TracesOfWar.com

Old Church

(Netherlands, the - Guelders - Oosterbeek)

The remains of the 1st, 3rd and 11th Airborne Battalion and of the South Staffords Battalion, of which the most had returned from Arnhem, hid themselves for days in the old church in Oosterbeek under the command of Major Lonsdale. At the church at this time, there were still the guns of the Regiment of Light Artillery lined up outside.

The Lonsdale Force as it was known, as the days drew on had a very hard time, and the most of them were overrun or found it necessary to withdraw to the ever smaller perimeter of the Hartenstein Hotel.

Source

• Text: Hans Molier
• Photos: Alex Ossel & Barry van Veen