Bridge Casemate Lent Oost

This casemate is a so-called river casemate, consisting of three floors and armed with cannon and machine gun. The casemate was built in 1936 together with two other casemates in the area. The casemates played an important role in destroying the railway and road bridges over the Waal, as soon as the German army invaded the Netherlands. Thus an advance had to be stopped.

After the capitulation of the Netherlands, defenses were rendered useless and systematically dismantled. No importance was attached to the river casemates. This changed in the first half of 1943, when the restored road bridge came back into use. This brought the casemates back into view. The German army expected an attack on the bridges, now from the west. On the southern bank they set up the Valkhof for defense and a heavy concrete barrier and AA guns appeared on the northern exit. Both bridges over the Waal were prepared for destruction. The river casemates were again a storage place for detonators. A searchlight was also placed on the roofs of Lent-Midden and Lent-East.

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Source

• Text: Traces of war
• Photos: Peter Schipper