Memory Route World War ll Ammunition Train Station Rijen

Stationsplein, Rijen (Gilze en Rijen)

Netherlands, the North Brabant Rijen (Gilze en Rijen)

Memory Route World War ll Ammunition Train Station Rijen #1

Memory Route World War ll Ammunition Train Station Rijen #2

In the Municipality of Gilze and Rijen is a memory route created in memory of the Second World War.
In a number of places there is a sign with a description of what happened at that place in the Second World War.

AMMUNITION TRAIN EXPLODED IN RIJEN

In Gilze-Rijen the bombers of I / KG 2 started taking off on the late evening of Saturday 30 May 1942, shortly before midnight under a bright moon. The first bombers were barely in the air when a huge explosion thundered through the night.

At 11:20 pm three wagons of an ammunition train, which had just entered the station in Rijen, exploded. The cause was unknown. Two of these wagons were loaded with aircraft bombs, the other with on-board ammunition. The damage was enormous: parts of the train were thrown over a large area, eight houses were destroyed or badly damaged; 25 people were slightly injured. Rail traffic was impossible for a long time. The airport fire brigade was alerted and soon arrived on site to prevent the fires from spreading.

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