Operation "Market Garden" +67 Years
September 2011 was the month of the 67th anniversary of Operation "Market Garden", the Allied plan to end the war in September 1944. This anniversary was not a jubilee and some of this year’s events even seemed to get a habitual nature. We will therefore briefly report of the various commemorations and events we attended and took part of; focusing on their highlights.

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This morning the first "Listening Stone" in the Dutch Province of North-Brabant, was dedicated at Paulus Hoeve farm in Son.
Farmer Wan van Overveld told spectators what he recalled from the 17th of September 1944 and then a WWII US Army truck brought in a large rock with a plaque giving details of the airborne landings on "D-Day" of Operation "Market Garden".
Van Overveld helped placing the stone which is part of a trail, the "Liberation Route", starting in Neerpelt in Belgium and leading to Arnhem, telling stories of the liberation in general and Operation "Market Garden" in particular.
Large stones, similar to the one in Van Overveld's farm yard, are placed in the countryside with plaques affixed to them telling a short story. More elaborate accounts can be heard by calling a special telephone number. In the near future, QR-codes will be posted on the listening stones, enabling users of smart phones to download interactive documents with images of what happened on the location where they stand.
Several members of "Parachute Group Holland" then made a parachute jump from an Antonov bi-plane. After the ceremony there was a short reception in the Wings of Liberation Museum in Best with a Liberation Route souvenir to take home.

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For the third year now, Tom was the 'master of ceremonies' during the annual Airborne Friends' tour along the monuments in the city and towns liberated by the 101st Airborne in the first days of Operation "Market Garden".
Particularly moving was the speech of vice mayor Mary-Ann Schreurs of Eindhoven.
She sort of interviewed veteran Ray Nagell in front of the Airborne Monument.

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In the first days of Operation "Market Garden", the village of Nuenen was only 'probed' by members of the 101st Airborne Division ("Easy" Company of the 506th) during a combat patrol with the purpose of securing the bridgehead around Eindhoven. The actual liberation of Nuenen took place of the 21st of September 1944 by elements of the British 44th Royal Tank Regiment.
The dead from "E"/506th's patrol, the British tankers, of downed Allied aircrews during the Nazi occupation and among the villagers of Nuenen were commemorated today during a service in the Clemens Church, followed by a ceremony at a cluster of monuments commemorating World War Two on Europa Laan.
After this ceremony there was a parade of period vehicles by members of the War Wheels owners club.
As a total surprise to himself, the founder of this club, retired Royal Netherlands Army Major Jan Mathijsse, was awarded a Royal decoration by Nuenen's Mayor Mr. W. Ligtvoet.
During an after-ceremony reception in a local bar, Major Mathijsse was made Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
From attending numerous commemoration events since the early 1980’s in which Major Mathijsse had an organizing role, we know that he truly deserves this Royal recognition.

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The last of ceremonies and events commemorating the actions of the 101st Airborne Division in The Netherlands in World War Two.
Again, the ceremony at the Airborne Monument along the Rhine river bank in Heteren had been excellently organized by the people of the Never-Forget-Them Foundation.
In contrast to the rainy edition of last year, this was an extraordinarily hot day.
This 1st day of October even broke the highest temperature record for The Netherlands of that same date in 1908. In the Province of Gelderland, in which Heteren is located, a scorching 78 degrees Fahrenheit had been registered.
Again, Tom represented the Dutch Airborne Friends by laying flowers.
There were also wreaths from US military attaché Lt-Col. Brady, the Never-Forget-Them Foundation and the Municipality of Overbetuwe of which the village of Heteren forms a part.
Before the playing of the Last Post, followed by a minute of silence and the release of a few dozen white doves, school children had read poems and there had been speeches.
Particularly interesting was the speech by British veteran Charles Reeves of the 43rd Wessex Division.
In his account Charles described his unit’s advance North along "Hell's Highway", guarding Nijmegen bridge with his Bren gun 'on a mount in front of the Belvedere restaurant' and subsequently occupying the area around Heteren. His unit was relieved in early October 1944 by men of the 101st Airborne Division.

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