Paul Krugerstraat 70

The Paul Krugerstraat in Oosterbeek became part of the frontline during Operation Market Garden. After the troops retreated from the Graaf van Rechterenweg, this street was the most Northern tip of the British defense line.  

The house on the Paul Krugerstraat 70 served as a medical post fort he British troops from September 20th till September 25th. It was one of the fourteen Regimental Aid Posts (RAP) of the 1^st British Airborne Division. Normally every battalion had its own RAP, but because of the heavy fighting in Arnhem and Oosterbeek, there were only five active RAP’s in the perimeter. Light wounded soldiers could be treated here while heavy wounded soldiers had to be sent to the emergency hospitals at Schoonoord and the Tafelberg.  

The battles around Arnhem and Oosterbeek required a lot of the medical staff. Wounded men kept coming in and the medical posts were situated almost directly in the frontline. Treating the wounded was hard because of a lack of medical supplies.  

When the remnants of the 1st British Airborne Division retreated over the Rhine river in the night of 25-26th of September, it was impossible to bring the wounded along. They had to stay behind and were taken as prisoners of war. Almost all the medical staff stayed behind to take care of the wounded, knowing they would be taken as prisoners of war too.