Traces of War Overloon: 7. Ruined Church

Traces of War Overloon: 7. Ruined church

In the village of Overloon is a route with a fifteen signs. It gives a picture of what has happened during the war on fifteen different locations in the village. The route called "Traces of war" and was made possible by the War Museum in Overloon.

This is one of the fifteen signs in the route, please see the other pages for the rest of the route.

The Battle of Overloon from September 26 to October 14, 1944 [/ b]

For more than four years, the Second World War had more or less passed Overloon. But on September 26, 1944, the frontline reached this village in De Peel. The narrow strip of land liberated during Operation Market Garden between Eindhoven and Arnhem was slowly but surely widened. The advance of the Allied army went well up to Overloon. There the Germans had dug in to stop the enemy. On September 30, the Allies launched the attack with the US 7th Armored Division. After 9 days of very fierce fighting, the exhausted Americans withdrew and were relieved by British army units commanded by Major General L.C. Whistler. After a few days of relative rest, in which heavy rainfall had turned Overloon into one big mud pool, all hell broke loose on October 12 at 11 a.m. For an hour and a half the Allies bombarded the German positions with heavy artillery and air raids. More than 100,000 grenades flew around the Germans. When the village was completely in ruins, the advance of the British began. House by house was taken at the cost of huge losses. Fierce man-to-man fights also took place in the woods. On October 14, at four in the afternoon, the last stronghold, the church, fell in the village of Overloon. The Germans still present were taken prisoner. Overloon was left as a completely destroyed village.

7. Destroyed church

Before the war, the church stood here and the cemetery was next to it.

The photo depicts British tanks on the Venrayseweg, close to the destroyed church. [/ i]

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar.nl
• Photos: TracesOfWar.nl
• Oorlogsmuseum Overloon