The liberation

The liberation of Winterswijk was part of 'Operation plunder', the Rhine crossing. "[...] The task given to the 53rd Division was to break out from Bocholt and seize the crossings of the river Dinkel at Gronau, 30 miles to the North East.
The plan was as follows: 71st Infantry Brigade - with the 3/4th C.L.Y. [note: 3/4th City of London Yeomanry] and C Squadron 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment attached - to lead the advance along the axis Winterswijk-Vreden-Gronau.
A Squadron (to the West) and B Squadron (to the East) 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment were to protect the flanks. [...]" (Barc56, p. 150). The plan is also shown on the map.

(Source: Barc56, p.149, coloured markings by me)

This plan is also described in the book of Patrick Delaforce: "The next task was for 71st Brigade to lead towards Gronau thirty miles north-east via Winterswijk (just in Holland) and Vreden. The Recce patrolled to the west of the main road , reached Bredevoort in Holland some seven miles ahead and 'A' Squadron had two actions including a nice little ambush. 'C' Sqn on the right of the axis had more problems with map reading than with the foe. The HLI moved up the main road with the Ox and Bucks on the right near the railway line. Wally Brereton, 81st Field Regt. RA: 'At Bocholt the infantry [HLI] split up combing the town for snipers and rearguard groups... to the east of Bocholt we parted company with the friendly tanks as they took a different route. The long columns of the Highland Light Infantry filed out of the town and into the open countryside. Skirmishes continued all morning. Everybody was firing and ducking. The situation was too fluid for the use of artillery support and we all joined in the shooting. These encounters ended when half the Germans surrendered and the rest ran away to fight another day. If they pinned us down with the odd MG we would call up an armoured car of the Recce Regt. A young German deserter attached himself to us like a stray dog. We let him ride on the back of Roger Fox carrier.'" (Dela96, p.186).

Beside the town itself, the community of Winterswijk includes nine hamlets: Meddo, Huppel, Henxel, Ratum, Brinkheurne, Kotten, Woold, Miste and Corle (Wikipedia). The british units approached Winterswijk from the south. From there they moved in northern direction towards Winterswijk. This area south of the town is called "Woold". The following picture shows the position of the Woold-hamlet.

(Source: Google)

It's very rural and consists of meadows, some barnyards, alleys and some smaller parts of forrest. The left picture below shows an original map of the area. The dashed arrow marks the way where the units crossed the border, coming from germany. In this area some heavy fighting took place and several men were killed.

(Source: VHM85, p.204)

(Source: VHM85, p.207,
coloured markings by me)

The map in the right picture shows an extract from the map in the left picture. The thick dashed arrow shows again the way which was taken by the fighting force. Near 'De Selle' a german tank was hidden (green dot). This tank together with S.P. guns and infantry with Panzerfausts destroyed several british tanks. "The [thin] dashed arrows [near 'De Selle'] show the directions in which the german tank was shooting. The stars [red circles] mark the locations, of the destroyed [british] tanks." (VHM85, p.206, translation by me).
The same facts are described in the book of Delaware: "A German SP ambushed Desmond Milligan's Ox and Bucks carrier group. The lead tank was brewed up and the eight Kangaroos following were hit and burned, three still full of troops: 'As we ran to help, flames poured out of the Kangaroos. Men were tumbling out, screaming and burning, others trying to beat the flames of their burning comrades. It was a terrible sight. Lt Col Howard drove up in his jeep [he was driving] to help in the rescue. He returned with several of the burned soldiers wrapped up in bandages and looking like Egyptian mummies. Casualties amounted to thirty. The SP had successfully delayed us, had pulled out and gone.'" (Dela96, p.186).

The following pictures show the same locations as the previous map on a google earth satellite-picture with different degrees of zoom. The yellow line marks the border between germany and the Netherlands. The red line depicts the way of the troops. The red markers depict the positions of the destroyed british tanks and the green marker shows the position of the german tank.

(Source: Google earth, coloured markings by me)

The following pictures were made in the area 'Woold' after the combat.

"An image of the battle in 'het Woold'."
(Source: AaRu45, p.41)

"These tanks were destroyed during the liberation of Winterswijk."
(Source: AaRu45, p.45)

The '56' on the right kangaroo-tank indicates that the vehicle belonged to the second Battalion of the senior infantry brigade. This suites to the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry ('Ox and Bucks'). For further information on the insignia of a british infantry division see also section Division and Battalion details.

(Source: VHM85, p.235)

(Source: VHM85, p.239)

"By 9 p.m. [note: on March 30th 1945] the H.L.I. were within about 3 1/2 miles of Winterswijk having met some stiff opposition South of the town. Resistance was from S.P. guns and Infantry, the former knocking out three vehicles of B Squadron 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment.
By nightfall the Oxford and Bucks, after several sharp brushes with the enemy - during which several 'Kangaroos' were knocked out by S.P. guns - had reached a point near the railway about level with the H.L.I. The country was close and the latter part of the advance had been carried out 'dismounted'. [...]
At about 11.30 p.m. on the 30th March the 4th R.W.F. were sent forward through the H.L.I. with the object of capturing Winterswijk. All went well until they reached the Slinger Beek [note: a small beck] a short distance South of the town. Here they found the bridge blown, but C Company and the men of the Carrier Platoon negotiated the stream and occupied Winterswijk which they found unoccupied. Preparations were then put in hand to construct a new bridge. [...]
At about 2 a.m. 31st March the Oxford and Bucks began moving forward again on the right of the 4th R.W.F., but on approaching the Slinger Beek East of the town they found the bridge there was also blown and the area heavily mined. The Battalion was then ordered to join the rest of the Brigade on the main axis.
The new bridge on the main road was ready for traffic by 12 noon and the 1st H.L.I., with C Squadron 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment under command, passed over and pressed on towards Vreden. [...]" (Barc56, p. 150-151)
Again the book of Delaware draws a similar picture: "SP guns also knocked out three Recce cars. By nightfall 1 HLI and the Ox and Bucks were on the outskirts of Winterswijk, so 4 RWF were sent forward late on the 30th but found the bridge over the Slinger Beek blown. Major Hocquard led the 'C' Coy accross the river and by dawn were being given a great Dutch welcome with flags and bunting blossoming in the windows. [...] The Sappers repaired the main bridge over the Slinger Beek and the Recce led 1 HLI towards Vreden [...]" (Dela96, p. 186-187)

