Kröller-Müller Museum - WWII - Otterlo, The Netherlands
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Axel-F
N 52° 05.751 E 005° 49.118
31U E 693067 N 5775447
Museum used as field hospital at the end of WW II.
Waymark Code: WM157VX
Location: Gelderland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 11/03/2021
Views: 4
On September 10 and 17, 1944, the Allies carried out heavy bombing raids on Deelen airfield,
near the museum. It is the beginning of Operation Market Garden, the air landing of thousands of soldiers in the Arnhem area,
'the first ray of light' of hope, as Auping later wrote. “But alas, how different the battle was from what we expected and hoped.”
In the early morning of September 24, Auping receives an unexpected visit from E. van der Voort Maarschalk, representative of the Red Cross. The German army has won the battle for Arnhem and all inhabitants have to leave the city within two days. Van der Voort Maarschalk asks Auping for permission to install an emergency hospital of the Red Cross in the museum for patients of the Arnhem civilian hospitals. The first sick and wounded arrive before 11 a.m. They traveled 20 kilometers on foot or by horse and carriage through wind and rain.
The museum houses 310 adults and 40 children.
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