The perimeter walk passes places of major battles, minor suffering and courageous actions, past old estates, former emergency hospitals and still visible traces of the war.
The perimeter was a horseshoe-shaped defense line around Oosterbeek into which the British and Polish troops had been pushed back during the Battle of Arnhem. In this area the Allies held out for nine days under continuous German attacks. The perimeter walk passes places of major battles, minor suffering and courageous actions, past old estates, former emergency hospitals and still visible traces of the war.
Operation Market Garden was an Allied offensive during the Second World War from September 17 to 26, 1944. Airborne troops had to capture and hold several bridges over rivers and canals in the Netherlands until they could be relieved by ground troops. One of the targets was in Arnhem: the Rhine Bridge. However, the German resistance around Arnhem turned out to be much greater than expected and most of the almost 12,000 British and Polish soldiers did not manage to reach the bridge.
On September 20, the Allied troops fell back to Oosterbeek where the perimeter was formed: a horseshoe-shaped defense line in and around the village with the Rhine as a base. There was heavy fighting within this perimeter in the following days. The supplies of the Allied troops had many shortcomings and the soldiers soon found themselves without food, medical supplies and ammunition. Many soldiers had been injured or killed in the meantime. On September 25, supplies were almost gone and it became clear that the Allied ground forces would no longer reach them in time. The remaining Allied airborne troops had to withdraw across the Rhine. 2,400 soldiers crossed to a safe area, but the wounded and medical staff stayed behind. 6,500 British and Polish troops were taken prisoner and 1,900 were killed.
The civilian population of Oosterbeek spent these intense days in cellars in the hope of avoiding the danger, but here too there were dozens of victims. After the battle, Oosterbeek was destroyed and its inhabitants had to evacuate.
Explanation of starting point
This route starts at the Airborne Museum ‘At Hartenstein’ . At the Airborne Museum you can buy a route booklet for this walk. There is a free parking lot right next to the museum. The entrance is located next to restaurant ‘Klein Hartenstein’ at Utrechtseweg 226. From here it is less than a minute’s walk to the museum.
More Airborne walking routes
Would you like to discover more walking routes in the Airborne Region in the theme of Operation Market Garden? Then take a look at the other walking routes in the Airborne Region !
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