Liberation Route Marker 225

Netherlands, the Limburg Meijel

LIBERATION ROUTE MARKER 225

Private David McKellar

The Liberation Route follows the course of the Allies during the liberation of Europe. The route starts in Normandy and continues via Nijmegen and Arnhem in the direction of Berlin.

Private David McKellar is one of many Allied soldiers who died unknown and glorious for our freedom. Thanks to thorough research, we can follow the route of the 2nd Battalion de Gordon Highlanders of which he was a part. The route leads from England via France and Belgium to the Netherlands where he found his final resting place.

Private David McKellar is part of the 2nd Battalion de Gordon Highlanders in 1944. Before the battalion moves to the south of England in preparation for D-Day, McKellar sends a postcard to his wife showing Hoddom Castle in Annan, Scotland. Many postcards follow from different countries. They are leaflets in which no mention is made of the violence of war or the losses suffered. On the night of June 5-6, 1944, the battalion exercises at Findon, in the south of England. In the bright moonlight they see a fleet of hundreds of planes passing by heading towards the French coast. The invasion has started. It will be weeks before the first part of the battalion arrives in Normandy. On June 26, the battalion gets its baptism of fire at the Battle of the Odon River. After the fighting on July 1, the sad balance is taken: 49 Gordon Highlanders are killed; 182 are injured and 33 more are missing. In the weeks that followed, the battalion advanced further in northwestern France. Fierce fighting against German troops also follows here. Paris is liberated on August 25, 1944, and when the Gordon Highlanders attempt to cross the Seine west of the city, they are attacked by the Germans. The losses on the side of the Allies are enormous, but the remaining soldiers do not give up and move towards Belgium where they arrive on September 8. David McKellar sends a card to his wife. On the back he writes "A souvenir from Belgium. To my own darling wife. I love you'. Multiple maps will follow from Eindhoven, Deurne, Helmond and Tilburg, for example, McKellar tells his wife Susan where he is. In November 1944 he sends his last card from Asten. During this period General Montgomery is determined to expel all German troops from the Peel. Under the name Operation Nutcracker, several Allied troops depart from Asten via Meijel, Beringe and Achterste Steeg towards Sevenum. The area is full of mines and booby traps and the Allies are under fire several times. The battalion's war diary mentions on November 14, 1944 a coordinate about 100 meters north of the Vossenberg in Meijel.
McKellar will no longer see the end of Operation Nutcracker. On November 21, 1944 he is buried in the monastery garden in Meijel. What happened exactly remains a mystery: was he injured by German fire or during the destruction of land mines? We don't know. McKellar gave his life for our freedom. He found his final resting place in the Peel and his sacrifice symbolizes the many Allied soldiers who gave their lives during the liberation of our country. His grave was transferred in 1946 to the war cemetery in Venray, where it still stands today.

A watchtower has been placed at the marker. The tower pays attention to the liberation of the Peel. In combination with the existing bunkers a location that provides a lot of visible information about the Peel during the war years
The watchtower is located on the territory of Meijel (municipality of Peel en Maas)

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