September 2019 marked 75 years since the Battle of Arnhem, a major battle in the Netherlands during the Second World War. Since 1945, the Battle of Arnhem has been remembered each year. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany occupied over twenty countries in Europe. The Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany on the 10 May 1940. The Allied forces launched a number of military operations to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe. The Battle of Arnhem was part of the Allied Operation Market Garden, one of the military operations to liberate the Netherlands. Market Garden was the largest airborne operation in history. On the 17th of September 1944, British airborne troops were dropped by glider and parachute near Wolfheze, Renkum and Ginkel Heath near Ede; Polish troops were dropped near the village of Driel. Their common task was to capture the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, a vital river crossing into the northern parts of the Netherlands. Despite their heroic struggle, the Allied forces failed to capture and hold the bridge. The southern part of the Netherlands was liberated, but the northern part remained under Nazi occupation until the 5 May 1945.
In 2019, British Second World War veterans returned to the former battlefields around Arnhem, Driel and Oosterbeek in the Netherlands to attend the 75th anniversary of the battle. The Battle of Arnhem is remembered each year at several locations, such as Ginkel Heath, the Airborne Cemetery and the Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek, the Airborne Museum at the Bridge in Arnhem, and the village of Driel. In our own Ford Jeep, alongside other people in their World War Two army vehicles, we attended the commemoration ceremony at Ginkel Heath. We also took part in the Race to the Bridge 2019, a convoy of World War Two army vehicles that followed the route the airborne troopers took in 1944 from the landing zones to the bridge in Arnhem. The Race to the Bridge ended in Oosterbeek. Additionally, we attended the commemoration of the Polish Rhine crossing near Driel. During the Battle of Arnhem, more than 1,800 Allied soldiers were killed; most of them are buried at the Airborne War Cemetery in Oosterbeek. Of these, 244 could not be identified and 137 soldiers are reported missing. More than 1,000 civilians were also killed.
Battle of Arnhem Commemorations 2019: A convoy of WWII Jeeps driving on the dusty sand roads of Ginkel Heath close to the Dutch city of Ede during the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem. The Battle of Arnhem was part of the Western Allied Operation Market Garden, one of the military operations to liberate the Netherlands from nazi-German occupation.
