Belgia / Historia

A German defence belt around "Union Minière"

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During the Second World War, the German army built an anti-aircraft gun emplacement in Lichtaart. This artillery defended the nearby factory of Union Minière, the present Umicore, in Olen.

Uranium in Olen

The factory in Olen was of great strategic importance to the occupying forces. Union Minière specialised in processing cobalt, copper and uranium ore from the Belgian Congo. When war broke out, there were considerable uranium reserves in Olen. Nazi Germany, which has plans to develop an atomic weapon, is particularly interested.

Because of the strategic raw material reserves, the German army builds a defence belt around the factory. Not only in Lichtaart, but also in Olen and Herentals, batteries with anti-aircraft guns will be built, which are connected to each other. In this way, they wanted to protect the Union Minière site against Allied aerial bombardments.

German bunkers in the landscape

The German position or Flakstellung includes, besides anti-aircraft guns, also barracks, a command centre and a field kitchen. The units manning the position are housed in the castle villa Hof ter Heide. Some parts of the Flakstellung, such as the small ammunition bunkers, are still present today. Trenches, foxholes and other excavations have also left their traces in the landscape to this day.

In the months before the liberation, the resistance damaged the access roads and telephone lines of the defence line during sabotage actions, so that Allied bombers could fly over the region more safely. This is important because during Operation Market Garden Allied aircraft use the Kempen as an approach route to the Netherlands.