Jagdpanzer's Happy PlaceAfter Market Garden: The Battle of Overloon.
The Dutch National War and Resistance Museum Overloon
The main hall of the museum. German 10.5cm LeFH 18/40 howitzer, the back end of a 15cm Nebelwerfer 41 on the right side, a Churchill tank Mk V with a 95mm howitzer and a Cromwell IV on the left side.
After operation Market Garden the allies controlled a narrow corridor to the city of Nijmegen which was difficult to hold. It was in particular threatened by German forces in the Venlo bridgehead or Maas salient on the west bank of the river Maas (also known as Meuse in french) near the cities of Venlo and Roermond. The area was well protected by the Canal Wessem-Nederweert to the south and the Peel Marshes with a network of small canals to the west. The only easy way in was from the North, near the village of Overloon. It was decided that the US 7th Amored Division was to attack from the North. To this end the division was temporarily assigned to XIII British Corps. The strength of German forces in the bridgehead was grossly underestimated by the allies at only 2,000 - 3,000 soldiers. In reality there were 7 or 8 times more soldiers. The northern boundary of the salient was defended by the Kampfgruppe Walther (battlegroup Walther). At this time the Kampfgruppe consisted of Panzer Brigade 107, 3 fallschirmjäger battalions, a SS panzergrenadier battalion, a SS anti-tank battalion, several artillery units and possibly a Luftwaffe Festungs battalion. On the 30th of September, five days after the end of operation Market Garden, the 7th Armored Division launched its attack against the Kampfgruppe Walther.
text to be continued.
The Aftermath: The Dutch National War and Resistance Museum Overloon.
Panther tank '222' after the battle of Overloon.
In May 1945 public servant Harry van Daal who was the head of general affairs of the municipality of Vierlingsbeek to which Overloon belonged had a luminous idea while walking through the battle-scarred woods near Overloon. He wanted to start a War Museum in Overloon to preserve the traces of war left by the battle of Overloon. After consulting several people he managed togain land donated by the municipality and the church and the British army in Germany sent two tanks to aid with the recovery of battle-damaged tanks and other vehicles for the museum. On the 25th of May 1946 major-general Lashmer Gordon 'Bolo' Whistler, former commander of the UK 3th Infantry Division opened the museum. Over the years the museum has expanded its collection through gifts by individuals, armies, other organisations and by absorbing the collections of other Dutch war museums. In 2005-2006 the museum expanded its collection significantly by absorbing the Marshall collection of private collector Jaap de Groot which consisted of more than 200 vehicles and many other items of interest. In 2016 the museum will expand its collection again by adding the collection of the Achterhoeks Museum 1940-1945 which will shut down in December 2015. Today Overloon is the largest world war II museum in the Netherlands with more than 100,000 visitors each year. The museum is located in Liberty Park on the southeast side of Overloon.
Militracks
M4 Sherman tank 'After Hitler' in Overloon in the early sixties. (Source: Wikipedia)
Militracks is a yearly event which takes place every third weekend of May. The first edition was in 2010. During Militracks private collectors of German World War II vehicles gather in Liberty Park to show their vehicles to each other and visitors. For a fee visitors can ride along in a vehicle. Militracks is a very popular event. The most recent editions have drawn over 8,000 visitors and more than 50 vehicles.
My intentions.
Liberty Park during Militracks 2014.
I'm going to post pictures of vehicles, artillery and other items of interest with some background info. This is going to be a slow moving thread and I'll often post incomplete posts. If you're interested then you should subscribe to this thread and check it every now and then.
7.5cm PaK 97/38, Jagdpanzer 38 tank destroyer, a bunch of US Navy trucks, a Valentine Bridgelayer tank and a V-1 in the main hall of Overloon.
Used literature.
Erik van Den Dungen, De Slag bij Overloon en de Bevrijding van Venray.
Barbara Maiwald & Jan van Berlo, Militracks: Evolution 1
Alexander Lüdeke, Panzer der Wehrmacht 1933-1945
Walter J Spielberger Hilary Doyle & Thomas Jentz, Leichte Jagdpanzer
Used Websites.
www.shermantankoverloon.nl
M4A1 Sherman Tank 'Able Abe'
Able Abe is unique because he's the only tank in Overloon outside Liberty Park so he gets his own spot here. In July 2008 a monument was revealed in Overloon for the US 7th Armoured Division. Originally the monument committee also wanted to add a tank to the monument but they were unable to acquire one until one of its members spotted a M4A1E9 range wreck in a news item on the TV. The Sherman was recovered from artillery range Oldenbroek with the aid of the US Embassy and the Dutch Ministry of Defence and transported to Overloon in 2010. Much work still had to be done. The tank had to be visually restored and its suspension extender blocks had to be removed to restore this tank to M4A1 configuration. The main difference between the M4A1 and M4A1E9 is that the latter was fitted with duckbill tracks to improve off-road mobility. Able Abe was moved to its current spot on the first of September 2011 and officially inaugurated on the 8th of October 2011.
Able Abe was built by the Pacific Car and Foundry Company in July 1943. The name Able Abe came from a Sherman tank of the 7th AD which was knocked out during the battle of Overloon on the first of October 1944. The original Able Abe was hit by a German anti-tank shell which hit the frontal armor and killed the bow gunner.
Monument to the 7th Armoured Division in front of Liberty Park.
M4A1 Sherman 'Able Abe' in front of Liberty Park.
---