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Saturday 18 August 2018 we made
a battlefield tour by bike along the Frontline path along the
Linge between Elst and Bemmel at the invitation of Bas Schoel,
connected to the Museum Air Base Deelen. On the initiative of
the Exoduskommittee, the history of the second war has been made
visible with the construction of the Airbornepad, FrontlinePad,
PatrolPad and Exoduspad.
During the German offensive in the Betuwe, attempts were made to
get the Allied troops back behind the Waal. As part of the left
flank of this attack, the German 10 in particular fought. SS
Panzer-Division in this area. However, the attack was repelled
by the Allies, who had now managed to establish a strong
bridgehead. |
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We start our route at Huissen. |
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One of the information panels placed along the route. |
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Downed Messerschmitt. |
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The text on the information board
'reconnaissance patrol' lutes as follows: The Market Garden operation ended up in the Over-Betuwe region around 25 September 1944. Units of the 10th SS armoured division Frundsberg stopped at Elst the rush-hour of the 30th British Army Corps and it soon became clear that a further advance was out of the question. In the first days of October, the Germans even made frantic attempts to chase the allied troops out of the Betuwe again. But the troops of the British 52nd Infantry Division on the outskirts of Bemmel held out. In October, this division received support from the 508th Parachute Regiment (P.I.R.), also known as the "Red Devils". They were 2 soldiers of the 508th who on October 15 and 16, 1944, took out a giant piece. Their patrol has been the subject of a meticulous report which is kept in the British Historical Archive in Kew. The book "History of the 508 Parachute Infantry" depicts the experiences of corporal Heath and private Smith. Between September 1944 and April 1945 many explorations took place on both sides. This resulted in a number of victims. The nearby chapel on "De Heuvel" was built to commemorate the horrors of war and the victims. There is also a listening area on the spot, which as part of the Liberation Route gives the possibility to obtain information. The small river Linge formed the front line and for that reason the path along the Linge is called the Frontline Path. The cycle paths coming out at right angles to the Linge are named after a patrol: "Patrol Path North" and "Patrol Path South". The account of an American patrol that explored the German area on 15 October 1944 is made visible in an exciting way by information panels. |
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Patrouillepad |
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Betuwe fall 1944 |
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After the failure of the Battle of
Arnhem, hell burst into the Over-Betuwe. From 1 to 4 October
1944 a fierce battle raged, in which the Germans tried to chase
the Allies out of the Betuwe. That failed and the front came to
lie along the Linge with Bemmel and Haalderen on the British
side, the rest on the German side. The civilian population was
driven out in October. On 2 October, the bowl of Huissen was hit
by a heavy bombardment in which 100 people were killed. |
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The Betuwe had become a man's island after four thousand men stayed behind to protect their belongings. |
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Liberation Route: De Betuwe in the front line. |
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Bemmel On 17 September 1944 Operation Market Garden, a combined surprise attack of allied airborne landing and ground forces, began. The movement of troops over the ground was not as successful as expected, so the battle for the bridge at Arnhem ended in failure. The chapel on De Heuvel in Bemmel, in honour of Mary of the Blossoming Betuwe, was built in 1946 in memory of those who lost their lives in the bloody blows that took place here in September and October 1944 and in the subsequent acts of war until liberation in the spring of 1945. |
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The chapel on De Heuvel (The Hill) at Bemmel. |
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We cycled to De Heuvel near Bemmel, the scene of heavy battles on 1 and 2 October. Behind the Linge the Germans attacked the British positions around this farm in these days. |
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Farm De Heuvel than and now. |
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German tank on De Heuvel at Bemmel. |
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Airbornepad |
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Liberation bridge over the Linge. |
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Frontline Path along the river De Linge. |
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Foxholes on the frontline. |
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Frontline Path along the river De Linge. |
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German foxhole on the Linge. |
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German foxhole on the Linge. |
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Bridge over the Linge. |
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Monument 'De Vleugel' aan het Frontlijnpad. De Vleugel herinnert aan de intensieve vliegbewegingen en oorlogshandelingen in de regio Nijmegen, Over-Betuwe, Arnhem, ook wel "het Normandië van Nederland" genoemd. |
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Monument 'De Vleugel', as seen from the Irish Guards bridge. |
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The 3rd infantry battalion and the 2nd tank battalion of the Irish Guards defended Elst in the hamlet of Aam, in the Vergert and south of the Hill from 28 September to 2 October 1944. The Irish Guards had to stop the German attack in Aam at all costs. The 3rd infantry battalion had taken defensive positions on either side of the elevated earthen track of the motorway under construction. The German infantrymen attacked with motorised cannons, tanks, flame throwers and battle groups in trucks. There were tankduels and fierce man against man battles. The soldiers of the Irish Guards were doing their job. They captured 99 Germans and stood up at the expense of 170 victims, including 34 who died. |
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At the height of the monument 'De Vleugel' and the Irish Guardsbrug not far from the Arnhem - Nijmegen motorway, the front line path that runs parallel to the river De Linge starts in the direction of Bemmel. |
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It was not until 2 April 1945 that the British conquered Over-Betuwe as part of the Destroyer operation. Via Gendt and Doornenburg and over the Karbrug they went up in the direction of Huissen. When they had that place in their hands at eleven o'clock in the evening, the current Lingewaard area was liberated. |