page_title: Boden Fortress
section_title: Other fortificatory works
hierarchical_section_title: Boden Fortress / Construction / Other fortificatory works
caption_attribution_description: A bunker at Rödberget fort, part of Boden Fortress.
context_page_description: Boden Fortress is a modern fortress consisting of several major and minor forts and fortifications surrounding the city of Boden, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden. The fortress was originally intended to stop or delay attacks from the east or coastal assaults, which at the time of construction meant Russian attacks launched from Finland. It was primarily the expansion of the railway net in Norrland, which in turn was a consequence of the rising importance of the northern iron ore fields, that led to the increased strategic value of northern Sweden and the construction of the fortress. Although the main forts were finished in 1908, many of the supporting fortifications were not completed until the start of the First World War. Improvements were also continuously made during, and between, both World Wars.
  Boden Fortress is made up of five primary self-supporting forts excavated out of the bedrock in five of the mountains surrounding Boden: Degerberget, Mjösjöberget, Gammelängsberget, Södra Åberget and Rödberget. Eight fortified secondary artillery positions were constructed between the forts to give flanking support and to cover areas not in range of the main forts' artillery.
context_section_description: Apart from the forts, the garrison itself was heavily expanded during the initial construction years and became the largest garrison in Sweden, taking an exceptional position in Swedish military history of the 20th century; even at the start of the 21st century, Boden was the largest garrison city in the Swedish Army. Still, no other fortifications than the forts themselves were finished by 1908, and work now started to fill the holes in between them. It was realised that prepared positions were needed for the mobile batteries, and apart from those, three larger battery positions (sometimes called fästen, strongholds) were also constructed at Leåkersberget, Norra Åberget and Svedjeberget. These works were started in 1911 and were finished during the First World War. The last of the three strongholds was positioned in the mountain itself with embrasures in the mountain side, and Leåkersberget had parts of the battery position inside the mountain, but the gun emplacements outside—the other positions were concrete fortifications above the ground, some inside a bunker and others behind a parapet.
  The main fortifications for infantry consisted of 44 concrete bunkers, 23 dugouts and 26 fortified observation posts. The concrete bunkers (infanteriskansar, redoubts) were long and narrow. The longest, Abramsskansen, was 155 metres (509 ft) long and had room for 160 men and four machine guns, but most had room for less than 80 men—usually a rifle platoon reinforced with a machine gun section and an anti-tank section. Due to their length, their curved shapes following the mountain sides, and other characteristics, the bunkers were popularly referred to as "sausages" (korvar). The construction of these started in 1911. Many officers still considered the fortress to have inadequate and too few fortifications for the infantry, and one officer compared the fortress to "a shoe, which is too large for the foot." One million kronor was allocated in 1915 to fix that problem, and many minor fortifications were built during the First World War.
  Blockhouses were also built by the railway bridge at Trångforsen and the road bridge Hedenbron (built from 1911 to 1912), located just 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) southeast of the Trångforsen bridge. The later was built to accommodate easier access to Rödberget Fort and the military training area on the southwestern shore of Lule River and was at the time of completion the longest single span road bridge in Sweden.
  Both internal and external communication systems as well as means of reconnaissance were needed, both directed by the commandant located in the headquarters building. The building—finished in 1910—had three floors, the upper two functioned as home and workplace for the commandant and the chief of staff, while the ground floor had extra thick walls and functioned as the command post for the fortress. A large field telephone network was built, connecting all forts with the headquarters. Liaison with higher commands was at first maintained by regular post, telegraph and telephone. The fortress' radio station was finished by 1914, originally for the Swedish Navy, and was located south of Degerberget on a bog now known as the "Radio Mire" (Radiomyren). The first Swedish radio broadcasts were sent from this building. The fortress also had homing pigeons for sending messages. At the end of the Second World War, around 280 such pigeons were stationed in Boden. The pigeons were part of the balloon department whose main task was to operate the balloon of the garrison. For this, the Balloon Hangar with inner measurements of 35×10×10 metres (115×33×33 ft) was built near the radio station. More than fifty men were attached to the department, of whom two could follow the balloon up to its maximum height of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), limited by the length of the wire connecting it to the ground. The hydrogen-filled balloon itself was of German make and measured 27 metres (89 ft) in length, had a diameter of around 7 metres (23 ft) and a total volume of 750 cubic metres (26,000 cu ft).
caption: One of many concrete bunkers built all around Boden, this one is located on the west slope of Rödberget. Only a short part of the so-called "sausage" and some of its rifle loopholes can be seen here, this particular bunker is about 50 metres (160 ft) long in total.
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