This "Shelter for trench systems" lies just a few kilometers away from the RB501, also part of the "Orscholzriegel". I haven't found out the "regelbau" type yet.
The following posts will show bunkers of the second line of defenses of the Westwall in the Wallendorf-Körperich region. The line runs one valley further to the east along the eastern ridge of the "Gaybachtal", the "Gay" creek valley. It is made up of stronger 100-series "Regelbauten" that were built in a later period then the first line along the Our and the Sauer rivers. What is of a special interest with this bunker is the fact that in the inside there is the beginning of a staircase leading down. This has been the subject of quite a few speculations and urban legends among the german bunker hunter scene. There are talks of a huge underground tunnel system IMPO there were plans to built a tunnel either with a second entry or to connect this Bunker with a neighboring one.
What great pictures! Interesting that the old bunkers are being used for deer stands! Here I thought that was a uniquely American way to hunt deer! Great pics as per usual!
This "Group shelter with attached fighting compartment" is quite well preserved alltough it has been dynamited.
All that can be seen is the fighting compartment, it got separated from the shelter when the bunker was blown up by the french combat engineers. I don't know if the ruins covered with soil, that lie a few meters away, are the rest of the 10a or if it has been completely destroyed and the rubble has been taken away and there was a second bunker. Photos of the fighting compartment.
Another bunker of the 100 series, guarding one of the sidevalleys of the Our river valley in the second line of defences. It is a double group shelter with a big fighting compartment for a heavy MG with an armoured plate as well as a flanking defense.
This water reservoir is built on top of a hill, it was filled by horse drawn wagons loaded with water tanks. When a bunker was built the water was led through pipes and hoses to the construction sites where it was used to mix concrete for the pouring. When mixing the concrete for a bunker a huge amount of water was needed in quite a short lapse of time as you couldn't stop puring concrete and restart later. As the Eifel region has not many wells, due to it's geology, and most of the creeks dry out in summer, water tanks were the only solution to guarantee a sufficient amount of water.
This Machine gun casematte lies in the second line of defenses, the hills with the village you can see on the fourth last photo still lie on german soil. Actually the water reservoir in the previous post lies on the hill to the left of the village. The Bunker had a periscopic sight for observation, it was lodged in the steel tube you can see in one of the pics.
This is a shelter for two groups with flanking defence. The flanking defence. The inside of the flanking defence. Closed off niche for a field telephone.
This Machine-gun bunker had two flanking combat rooms with protective steel plate "Schartenstände". There was also an armored steel observation cuppola.
This "Schartenstand" machinegun bunker had "Kleinstglocke", a small steel observation cuppola but no flanking defense. The observation cloche was either a 90P9 or a 23P8 type. The emergency exit The entry. Another view of the emergency exit, note the recesses where the removeable steel beams were fitted. Recess for the electrical switchboard. Access shaft for the observation cloche, note the iron conduits for the intercom. Bedding of the steel cuppola, please note the recess for the cuppola rim!
Machinegun Bunker with a modified entry, there was no entry flanking defence, but the entry was inside a concrete tunnel that had two exits and and was connected to a trench system. Further on, like the previous RB105, it had a "Kleinstglocke" steel observation cuppola. The fighting compartment facing to the north. One can still see where the huge steel "Schartenplatte", the armored plate was fitted into the concrete. The northern entry of the tunnel The inside of the tunnel, the steel beams on the roof have been removed after the bunker was blown up. This was not done by the army or by locals, but by french firms that had bought the rights, to pilfer the steel from the Westwall bunkers, from the french government. The first few meters of the trenches were reinforced by stone walls. The entry of the bunker, there used to be a steel door at this place. The southern entry to the tunnel. The fighting compartment covering the southern flank. The inside of teh southern fighting compartmet. Once again all the steel beams have been removed.
