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Glossary

_
  • _Access
    _Access
    Passable part of an inundation in the form of elevated terrain, a road, (railway) embankment or waterway.
  • _Artillery
    _Artillery
    Collective term for projectile weapons.
  • _Bastion
    _Bastion
    Also called bulwark. An outward-projecting pentagonal structure, suitable for delivering flanking fire.
  • _Park
    _Park
    A storage site for military equipment. The parks in the Defence Line are spread out over sectors (sector parks) and groups (group parks).
a
  • Armoured battery
    Armoured battery
    A battery that is positioned behind armour plates.
  • Armoured fort
    Armoured fort
    A fort with one or more armoured artillery positions.
b
  • Battery
    Battery
    A number of artillery pieces combined into one group.
  • Breastwork
    Breastwork
    Shielded position from which defenders can harass the enemy.
c
  • Caponier
    Caponier
    A (low) defensive structure that extends into the moat and can be used to give flanking fire.
  • Casemate
    Casemate
    A space that is protected against enemy fire and is outfitted with a gun port, behind which a piece of artillery is placed.
  • Corps of Engineers
    An army division whose tasks include, amongst other things, the construction of temporary and permanent defensive structures. The term ‘engineer’ is derived from the French word ‘ingenieur’.
  • Covered way
    Covered way
    Also called covert way. A pathway that is protected from enemy fire by an earthen wall and can be used for transporting soldiers and military equipment.
d
  • Dam sluice
    Dam sluice
    Also called stop-log sluice. A temporary dam that stops the inundation water when beams are stacked up in its recesses.
  • De-ironing installation
    Water purification system that improves the quality of drinking water by extracting iron.
e
  • Earth wall
    Earth wall
    Earthen elevation surrounding a defensive structure, featuring a breastwork.
  • Engineer depot
    Engineer depot
    A (wooden) shed where artillery and military engineering equipment were stored.
f
  • Field of fire
    The part of a terrain that can be fired at.
  • Flanking fire
    Long-range flanking fire: fire support for the secondary forts. Short-range flanking fire: fire that covers the surroundings of the defensive structure itself.
  • Fortification Act
    Known in Dutch as ‘Vestingwet’. The act of the 18th of April 1874 that stipulated which forts would become part of the Dutch national defence system.
g
  • Gorge
    Gorge
    The side of a defensive structure that is facing away from the enemy.
  • Gorge casemate
    Gorge casemate
    In the Defence Line forts this is a casemate giving short-range and long-range flanking fire.
  • Gun carriage
    Gun carriage
    Undercarriage for a cannon or other heavy firearm.
h
  • High-explosive shell
    Shell that is filled with highly explosive material.
i
  • Inundation
    Inundation
    The flooding of land to keep the enemy at bay.
  • Inundation sluice
    Inundation sluice
    Also called inlet sluice. A sluice that is constructed with the aim of letting water into a certain area.
p
  • Position
    Position
    An independent system of connected defensive structures.
  • Position artillery
    Position artillery
    Artillery that gives frontal fire over large distances, directly aimed at enemy positions.
  • Post
    Post
    A simple (temporary) defensive structure manned by a small number of soldiers.
  • Postern
    Postern
    An underground connecting passageway that is shellproof.
  • Prohibited Areas Act
    Prohibited Areas Act
    Known in Dutch as ‘Kringenwet’. Act of January 1853 that stipulates restrictions with regard to the construction of buildings in the vicinity of defensive structures, the so-called forbidden zones (‘kringen’), in order to guarantee a free field of fire.
r
  • Range table
    Range table
    A chart that is installed next to the gun port to give the operators of the artillery insight into the distances of targets and the corresponding firing angles.
  • Reduit
    A place of last refuge for the defenders of a fort, which can be defended independently.
  • Retractable turret
    Retractable turret
    A turret that is lifted up to give fire and is retracted and thus made almost invisible once the firing has stopped.
  • Retreat position
    Position that provides shelter to retreating troops.
s
  • Secondary battery
    Secondary battery
    Battery that is situated in close proximity to a fort and performs some of the tasks that have been assigned to that fort.
  • Shellproof
    Shellproof
    The ability of a building to withstand gunfire thanks to brickwork, concrete or a bottom layer.
  • Storage bunker
    Storage bunker
    A shellproof depot for storing artillery and other essential military equipment.
t
  • Terreplein
    Terreplein
    A fort’s courtyard.
  • Trace
    Ground-plan.
  • Turret
    Turret
    A turnable armoured artillery position.
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Passable part of an inundation in the form of elevated terrain, a road, (railway) embankment or waterway.

Collective term for projectile weapons.

Also called bulwark. An outward-projecting pentagonal structure, suitable for delivering flanking fire.

A storage site for military equipment. The parks in the Defence Line are spread out over sectors (sector parks) and groups (group parks).

A battery that is positioned behind armour plates.

A fort with one or more armoured artillery positions.

A number of artillery pieces combined into one group.

Shielded position from which defenders can harass the enemy.

A (low) defensive structure that extends into the moat and can be used to give flanking fire.

A space that is protected against enemy fire and is outfitted with a gun port, behind which a piece of artillery is placed.

An army division whose tasks include, amongst other things, the construction of temporary and permanent defensive structures. The term ‘engineer’ is derived from the French word ‘ingenieur’.

Also called covert way. A pathway that is protected from enemy fire by an earthen wall and can be used for transporting soldiers and military equipment.

Also called stop-log sluice. A temporary dam that stops the inundation water when beams are stacked up in its recesses.

Water purification system that improves the quality of drinking water by extracting iron.

Earthen elevation surrounding a defensive structure, featuring a breastwork.

A (wooden) shed where artillery and military engineering equipment were stored.

The part of a terrain that can be fired at.

Long-range flanking fire: fire support for the secondary forts. Short-range flanking fire: fire that covers the surroundings of the defensive structure itself.

Known in Dutch as ‘Vestingwet’. The act of the 18th of April 1874 that stipulated which forts would become part of the Dutch national defence system.

The side of a defensive structure that is facing away from the enemy.

In the Defence Line forts this is a casemate giving short-range and long-range flanking fire.

Undercarriage for a cannon or other heavy firearm.

Shell that is filled with highly explosive material.

The flooding of land to keep the enemy at bay.

Also called inlet sluice. A sluice that is constructed with the aim of letting water into a certain area.

An independent system of connected defensive structures.

Artillery that gives frontal fire over large distances, directly aimed at enemy positions.

A simple (temporary) defensive structure manned by a small number of soldiers.

An underground connecting passageway that is shellproof.

Known in Dutch as ‘Kringenwet’. Act of January 1853 that stipulates restrictions with regard to the construction of buildings in the vicinity of defensive structures, the so-called forbidden zones (‘kringen’), in order to guarantee a free field of fire.

A chart that is installed next to the gun port to give the operators of the artillery insight into the distances of targets and the corresponding firing angles.

A place of last refuge for the defenders of a fort, which can be defended independently.

A turret that is lifted up to give fire and is retracted and thus made almost invisible once the firing has stopped.

Position that provides shelter to retreating troops.

Battery that is situated in close proximity to a fort and performs some of the tasks that have been assigned to that fort.

The ability of a building to withstand gunfire thanks to brickwork, concrete or a bottom layer.

A shellproof depot for storing artillery and other essential military equipment.

A fort’s courtyard.

Ground-plan.

A turnable armoured artillery position.