Railway battery E690

 Second World War 1939-1945, bunker

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To protect the torpedo base on the east bank in Ostend, a battery of heavy railway guns was installed in Bredene at the end of 1941. The battery E690 was equipped with three Kurze Brune guns of 28 cm. They were placed on a turntable so that they had a radius of 360 degrees. The preparations started already during that year with the construction of a railway network, just behind the dunes, which was connected to the station of Ostend. The whole was completed with ammunition magazines and crew accommodations. The site of the battery was named by the Germans Stp Bruchmüller and Stp Goltz. From 1942 to 1943 the Organization Todt completely changed the Stützpunkt. About thirty bunkers from the series Regelbauten 500 - 600 completed the first buildings. The Stp was fully developed with crew bunkers of type 502, 622, 621, a kitchen bunker 134K, observation and fire control bunkers, types 613 and 636, a machine bunker 607SK and several Vf's and Wellblech's. They also received anti-aircraft guns (FlaK), one 2 cm FlaK Vierling and five 2 cm FlaK 30. The whole was completed with a searchlight of 60 cm diameter. After the war, the Belgian Navy took possession of part of the Stp and installed electronic equipment. A power generator was installed in one of the crew bunkers. The rest of the bunkers were eliminated. In 1998 the site Punt 50 was abandoned and is now open to everyone. An asphalt road leads from the N34 to the top of the dune belt. Here is the fire control post of the railway battery. It is a Regelbau 636. Like every battle bunker, it has only one entrance that is flanked by the "Nahkampfraum". The entrance is in chicano shape to prevent people from entering the bunker directly. The bunker is closed with a double armored door of type 434P01. It is the only existing door of the bunker. The middle and largest space of the bunker was the auditor's office. Here the observation data were converted into concrete values ​​to target the guns. One shooting hole defends the entrance. At the front is the observation room. Here stood the officers who observed and evaluated the goal. Normally one has a view of about 180 degrees, but the viewing slot was concreted during the period of the Naval Force. The passage from the audit office to the observation room was also broadened during this period. The court is flanked left and right by two narrower chambers. The smaller of the two was the radio room and the incoming messages were processed at the back. The other room was the crew stay. Each had a bed, a cupboard and a stool. There was a table in the middle. At the back of the boiler was the boiler and here you can still see the emergency exit. On the roof is the cockpit for the distance gauge. The measured data were passed on from here to the audit office. From the roof one also comes in the Tobruk for near defense. All walls of the bunker are covered with wooden chipboards. There are several different connection points for electricity. A bit more to the east is a 621. This was completely built under the ground and is accessible via a mini-basement. In the front, there is a small storage space to the left and after the passage there is a transverse corridor on the left, on which a small storage space comes out again. The corridor leads to nothing. Probably there was a staircase back here. If you continue on your way, you have the Regelbau 621 on your left. This bunker has two entrances that lead to a corridor in chicane form. Through a door hole one enters the gas lock. Two double armored doors of type 434P01 belonged here. From here you enter the crew residence. This doorway was closed with a gas-tight door of type 19P7. Two loopholes defend the entrances. The bunker was manned by 1 non-commissioned officer and 8 men. The electrical wiring (post-war) has been well preserved. A large part of the bunker number can still be seen at one of the entrances. West of the 636, on the edge of the dunes, there is another bunker that is 98% silted up. According to reports, there would be a fourth bunker behind the sand behind the 636.