War Museum Overloon

Here, an American Armored Division (7th) and the British Infantry met with stubborn resistance of the Germans and fought for 20 days in 1944. More than 150 tanks from both sides were destroyed in the battle and the town was completely shattered. The museum boasts a big overview exhibition of Holland during WWII.

Personal stories illustrate the problems facing not just the population but also the occupying forces. The military hall (some 2 soccer fields in size) contains over 150 vehicles, aircraft and cannons from WWII. There are also a large number of special military presentations, for instance about German parachutists, as well as all of the air strikes during WWII.

Overloon in ruins

The Allies had not come up against such hostile opposition since June, on the beaches of Normandy. Their losses included three aircraft, some forty tanks and 1,878 men. The Germans lost about 600 men and a number of tanks. Harry van Daal, a citizen of Overloon, was so shocked by the events that had taken place, that he proposed preserving part of the battlefield and erecting a museum on it as a monument.

On May 25, 1946, General Whistler, the commanding officer of the British troops who recaptured Overloon, officially opened the museum. The museum and the 35- acre park, which were once the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Second World War, became a permanent reminder of the horrors of war.