Liberation Route Marker 030: The British taken by surprise

The British taken by surprise
After some fierce fighting, both sides needed time to regroup, to bury the dead and tend to the wounded. During a break in the fighting from 26 to 29 September 1944 the Germans launched a counter-attack and tried to surprise the British, who had advanced as far as Randwijk by that time.

Operation Market Garden came to an end when the British Airborne troops were evacuated from Oosterbeek. The fighting South of the river Rhine continued. Counter offensives by the Germans were common. The first counter-attack took place on 26th and 27th September 1944, when five companies from the German infantry (four army and one SS) crossed the River Rhine without the Allies' knowledge. They managed to get as far as Randwijk before the British noticed what was going on. Once the Allies realised that a large number of German troops had managed to cross the Rhine, they despatched an entire brigade to wipe out the German bridgehead. The British infantry, with their own artillery to support them, were forced to cross open ground under enemy fire from Germany artillery and German fighter planes. After hours of shooting, a number of the German soldiers surrendered. This was to be the first of many more German counterattacks.

Audiospot - The British taken by surprise

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.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar & Liberation Route Europe
• Photos: Jeroen Koppes