistance nest.
The bunker consists of one entrance hall and two bunker rooms, each with a stepped firing opening for a machine gun on the southeast side. The bunker was equipped with a machine gun of the Maxim, Hotchkiss or Colt type.

The bunker is located at the back of Steenbergstraat, the road past the Kwatrecht cemetery.
Many projectile impacts can be seen at the front, a result of the fighting of May 1940. The bunker changed occupants several times during these fighting. On the orders of the German occupier, iron parts were basically removed in 1941 and bunker openings were bricked up in 1944. Access to this bunker is (again) open. Many iron parts appear to have been preserved inside.

Detailed information about this bunker belt can be found on the Bunkergordel Bruggenhoofd Gent site.

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