24 students from Deptford Green School, London visited the Netherlands to explore sites closely related to Operation Market Garden. The students had the opportunity to visit the actual landing sites of the Airborne troops in September 1944 and the so-called ‘bridge too far’ at Arnhem, as well as to explore Dutch attitudes towards remembrance and memorials.
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Arnhem Itinerary
Arnhem Itinerary
Below is the itinerary that was followed by pupils on their 4-day visit.
If you would like to find out more about the places to visit on an educational tour of the Netherlands, please see the Places to Visit section below.
Day 1
Day 2
- Visit to the Airborne Museum at the ‘Hartenstein Hotel’ in Arnhem
- Battlefield tour of the Arnhem area, including the John Frost Bridge
- Visit to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Oosterbeek
- Dinner at the hotel with local guests who remember witnessing the airborne landings
Day 3
- Visit to the National Liberation Museum, at Groesbeek
- Battlefield tour of the Nijmegen and Groesbeek areas
- Wreath laying ceremony at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
Day 4
- Visit to the Arnhem International School at the Lorentz Lyceum to share ideas about remembrance with local school children and to learn more about how wartime experiences are commemorated in the Netherlands.
- Return to the UK
Places to Visit in the Netherlands
If you are planning a visit to the Netherlands to learn about the Second World War visit some of the places below. You could also visit the following websites for further information.
http://www.holland.com/uk/
http://www.visitholland.nl/
Disclaimer:
All the sites are checked regularly. However, the changing nature of the Internet means that some sites may alter after we have visited them. Their Past Your Future is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Airborne Museum
Address: Airborne Museum 'Hartenstein', Utrechtseweg 232, 6862 AZ Oosterbeek,
Tel. 31 26 3337710
Website: http://www.airbornemuseum.org/
In September 1944 more than ten thousand British and Polish Airborne troops fought in and around Arnhem. Their objective was to take the Rhine Bridge. Only Seven hundred and fifty of them managed to reach the bridge. Waiting for reinforcements they fought for four days holding the Northern ramp. However, the rest of the force did not succeed in reaching them. They managed to hold out for five more days at Oosterbeek before finally making their way across the Rhine to Allied held ground. Only 2293 made it back to England.
During the battle the Hartenstein hotel in Oosterbeek was the headquarters of the British divisional commander, Major-General R E Urquhart. The Airborne Museum is situated in this very building. The museum covers the air landings, the march to the bridge, the fierce fighting in Arnhem and Oosterbeek and the crossing of the river.
The museum has a wide range of objects, which includes British and German arms, equipment and ammunition abandoned at Arnhem (some dug up later) authentic film footage, dioramas and an audiovisual presentation to help communicate the story of Operation Market Garden.
Extensive battlefield tours are organised throughout the year by the museum. Guided by experts, participants travel by coach, visiting the places that played a role in the Battle of Arnhem. Enquiries about battlefield tours should be made at the museum.
Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery
Address: From the Utrechtseweg, turn on to the Stationsweg heading for Oosterbeek Station. At the railway station, turn right on to Van Limburg Stirumweg.
Website: http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2063800&mode=1
Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery contains the graves of those killed during the September landings, and later fighting in the area. There are now 1,679 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 246 of the burials are unidentified and two casualties are commemorated by special memorials. There are also 73 Polish burials and eight Dutch graves. The three non-war graves in the cemetery were Commission employees.
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
Address: Groesbeek is located 10 kilometres south east of the town of Nijmegen and close to the German frontier. Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery is 3 kilometres north of the village and 1.5 kilometre east of the main road to Nijmegen.
Website: http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2063900&mode=1
Most of those buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery were Canadians, many of whom died in the Battle of the Rhineland, when the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division took part in the drive southwards from Nijmegen to clear the territory between the Maas and the Rhine in February and March 1945. Others buried here died earlier or later in the southern part of the Netherlands and in the Rhineland. The cemetery contains 2,610 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, and nine war graves of other nationalities. Within the cemetery stand the Groesbeek Memorial, which commemorates by name more than 1,000 members of the Commonwealth land forces who died during the campaign in north-west Europe between the time of crossing the Seine at the end of August 1944 and the end of the war in Europe and whose graves are not known.
National Liberation Museum
Address: Nationaal Bevrijdingsmuseum 1944-1945, Wylerbaan 4, Groesbeek
Tel: 024-3974404
Website: http://www.bevrijdingsmuseum.nl/en/
The National Liberation Museum is situated 10 kilometres southeast of Nijmegen. In the museum, visitors have the opportunity to learn about the period before the war, occupation, liberation and the rebuilding of the Netherlands and Europe after the war. Visitors can explore the themes of occupation and liberation with smells, interactive presentations, dioramas, models, original films and sound fragments. The museum aims to show both young and old the current value and importance of democracy, freedom and human rights.
The museum also runs battlefield tours of the Groesbeek and Nijmegen area by coach or bicycle, enquiries about the tours should be made at the museum.