The following pictures show the british troops in Winterswijk and some impressions.

"The liberation force drives
through the Vredensestraat."
(Source: VHM85, p.249)

"The liberators 'roll in'."
(Source: Leli46, p.91)

"The first Tommies in Winterswijk. A warm welcome!"
(Source: Leli46, p.94)

"A group of Dutch people wave to troops of the 53rd (Welsh) Division
as they pass through after liberating the town"
(Source: Barc56, p.151)

On the lower right of the last picture one can see the front left part of a jeep. Therefore this picture of course is particularly intersting for me. Also on the first picture a jeep with a canvas top can be seen (third vehicle in the column). But it is to small to recognise any details. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any other jeep-pictures from the liberation of Winterswijk.

All the sources mentioned so far in this chapter belong to sources that look from the perspective of the involved military troops.
The book by Aalders en Ruwhof provides the view from the Winterswijk inhabitants. The book is called "memories on the liberation of Winterswijk" and provides a very interesting and personal view on the events in Winterswijk at the end of March 1945. "Also at 'school O' our liberators were surrounded by the enthousiastic population and tasted some of the male inhabitants the pleasure to have an english cigarette between their lips. As good and as bad as it was possible, a lot questions were asked to our liberators, although the talks not always were easy, since only a small number of persons had sufficient command of the English language, while the Englishmen hardly understood any dutch. At our request, to which army unit our liberators belonged, we got the answer that they were part of the 'Royal Welsh Fuseliers', of the second British Army." (AaRu45, p.48).

The following picture shows a version of the army journal "Red Dragon" from March 31st, 1945, the day of the liberation of Winterswijk. On the top left is an article about the capture of Winterswijk. On the bottom right an enlarged version of the article is inserted (see coloured markings).

"Army journal, printed on the liberation day of Winterswijk [...]"
(Source: VHM85, p.243, coloured markings by me)

The next picture shows a drawing from the newspaper "Nieuwe Winterswijkse Courant" that was published one year after the liberation.

"From the 'Nieuwe Winterswijkse Courant' on March 29th 1946"
"Mr. K. Stroes Jr. drew this witty picture, which depicts the big event of March 31st, 1945."
(Source: VHM85, p.6)

Summing up, Winterswijk was liberated by the 53rd (welsh) division. The 4th battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers was the unit that first entered Winterswijk on 31st March 1945.
Therefore I decided to restore the jeep like one of this unit. For information on specific restauration details on MB158963 with regard to the unit see section Division and Battalion details.

The casualties

In the area 'Woold' altogether 9 british soldiers were killed in combat (NeSt70, p.231):

	Cpl. G. Beecroft, No. 14620251, 1st Oxford & Bucks L.I.
	Pte. G. Lobley, No. 14620328, 1st Oxford & Bucks L.I.
	Pte. W. Clark, No. 4278024, 1st Oxford & Bucks L.I.
	Unknown soldier, assigned to the Boh. Crigre Bucks
	Unknown soldier, assigned to the Bat. Oxford Bucks
	Sgt. K. Webber, No. 4626288, 49 Tm. Am. Personell-Carrier
	Unknown soldier, assigned to the 1st Boh. Crigre Bucks
	Pte. D. Parkman, No. 14805612, 1st Oxford & Bucks L.I.
	L.Cpl. J. Bateman, No. 3326248

The soldiers are burried on the cemetery in Winterswijk. In March 2015 I got the opportunity to make a visit. The following picture shows an overview over the area where all allied soldiers from the Second World War are burried.

Allied soldiers on the cemetery in Winterswijk

The following pictures show the headstones of the nine soldiers that were killed during the liberation of Winterswijk.

Unknown soldier
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945

Private D.A. Parkman
No. 14805612
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945
Age 18

Corporal K.F.A. Webber
No. 4626288
Royal Armoured Corps
30th March 1945
Age 27

Private A. Clark
No. 14800133
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945

Unknown soldier
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945

Private W.C. Clark
No. 4278024
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945
Age 35

Private G.A.B. Lobley
No. 14620328
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945
Age 30

Corporal G. Beecroft
No. 14620251
The Oxford and Bucks. L.I.
30th March 1945

L.Cpl. J. Bateman
No. 3326248
The Highland Light Inf.
31st March 1945
Age 31

It's interesting to note, that the quoted data do not completely fit to the data on the headstones. Since the book has been written in 1946, I assume that over time new insights have been found. Furthermore it's sad that two of the killed soldiers still could not be identified.
Altogether 49 allied soldiers are burried on the cemetery in Winterswijk. Beside the nine soldiers mentioned above these contain 40 flight crew members, since several allied planes came down in the area of Winterswijk during the war.

Allied casualties on the cemetery in Winterswijk

"They died for us"