We arrive at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery and visit the grave of Aubrey Cosens VC for his actions at Mooshof ( please see Stolpi's thread on Mooshof ) and the grave of LT. Colonel Jeff Nicklin, commander of 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion who was killed during operation 'Varsity'. Randy, you might find this thread about Cosens interesting.. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/remembering-today/43230-remembering-today-26-2-45-sergeant-aubrey-cosens.html
Pieter Thank you. I remember seeing your post from a while back. It is that much more significant after seeing the grave of Cosens and the action around Mooshof.
We depart Xanten and drive to village of Bienen. The Canadians fought a bitter battle for Bienen. The plaque in the churchyard reads " This tablet has been placed by a group of surviving Canadian veterans of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, 3 Canadian Division in proud and grateful memory of those 40 members of their regiment who fell in battle at Bienen Germany on Sunday March 25, 1945. I believe Stolpi is preparing a separate thread on the battle for Bienan. I am looking forward to seeing his work. The following day I visited the German Cemetery at Ysselsteyn where over 32,000 Germans are buried. As one of our sage veterans on this forum has said " the idea of that war was to fill more cemeteries with more Germans". I have to agree with the statement. From there on to the National Museum at Overloon ( thanks to Pieter F) to see a montrous Tiger Tank weighing some 44 tons and one of our Flail Tanks. Both vehicles were remnants of the battle for Overloon. More information on the museum is at Nationaal Bevrijdingsmuseum 1944-1945 Bezoekersinfo And then off to visit the Canadian War Cemetery at Holten. There is a new information center at the cemetery. A Dutch veteran is on a video discussing the importance of the cemetery setting ( Lt. Gen Guy Simonds chose the Holtenberg site as it reminded him of the pine woods back in Canada). Photos taken of the last two soldiers of my father's regiment to be KIA. Cpl D Morrison and Sgt H Dabbs, both killed by sniper fire at the Ems - Jade Canal on 4 May, 1945 - one day before the end of hostilities. Such a waste.
Operation Plunder: http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/rep-rap/doc/ahqr-rqga/ahq019.pdf DHH - Victoria Cross Gallery Whilst on the subject of VCs: HOLLAND TO LONDON DASH FOR V.C. - British Pathé
Stolpi advised that the drive from Nijmegen to Groningen would be long and boring. Indeed the landscape was just that but I enjoyed the drive along the Autobahn doing 165kph. I arrived in Groningen and found the townhall near the major shopping street. I approached a lady and said " I am a Canadian and I am looking for the plaque located on the outside of this building marking the liberation of your beautiful city by Canadian Troops". Her directions led me to the back of the building where the plaque, in Dutch, is separated by a shell hole. From there, off to visit the Canadian Allied Forces Museum which first opened to the public in May 2010. Unfortunately, the museum was closed! Stolpi had recommended visiting the German bunkers at Termunten. These monstrous structures housed 128mm flak guns and were used effectively against 5th Canadian Armoured Division during the battle for Delfzijl. And so ends the tour. From the noted Canadian historian, Terry Copp: With four Canadian divisions committed to action, the last two weeks of the war produced a large number of casualties, including 490 fatalities. Of these, 114 died in May, including 12 of the last day of the war in Europe. Lest we forget
I would be remiss in not thanking the following forum members for their contributions: Wills For the various links provided Pieter F For the email covering the liberation route Dryan67 For the Perth Regiment war diary covering April 1-May 5 Stolpi For the guided tour of Arnhem, the Reichwald Forest and the Hochwald forest. Much appreciated!
In the night of 13-14 October the museum in Ossendrecht was broken in to. The owner states that the collection is ruined, apart from loose items, 15 dressed mannequins were taken. Amoung the items stolen is a rare Fallschirmjager rifle. In August the same happned to the Eye Witness collection in Beek.