Peel-Raamstelling - Museum S-Casemate 538 Blokland

On the westbank of the Defence channel in Mill they built bunkers on every 200 to 400 meters, in which people could hide in times of danger. These bunkers gave shelter to 3 to 4 people and all had a machine gun. Most of these bunkers had 3 loopholes, of whom 1 for a machine gun and the other two for a regular gun. They also made foxholes for people who couldn't find shelter in a bunker.
Although the bunkers which were used for shelter during bombardements and shootings, weren't needed anymore after the war, the foundation tracks of the war Mill still made sure that they didn't get torn down. Not that much later the bunkers were declared into monuments (which means from then on they were seen as monuments and nothing else changed). The bunkers are now on a route on which people can bike to remember the war history of Mill. The bunkers are preserved by the Foundation Tracks of the war Mill.

Text on the monument:
Bunker 538
This bunker belongs to the so called "porcupine-type"
( 3 loopholes, one field of fire of 190 degrees with one light machine gun)
Bunker 538 received direct hits from German artillery and anti tankguns on 3 sides and also got bombed by Stuka's. The bunker commander sgt. N. Blokland hung on brave: he got killed around 15:00 PM.

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Source

• Text: Marcel Jans
• Photos: TracesOfWar.nl (1, 2), Arjan Vrieze (3, 4)

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