VVAM Newsletter 40 – 1990

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF THE AIRBORNE MUSEUM OOSTERBEEK
Utrechtseweg 232,6862 AZ Oosterbeek, the Netherlands
Representative in Great Britain: Mr.F.Young, ó.Kildown Gardens,Cliftonville,Kent CT9 3EG.
NEWSLETTER NO 40 Editor:Drs. R.P.G.A.Voskuil
OCTOBER 1990 Translation:Mrs.A.Meeuwsen

From the Editor.
The 46th Commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem was again an impressive and moving event.Apart from the large official functions,there were smaller meetings at different places.like reunions of units of the Division or meetings at which a monument or a plaque were unveiled.
It was a very busy time for the Museum and this year again there were visiting veterans who came to donate some special souvenir.
Because of the modest size of this Newsletter.it is impossible to relate all events which took place during this period.so we were forced to make a choice.We will.however, write about some more special meetings in our next Newsletter.
“Crossroads Oosterbeek,September 22nd,1944” in Airborne Museum.
This famous painting can now be seen at the Museum.lt was painted in 1946 by David Shepherd.who had been commissioned by the 4th Para Brigade,and for years it hung in the Officers’Mess of lOth Para Battalion.On Sunday,September 21st,General Sir John Hackett handed it over to the Museum as a permanent loan. It has been given pride of place in the large room of the Museum.
“Not one shall be forgotten.”
A memorial stone was unveiled beside the Old Church at Oosterbeek on Sunday,Septem¬ber 23rd after the 9 o’clock morning service.The flags which hid the monument were uncovered by General Sir John Hackett.Captain Z.Gasowski and Mrs. Kate ter Horst. The text on the stone reads:”In September 1944 British Airborne soldiers and their Polish comrades.with support of brave Dutch men and women.fought a grim battle round this ancient church in the struggle to liberate the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny. This stone commemorates all who took part in this action and above all those who died. NOT ONE SHALL BE FORGOTTEN.”
Sculptor donates statuette to Renkum Municipality■
Sculptor Jits Bakker,who as a seven-year-old boy watched the air-landings at Renkum, has donated a bronze statuette (height 1 metre) of a parachutist to Renkum Munici¬pality. It was unveiled near Hartenstein House on September 21st by the Mayor.Mr. J. Verlinden.in the presence of many veterans. The artist has donated his statuette as an homage to all soldiers who fought here for freedom in September 1944.

Special-Subiect Afternoon on Saturday.November 3rd.
A special-subject afternoon will again be held for our 3rd.We will meet at the ELEKTRUM near Arnhem where we wi the sixth time.
The programme is as follows:
13.30 – 14.00 hrs : arrival of members.
14 00 – 15 00 hrs : Lecture by Mr.A.Schemkes of Arnhem about the actions which took place in September 1944 around Johanna Hoeve, an area roughly confined by the Wolfhezerweg ,Amsterdamseweg,Dryenseweg and the Arnhem-Utrecht railway line.For many years now.Mr. Schemkes has been making a special study about the battle m this area.The lecture will be illustrated by slides.
15.00 – 15.30 hrs : tea-break.
15.30 – 16.00 hrs : continuation of lecture by Mr. Schemkes.
16.00 – 16.30 hrs : showing of the film “Airdrop at Arnhem”, an American film- documentary from the Fifties.
The ELEKTRUM is situated at the Klingelbeekseweg near Arnhem,a small distance West of the road-junction Onderlangs/Bovenover.Telephone numer 085-568020.
Members are this time allowed to bring guests, these are required to pay an entrance fee of ƒ 5,- .
Placing of two new memorial pillars.
Some years after the Battle of Arnhem,five wooden memorial pillars were placed in Oosterbeek at points which had played an important role during the Battle.During the years that followed,these pillars suffered from the weather and also from vandalism.This resulted in the replacement of three of them by stone pillars.
These three were placed at the upper end of the Drijenseweg, along the Valkenburg- laan and near the Old Church.
The condition of the two remaining wooden pillars went from bad to worse and after letters from an inhabitant of Oosterbeek and from our Society to the Municipal Council.money was given by the council for the replacement of these last two pillars. We are pleased to teil you that these new stone pillars have now been put into place, one near the house called “Beukenhove” on the Utrechtseweg 192 and one near the Tafelberg Hotel.The text on the Tafelberg pillar has also been adjusted.
Polish Badges of Honour.
This year,Polish Badges of Honour were awarded to the following persons: Mrs.A.E Verstand,Mrs.H.Berendsen.Mrs. J.G.G.Nusselder.Mrs.A.de Jong,Mr.A.Zelebowski, Mr. C.Luursema and Mr.W.Scholten.Captain Z.Gasowski,leader of the Polish delegation^ presented the badges on September 21st.
Donation by Health Insurance Company.
The Health Insurance Company “Het Zilveren Kruis” has donated a number of advanced appliances to aid visually handicapped people. These will be placed at the disposal of Arnhem veterans. The Airborne Forces Security Fund at Aldershot will take care of the distribution. Our member Mr.C.van Roekel has played an intermediary role in this matter. 1
From the Treasurer.
Enclosed with this Newsletter you will find the giro-card for payment of your yearly subscnption Members who pay before November 3rd,can obtain their new membership card during the Special-subject afternoon on November 3rd. The cost of the subscription is f 20.- for single members, f 30,- for a family membership.

General Sir John Hackett during the presentation of’ the painting “Oosterbeek Crossroads,22 September 1944”
(Photo:B.de Reus.)

General Sir John Hackett during the presentation of’ the painting “Oosterbeek Crossroads,22 September 1944”
(Photo:B.de Reus.)

Ministory from book “Mission Completed”.
The other day Mr. R.J.E.M.van Zinnicq Bergmann’s book “Het doel bereikt” (Mission Completed) was published.The book starts with the author’s adventurous escape from occupied Holland to England.There and in Canada he was trained as a fighter-pilot. During the Allied advance through Europe he took part in a large number of attacks at enemy targets,flying a Typhoon.One of these attacks took place on September 17th,1944,and was aimed at the German flak positions near Arnhem. The story of this attack has been chosen as the Ministory to go with this Newsletter.
The book is well worth reading.it contains 208 pages and has been illustrated by photo’s.It has been published by Van Mazijk at Leiden and costs ƒ 29,90.
Donation by Thanet Branch.
Our Society has received a gift of £ 50. from the Thanet Branch.The money will be allocated to educational purposes.

Gliders land again at Wolfheze.
Gliders landed again at Wolfheze for the first time since 1944, on September 22nd. The two gliders were towed behind power-planes from Terlet and uncoupled over the landing-areas,after which they made a perfect landing.The pilots of the gliders, both members of the Terlet glider club, were accompanied by two ex-glider pilots, lan Toler and John McGeough, who very much appreciated this chance to land again at Wolfheze after so many years.The initiative for this flight came from Mr.Luuk Buist of Oosterbeek,who organized this event,together with a large number of assistants. There are plans to organize this event again next year.so that the role played by. the Glider Pilot Regiment during the Battle of Arnhem be kept alive.
The 13th Commemorative envelope.issued by the Airborne Museum shows the painting by David Shepherd “Oosterbeek Crossroads,September 22nd,1944. The envelopes are numbered and provided with a special postmark,dated Septem er , • ’
Society receives part of proceeds from exhibition.
In our last Newsletter we wrote about an exhibition to be shown at the Westerbouwing restaurant.More than 3.000 people visited this exhibition,many of which gave a small donation.The total proceeds,ƒ 540,-,were divided between our Society and the Foundation “Lest We Forget”.

R.Kershaw “It never snows in September”.
The other day a book was published’ which gives a survey of the German reaction on the air-landings during Operation Market Garden.lt has been based on countless interviews and on a sound study of the available records.
It is true that a small number of books on this subject has been published before, but they gave a one-sided and highly coloured view of the German experiences, while at the same time there was no book to give a total view.
Major Kershaw has filled this gap with his book which is totally unbiased and which has been written in an exemplarily sober style. A great number of the illustrating photographs comes from the Wochenschau film,taken around Oosterbeek.These photographs will be new to most readers.The maps are excellent,apart from a few typographical errors, and have been printed in colour.
The Airborne Museum has a limited number of this book in its shop.In my opinion.this book deserves a place on the bookshelf of everyone who takes this subject seriously. Price : ƒ 97,25. (A.Groeneweg.)

Two new guide-books about Operation Market Garden.
Two new guide-books have come out about the area in which Operation Market Garden took place. “Operation Market Garden I”covers the operations area of the lOlst and the 82nd American Airborne Divisions between Eindhoven and Nijmegen. In “Operation Market Garden II” most attention is given to Arnhem and its surroundings,describing the actions of the Ist British Airborne Division and the Ist Polish Independent Parachutist Brigade.
Both books,which were compiled by Mr.L.P.J.Vroemen,contain a short historie introduction.a short survey of the actions of the air-landing divisions and a number of walking- and car routes along the several historie places.They also contain a short list of relevant books,a number of maps and a survey of cemeteries, museums and yearly commemorations.
The presentation of these books took place in Hotel Sionshof, situated between Nijmegen and Groesbeek, on September 17th.
The books have been published by the European Library at Zaltbommel and cost ƒ17,90 each.

“Een Drielenaar in Oorlogstijd” can now be ordered.
This book by Mr.Benjamin Jansen of Driel describes his experiences during the Battle of Arnhem and the time afterwards.Mr.Jansen published this book himself in a very limited number.Apart from Mr. Jansen’s diary,the book contains also stories from 20 other inhabitants of Driel.
This book (251 pages) has now sold out,but it is still in demand.In order to issue a reprint which can be sold at a reasonable price (ƒ 21,-),a minimum number of 50 books must be printed. If you are interested in this book and want to order one (or more) copies,please contact Mr. G.H.Maassen Sr.,Jan van Riebeeckweg 82 6861 BH at Oosterbeek.
In our next Newsletter we hope to tell you whether there will be a reprint of this book

Download nieuwsbrief