World War II Combat Glider Pilots Virtual Memorial - PAGE 250TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONIES COMMEMORATING OPERATION MARKET GARDEN
In September 1994, the Dutch and Belgian Governments, and the many communities involved in the fighting in September 1944, held 50th anniversary ceremonies to remember Operation Market Garden, the Allied airborne invasion of the Low Countries that marked the beginning of their liberation from five years of Nazi occupation. Many of the Allied veterans - Glider Pilots from America and the UK, surviving American, British and Polish paratroopers, and soldiers of the British Thirtieth Corps - returned to remember the operation and pay their respects to comrades who died in combat and to those who are no longer among us.
This page displays photos and materials from some of the ceremonies and events the grateful liberated people of The Netherlands and Belgium staged to honor their liberators. Many new memorials were dedicated and each day of the week-long remembrance featured ceremonies at these locations. We had the pleasure of accompanying members of the National WWII Glider Pilots Association on their several day tour of The Netherlands from our hotel headquarters in Groesbeek, near Nijmegen. The outpouring of hospitality and gratitude by the people of The Netherlands was overwhelming. Dutch friends tell us that this period of their history is taught in detail to all school children. Everywhere we went, when the people became aware of the presence of the WWII Glider Pilots, they came out, sometimes by the thousands, to welcome the returning veterans.
General Gavin Monument "Mission Accomplished" Groesbeek, Holland.
Unveiling of General Gavin Monument by Mrs. Gavin, daughters and grandchild, June 12, 1994.
General Gavin Monument, Groesbeek, Holland, September 1994
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