Hoek van Holland

Both sides of the Nieuwe Waterweg estuary at the town of Hoek van Holland were heavily defended by the germans. The totality of complexes got the status of Festung, and quite a lot can still be seen today.

If Hoek van Holland is approached via the E 36, the first bunkers can be seen on the left side of the road. These are two ammunition bunkers (Regelbau 134) and a bunker for personnel (Regelbau 621). A few hundred meters more to the west, two more bunkers can be found at the right site of the road. These remainings of the Landfront, a Regelbau 667 and a  Regelbau 674 are both accessible.

"Het Stealduinse Bos"
In the Staelduinsebos a large and complete bunker complex is still present. It consists of 28 St. bunkers and a large number of Vf. works. The whole complex embeds two strongpoints, the Stp.XIX en W.N 36 H, and is divided in three parts.

-The central part (Stp. XIX): This part contains 17 St. bunkers and 18 Vf. works.
The most important items are the command post (Regelbau 608) and a rare communication post (Regelbau 142). Furthermore, nine bunkers for personnel (five times Regelbau 502, two times Regelbau 501 and two times Regelbau 621), five ammunition bunkers (Regelbau 134) and a hospital bunker (Regelbau 118c, Großer Sanitätsunterstand) are to be found. Among the Vf. works, bunkers for garage, ammunition, storage, personnel, a canteen and a bathhouse are still present.

- The western part (also Stp. XIX): This part contains 3 St. bunkers and 13 Vf. works.
The 3 St. bunkers build were two gun garages (Regelbau 672, Geschützunterstellraum I ohne Nebenräume) and a ammunition bunker Regelbau 674). The lighter works included, among others, bunkers for personnel and storage buildings.

- The north-eastern part (W.N 36 H): This part contains 8 St. bunkers and 7 Vf. works.
The St. bunkers build were 3 ammunition bunkers of the early type (Regelbau 134), 1 bunker for personnel of the early type (Regelbau 501), 1 bunker for personnel of the latter type (Regelbau 621), two larger bunkers for personnel of the early type (Regelbau 502) and a command post (Regelbau 610). The lighter works included, among others,  some Tobruks and a kitchen.

A complex of 7 St. bunkers was build close to the Nieuwe Waterweg at the same latitude as the Stealduinse. Two of them still remain and can easily be found near the rail-way. It are a bunker for personnel (Regelbau 501) and a garage for an anti-tank gun (Regelbau 601, Pakunterstellraum mit Deckenplatte). The latter still has his 22 cm thick armor plate. This gave the bunker a low silhouette, compared to his brother Regelbau 629 who has a 2 meter thick concrete roof. Both bunkers are accessible.

A few hundred meter to the north, a bunker for personnel (Regelbau 621) and a ammunition bunker Regelbau 134) can still be found.

At the village of 's Gravenzande the germans build a Bataillion comandpost which consisted of 10 St.-bunkers. All the bunkers were camouflaged as houses, to hide them for the enemy-eye. The commandpost was installed in a Regelbau 608, to house the personnel five bunkers (one Regelbau 501, one Regelbau 621 and three Regelbau 502) were constructed and in order to protect the ammunition two Regelbau 134 were built. There was also a large hospital bunker (Regelbau 639) where operations could be conducted. Many (if not all) bunkers of this complex can still be seen today.

Close to the Noordzeestrand the headquarters of the 1./M.A.A 205 is situated. A command post Regelbau M 152) and four bunkers for personnel (1 Regelbau 621 and 3 Regelbau M 151) ensured the secure housing of its personnel. The bunkers are interconnected by a roofed trench constructed of bricks. The complex is fully accessible.

The Regelbau M 152, commandpost of the M.A.A.205

South of this headquarters complex, the remains of M.K.B Vineta can be found. This battery consisted of 21 St. bunkers and many lighter works. The 4 gun bunkers were of the type Regelbau 671 S.K. An AA bunker of the type Regelbau Fl.242 protected the site for aircraft attack and two bunkers for field artillery of the type Regelbau 612 were build to secure the site for ground attacks.
To complete the site, 13 St. bunkers with a supportive role were build. These include 10 bunkers for personnel (7 times Regelbau 501 and 3 times Regelbau M 151), 2 ammunition bunkers (Regelbau Fl 246), 1 small hospital bunker (Regelbau 638) and a Wasserbehälter. The dutch command post that belonged to Batterij V was used by the germans and is still present on the site. And last but not least the pedestal of a Würzburg Riese (Fu.M.O. 214), which supported the command post, is to be found.

One of the gun bunkers (Regelbau 671SK)

Near the harbor and close to the Noordzeestrand a large ammunition bunker (Regelbau Fl.246) is located. This bunker, once belonging to the M.Fl.B. Nordmole, now houses the Reddingsmuseum Jan Lels. Almost all bunkers belonging to this AA gun site are still present.
The organization "Stichting Vesting Hoek van Holland" occupies itself with the excavation of the site in order to make it accessible to the public.
West of the ammunition bunker mentioned above, a typical Tobruk of the type 58c, a PaK bunker (Regelbau 625B) and a small dutch bunker (kazemat G) can be found  These bunkers were stripped of their sand in 1996 by the "Stichting Vesting Hoek van Holland". The couple of the kazemat G has been blasted and accordingly, little remains of the small work. Remarkably, all these bunkers still have their original camouflage paintings.
 

The rear of the Regelbau 625B

The front of the Regelbau 625B

Where the northern pier begins, two St. bunkers, 1 Vf. bunker and approximately 100 meters of anti-tank wall can be found between the bushes. The two St. bunkers are a bunker for a field artillery gun (Regelbau 611), which is connected to the one end of the anti-tank wall, and a Regelbau 625, connected to the other end of the wall. Besides that, the current watertrafic control post is build on a Naval Signalling post (Regelbau V 214). Recently, a Regelbau 674 and a Vf. bunker have been demolished that were positioned somewhat to the east of the above mentioned complex.
 

The demolished Vf. bunker		The demolished Vf. bunker

The emergency exit (Notausgang or Notausstieg)

For more information, visit the site of the Stichting Vesting Hoek van Holland

Thanks to Eric van Dijk for translating this page.

 

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