Liberation Route Marker 027

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.

Havoc
On 17 September 1944, the Sunday rest had already been disrupted by air raid alarms twice. These both proved to be false, so people decided to go to church as usual when suddenly there was another air-raid alarm. The churchgoers were unaware of the things that were about to happen that day. Shortly afterwards the German barracks in Arnhem were bombed. The bombing also resulted in civilian casualties.

On 17th September 1944, 10,000 British parachutists landed near Arnhem to try and secure the bridge over the River Rhine. Prior to this airborne operation, the Allies bombed German positions and barracks in the area, including the Willemskazerne barracks in Arnhem. These were situated in the middle of the town, but bombs also hit the surrounding buildings. The Restaurant Royal, the HBS on Willemsplein square, the barracks of the Wehrmacht on Bloemstraat street, the Menno van Coehorn barracks on the Hoflaan lane, the warehouses on the Beekstraat street, the Vijverlaan lane, Sint Catharina's hospital and the theatre were all hit.

A lot of German soldiers were killed in the Willemskazerne barracks. Civilians were also killed or injured when bombs hit the Klarendal district. They were taken to a number of different hospitals in Arnhem, but the ones that were taken to the St Elisabeth hospital on the Utrechtseweg road, found themselves stuck in the middle of another serious battle just a few days later. This was when the Airborne reinforcements attempted to reach their fellow units at the bridge over the Rhine. It seemed like the liberation of Arnhem was underway, but it would, in fact, take until May 1945 for the population to return home to the torn and tattered town.

Audiospot - Havoc

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar & Liberationroute.com
• Photos: Suzan Vrieze