Pillbox 15/7714/D2 - Sumice, Czech Republic - Military Installations on Waymarking.com

The Czechoslovak (CSR) government built a system of border fortifications from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany. The infantry blockhouses and military fortress are a legend in the territory of Czech Republic. Because of the extreme length of the border line the CSR had to defend, the build-up of an uninterrupted line of heavy fortifications was neither technically nor financially possible.

The lines of Czechoslovak heavy and light fortifications

The fortification was divided into six main lines:

1. I. Army Corps - west-southern part of Bohemia
   
2. II. Army Corps - northeastern part of Bohemia
3. III. Army Corps - southern part of Moravia
4. IV. Army Corps - northern part of Moravia
5. VI. Army Corps - eastern part of Slovakia Carpatho-Rus
6. VII. Army Corps - southern and central part of Slovakia

The each line was divided into several parts - a section. The each section was build by main construction company and had its a construction supervision from Army Headquarters.

The mainly built fortified constructions were light fortified installations - pillboxes model 36 and, most of all, the installations model 37. The bunkers model 37 represent by following chiefly the principle of flanking fire a very modem concept of fortifications. The structures in the terrain are laid out in lines in which the neighbouring nests shelter each other, establishing a defence usually in two lines, with the front protected by a system of antipersonnel or antitank blocks. There were five types of light base structures designated A to E, with Type A being the most frequently built one, consisting of two embrasures allowing double-sided fire. Each structure was operated by 2–7 men. These light fortifications were intended to stop the enemy for a certain time, or at least delay him and thus prevent strategic shock. They had one or mostly two main embrasures and could stand artillery shelling from calibre 75 mm to 150 mm. The armament consisted of light machine guns, model 26 or heavy machine guns, model 37 and the personal firearms of the crew. Until September 1938 more than 10.000 installations of the two models 36 and 37 were built.

The pillbox typology model 37, types D-1, D-2

About pillbox 15/7714/D2
Line: IIIV. Army Corps
Section: 15
Pillbox No.: 7714
Pillbox type: D2
Endurance: standard
Construction company: Ing. František Hrbata a Ing. Alois Smékal, Prostejov
Army supervisor: por. žen. Jan Syrovátka
Date of concreting: IX.1938
Current status: preserved

The floor plan of pillbox model 37, type D2

The movie clip about Czechoslovak pillboxes (only Czech audio)

Era: WW II Related web site: [Web Link] General Comments: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/15/2017 Olii05 visited it