Bunker

Bunkers in Albania (Photo by Marc Morell)

A pillbox on the East coast of England. Part of the defences build during World War II (the railings are a modern addition)

A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification of any sort to protect oneself. Bunkers are mostly below the Earth's ground level. They were used extensively in World War I and World War II. In the 1950s, the bunker became part of Americana culture. A famous bunker is the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Some installations are giant underground complexes. The Soviet Union maintained huge bunkers during the Cold War. In Albania, the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha littered the small country with 500,000 - 700,000 bunkers.

Another type of bunker is a little concrete post, partly dug into the ground, which is usually a part of a trench system. Such bunkers are meant to give the defending soldiers better protection than the open trench and also include top protection against aerial attack (grenades, mortar shellss). The front bunker of a trench system usually includes machine guns or mortars and form a domainant shooting post. The Rear bunkers are usually used as command posts, for storage and as field hospitals to attend to wounded soldiers.

Dug-in guard posts (with shooting slights) made from concrete are also known as pillboxes. Some of the pillboxes have camouflage in order to provide the guards better protection and the element of surprise.

Typical industrial bunkers include mining sites, food storage areas, dumps for materials, and sometimes living quarters.

• Führerbunker
• nuclear bunker buster
• fallout shelter
• air raid shelter

• British World War 2 Pillboxes
• British World War 2 Pillboxes in Malta

• a hazard, usually filled with sand, on a golf course.
• a storage area for a bulk product, such as coal or wood