The battle forced thousands of inhabitants to evacuate. The towns along the rivers came under regular shelling. German troops entrenched themselves in the ruins of the cities and in the dykes. In December1944, they made a drastic decision with devastating consequences for Neder-Betuwe. On 2 December, in an attempt to drive the Allies out of the Betuwe, they blew a large hole in the Rijndijk near Elden, flooding the whole area. The plan did not succeed, but the result was that the area was flooded for months. Through this cyclinng route, you will get to know the impressive history of the Neder-Betuwe municipality in the years 1940-1945, and you will know exactly what happened and where it happened.

The Netherlands

Allied airplines fly above the town of Hien, in the direction of Arnhem, September 1944. 

Two German soldiers are in a foxhole in Ochten and have their eyes on the Waal River.

American soldiers of the 101 Airborne divison, 506th Regiment pass Opheusden station in 1944. 

This used to be Ochten roadsign. 

Section Peters, part of the Piron Brigade

Emergency housing in Ochten

Neder-Betuwe on the front line 

The Belgian soldiers were eventually not allowed to continue their attack, but retained their positions. In doing so, they still suffered greatly from the inundation of the region. The water, although a bit lower than it used to be, was still everywhere. Using wooden planks, ladders and doors, they laid walking routes through the villages to get around.Opheusden was finally liberated on 18 April 1945 by the 3rd Battalion of the Belgian Liberation Brigade (also called the Piron Brigade, named after commander Colonel Piron). The monument reminds residents of the units of the Belgian 1st Brigade and the US 101st Airborne Division that died during the liberation of Opheusden and the surrounding area.

Belgian advance

In several places, scattered across the Neder-Betuwe area, there were mines that had to be removed quickly. In the areas where there had been heavy fighting, such as Dodewaard, Opheusden, Kesteren and Ochten, war material was everywhere; from broken tanks and other vehicles to equipment and unexploded ammunition lying around. Signs alerted residents to the danger. There was also a public health hazard from hundreds of cadavers of livestock and domestic animals rotting everywhere. The battle had also taken its toll on men, both German and allied soldiers. Emergency cemeteries had been set up in most villages. Individual soldiers were buried across different towns. One of them was Cecil Howard Robertson, soldier of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He died during fighting near Opheusden on 29 September 1944. After the war, hundreds of soldiers were reburied in Oosterbeek, Margraten and Ysselsteyn cemeteries, depending on their nationality and if they were part of the German or Allied troops. After a temporary emergency grave in Opheusden, Robertson is now buried in Oosterbeek. The danger of unexploded ordnance remained for years. Unfortunately, playing children fell victim to explosions several times. Among the latest victims was the newlywed couple Boesveld-Gortzak from Zaltbommel. While walking along the river Waal near Zaltbommel on 30 June 1964, they came across ammunition. H. Boesveld was directly killed, his wife got injured. Dangerous ammmunition from World War II are still being found and defused today.

Danger of explosions

In May 1940, Ochten was already part of the fighting when German troops invaded the town. The time period a few years later, from September 1944 to May 1945, more than seven months, had enormous consequences. Ochten lay under Allied fire during the battle of the Betuwe, with the village being so heavily shelled that it was largely destroyed. Allied and German troops fought an intense battle with each other, with the rivers Maas and Waal forming the front line. After the war, a reconstruction plan was drawn up for heavily damaged Ochten. Not a single house was completely undamaged; half of the 400 houses were completely destroyed. To start rebuilding the town, 200 emergency houses were built. Some of them were made of straw bales. Ochten was therefore also called the 'plaggenhuttendorp' (straw bales village). The emergency housing complex 'De Lichtstad' would remain in use until 1973. Almost the entire village centre of Ochten was completely renewed, only a few streets remained as they were before the war.

This used to be Ochten

Cannons were installed to repel an attack over the dike, in flooded territory the only easily accessible road. On May 13, the defense line actually came into action shortly after noon. The guns repulsed an attempt by German soldiers of the 207th Division to bypass the Betuwe position via the Waal river. A German flotilla consisting of six ships, including a gunboat and two fast motorboats, came under fire. The motorboats sank; several other vessels were damaged. In addition to the installation of guns and trenches, several casemates, sometimes camouflaged as a barn or hidden in a haystack, were built by the Dutch army in Ochten. By the afternoon of May 13 1940, the trench was empty, after the Dutch soldiers had received the order for a general retreat after several combat encounters with the German army. The command of the 44th Infantry Regiment, which was stationed in the Betuwe, was moved to Zijderveld near Vianen.

