Sunday, September 16, 2018

A Bridge Too Far - Arnhem

Today I traveled to Arnhem on the East side of the Netherlands.  A two hour train trip and I was at the Arnhem Central Station getting information about several WWII museums in the area. Arnhem was the site of a famous WWII military operation, Operation Market Garden. From a historical perspective Market Garden was important for two reasons, first it is the largest airborne assault ever attempted and secondly it was the worst defeat of the Allied forces in WWII. 



There have been several movies about this battle, the most famous being "A Bridge Too Far" (1977).  It's a very long movie but there are a surprising number of famous actors in it.  There is another film, a documentary called "Arnhem: A Bridge Too Far". I watched both of these before I traveled to Arnhem.  If you do a You Tube search there are many more videos about Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem.



After the war the bridge was renamed The John Frost Bridge after the British commander who defended the bridge during the Battle of Arnhem.  The bridge has been destroyed and rebuilt several times during the war and while the center span is relatively new the original foundations remain.




I also went to Oosterbeek where I visited the Airborne Museum Hartenstein and the Airborne Cemetery. While the outside of the museum was being renovated and not much to see, the museum inside was great. 








The Museum is housed in the Villa Hartenstein which was originally a Inn built in 1728 and later used as the headquarters of the British Airborne Troops during Operation Market Garden.  It's hard to describe some of the parts of the museum, it's best to say they were somewhat "interactive".







In the bottom section of the museum they had what was called The Airborne Experience.  You enter the back of a British Glider and exit through the front where you find yourself in the city among military equipment, bombed out buildings and rubble. 






On the surrounding walls they are projecting actual footage of street to street fighting to give you a combat perspective.  There is a loud sound track playing with each video giving you 360 degrees of battlefield noise.




I also visited the Airborne Cemetery  it was a very somber place.  A quiet peaceful place to reflect on the cost of war.  While not as large as the Normandy Cemetery it was none the less a moving experience. 












Each headstone had the insignia of the division they fought with.











There is an annual ceremony where the residents place flowers and small crosses at each grave. 












Some of the small crosses are visible in the picture.  I wish the younger generation could understand the sacrifices these young men made.  They fought and died to save countries and people they never knew and they did it because it was the right thing to do.  They understood that the cost of freedom is paid by the loss of life.








Another unexpected sight was the support the current residents show for the Airborne soilders that fought to liberate them and defeat Germany.  Many of the houses fly the British Airborne Special Forces insignia.  Hundreds of the homes fly the insignia, it was an amazing show of support and admiration.








Some of the houses have plaques explaining the action that took place in and around that house














It truly was a sight to behold. Over seventy years have passed and people still expressing their never ending gratitude to the soldiers who risked everything to free them from German occupation.






Most of us living today have not suffered the horrors of living four years as an occupied country.  The people of Arnhem survived the first battles when they were taken captive and then another battle when they were liberated and several more when the battle lines moved back and forth. But what they do understand is their freedom was paid for by Allied troops that knew they were doing the right thing all the while knowing they might be sacrificing everything.  They never had a cushy Nike contract, I wish Colin Kaepernick understood what sacrifice really was.


TJ in Holland

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Delft Netherlands


Today's trip found me taking a short train ride to Delft.  Delft is a small town North West of Rotterdam.  Elizabeth and already been here with a friend but I went to Delft to visit the WWII museum.  I was disappointed to find out the museum had been closed for about a year.  That didn't stop me from walking through the beautiful town and seeing both the Old Church and the New Church. Another thing Delft is famous for is Delftware, the blue and white tin glazed pottery.





The Old Church was the first stop, building started in 1246 with various additions added in subsequent years.  Nothing fancy, a plain (but large) church.













On the right side of this picture you can see the only windmill still in existence in Delft, the Roos Windmill.  It is an unusual stone mill built in 1679.





The New Church was a simple but pretty church with public access to the bell tower.  Three Hundred, Seventy Six steps later I was glad I did it.  The view was awesome!  The whole town laid out before you, very much worth the climb.

When I came down from the bell tower there was a small string group setting up for practice.  I walked around the church and got to hear them play, it was very nice sitting in the church listening to beautiful music, it was the perfect atmosphere to pray and to reflect.









This is what most of the stairway looked like,  It was somewhat narrow but not so much that it was scary, just narrow.  The problem was when you encountered somebody else going the opposite direction, it got very narrow then.











Another view from the bell tower, this was a large church and we were towering above it.  Although not visable in this picture there were a lot of modern buildings in the distance.








Both the Old and New Church ceilings were beautiful.  The wood tones made your eyes pop when you looked upward.















There was a Boules tournament going on when I was there. This is the view from the bell tower.  The center of the square was covered in sand and they were playing  Boules.  It was quite interesting, I had never watched the game being played before.  It was apparent that they were quite serious about the game and there were some very skilled players.






















This is the City Hall building, the picture does not do it justice.




                     TJ in Holland