Battle of Overloon
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Battle of Overloon | |||||||
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Part of 3rd Division on a German pocket near Overloon, 14 October 1944. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom United States | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Lashmer Whistler Lindsay Sylvester | Kurt Student | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 divisions |
107th Panzer Brigade, Fallschirmjäger units [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,878 men 3 aircraft 40 tanks |
600 infantry tanks |
The Battle of Overloon was fought in the
Background
Operation Market Garden
In September 1944, the Allies had conducted
German forces attacked the salient from a bridgehead west of the bend in the river
Operation Aintree
The operation had the goal of securing the narrow salient the Allies had established between Eindhoven and Nijmegen during Operation Market Garden and destroying the German bridgehead west of the Meuse, in preparation for the eventual Allied advance into the nearby German Rhineland.
Battle
During Operation Aintree the battle of Overloon took place as the Allies in advanced from nearby positions south toward the village of Overloon. After a failed attack on Overloon by the US
The British captured Overloon in a costly attack and moved on towards Venray. The advance on Venray resulted in more casualties, especially around the Loobeek creek, which was swollen due to the autumn rains and was flooded and mined by the Germans. Casualties were severe among the 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment which was serving in 185th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. During the battle, the village of Overloon was destroyed. In and around Overloon about 2,500 soldiers were killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in the Netherlands during the Second World War. Dozens of tanks, mainly American, were destroyed.
Aftermath
Despite the fact that Overloon and Venray were taken by the Allies, the advance toward the bend of the Meuse near Venlo was postponed. This was due to the number of casualties the Allies had sustained and because troops were needed to secure more essential targets, the Scheldt estuary, leading to the vital port of Antwerp and the west of the province of North Brabant, in between Antwerp and the salient that had been established. The offensive was eventually resumed, and by early December the German bridgehead west of the Meuse was destroyed. Blerick (near Venlo) was liberated in the first days of December 1944, Venlo and other districts east of the Meuse were liberated on 1 March 1945 (during Operation Grenade). Some days before, Wehrmacht units had left the Maas-Rur-Stellung between Wassenberg (at the river Rur) and Venlo (at the river Meuse).
Remembrance
The battle of Overloon has become known as the second
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Memorial to the battle in Overloon
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Panther tank at the Overloon War Museum, which was knocked out by the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment during the battle
The text of the memorial:
Dutch:
STA EEN OGENBLIK STIL bezoeker en bedenk dat de grond waarop gij nu vertoeft eens een van de felst omstreden sectoren was van het slagveld Overloon. Bitter is hier gevochten in man tegen man gevechten. Vele jonge levens ontkomen aan de slagvelden van Nettuno en Normandië vonden onder deze bomen hun einde.
English translation: "TAKE PAUSE FOR A MOMENT visitor, and consider that the ground you are now on was once one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the Overloon battlefield. Bitter hand-to-hand combat ensued here. Many young lives, having escaped from the battlefields of Nettuno and Normandy, met their ends under these trees."
See also
References
Further reading
- ISBN 1-84574-058-0.
- Jackson, G. S. (2006). 8 Corps: Normandy to the Baltic. Buxtons: MLRS Book. OCLC 62915367. by Lieutenant-Colonel G. S. Jackson)
External links
- Media related to Battle of Overloon at Wikimedia Commons
- LandmarkScout - The Jackal, a churchill tank left behind in the forgotten Battle of Overloon
- LandmarkScout - Tank Driver Bob Dare recounts the fate of the Jackal in the Battle of Overloon