Arnham

We've managed to get a ferry 2 hours earlier than booked, which meant we were in France early rather than  late afternoon. Initially we had intended to find a supermarket and head to La Coupole the WW2 bunker complex as it is only 40 mins from Calais and you can stop nearby in a campervan. However, as we had arrived early we made the decision to drive north, a long way north to Arnham in the Netherlands.

Driving through France, Belgium and the Netherlands is so much easier than the UK. There’s far fewer people on the roads and somehow Agy just eats up the miles. Before we knew it we’d arrived in Arnhem and found a campsite.

Campsites in Europe seem so much easier to find. They are everywhere, and if you can’t find one, you can always stay at a motorhome park up where you are welcomed by the local community. A stark contrast to much of the UK. 

Despite it being August and peak holiday season, there was plenty of space for us, so we pitched up (which involved driving onto the pitch and plugging in the electric). None of this caravan set up malarkey where it seems to take hours to pitch up, find water, and set up a huge awning  (sorry caravan friends, but it does seem very time consuming!). Pull up, plug in and we’re done! This site did however have an unusual system for washing up…. You had to find the special button (round the corner from the sinks), balance your bowl under it, press the button, catch the gushing scalding water in the bowl and try not to spill it as you headed back to the sinks. Who thought that was a sensible idea?  

Anyway, after a good night's sleep, we headed into Arnham to find the John Frost Bridge and the Airborne at the Bridge museum. Arnhem was the key location in Operation Market Garden during WW2.Operation Market Garden planned to create a route through German occupied Netherlands into Germany by taking control of key bridges with both airborne and land forces between the 17 - 27 September 1944. Unfortunately allied forces failed to secure the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem. However, John Frost Commander of the 2nd Parachute regiment led his men to capture the northern end of the bridge only to find themselves cut off from the other allied forces and surrounded by German troops. A four day battle took place that was described later as one of the most intense battles of the whole war, where the British troops refused to  surrender and surprised the Germans with their continuous counter attacks. The battle continued until the paratroopers ran out of ammunition.

The battle was made famous by the film ‘A Bridge too far’  however as we visited the museum, the staff there told us that the film we should really watch was filmed just after the war, staring veterans of the  actual battle. "Theirs is the Glory” was filmed in 1946 on location at Arnhem and is available on You Tube. I’d recommend you go and watch it.

*image taken in the museum

The surrounding area was so clearly bombed, the museum shows photos of beautiful riverside houses before the war, now there is derelict land and the occasional mural.

 

On a slightly lighter note, there was one other hero of the battle of Arnhem. And that was William of Orange, a dispatch pigeon.  On 19 September 1944 he carried a despatch back to the UK covering 260 miles in 4 hours and 35 minutes from the Battle of Arnhem to the UK. He was awarded the Dickin Medal – the animal VC – for his outstanding achievement.

*imagse taken in the museum

This is one of the parachutes used to deliver the pigeons to troops in occupied territory. I’m not sure I will ever look at a pigeon in the same way again!