Bunker Belt Bruggenhoofd Gent – Advanced Bunker AV12

Belgian bunker, part of the Ghent Bridgehead. This defensive position was constructed between 1934 and 1938, eight kilometres south of Ghent. Its construction was part of the fortification policy that Belgium pursued after the First World War.
The actual bridgehead consisted of two resistance nests – Betsberg and Muntekouter – and three strong points – Semmerzake, Eke and Astene.
The resistance nests and strong points were connected to each other by a curtain consisting of three defence lines.

There are 8 bunkers on the territory of Gijzenzele. Some are on private property and are therefore inaccessible, others are overgrown.

AV12 was the rightmost of three advanced bunkers on the front line between Betsberg and the Ostend-Brussels railway line.
The bunker was originally intended to be walled in with bricks. In the flat roof, covered with asbestos corrugated sheets, there was a dome that was camouflaged as a kind of bell tower. The whole thing had the appearance of a brick stable.
The entrance to the gun room was hidden behind two large hatches.
The loopholes for the C47 anti-tank gun and for the machine gun were hidden behind metal trapdoors. There were also three small false windows along the street side.
The bunker consisted of two rooms that were not connected to each other.
On one side there was a gun room for setting up a mobile 47mm gun and on the other side a machine gun room with an airlock and a dome at the back.
It was equipped as standard for the installation of a Maxim machine gun but also for. a Hotchkiss or Colt machine gun. The bunker is located entirely on private property along the very busy Wettersesteenweg. It is completely overgrown with ivy, only the left side and back are partially visible. At the back is the entrance to the room for the gun, the entrance to the machine gun room is on private property. Although it was certainly involved in the fighting in May 1940, there are no clear traces of this to be seen.

Extensive information about this bunker belt can be found on the site Bunkergordel Bruggenhoofd Gent. It also contains photos, plans and technical data of the bunkers. A map shows the locations per municipality.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck