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Guild of Battlefield Guides
Here are several photo's taken recently on a walk around the Arnhem area. They are unusual and show a Sherman tank turret (possibly a Firefly), minus its barrel, on the side of the lower road on the way into Arnhem from Oosterbeek. I wondered if anyone had seen this before or if anyone knows about it?
Wybo Boersma
Member of the
Guild of Battlefield Guides
Badge Number 30
It is very simple. In the 1950’s we had to defend Holland along the river IJssel. The plan was to inundate the whole area around that river with defensive positions. To have enough water a special harbour was made west of Arnhem in the river Rhine. It is still there. Then we put some caissons in the river so the water would flow into the river IJssel rather than going back to the North Sea. To protect the harbour the army used a number of old tank turrets manned by conscripted soldiers. After the idea of “forward defence” in about 1960 of moving the front line to West Germany, the defence system we had put in place was no longer required and subsequently deserted. Some of the tank turrets are still there on both the north and south of the Rhine. Because the vegetation very few people had noticed them before now. Since the vegetation was cleared round this turret so it can be seen, it has been subsequently protected as a historical object. It has nothing to do with the Battle of Arnhem, but it is a leftover from the Cold War.
Opposite the tank turret look at the house no 134. There is a new plaque near the door to mention four soldiers of the 18 pel. C Coy, 2nd batt. The South Staffordshire Regiment who were taken POW by the Germans SS troops in September 1944.
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