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Just
recently I happened to meet Tonny's brother. He told me
that Tonny married late in life. He passed away a few
years ago.
He had three daughters.
The eldest was called Elly...
Wil Cornelissen
HARDENBERG
What's keeping the Canadians?
Hardenberg liberated via Germany
We had been looking forward to it for a long time.
Actually, ever since Dolle Dinsdag in early September
1944. (Dolle Dinsdag was on Tuesday, 5 September 1944.
After the liberation of Antwerp and based on BBC and
Radio Orange messages, the allies were assumed to be on
their way. People were preparing to greet the
liberators, liberation newspapers were printed, many
Germans and NSB members fled. On September 6th, the
imminent liberation turned out to be just a rumour.
ed.) But now it is just around the corner: the
Canadians will soon be here to liberate us! The Germans
have retreated in chaos. Some groups are still around,
like in Hardenberg that has a small contingent. Rumours
say this Thursday afternoon that the Canadians have
already reached the Overijssel Canal from Germany.
Speculations galore: They'll surely be here in an hour!
People are also saying that a handful of Germans are
still holding up in Hardenberg. Nobody really knows.
Besides Arie Barnhoorn, who is in hiding at our place
and who works in Father's bakery, we also have two
Dutchmen in the house who fled from Germany a few weeks
ago. They are Tom Dekker out of Westland and Jan
Mastebroek of Rotterdam. Germany is currently in a state
of utter confusion and so they managed to escape. And
then there is the Visscher family from Hengelo who have
spent the entire winter with us. They fled to
Hardenberg, which was "safer", when the Stork machine
factory was under constant bombardment. Rie and her
children Jan, Gerrit and Ria moved in with us. Rie works
as a nurse in Den Dolder. We (Father, Mother, Brother,
Bart, Jaap, Jan, Tiny, Willem, Leny and I make up the
rest of "the family". A total of 18.
The tables are set. Only Bart and Jan are not here yet.
Small wonder: it is so exciting out on the streets! You
can hear shots in the distance. She's worried! Where can
they be? We have just started eating when Jan, dressed
in overalls, comes tearing in. Gasping for breath, he
tells us that German soldiers are looking for members of
the Resistance. "They have their rifles at the ready and
are especially on the lookout for people wearing
overalls," he says and continues: "When they |
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saw
Bart and me from a distance they shouted something. We
ran as fast as we could. Bart stormed into the
Steunenberg's house."
Upon hearing this account, Mother says "Take off your
overalls, quickly!" She has scarcely spoken when a
German soldier walks into the yard. Jan makes a dash for
the shop. In the adjoining room he removes his overalls.
The soldier with his rifle primed stands in the doorway,
but before he can say anything Mother says: "Wir wollen
ruhig essen!" (We want a quiet meal!) He gives the
entire room a searching look, turns around and leaves
the yard. His mate is waiting holding a revolver. "Sie
wollen ruhig essen," we hear the soldier say.
"What do you mean....... a quiet meal?" roars the
soldier with the gun; he storms into the yard and
suddenly appears in the doorway. “Hände hoch!” (Hands
up!) he shouts. This takes everyone by surprise. The
tension is written all over our faces and his as well.
We all stand and put up our hands. The soldier looks
around the room. So many men ........ that's strange.
“Ausweise!” (ID Card!) he barks. The German suddenly
becomes especially interested in Tom Dekker and Jan
Mastebroek. He gives them a searching look. “Geflüchtet
für den Bolsjewiken” (Fled from the Bolsheviks), says
Mother quickly before he is able to ask anything. That
seems to break the ice. The tension ebbs. The soldier
holds out his hand to Tom and Jan. "Comrades," he says.
He takes another quick look round and leaves. We all
heave a sigh of relief. Mother is especially worried
about Bart. "Where could he be?" she asks. Jan comes
out. We do a lot of talking and little eating.
An hour later Bart comes home.
He
tells us that they have been through a few scary moments
at the Steunenberg's too. What's keeping the Canadians?
That evening we hear they have been held up at the
canal. The Germans have disabled the bridge and have
delayed the Canadians' advance. The next morning all of
Hardenberg is startled by a thundering report. That has
to be the bridge over the River Vecht! Everyone's sure
of it. The Germans have blown up the bridge to hold up
the Canadians' advance. An hour later many curious
Hardenberg citizens go to the destroyed bridge to take a
cautious look. After all, the Germans are no longer on
this side of the Vecht.
The bridge is in a dreary state. Suddenly, bullets
whistle past their heads. They are being fired upon by
Germans who have stayed behind in the village square.
The citizens hasten back. And then ... towards ten
o'clock in the morning four Canadian armoured vehicles
appear on Gramsbergerweg. Because the Germans have
destroyed the bridge over the canal between Hoogenweg
and Hardenberg the Canadians have crossed the canal at
Loozen via Radewijk. They are now welcomed with cheers.
It is a veritable triumphal procession! Hardenberg is
free! It is truly remarkable that Hardenberg is now
liberated via the invaders' own country, Germany, whence
they came five years ago.
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This
is an abridged article written in 1995 by Gerrit L.
Bakker for a special edition of the periodical of the
Historische Vereniging Hardenberg e.o. (Historical
Society Hardenberg and surroundings).
GROESBEEK
A
typical Dutch Windmill
On January 21st 1945, Corps commanders Lt-Gen Simonds of
2nd Canadian Corps and Lt-Gen Horrocks of 30th British
Corps climbed to the cupola of the Groesbeek Windmill
(“South Mill”) to relate the terrain to their maps and
allot divisional objectives.
Then
came dozens of officers, from division commanders down
to platoon leaders, to study the ground over which the
attack, Operation Veritable, would go forth on February
8th 1945 behind the heaviest barrage of World War II.
During the winter of 1944-1945 this mill played a
crucial role as a prime observation post for guns in the
Nijmegen Salient - immortalized in “The Guns of Victory”
by George G. Blackburn - and remarkably, was left almost
untouched by enemy fire.
A historical officer watched the preliminary artillery
bombardment of the attack from an observation post not
far from the mill. In his description of this tremendous
on-slaught he quotes:
‘The weather promised to be fair, and the sight of
airbursts and tracer in the sky, against the yellow
light of the rising sun was very impressive. There was
continuous roll of heavy gunfire that was punctuated by
staccato bursts of MG fire from all sides… At 0740
hrs, almost a complete silence descended on the entire
front for a period of a full ten minutes….to enable the
Flash Spotters and Sound Rangers to locate active enemy
batteries not previously known.
A few birds were still flying across the sky in a
bewildered manner, as the artillery took up there theme
again, and the tempo accelerated as the full weight of
1.000 guns was brought to bear against the enemy. The
gaunt trunks and torn branches of trees, ruined farm
buildings, and the smoke and cordite fumes that swept
across the area all contributed to the strangely
fascinating panorama of war.
As H-hour approached, in anything, the noise increased
and a new note was added by the sound of armour moving
forward and planes passing overhead. The combined effect
produced a vivid picture of a war of machine – a war of
calculated and terrible efficiency.
“Churchill” and “Sherman” tanks began to move east,
through the scattered debris of gliders that remained
from the airborne attack of the previous September.
Groesbeek Airborne Friends 13-4-2005 |
