Wehrmacht Cottage Venray

On the road from Venray to Overloon, on the right side of the road, immediately after the Spurkterdijk exit, is a small dilapidated house. It is a Wehrmacht house of the German occupiers during World War II. In 1941 an air battle started over the southern Netherlands. A searchlight zone (‘Scheinwerferbatterie’) was set up by the Germans to protect the Ruhr area in Germany against attacking Allied aircraft. Searchlights were set up here that came into action at night when the Allied planes flew over on their outward and return journeys. This allowed the Luftwaffe to shoot down even more aircraft. A so-called Wehrmacht house was built in the immediate vicinity of such a position for the military operating personnel of the floodlights. Such a house consisted of one large room, a kitchenette and a separate room for the staff members. When it was dark and planes flew over, young and old went outside to see how the beams of light searched the sky in search of their prey. More than once an aircraft was caught by several beams of light and then fired upon from all sides by German anti-aircraft fire. During the day, especially the young people sometimes went to see what was going on there, but the German soldiers never let them get very close and chased them away as soon as they came near. Although it has completely fallen into disrepair, the house is still a special memento of the Second World War.

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