The first commemorations 1946
1946 the first commemorations of the liberation took place and the commander of the 53rd Division R.K. Ross
became honrary citizen of Winterswijk.
"On the 30th March 1946 Major-General R.K. Ross visited Holland to receive the Freedom of the Dutch town of Winterswijk,
which had been liberated by the 53rd Division [...]" (Barc56, p.189).
The following pictures show some impressions.
- (Source: VHM85, p.260)
- (Source: VHM85, p.260)
- (Source: VHM85, p.262)
On the last picture the official ceremony can be seen. The capture of this picture states that "on 30th March 1946 the liberation was commemorated. The band of the 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fuseliers plays a serenade. General-Major Ross and mayor Kneppelhout are standing on the pedestal of the city hall. At the far right of the picture a buck is standing, the mascot of the welsh division." (VHM85, p.262).
70th commemorations 2015
The following video shows a very interesting report about the liberation of Winterswijk with the ride of 'Keep them rolling', tales of the eye witnesses Jan Hendrik Kots and
Henk Krosenbrink, commemoration at the monument of the tank battle in the 'Woold' and speech of mayor Thijs van Beem.
The video is in dutch and has a length
of about 35 minutes.
- (Source: Youtube)