Operation "Market Garden" commemorations September 2005.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, once again I am going to do my now annual photo thread of my trip to Arnhem. The past 12 months have gone very quickly and I cannot believe that yet another year is over?

This trip was my 11th to Arnhem for the commemorations and I have not missed a year since 1994. My stay was for only 5 days, so I don't have as many photos as last year.

As usual I traveled in my 1942 Ford GPW Airborne Jeep. Total distance driven for the round trip was 779 miles; all done without any problems

We set off on the Weds afternoon with a steady drive to Harwich for the overnight ferry. This is the longest part of the journey for us and takes about 5 hours. At the port I met up with friends and we formed a 3 Jeep convoy. After a meal and a few beers we got a few hours sleep ready for an early docking at 7.30am. The drive to the small village of Beek (just outside Nijmegen) where we stay took about two and a half hours. Up until now the weather was fine and sunny and I did not even have the canvas roof on the Jeep. Once we had checked in and unpacked we decided to go to the Liberation Museum at Groesbeek which is only a few miles from our hotel. So my first photos are from the museum. I had not been there for 3 years and I found the museum had changed a lot. There was a very different feel to the place. The photo shows a BD blouse made for a little girl which she wore during the Liberation celebrations in 1945. There was a Glenngary cap as well with this and a photo of her wearing it. I thought this was a great exhibit.

Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here you can see the cap and photo I mentioned.Even the museum use IKEA cabinets

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here is part of the large diorama which depicts the Waal river crossing by the 504th PIR.

[Adrian Stevenson]

German tank wheel from a PzIV (?)

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here we see a Waco glider cockpit framework. This is a genuine relic from the battle. After the war it was used as a cover for a woodpile The fabric is long gone and the metal work has been nicley restored in places.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Original Waco glider "steering wheel". The one shown with the cockpit is a replica.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here is the floor and seating from a Waco glider. The seats can be seen on the right side. This is a rare find. It survived after the war as a rack for tool storage. This is because the reverse of floor is made up of small box sections which made instant shelves. There was a mirror behind the exhibit so you could see the reverse.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Wooden British assault boat of the type used by the 504th PIR to cross the Waal. There is research being done to discover if this example is actually one of those used for the crossing. There is reason to think that it was, but the Museum at present do not know for sure.

[Adrian Stevenson]

German glass and a wooden Schu mine. I had not seen this particular type of glass mine before with the rounded bottom?

[Adrian Stevenson]

British biscuit tins. I collect this type of thing. Many Dutch families lives were saved by these biscuits during the "Hunger Winter" of 1944/45. The RAF air dropped these to the starving Dutch people.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Display of a Canadian soldier

[Adrian Stevenson]

German soldier. I had a good look at this one and I can confirm that all the insignia, while original, was resewn. It features NCO's shoulder straps but no tresse to the collar. It needs a little work to improve the display. But still nice to see.

[Adrian Stevenson]

First Allied A/B shoulder sleeve insignia. This one appeared to be a British made example.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Garman helmet put to postwar use. I love this kind of thing.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Girl's skirt made for the Liberation. Not the British shoulder flashes around the hem and the embroidery.

Sorry this is a bit dark. The whole museum is quite dark which is something which had changed since I last visited it.