Battle of Arnhem commemorated

The Battle of Arnhem was commemorated on Friday evening, 20 September 2019, at the Airborne Monument in Arnhem. The President of the House of Representatives, Ms Khadija Arib, laid a wreath on behalf of the States General.

Within operation 'Market Garden', Allied troops from the South pushed up North, in September 1944, to liberate the Netherlands. Thousands of parachutists landed in Oosterbeek, with the aim of conquering the bridge over the river Rhine in Arnhem. It was the largest airborne operation mounted in the Second World War. However, the Battle of Arnhem was lost and the Allied troops proved unable yet to liberate all of the Netherlands. It was only after the Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 that the Allied troops finally defeated the Germans.

Freedom

This year it is 75 years ago that the Netherlands were liberated by the Allies, who brought the Second World War to an end. Various ceremonies were organized in the Netherlands to celebrate the freedom we enjoy since then, and to commemorate the individuals who had to fight hard for that freedom.