Liberation Route Marker 021

Netherlands, the Gelderland Oosterbeek

Liberation Route Europe is a certified Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. With hundreds of sites and stories in nine European countries, the route links the main regions along the advance of the Allied Forces in 1943-1945.
The entire route consists of themed routes that can be travelled by by hiking, walking, cycling and car. These routes pass numerous historical and interesting sites and tell stories from a multitude of perspectives that were important in the final phase of World War II.
Many routes feature listening spots, offering the opportunity to listen to a historical story at a location. In addition, many ‘Vectors of Memory’ have been placed, indicating that the passer-by is on one of the Liberation Routes.
The routes can be found on the Liberation Route Europe website or in the app through which many stories can also be listened to.

Retreat from Oosterbeek
After a week of fighting it became clear that Operation Market Garden had failed. At that point many British and Polish paratroopers were still trapped on the wrong side of the Rhine. On 25 September 1944 many were evacuated across the river. Of the 10.600 paratroopers dropped near Arnhem, 2.398 managed to escape.

After days of fighting, it became clear on Sept. 25 that the Allied positions north of the Rhine were untenable. That very night the Allies tried to get as many of their soldiers out of the Oosterbeek area as possible. This operation was codenamed “Berlin. On the south side of the river, Canadian and British engineers coordinated the escape, which took place during heavy downpours. Repeatedly, the engineers crossed the river to help the exhausted soldiers across. Meanwhile, the British 30th Army Corps tried to mask the evacuation through heavy artillery fire.

The evacuation was possible in part because of the determined Polish paratroopers who stood their ground near Driel under General Sosabowski. They held off the Germans long enough for 2,400 cornered soldiers to cross the Rhine. On the early Tuesday morning of Sept. 26, Operation Berlin had to be aborted because of the Germans' increasing heavy artillery fire. Even then, many soldiers tried to swim across. Some made it, others drowned. Some three hundred soldiers who were on the river bank had to give up. With this surrender, the Battle of Arnhem, and at the same time Operation Market Garden, came to an end. Of the 10,600 paratroopers dropped near Arnhem, 2,398 could be evacuated, 1,485 died and 6,414 were captured.

Audiospot - Retreat from Oosterbeek