Infantry blockhouse R-H-S 76 - 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 76

The infantry blockhouses R-H-S 76 (code name "U lomu"), together with R-H-S 77, assured the compactness of the anti-fire barrier, and formed a link to the line of separated infantry blockhouses on the right wing of the fortress. The fort was concreted between 14 - 19 September 1937 in the highest resistance class (ceiling and endangered walls 350 cm, other walls 150 cm) and with the total concrete volume of 2274 m3. It was earmarked for garrison unit of 27 men. On the upper floor, there is one firing room, initially armed with two heavy machine guns aimed towards the nearest fort R-S 75. The left firing room was replaced by an armoured copula (installed on 15 April 1938), which was supposed to be armed with twin heavy machine guns aimed towards the forts R-S 78 and 77. The protection of the nearest surroundings was assured by two light machine guns; one of them was placed in the embrasure under the concrete, the other one in the right armoured bell (installed on 23 March 1938). In the middle of the front wall there was an armoured bell intended for observation ( installed on 3 April 1938). The observer was able to direct fire of three howitzers of an artillery battery located in the fort R-S-79. In the ceiling there was a small bell for suction of the air into the filtering room. On the upper floor there was a room for the garrison commander, telephone operator room, a room and barracks for the artillery observer and his assistants, store of machine guns ammunition, and water tanks. The lower floor was earmarked for the garrison - barracks, sanitary facilities - washing room and rations store, room with radio apparatus, filtering room, and further ammunition stores. The both floors were linked to the underground with stairs (22 m deep) and with a goods lift with the load capacity of 400 kg. The emergency exit led under the shooting rooms to the protection ditch and was closed with iron bars and gas-tight door. The walls exposed to attacks were surrounded by a stone embankment, and earthed up to the level of the ceiling. During the occupation the fort was of no interest to the German Army, and thus it passed through the war without any harm. Despite the fact that armoured components represented nearly 160 tonnes of high-quality crucible steel, the fort luckily suffered no losses even in the 1950s, which was the period of high pursuit for raw materials. For the first time the object came to harm during the operation "Project Kahan" in the late 1980s when all interior partition walls were demolished and new pressure resistant doors were installed. The rebuilding works were not finished. Yet, the object had obviously been planned to be insulated and completely earthed, the other blockhouses alike. Nowadays, it is the most preserved fort of the fortress Hanicka.

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

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