The defense of Ochten

On the 22nd of November 1944, he was arrested during a meeting with several resistance fighters in Utrecht at the Chamber of Commerce. He was detained at the King Willem III barracks in Apeldoorn. For 10 days he was tortured violently, but he did not say a word. On 2 December 1944, he was executed along with 14 other resistance fighters and an American prisoner of war. They were buried at the 'Heidenhof' cemetery in Ughelen.Johannes van Zanten was of great significance as a resistance fighter during World War II. A famous heroic act that he participated in was the so-called stamp robbery in Tilburg, together with the armed resistance group of Soest. Thanks to the captured stamps, many people in hiding could be helped to get food.A second important act of Johannes was the rescue of 16 paratroopers, who managed to leave the plane near Opheusden just in time during an emergency landing. They were received by Johannes' resistance group and housed at the Hazenhof farm in Kesteren. After three nights, they were rowed across the river Waal near IJzendoorn into liberated territory.As indicated, his life ended dramatically on 2 December 1944 at the King Willem III Barracks in Apeldoorn. At the barracks, a so-called boulder monument has been built in memory of 15 resistance fighters and the fallen American prisoner of war. A commemoration takes place annually on the Friday preceding 2 December. The life of Johannes van Zanten is described in a book by Conny van der Heyden-Versnel, titled 'Unjustly Accused'.After the war, Johannes van Zanten was reburied in the old cemetery in Kesteren on 3 July 1945. The monument at the grave consists of a broken-off column, symbolising the sudden abortion of his life. At his grave, the annual remembrance day commemoration takes place on 4 May in Kesteren.

Grave of resistance fighter Johannes van Zanten

Some civilians moved west and still had hard months ahead, while others managed to escape to liberated places in the south. On 3 October, soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, called Screaming Eagles, took up positions near Opheusden and Dodewaard. Two days later, on 5 October, the German 363 Division launched an attack near Opheusden in an attempt to push back the Americans and drive them out of the Betuwe. At the same time, beyond Opheusden between Heteren and Randwijk, they had put two SS companies across the Rhine to surround the Americans. It resulted in fierce fighting around Opheusden. The SS men were discovered by Captain Dick Winters of the 2nd Battalion E Company and overpowered. The German attack failed. The front in the Betuwe stabilised on the west flank between Opheusden and Dodewaard. Regimental photographer Al Crochka took several photos there. E company's experiences were filmed in 2001 in the drama series Band of Brothers by director and producer Stephen Spielberg.

Band of Brothers

On the initiative of the local 4/5 May committees and with the effort of many, a memorial has been erected in Opheusden, the Netherlands. This monument commemorates the liberators and civilians who helped the survivors of a plane crash. The location was chosen because a Douglas C-47A Skytrain with commander 1st. Lt. J.H. Spurrier had to make an emergency landing in this area. Sixteen paratroopers, who survived in the emergency landing were rescued by Johannes van Zanten's local resistance group. It was one of seven crashed aircraft, which took part in Operation Market in September 1944. The main element of the monument shows the profile of a Douglas C-47A Skytrain, the type of aircraft that crashed near the memorial during Operation Market Garden. The 16 columns commemorate the 16 Allied aircraft that crashed on Neder-Betuwe territory due to combat operations. With the joint 4/5 May committees, a yearly commemoration is being held at the monument on the Friday preceding the Market Garden commemoration on the Ginkelse Heide.

Pilots in the fire 

After mobilisation, work immediately began to put the various Dutch defence lines in order and bring them up to strength. In the Lower Betuwe, soldiers prepared the Betuwe Defence Line. 'Stelling' was a big word for an old, neglected, Napoleonic-era defence line, also known as line De Spees. The Betuwe Defence Line was an extension of the Grebbelinie between the Rhine and Waal rivers. Across the Waal, the defence line continued in the Peel-Raamstelling. The defence of the Betuwe Defence Line was entrusted to soldiers of Brigade A, which included the 44th and 46th Infantry Regiments and the 19th and 22nd Artillery Regiments. Behind them in the Tielerwaard were reserve troops from Brigade G. In all haste, several bunkers were built near the Betuwe defence line to provide some resistance to an enemy from the east. For the quiet villages in the area, the arrival of hundreds of soldiers meant quite a change. Economically, it certainly had its advantages: unemployment fell and local suppliers earned well from the army.

Defensive line De Spees 

During Operation Market Garden, the British 43rd Wessex Division arrived in Opheusden and Dodewaard, on 23rd September 1944. From there, they were unable to push the frontline any further. Reinforcements from the American 101st Airborne Division arrived on 4th October but the German troops that had crossed the Rhine from Grebbeberg to the north, were quick to attack. It was imperative that the German Army recapture the ground they had lost in the Betuwe region if they were to prevent the invasion of Germany.The village of Opheusden was the scene of a horrific battle. The Dorpsstraat was one of the streets where the soldiers fought from house to house and the battle on Dalwagenseweg road went on for three days. This was where the windmill belonging to the Aalbers family gave refuge to more than 100 of the seriously injured. Even after days of heavy fighting, neither side could claim victory: the frontlines stayed exactly where they were for months on end. Both sides struggled to navigate the clay terrain in the Betuwe region and it became known as “the worst tank-going country of the world”.The people living in this part of the Betuwe region started to flee the area in October 1944. Some went to Brabant in the south, which had already been liberated, and others went to the occupied north. The Allies and the Germans dug their positions in on either side of the frontline and set up barbed wire and landmines. They turned this part of the Betuwe region into no man´s land. In December 1944, the Germans flooded part of the Betuwe region and it was not until 18th April 1945 that the village of Opheusden was liberated by the Belgian 1st Infantry Brigade known as Brigade Piron.