This command bunker of type 117a is nicknamed “wing bunker” or “whale bunker.” This name is derived from the large stabilizing piece built onto the bunker, which has the specific shape of a whale tail or airplane tail.
The bunker was built in 1943 as a command post and has an area of 24 x 14 meters, containing 15 rooms. The walls are made of 3-meter-thick concrete, and the bunker has 2 entrances. These entrances were defended by heavy machine guns, positioned behind the thick armor shield with firing slits, to the right of the entrance doors. Typically, such a shield weighs several hundred kilograms, but this one weighed 20 tons.
The dome on top of the bunker is an observation dome of type 486P2. Behind the bunker, an observation point can be found. A staircase leads to a platform that offers a panoramic view of the surrounding Zeepeduinen (soap dunes).
To defend the coast and Haamstede airfield against an Allied invasion, the Germans built the Stützpunkgruppe Schouwen here. An extensive complex of dozens of bunkers arose in the dunes of Schouwen and in the Slotbos (castle forest) of Haamstede.
From this complex, the Germans commanded all defense works on Schouwen-Duiveland. The bunker contained spaces for a radio, officers, supplies, and a machine gun post for defending the bunker itself. The bunker was equipped with a periscope. The armored observation dome is still present on the bunker’s roof.
