Operation Berlin (Arnhem) - Monument

Monument

On the South bank of the Rhine there is a monument commemorating the role of the Canadian engineers during Operation Berlin.
The text on the monument is: "It is 25th September 1944: The battle of Arnhem is still raging, but the position of the surrounded British and Polish troops on the northern Rhine bank has become untenable. Then the order for evacutation across the river is given. In that rainy" night hundreds of soldiers com in small parties to the river forelands, between the farmhouse and the Old Church - both clearly visible from here - and wait to be rescued. Under heavy German fire from the Westerbouwing, British (250 and 553 Fd Coys) and Canadian 20 and 23 Fd Coys) Engineers make dozens of trips in their small boats from this bank. In one night, supported by other units, they manage to rescue 2,400 airborne troops. The majority of the men who were ferried across the river were done so by the members of the 23rd Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers using Storm boats. The 23rd lost seven men that night. (The Storm Boat Kings p102)

At the time the rescued had hardly seen their saviers, so they have never been able to thank them. This monument has been erected to express their gratitude (15 September 1989)"