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Collaboration and liberation in West-Betuwe

Paesi Bassi

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Tipo

Ciclismo

Distanza

64.86 km

As soon as the Netherlands entered war with Germany in 1940, troops in the Rivierenland region were put on standby. For the soldiers, the first day of war passed relatively peacefully. It was mainly the low passing aircraft towards Rotterdam and The Hague that made it clear that there was a war going on.

The rivers served for the pilots as landmarks. The population of the villages near the Betuwe defence line was evacuated as planned. The Dutch soldiers in the Betuwe held out but were nevertheless ordered to retreat on 14 May. During the retreat, all major traffic and railway bridges were blown up by the Dutch troops. News of the Dutch army's surrender followed shortly afterwards.

Five hard years of war followed for the West-Betuwe are. Famine, war violence and raids left deep scars in the municipality. While other places in the Netherlands were already liberated, fighting continued until the very end in the Rivierenland region.

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