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Invasion
May, 1940
Invasion of the Germans
The invasion of the Germans in The Netherlands took place in May 1940.
The plan of attack of the Germans ("Der Angriffsplan" in German) on the picture is shown at the right. The attack in the western direction was prepared over a broad zone towards the river Maas running north-south from Mook to Venlo.
Near Gennep they needed to capture the railroad bridge running from Gennep to Oeffelt over the Maas river. They also built a pioneer bridge near the ferry house (at the left of the picture).
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Gennep raid
May 10th, 1940
German conquest of the Gennep railroad bridge
In the early morning of May the 10th 1940 the Germans attack The Netherlands. Through the border towns Mook, Milsbeek, Gennep en Siebengewald German troops move to the river Maas fighting with Dutch troops. A German armored train managed to pass the railroad bridge at Gennep and advanced beyond Mill behind the Dutch lines. Dutch troops situated in bunkers near the river Maas and the defence channel were attacked in the back. At the picture above the German order to attack the railroad bridge. -
Battlefield
October 29th, 1944
The area of the Gennep battlefield
The chronology of the events
• May 1940: The German invasion of The Netherlands
• September 1944: Operation Market Garden
• October 1944: Evacuation of the citizenry in the Gennep region
• February 1945: Operation Veritable
• May 1945: The Netherlands liberated
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Gennep
October 29th, 1944
Aerial views of Gennep before the operation
At the picture below a part of Gennep after all the civilians had been evacuated previous to the battle. Nothing is devastated..... yet. At the left side of the picture, a bit difficult to distinguish, the long winding trench dug out by the Germans, between the river Maas and the Niers stream at the eastern part of Gennep.
Another aerial view of this part of Gennep, where the railroad tracks run from north to south at the center of the picture. East of the railroad tracks again the dug out trench. The Germans were preparing for the launch attack of the Allied forces, who were preparing the operation north of Gennep. The Hawkins line, running from Mook, was built for tranportation purposes to support the logistics of the Allies.
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Gennep
February 8th, 1945
Building bridges
To be able to get the Allied troops across the river Maas the longest Bailey bridge of the 2nd World War was built in Gennep.
In February and March 1945, the British Royal Engineers constructed a one kilometre long Bailey bridge between Oeffelt and Gennep. A magnificent technical achievement, acknowledged by the visits of Churchill and Montgomery.
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Gennep
February 14th, 1945
Fighting in Gennep, part 1/4
Picture above: the battle in Gennep has begun. Fighting near the city inn.
The picture at the right shows the headquarter of the Allies in Gennep at february 14th 1945.
Below a view of the Gennep square in the old city center with the, partly destroyed, town hall at the right. The old town hall still exists but the town administration resides in a modern building nowadays very close to the old building.
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Gennep
February 14th, 1945
Fighting in Gennep, part 2/4
Massive destruction in the city of Gennep during the fighting against the Germans. The Gennep station was destroyed. Also the important Maasbridge was destroyed by the Germans during their retreat.
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Gennep
February 14th, 1945
Fighting in Gennep, part 3/4
According to the American general Dwight D. Eisenhower Operation Veritable was 'one of the fiercest and most violent campaigns of the war' and a 'bitter battle of endurance between the Allies and the Germans".
On the picture below a Scottish sharpshooter active in the city of Gennep and far below Scottish troops entering the premises at Picardie 4.
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Gennep
February 14th, 1945
Fighting in Gennep, part 4/4
On the picture above the Zandstraat ('Zandstreet') just after heavy fighting, overlooking the Markt ('Market square') and at the background the town hall.
While the fighting was still going on the British engineers corps tried to remove the blown up Niers bridge and replace it with a Bailey bridge so that they could fight with heavy equipment. Although the British engineers corps was under heavy fire from the Germans they managed to complete the Bailey bridge pretty soon.
February 7th 2015 a new, second, name of this bridge will be unveiled during the commemoration service: the 'Highlanderbridge' honoring the Scottish soldiers. -
Hekkens
February 14th, 1945
Bren gunner
The town of Hekkens on the southern edge of the Reichswald lay on the important intersection of the Gennep-Cleve and Kessel-Goch roads. It was also on the Siegfried Line and was therefore heavily defended with pill boxes. The town also sat on the proposed corps axis and therefore had to be cleared.
Hekkens lies at the southern edge of the Reichswald where the main roads Gennep/Cleve and Frasselt/Kessel/Goch cross and the village itself is bounded on the south by the Rivers Niers, a tributary of the Maas and which runs from east to west at this point. The enemy obviously fully appreciated the importance of Hekkens, and were defending it strongly. The defence overprint maps showed a considerable number of concrete defences in the area as the Siegfried Line runs through the village and into the Forest east of it. The Divisional Commander accordingly decided to launch a full scale Brigade attack against Hekkens during the afternoon and he ordered 154 Brigade to carry it out. The Brigade Commander was informed that the whole of the artillery deployed in support of 30th Corps would be available to support the attack.
At the picture above a Bren gunner in action from a window of a house in Hekkens when they were observing and giving covering fire for their comrades advancing below. C Coy, 5 Black Watch, 153 Brigade. Sgt Silverside February 14th1945 -
Milsbeek
February 27th, 1945
Hawkins link, part 1
In february 1945 the Allied forces started their final attack on Germany from the positions where they had ended after Operation Market Garden (Plasmolen-Mook). During the first days of Operation Veritable the towns of Milsbeek, Ottersum, Gennep en Heijen were conquered on the Germans.
Now the troops had to advance further down into Germany, which would give them problems with logistics of troops and material. The Allies couldn't use the Gennep railroad bridge which was blown up by the Germans during their retreat and the pontoon bridge near the ferry house wasn't suitable. The Allies decided to build a new railroad from the tracks from Mook through Milsbeek, Ottersum untill the intact railroad tracks of the NBDS ( Hommersum Junction), further into Germany.
The track was called the Hawkins link and was completed at February 27th 1945. The track went straight across Milsbeek and the town had a 'trainstation' for a short time.
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Plasmolen
February 27th, 1945
Hawkins link, part 2
A sketch of the Hawkins link running from Mook to the Hommersum Junction in Germany where it connected to the line Boxtel-Goch.
Two pictures of the Hawkins link at the town of Plasmolen.
At the bottom picture at the left side of the road the track of the Hawkins link is visible. At the right side the track of the dieseltram Nijmegen-Gennep.
The link was completed in only two weeks. Due to its provisionally character the maximum speed only was 30 km/h. Nevertheless, there were frequent derailments. -
Milsbeek
February, 1945
Milsbeek war cemetery
A reportage from BBC Scotland about private Harold Ewen, buried at the Milsbeek War Cemetery. A story about the War Graves project of Paul ten Broeke and madame Thijssen. With contributions of the Dutch Veritable Foundation, mr. Han van Arensbergen, mr. Frank van Duin and mr. Peter-Paul Fransen.
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