The Artillery Observatory MO-Sm-S 42 - Smolkov, Czech Republic - Military Installations on Waymarking.com

The Czechoslovak government built a system of border fortifications, as well as some fortified defensive lines inland, from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany. The objective of the fortifications was to prevent the taking of key areas by an enemy (not only Germany but also Hungary) by means of a sudden attack before the mobilization of the Czechoslovak army could be completed, and to enable effective defense until allies (Britain and France and possibly the Soviet Union) could help.

The Czechoslovak border fortifications

The several of Museums of Czechoslovakian fortifications exists. The museums are usually in hands of enthusiasts who repair forts and they are also guides in those forts.

The Smolkov Artillery Fort was a part of a line of mutually supportive heavy concrete buildings which were protecting the important industrial area and transport junction of Ostrava region. This defensive line was built as a response to the military threat from Nazi Germany in the mid 1930s. The task of the constructed protective fortification was to compensate armament and numerical superiority of the German army and repulse or at least hold up a possible attack of the enemy. In the hill above the Smolkov village one of the five artillery fortresses finished in Czechoslovakia was built between 1936 and 1938. Extensive complex of fortification buildings consists of five separated buildings which are connected through underground corridors. The construction was finalized in October 1938 and most of the interior equipment was installed there. The fortress was supposed to have a garrison of 394 men who were expected to resist attacks up to several months in the underground. The underground premises of the buildings are currently used by the Army of the Czech Republic. The surface of the individual buildings is, with the exception of the entrance building, freely accessible. There is a green marked hiking trail running near the buildings.

The plan of the Smolkov Artillery Fort

As a result of adoption of the Munich Treaty signed by Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain, the Czechoslovak Army had to leave the fortress at the beginning of October 1938 and to hand it over to the German Army without any fight. Fortunately, prior to the handover all the weapons and equipment had been evacuated to the inland.

The plan of upper floor of The Artillery Observatory MO-Sm-S 42

Source and more information

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

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