Liberation Route Marker 070: Waiting for liberation

Waiting for liberation
In March 1945, the allied troops crossed the River Rhine in Germany in five different places before returning to the east and north of the Netherlands. The allied invasion was considerable, but the fanatical German soldiers in Doesburg held their ground for a long time. Shortly before they finally left, they blew up a number of the town's most important monuments, like the Martini Church's tower.

General Crerar's 1st Canadian Army was given orders to liberate the parts of the Netherlands that were still occupied by the Germans. This went reasonably well and on 5th April, the village of Angerlo, just south of Doesburg, was liberated. In some places, the Germans left without a sound, whilst in other places, heavy fighting ensued. The German troops in Doesburg maintained their positions, hidden in the town's built up areas, and as was often the case, the civilian population bore the brunt of it.

It was unfortunate for the people of Doesburg that the Germans in their town were such fanatics, and so unwilling to give up their positions. Orders from above had instructed the German soldiers to defend the bridge over the River IJssel at any cost. And on the night of 3rd April, the Canadian Army opened fire. People could hear grenades being fired at a rate of 20 a minute, but the Germans held their position. The allied artillery fire went on for days on end, and for two weeks, thousands of people in Doesburg hid in their cellars in fear.

The Germans finally left on 15th April 1945 but shortly before their departure, decided to blow up a few of the town's monuments. The German engineers had a special demolition squad, a ‘Sprengkommando’, to do the job properly, and the people of Doesburg were forced to watch in suffering as the magnificent tower of Martini Church was destroyed. In turn, the local synagoge, the water tower, the windmill and the bridge over the River IJssel were destroyed. The allied shooting and German demolition of the town's monuments was an extremely high price for the historic town of Doesburg to have to pay. The Martini tower, the tallest tower in Gelderland, was not rebuilt until 1972. The other monuments were never rebuilt.

Audiospot - Waiting for liberation

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: Peter Schipper (1, 2), Arjan Vrieze (3, 4)