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Liberation Route

Heroes and monuments

The secret village

By spring 1943, a camp had established itself in the Soerelse forest near Nunspeet as a safe haven for people in hiding. The Secret Village as it was known, offered refuge to more than eighty people, among them were Jews, British airmen and German deserters. Then on Sunday the 29th of October 1944, disaster struck. Two Dutch SS soldiers of the 'Landstorm Nederland' Division, hunting in the forest, ran into one of the boys from the camp. The camp was destroyed and executions followed. Most of the refugees managed to escape.

Heroes by moonlight

This is where the liberation of Apeldoorn started - here, on the night of the 16th of April 1945. Albert van de Scheur and Gijs Numan crept across this very lock towards the Canadian liberators, knowing just how to stop them from blowing Apeldoorn to pieces. This heroic act saved Apeldoorn from heavy artillery fire just before the decisive attack on the Apeldoorn canal.

Liberation Route

Liberation Route Europe is a continuously growing, international remembrance trail that connects important milestones from modern European history. It forms a link between the main regions along the Western Allied Forces’ advance from southern England, to the beaches of Normandy, the Belgian Ardennes, Brabant, Arnhem, Nijmegen, the Hürtgen Forest and on to Berlin. The route then continues to the Polish city of GdaÅ„sk, where a democratic revolution for overcoming the division of Europe was launched nearly two generations later.

The Man with Two Hats

The Man with Two Hats The National Canadian War Memorial in Apeldoorn is called 'The Man with Two Hats'. Ottawa, Canada, has an identical statue symbolising the solidarity between the two countries. The two hats represent war and peace, repression and freedom, life and death, sadness and joy. In fact, many Dutch people regard the Canadians as the true liberators of the Netherlands.

”˜Old Putten” Resistance Group

Many of the allied forces ended up in various parts of the Veluwe behind enemy lines due to the failure of Operation Market Garden. These soldiers wanted to rejoin their troops on the other side of the Rhine as quickly as possible and were often helped by the local population and members of the resistance in these efforts. 'Old Putten' resistance group was active in the area around Elburg.

We are close to everything!

Campsite “De Wildhoeve” has its own Google Maps page to find location of attraction parks, villages, towns and sights. Plenty to do and comfortably nearby!

Google Maps page

Gevonden!

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