Infantry blockhouse R-H-S 80 - Orlicke mountains, Czech Republic - Military Installations on Waymarking.com

The Artillery fortification Hanicka consists of six forts - one blockhouse of entry, three infantry forts, one artillery fort and one fort for an artillery turret.

The plan of upper floor of the infantry blockhouse R-H-S 80

The infantry blockhouse R-H-S 80 (code name "U potucku"), together with R-S 77 assured the compactness of anti-fire barrier, and formed a link to the line of separated infantry blockhouses on the left wing of the fortress. Initially this fort was planned to be built as an independent fort, but later it became a part of the complex. The fort was concreted in the highest resistance class (ceiling and endangered walls 350 cm, other walls 150 cm) during 21 - 26 October 1937, and it was the smallest fort of Hanicka complex (its concrete volume was 1 997 m3).
It was aimed for garrison unit of 27 men. The fort has got two floors linked with stairs (28 m deep) which enable connection with the underground spaces. There were plans for a lift with the load capacity of 400 kg to be used for transport of ammunition. On the upper floor, there are two firing rooms, each of them armed with two heavy machine guns, which were the main weapons of the fort. The. protection of the surroundings was assured with four light machine guns. Two of them were placed in the embrasures under the concrete, and the other two were installed in armoured bells (the right bell was installed on 2 June 1938, the left one on 27 May 1938). In the ceiling there was a ventilation bell for the suction of the air into the filtering room.
On the upper floor there was also a room for the garrison commander, telephone operator room, store for machine guns ammunition, and water tanks. The lower floor was earmarked for the garrison - barracks, sanitary facilities - washing room and WC, rations store, and the filtration room. The emergency exit was placed in the left protection ditch and was closed with iron bars and gas-tight door.
The walls exposed to the attack, as well as walls facing the inland were protected by a stone embankment, and earthed up to the level of the ceiling. During the occupation, the right side of the fort was badly damaged as a result of fire testing, when the German Army used special under-calibre shells Röchling. The fort suffered further destruction in 1958, when both armoured bells were torn out and transported to Kovosrot. In the framework of operation "Project Kahan" in 1980s, some extensive restoration works were realized. Namely the lower part of the stairway was removed, which made space for installation of a tank for drinking water. Instead of the left embrasure a new entrance hole was knocked. The damaged walls were rebuilt and the whole object obtained new insulation layer and was completely earthed except for the piping of the ventilation system which remained above the surface.

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