Bunker Belt Bruggenhoofd Gent - Command Bunker C17

Belgian bunker, 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.
The resistance nests and support points were connected to each other via a curtain, consisting of three lines of defense.

There are a total of 11 bunkers on the Melle territory.
The bunker C17 was a command bunker between Betsberg and the Brussels-Oostende railway, between D18 (440 m) and D19 (565 m). He was positioned in a corner with D18 so that together they had a larger field of view and shooting range.
The bunker contains two machine gun rooms and a lock at the back. It was standardly equipped for the installation of Maxim machine guns. In addition, it was also equipped to deploy Hotchkiss or Colt machine guns.
At the top it had the specific layered roof of a sheepfold bunker.

The C17 is located in a meadow, owned by the Proefhoeve of the Ghent Agricultural University.
The bunker is located along the E40 motorway (direction from Ghent to Brussels) on the right side. It is easiest to reach via the parallel road to the motorway or via the Proefhoeve, which has the cow pasture where it stands.

Detailed information about this bunker belt can be found on the Bunker Belt Bruggenhoofd Ghent site.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck