Gelderland Monument – Stone of Friendship Wreath Laying

The ‘Gelderland Monument’ reminds the inhabitants of Oosterbeek (municipality of Renkum) of the Battle of Arnhem, which lasted from September 17 to 26, 1944. During this military operation, the local population suffered greatly.

The Battle of Arnhem was part of Operation Market Garden. Operation Market Garden was a major offensive from September 17 to 26, 1944, in which the Allies aimed to establish a bridgehead across the major rivers in the Netherlands by launching from Belgium. Airborne troops were tasked with securing bridges in North Brabant and Gelderland in a lightning-fast attack. Three complete divisions were dropped: the 101st US Airborne Division near Son (north of Eindhoven) and Veghel, the 82nd US Airborne Division near Grave and Groesbeek (east of Nijmegen), and the 1st British Airborne Division west of Oosterbeek. The landing of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade near Driel followed later. From Belgium, the British 30th Corps was to advance towards the IJsselmeer via the captured bridges.

For the American airborne troops, everything went fairly well. The bridges over the Meuse and the Meuse-Waalkanaal near Heumen fell into their hands, and after a fierce battle, the Waal Bridge near Nijmegen as well. Around Eindhoven, too, the bridges largely fell into the hands of the American paratroopers.

But the Rhine bridge at Arnhem proved to be a bridge too far. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John D. Frost, the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade of the 1st Airborne Division succeeded in occupying the northern approach to the old Rhine bridge and holding this approach under control for days during the ensuing battle. However, the English paratroopers at the Rhine bridge and around Oosterbeek were surprised by German armored troops and had to surrender with heavy losses. The landing of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade at Driel came too late to be of any assistance to the besieged English airborne troops. The advance of the 30th Corps was also severely delayed by, among other things, attacks from hastily assembled German units.

After the Battle of Arnhem was lost, the attack stalled. However, thanks to the cooperation of American and English soldiers, part of North Brabant and Gelderland had fallen into Allied hands. From this strip of liberated territory from Eindhoven to Arnhem (known as ‘the Corridor’), the rest of Brabant was liberated in the following months. During Operation Market Garden, 35,000 paratroopers were dropped over the Netherlands, of whom approximately 11,000 landed near Arnhem. Only 2,400 men managed to cross back across the Rhine to the Betuwe after fighting in Oosterbeek and Arnhem. The remaining soldiers were wounded, killed, or taken prisoner. In total, more than 17,000 soldiers from the airborne and ground forces were killed, wounded, or missing. This casualty figure was higher than during the invasion of Normandy (D-Day).

Most American soldiers have been reburied in America. British and Canadian soldiers remain buried in the country where they fell.