Fortifications on Kornwerderzand.

It's the same for everyone, luckily SWMBO allows me one or two days off everytime we're on holidays.

I'm really not a specialist when it comes to the early WW2 Dutch army, but as far as I know there was quite a wide variety in the colours of the Dutch uniforms. Maybe there is somebody more knowledgable on the forum?

 

I love the traces of camouflage paint on the exterior walls.

 

We were camping at Harlingen from 6th August for 11 nights then down to Breskens for 3.
The sun came out a few times.
Mostly as I say it rained.
Here's some of my not as good photos taken back in August.

 

Damn Wessex is back! I didn't know you were even alive . Glad to see you were attracted back here by this fine bunker thread.

 

I only have pictures taken from afar as they are not accessible, they are closed off with cyclone fence as they lie next to the big sealocks. Both bunkers were machinegun casemates.

 

Kazemat VII was a searchlight bunker. I'm not 100% sure but I think there were two searchlights in two storage garages, separated by armoured doors. It's particularity was that the searchlight could be used as well from inside the bunker as from an outside position. When in use inside the bunker the search light stayed in its storage garage. The beam shone horizontally onto a mirror inclined at 45 degrees which rerouted the light beam upwards where a second mirror was used to guide the light beam in whatever direction it was needed. The system had the advantage that falling debris could only damage or destroy the mirror and not the searchlight.

Cutaway of the bunker.


The backside of the bunker with the entrance and the outside toilets.

The entrance.

The big armoured door.





The inside, I can't remember the exact layout.

The place where the mirror would have been.



The light shaft inbetween the mirror and the searchlight.

The light shaft going up.

 

During the occupation the Wehrmacht integrated the dutch Kazemates into the Atlantikwall defence. The Kornwerderzand complex was known as Wn 27 a H. They added some fortifications to the existing pre-war dutch bunkers.

The ones I know about so far are:

1 X Regelbau 612
2 X Regelbau 667c
2 X Vf Offene Bettung
3 X Vf Unterstand

Regelbau is the german designmation for the bunker type, it could be roughly translated as "Standard building patter".
Vf stands for Verstärkt Feldmässig which could be translated as "reinforced field fortification", bunkers that were much weaker then the regular Regelbautypes.
Offene Bettung means an open bedding.
Unterstand means shelter
To the south there are also some dragon teeth tank obstacles left. I'm not sure yet if they are of dutch origin or if they were added by the germans.

The fortifications at Kornwederzand were not attacked by the allied, they surrendered with the german capitulation in may 1945.

 

Several sources say that the open beddings were for the 2 cm. Flak, I have to admit that I'm sceptical about this, all the 2 cm. Flak beddings I've seen till now were different.


Those pics are from the OB that is integrated into the museum.

 

I found three bunkers I could identify with an 100% certainty as Verstärkt feldmässige Unterstände on Kornwerderzand. But one can hardly consider them as bunkers as a matter of fact.





They are pretty similar to one of the shelters at Stützpunkt Scharnhorst in Zeeland

 

Good pictures once again. Do you have an enlarged picture of the Roll of Honnor? Also is that propeller blade part of a wreckage that was found near the Vesting?

 

There is wreckage of a Lockheed Hudson on the other side of the bunker, so my best guess would be that the propeller also comes from the same plane. The Hudson FK 790 of 101 Sq. was shot down by german flak over the Ijsselmeer on the night of the 5th/6th july 1944. It was piloted by Flt. Lt. JW Menzies DFC, the crewmembers were FO Kenneth Bunney, Air Gunner Sgt. Eric Eliot and wireless operator Sgt. Dennis Withers. They were on their way to insert a team of dutch members of the BBO, the agents on board the Hudson were Jan Bokma, Peter Kwint, Pleum Verhoef and Johannes Walter.

 

One of the three Regelbau types built at Baupunkt 03. It is a Regelbau 667c Kleinschartenstand für 5cm KwK = Small Casematte for 5cm Gun This was a relatively small bunker with only one fighting compartment for a 5 cm. KwK.

Link to three dimensional plans and views, made by Jean Puelinckx.
Regelbau

 

This is the second RB 667c on Kornwerderzand, it is the only bunker of the whole complex that has been destroyed after the war. I don't know for what reasons though.

 

The 612 Schartenstand für Lande - und Sturmgeschütze in Kornwerderzand was equipped with a 10,5 CM leichte Feldhaubitze 18
Unfortunately the bunker is closed off so I could not get any pictures from the inside.
Here is the link to Jean Puelinckx' plans.
Regelbau

The front of the RB612 with the closed firing port for the 10,5 cm fieldhowitzer.

The bunker seen from the side.



The backside of Bunker Nummer 1491.

The large entrance for the Le.Fh.18. It is interesting to note that the dutch had modified the entrance after the war, they had closed off the big entrance for the field howitzer and installed a smaller armoured door.

A Lüfter, aeration vent, the armoured protection grille is missing.


The backside as seen from the top.

The Offener Beobachter Tobruk.

 

The second open bedding lies on the southern island, on the other side of the Lorentzsluijsen. It is in a worse shape then the first one.

 

That bedding is pretty similar to British Heavy AA sites-
E2 Aultbea HAA Battery
Site Record for Aultbea, Aird Battery E2; Aird Point; Loch Ewe Defences Details

 

Thanks for that, I've been wondering about the story behind this bit of wreckage.

 

The Kornwerderzand complex was in use again from 1952 to 1960. I found one source that stated that US troops were stationed on Kornwerderzand during the cold war years, I am highly sceptical of this. Except from the transformations made to the existing bunkers I'm aware of only one post WWII addition to the complex, it is a Sherman 105 mm howitzer turret placed into a fixed concrete position.

 

About a hundred meters to the south of the second OB, on the seaward side of the dyke lie these dragons teeth.








At first I thought that the dragons teeth were added by the germans, the more so as they are not dissimlar to the Kampwagenspeeretyp 5 of the Wehrmacht. But then I found this aerial pic that is supposed to be from May 1940 and it already shows the dragons teeth. So I guess they are dutch after all.