Bunker village

Of the many constructions that appeared in Parc den Brandt and the Wilrijkse Plein during W.W.2, only the sturdy bunkers remain.

From 1942 houses around the parc were requisitioned to house the military personnel of the headquarters of the 89th Army Corps. To enable them to carry out their task also under fire there would be 12 bunkers built and many smaller constructions like shelters, garages, munition stores, etc... Together with the 3 bunkers on the Wilrijkse Plein, the 8 bunkers in the parc itself have been listed as a monument since 2004. It was described as:

 

“In its entirety, the only fully intact ensemble of such a command post in Europe.
Moreover, characterized by the occurrence of rather rare bunker types.”

The corps with headquarters in Antwerp was established on 2 August 1942, initially under the name “Generalkommando Y” which was changed a week later to the name “Schelde“. It's "Küstenverteidigungsabschnitt” (KVA), the sector that fell under its command, initially included Zeeland and only a part of the Belgian coast. From October 1942 the final name “LXXXIX (89.) AK.” followed, under which the rest of the Belgian coast would later also be added to the KVA. This was divided into 3 KVAs, to which a 4th was added until 1944 to defend Antwerp and its port itself. For this “Abschnitt Antwerpen” a headquarters was built in the Antwerp City Park with three bunkers (2 x R608 and 1 x R622).

The corps itself was part of the 15th Army whose KVA was considered the most dangerous because of its proximity to England, especially with the Scheldt estuary as the gateway to the strategic port of Antwerp. Napoleon once called her a loaded gun aimed at the underbelly of England, now the roles had reversed and also the possible direction of the "gun". In the end these fears turned out to be justified as the port of Antwerp would indeed turn out to prove a most critical factor in the fighting on the Western Front.

The staff of the 15th Army at Tourcoing was also housed in a rare “SK1” command bunker which is now also a museum (website).

Throughout its presence in Antwerp, 4 different generals commanded the LXXXIX. (89.) Army Corps. 

Hubicki2-optim

Dr. Alfred Ritter von Hubicki
Establishment - 18.12.1942

30.4.1943 – 11.6.1943

 

Hugo Höfl

Hugo Höfl 

18.12.1942 – 30.4.1943

Werner-Albrecht Freiherr von und zu Gilsa

Werner Freiherr von und zu Gilsa
11.6.1943 – 12.1.1944

29.1.1944 – 23.11.1944

F W Neumann

Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann 

12.1.1944 – 29.1.1944

The large command bunkers in the park were built around the time von und zu Gilsa took charge of the corps. This very experienced professional soldier had already distinguished himself in Belgium when he contributed to the advance by capturing an important bridge over the Meuse for which he received the Knight's Cross on 5.6.1940, on the Eastern Front he would earn another one on 24.1.1942 for the defense of Suchinitschi.

From June 1943, General von Gilsa was assigned to command the defense of the Belgian coast and Zeeland, for which he regularly inspected the units under his command. In turn, his work was scrutinized by his superiors, such as the well-known Field Marshal Rommel who also visited Antwerp several times. For the defense of the complex, a "Sicherungsring" was also built north of the park in 1944 with the assignment: "Defense of the command post of the Generalkommando against enemy attacks of all kinds.". Both land and air defenses were provided around the headquarters which, according to the documentation, had to hold out to the last man.

Field Marshal Rommel and von Gilsa at Raversyde.

Plan of 11 June 1943 on which, in addition to the 2 command bunkers and nearby bunker in the Della Faillelaan, requisitioned houses are also indicated. The “Ia” was the operations department while the “Ic” was to provide intelligence. Also marked is the perimeter around the park, the inaccessible “Sperrgebiet”, where trams still passed through. On June 15, 1943, lines 5 and 17 were given a special status, the “Ortskommandatur” ordered that only closed carriages could be used on these lines. Once in the “sicherungsbereich” the carriage had to remain closed and was certainly not allowed to stop. From 15 April 1944, passenger traffic on these lines through the barrier area was finally banned.

Bunker types

Of the 11 listed bunkers, 6 are of the lighter “VF” (Verstärkt Feldmäßig) type with 1m thick concrete. The other 5 are the much sturdier “St” (Ständige) bunkers that have walls and a roof of at least 2m thickness and were equipped with their own gas protection. For these 11 constructions some 250.000 cubic ft of reinforced concrete was used (thus containing about 800.000 lbs reinforcement steel). A 12th bunker is located on private land in the Della Faillelaan on which a house appeared after the war, exact type to be confirmed but described as “St” with 2 rooms.

According to the German plan, the bunker in the Della Faillelaan was used for "Nachrichten" (communication) which was confirmed by the resistance. In a message with plan it was marked and referred to as occupied by "Nachrichtenhelferinnen", female army telephone operators.

The pages on the different bunkertypes can be visited via the buttons here or directly through the menu.
In the menu there is also a page on beach obstacles at the Atlantikwall and in our collection.

St

Command

Communication

Personnel

Vf

Personnel

Medical

Atlantikwall sites in Belgium.

On the website of the "Forts and Bunkers Group" lots of information and a list of sites that were under the command of the headquarters in Antwerp can be found. On their "links" page there are also many interesting links to Atlantikwall websites.