Soviet bunker 78 years later

[Aksu]

We have a summer place in Hanko (Gangut) which was a Soviet marine base between the winter and continuation wars. This is one of the only remaining concrete bunkers in town. I will try and take and put up more pics of what remain of the _extensive_ russian fortifications next time I'm there. Mostly they are sangars for observation posts and light aa guns, dragons teeth-like natural rock anti tank belts, ditches. And lots and lots of trenches. All sort of fading into the terrain. My father remembers the hill behind this bunker was criss crosssed with phone wires, covered with concrete tubing still some years after the war. Our attic has  "private, do not open" written in russian on a door, and we found crumbling remains of a russian gas mask up there once. My aunt found some tank tracks in her garden. Strange when you discover history like that, just by scratching the surface.

Anyeway, perhaps this will be useful if someone wants to model old, decaying entrenchments
Cheers, Aksu

[Steve J]

Funny how that bunker now looks more like a rock given that it covered in moss and lichen.

[fsn]

Looks flipping creepy.

[Leon]

That's pretty cool, I love seeing these old chunks of history just laying around waiting for someone to explore them.  We've got a few bits around here, there's several bunkers dotted up and down the coast, a Starfish site up on the hills nearby and a Cold War bungalow about 20 miles away with a full underground bunker system.  Sadly it flooded many years ago and I don't think it'll ever see the light of day again.

I'd love to go walking in some of the woods in Poland/Ukraine where there's all sorts still sitting in the undergrowth.

[Sunray]

That's pretty cool, I love seeing these old chunks of history just laying around waiting for someone to explore them.  We've got a few bits around here, there's several bunkers dotted up and down the coast, a Starfish site up on the hills nearby and a Cold War bungalow about 20 miles away with a full underground bunker system.  Sadly it flooded many years ago and I don't think it'll ever see the light of day again.

I'd love to go walking in some of the woods in Poland/Ukraine where there's all sorts still sitting in the undergrowth.

And on that day he had the inspiration for Pendraken Military Tours.  There are loads of Cold War stuff around the UK - mostly ROC reporting posts and a few bigger Civil Defence command.

I remember in the 1980s getting a tour through an old mill that had been "acquired" by the Home Office.  Tons of bandages,  protective clothing. masks, beds, stoves, tined foods, water purification kits, pumps, and a full MoT section of Landrovers and Bedford RL trucks.  It all aspired to the limited nuclear war concept of the 1950s - which might have been survivable.   
There was even a rumour that steam engines were also in storage.

This aspiration faded by the 1980s as MAD (mutually assured destruction) became the reality.

The ROC was stood down in 1991 and the posts abandoned.  It was a part time Home Office organisation - the uniform was RAF surplus, and it operated on a shoe string budget. 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

To illustrate how far the paranoia went there were supposedly several hundred Centurions in storage, so when the Soviets overran Europe we would still have a viable army !

[Sunray]

To illustrate how far the paranoia went there were supposedly several hundred Centurions in storage

Yes, and the story[sic] goes that when the Home Office went paperless they destroyed the only map reference for the disused slate mine were the Cents are parked, all greased up, and ready to go once electronics are connected (the stashed vehicles I saw  had ignitions disconnected to avoid EMP).


There were also a fleet of several thousand  RL Fire engines - everybody said it was a myth - then we had a Fireman's strike (1977?) and out came the Green Goddess.  They were still around until 2007.   The Irish civil authorities still have them !

I do know that a lot of Chieftains were kept in "reserve storage" and sold off at the end of the Cold War for £5k each.  Tanks- Alot  have them on their website.    https://tanks-alot.co.uk 

[Womble67]

Interesting find

Take care

Andy

[Terry37]

Seeing this picture makes me think of the Outpost movies. If you have any interest in Weird World War, they are good ones to watch. For me the third one is the best.

Terry

[fsn]

Like I say. Creepy.

Reference to Outpost doesn't help.

[Aksu]

Doh, I just realised I should have taken photos of what this bunker is guarding. At least taking photos from the top towards the fire arcs is doable (wouldnt want to go inside in case them ruski zombies take a bite?). Anyway, this is a heavy MG bunker, situated at one end of a long beach. The garrison commander's bunker was 100 m inland from this position (picture right). The fire arcs are towards the beach (front) and towards a potential flanking direction (picture left).
Useless factoid: Marshall Mannerheim's summer place and a cafe he used to own are probably visible from the bunker.
Aksu

[Leon]

Whereabouts is this in Hanko?  I've been having a browse on Google Maps and there looks to be several bunkers to the east of the boat harbour on the southern side of the peninsula. 

[Aksu]

Location: I wonder if this link works:
https://goo.gl/maps/S16pqVsvPg92
There are quite a few stone sangar bunkers, but reinforced concrete ones are rare. On the Finnish side of the frontline there is a museum with restored strongpoints and hardware.
Aksu

[paulr]

The link works for me

All of the place names are in, what I presume is, Finnish
Taking the "hl=fi-FI" off the end of the link gives the names I more familiar with

[Leon]

Location: I wonder if this link works:
https://goo.gl/maps/S16pqVsvPg92
There are quite a few stone sangar bunkers, but reinforced concrete ones are rare. On the Finnish side of the frontline there is a museum with restored strongpoints and hardware.

Ooh, I was close!