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Decoy Airfield with Command Bunker WWII

Decoy Airfield with Command Bunker WWII

Highlight • Historical Site

Decoy Airfield with Command Bunker WWII

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Location: Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium

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1. Benedenvliet - Schelle – Cycle path along the Nete loop from Antwerpen-Zuid

52.4km

03:05

110m

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2. Mechelen – Benedenvliet - Schelle loop from Mechelen-Nekkerspoel

62.5km

03:39

130m

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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3. F11 Cycle Highway Antwerp–Lier – Zennegat loop from Antwerpen-Berchem

84.3km

04:55

170m

Moderate bike ride. Good fitness required. Mostly paved surfaces. Suitable for all skill levels.

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🇧🇪 Herwig Aertbeliën

October 16, 2021

In the middle of the field you can spot a command bunker.
This was once a small German mock airfield during World War 2.
Historical interpretation: Target for diversion bombing during World War II.
The concrete bunker in the field is a last reminder of a special chapter of the Second World War in Wilrijk. In the run-up to this conflict, the surrounding meadow was used as an airport by the Belgian army. Hardened, sown and equipped with light beacons, it had to offer the Belgian Air Force an alternative during a military conflict. After the capitulation on May 28, 1940, Belgian soldiers made the landing strip useless with explosives.
In 1940, the Germans restored the Wilrijk landing strip and, in anticipation of the Battle of Britain, expanded the site into a full-fledged airfield. Plans were changed while the works were being carried out. The Wilrijk airport would henceforth function as a mock airfield for the airport of Deurne, which was much more important to the Germans.
With fake wooden planes, lighting beacons and the construction of the same concrete bunker as the command bunker on Deurne, they tried to deceive the Allies and thus provoke a diversion bombardment on Wilrijk. however, it did not come to that. As the liberation of Antwerp neared, the Germans placed another series of poles in strategic places, including the mock airfield. these poles, popularly referred to as 'Rommelasparagus', were supposed to make landing from the air impossible.

The command bunker now stands here as a silent witness in the field.

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 50 m

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Monday 24 November

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Max wind speed: 16.0 km/h

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Location: Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium

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Decoy Airfield with Command Bunker WWII

1. Benedenvliet - Schelle – Cycle path along the Nete loop from Antwerpen-Zuid

2. Mechelen – Benedenvliet - Schelle loop from Mechelen-Nekkerspoel

3. F11 Cycle Highway Antwerp–Lier – Zennegat loop from Antwerpen-Berchem

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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