Battle of Overloon
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| Western Front (World War II) |
|---|
| France - The Netherlands - Dunkirk - Britain - Dieppe - Villefranche-de-Rouergue - Normandy - Dragoon - Siegfried Line - Market Garden - Aintree - Scheldt - Hurtgen Forest - Aachen - Bulge - Colmar Pocket - Plunder |
The Battle of Overloon (Code named "Operation Aintree") took place between September 30th and October 18th 1944. During the battle some 2500 soldiers died making it one of the bloodiest battles in the Netherlands during the Second World War.
[edit] Battle
After Operation Market Garden had failed the Allies were only just able to hold an open corridor to Nijmegen. To strengthen the narrow corridor, the Allied army command wanted to eliminate the German bridgehead near Venlo. To launch an attack on the bridgehead they needed to capture the towns of Overloon and Venray. After a failed attack on Overloon by the U.S. 7th Armored Division the British 3rd Infantry Division had to take over. Suffering heavy losses the allies captured Overloon and moved towards Venray. The march on Venray resulted in heavy losses, especially around the Loobeek River. Despite the fact that both Overloon and eventually Venray were taken by the allies the planned operation to capture the axis bridgehead near Venlo had to be stopped because more troops were needed to capture more essential targets: Antwerp and the Southern Netherlands.
The tanks which were left on the battlefield formed the base of the collection of the National War and Resistance Museum of the Netherlands in Overloon, which opened in 1946.
[edit] Memorial
On the site of the battle a memorial was erected.
The text of the memorial:
Dutch: “STA EEN OGENBLIK STIL bezoeker, en bedenk dat de grond waarop gij vertoeft eens een van de felst omstreden sectoren was van het slagveld Overloon. Bitter is hier gevochten in man tegen man situaties vele jonge levens, ontkomen aan de slagvelden van Nettuno en Normandië, vonden onder deze bomen hun einde.”
English: STAND STILL FOR A MOMENT visitor, and think of the fact that the ground you are walking now once was one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the Battle of Overloon. Bitter fights ensued here with face to face combat and many young lives, who escaped the battlefields of Normandy and Nettuno, met their ends under these trees.”
