Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

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hannibal2
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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#61

Post by hannibal2 » 13 Feb 2019, 04:54

Where are these photos located? Can they be viewed online? Do you have access to them?

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AvB
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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#62

Post by AvB » 13 Feb 2019, 17:30

Photos are in the French ECPAD archive. Mind you that these were taken when the PAK 40 was replaced by the Russian gun.
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hannibal2
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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#63

Post by hannibal2 » 13 Feb 2019, 19:05

Thanks a lot Arthur, great photos! Too bad they date after the Pak 40 was replaced (the barrel sticking out of the Scharte is certainly not one of a Pak 40). When exactly did that happen, do you know? I doubt very much that my father was put in charge of that Beutewaffe. For good reasons, gun crews were kept together with the gun they were trained on and that of course would include the Geschuetzfuehrer. So what happened to that gun after it was replaced? Good question, eh?
Gert

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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#64

Post by hannibal2 » 20 Feb 2019, 18:12

Hello friends!

Recently I came across a great YouTube video that relates directly to our subject. It shows the removal of a Pak 40 from an undisclosed location to the Atlantikwall-Museum's bunker in former Wn 17 at Marineflakbatterie Nordmole, the very bunker in which my father's Pak 40 was most likely housed before it was replaced by a Russian 7,62 cm AT gun. Hats off to the guys who so deftly handled and put into a very tight place an unwieldy and very heavy piece of hardware such as this! Man, this thing weighs a ton and a half! It looks brand new, like it came straight out of the Rheinmetall factory - just amazing.

The video raises some interesting questions:

1. How did the gun ever find its way into that garage?
2. What was the location of the garage?
3. Who acquired the gun, and from whom?
4. What is the distance in kilometers or miles from the garage to the Museum?
5. Who were the feisty men who performed this amazing feat?

It would be nice if someone could answer any of these questions.

The YouTube title is: "Atlantikwall-Museum: PAK 40 naar Tafelbunker".

Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Cheers,
Gert

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AW
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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#65

Post by AW » 20 Feb 2019, 20:27

Hello,

thats not a Garage... thats the Bunker where your father most likely was stationed.
Regelbau 625b of Stp. IV (Baupunkt 14c)

greetz

hannibal2
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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#66

Post by hannibal2 » 20 Feb 2019, 23:10

You mean to say the gun was taken only a short distance from one bunker to another within the limits of the Stp, not from outside of it, as I assumed? So my father's gun was originally housed in the former, not the latter bunker, yes? What bunker was that? How long had it been there? In that location, it was never replaced during the war, unlike the one in the Museum bunker?
Gert

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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#67

Post by AW » 21 Feb 2019, 09:07

625b.JPG

Peter de Krom
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Re: Baupunkt 14 in Festung Hoek van Holland

#68

Post by Peter de Krom » 21 Feb 2019, 14:28

Hi Gert,

Still some confusion i'm afraid :)

Like Alex pointed out on my map of Stutzpunkt. IV you can see how the guns were changed in the several bunkers. Also see my earlier posts explaining what happened to the Pak 40's in Stp. IV. Again I want to point out that you're father was stationed within Stutzpunkt IV in either the 625b bunker with the construction number 1405 or 1406. Wn. 17, which was not (officially) a part of Stp. IV and the bunker 611 (1433) never housed a Pak 40. Although up until the museum decided to put one there anyway in 2008 when this bunker became the new museum. They had obtained it in 2005, when it was placed in the 625b 1405, the first AW Museum location (since 1996). Up until this moment the museum already had a 5cm K.w.K. This was technically/historically incorrect. The Pak 40 changed all that.

About the movie. You can even spot me carrying the gun to the crane ;). I was a volunteer during that time at the museum. There was quite some objection amongst some volunteers against moving the gun from the 625b (1405) to the 611, the new museum location. Especially since we also still had the 5cm K.w.K. gun and research pointed out that the 611 actually may had housed a 5cm K.w.K. (now we know for sure). Still, the decision was made and now both guns are actually in both bunkers, but historically speaking the wrong way around..

The gun was bought from the (very impressive) Liberation Museum in Overloon and most likely came from the battle around that area. It was put out of action in battle by allied fire and the German soldier manning it was most likely killed. The damage is still visible.

What bothers me personally, after all these years, is that a gun with a burdened and most likely very impressive (local) story was sold, moved, stripped from it's original color (and with that also scars), repainted with a different color and now stands in a bunker that has no connection to the gun or story.
The museum arguments the decision was made because the old 625 bunker was closed for the public for restoration, and they still wanted to show the gun to as many people as possible. It was a discussion of commerce vs. historical value. Now, to me, it's just a strange and very silly situation. But as you can see, it's not an easy operation to turn it around...

Cheers, Peter
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