Oosterbeek Church, Oosterbeek, Netherlands

Last crawled date: 1 year ago

The Oosterbeek church is one of the oldest in The Netherlands. The one-aisled nave dates from the 10th century. In the 12th century a porch in Romanesque style was added to the north side. The Gothic style tower dates from ca. 1350. At the south side, at the corner between tower and nave, is a short stair-turret. In September 1944 it was here troops retreating from Arnhem were stopped by Maj. Lonsdale and sent into positions just to the east of the church while artillery dug in south of the church establishing a CP in the church. In this church Major Lonsdale, altough wounded several times, held his famous speech which injected morale into the besieged Airborne troops after which they held of the Germans for a couple more days. In and around the church there are several reminders to the role of the church during the Battle of Arnhem. It was one of the last strongholds of the British 1st Airborne Division before its retreat over the Rhine on the night of 25/26 September. After the war the church was restored to the state of ca. 1400. The church has been in protestant use ever since the Reformation and is still used for services, as well as cultural manifestations. #1st_airborne #air_despatch #airborne_division #airborne_museum #arnhem #church #engineers #hartenstein #market_garden #memorial #monument #oosterbeek #RAF #sappers #troops