Operation Veritable and the beginning of the end As a result of this ‘Hunger Winter’, around 20,000 Dutch people died. Executions became common, ordered for even the smallest of crimes, including breaking curfew. The daily life of the 3.5 million Dutch people living in the still-occupied parts of Holland was dominated by a relentless and increasingly desperate search for fuel and food. Many soldiers battled sickness and fever, while some Dutch civilians were forced to live underground in cellars and shelters. The monotony of war and Holland’s ‘Hunger Winter’Īs winter set in, the fighting in Holland subsided and the monotony of war took over the terror, with soldiers on the front battling the intense cold and hunger as well as the German forces. By 3 December 1944, most of the south of Holland was free. The region was flooded with Allied troops, and by 26 November 1944 the Germans had been pushed back to the Maas. On 14 November, Operation Nutcracker, the last offensive to free northern Limburg began. Load photosīecause the Germans in central and western Brabant posed a threat to the supply lines to and from the Port of Antwerp, in mid-October British and Canadian troops launched Operation Pheasant to push the Germans over the River Maas. Learn more about these battles and the soldiers who fought for liberation here at War Museum Overloon.īy loading the photos, you accept that uses cookies to share data with third parties as described in our privacy statement (/privacy). Around the same time, an Allied force attacked west and central Brabant, liberating the province in early November. It began at the end of September 1944 and featured one of the fiercest battles witnessed in Holland during WWII. This important strategic area was further secured by the Battle of Overloon. One key consequence of Operation Market Garden was that Allied troops also liberated a corridor of land which stretched from Belgium to Nijmegen via Eindhoven. At the end of the two-week campaign, more than 6,000 Canadian soldiers had been killed, wounded or captured. Unfortunately, this victory, mainly fought by Canadian troops and Polish troops in the dykes and dams, flooded polders and heavily fortified villages and towns of Zeeland, came at a high cost. Although it was one of the most gruelling campaigns of the entire war, the Battle of the Scheldt was successful in clearing out the occupying Germans from the Scheldt estuary to open the supply lines to the Allied front. The Allies had more success in other parts of Holland. Load photos The Battle of the Scheldt and liberating southern Holland However, the Allies were defeated in their attempt to secure the last bridge over the Rhine at the Battle of Arnhem, and the operation ultimately failed.īy loading the photos, you accept that uses cookies to share data with third parties as described in our privacy statement (/privacy). Learn how Nijmegen and large parts of North Brabant were liberated after intense fighting. Unfortunately, despite being one of the biggest airborne operations in history, Operation Market Garden was only partly successful. This was Operation Market Garden, and Montgomery believed its success could help end the war by Christmas. His idea was to capture several bridges across the major Dutch rivers, circumventing the Axis powers’ Siegfried defensive line, and then quickly advance towards the heart of Germany. It was at this moment British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery presented his bold plan for a new operation to the Supreme Allied Commander, the American General Dwight D. Launching Operation Market GardenĪfter liberating Brussels in early September 1944, the Allied forces halted their advance. It would be five years until the Dutch people would be free again. After a vicious assault that included the bombing of civilian targets in Rotterdam, the Dutch high command surrendered the Netherlands to the invading German forces, prioritising the protection of innocent lives over the country’s freedom. The Government and the Royal Family fled while the army fought back, despite being unprepared and too poorly equipped to overcome Germany’s well-trained forces. Follow the Liberation Route to retrace the steps of the Allied troops who helped liberate Holland.ĭespite being neutral during WWII, at the order of Hitler, German forces invaded Holland on.Discover the military cemeteries and museums that pay tribute and explore that dark period in Dutch history.Read more about the battles and campaigns that led to Allied victory in Holland.
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