Exactly sixty years ago, Harrie Zegers was on the lookout in Maashees. From the air watchtower he had to help to protect Brabant against enemy aircraft of the Soviet Union. Even then there was a threat of nuclear war, but Harry was not afraid. “We had no idea.”
In 1962 he was called up as a volunteer to man the tower. On Saturday, Harrie will again be at the almost ten-meter high lookout in Maashees. “Here we were, the two or three of us,” he says. “One person looked through the binoculars and the other kept in touch with the base in Eindhoven to pass on what we saw.”
“I only found out two days ago that that bunker was intended to shelter from flying bullets.”
The tower was built in the 1950s as tensions between the US and the Soviet Union continued to mount. A worldwide nuclear war was approaching and in this way also low-flying aircraft could be intercepted.
The binoculars are no longer there, but the bunker that Harrie was in during the exercises is still there. “I always thought it was a shelter from the rain. I only found out two days ago that it was armored with steel plates and intended to shelter from flying bullets.”
“Thanks to all the communication on TV, you now know much better what is going on.”
At that time, Harrie and his associates had no fear of the Soviets or nuclear war. “I was 21 and didn’t think about it. I thought it was a fun and interesting task.” That’s different now. “Back then we only had the newspaper, but because of all the communication on TV you now know much better what is going on. Now I feel there is a serious threat and it doesn’t feel right.”
In the end Harrie only stood guard a few times, because the usefulness of the towers soon proved obsolete. “Looking back, we couldn’t do anything,” he laughs. “We never saw a Russian and while we were being trained, the radar had already improved. So we were basically there for bacon and beans.”