Fortress Antwerp - Volume 4: Bunkers and Bunkersites (1914-1945)

During the trench war of 1914-1918 many concrete pill boxes and bunkers were built by the German army in and around Antwerp as part of a system of defences - trenches, pill boxes, barbed wire, gun emplacements all were part of these systems. Fearing an Allied invasion through Holland, the Germans started building a defenceline - the so-called "Holland-Stellung" - consisting of about 750 bunkers.

After World War One these bunkers were neglected for a some time, but from 1934 onwards, the Belgium army started to build new infantry-strongpoints. Many of the old German bunkers were adapted and re-used in these strongpoints.

In 1935 interval bunkers were constructed between the Canal of Turnhout and the Albert Canal.

From 1938 onwards, the anti-tank ditch between the river Scheldt and the Albert Canal was constructed.

In 1939 the Belgians started building a defenceline between the Albert Canal and the Fort Koningshooikt. More bunkers were added to the anti-tank ditch.

During World War Two, the German army built some 200 bunkers. The headquarters of the 89th German Armeekorps was built in the Park Den Brandt - more than 50 German bunkers were built here.

This book describes all the bunkers mentioned above, using more than 150 photos, drawings, plans and maps. The book is written in Dutch.

Paperback edition from 2001 (€ 15.00)