| In the beautiful village of Driel you can find this monument for the Polish troops who fought here. The Polish troops had to land with the third lift on Tuesday 19 September. Because of bad weather conditions the flight was postponed till thursday. On thursday there were also bad weather conditions, but the Airborne troops at Oosterbeek needed them. They landed but the Germans expected them. Many Polish troops were killed during their landing with parachutes. |  |
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At night the Polish General
Sosabowski, the leading commander of the 1st Polish Independent
Parachute Brigade Group, commanded his troops to cross the river to
help the Airborne troops at Arnhem. Unfortunately the Germans
noticed that the Polish were crossing the river and launched some
fireworks. The Polish then were an easy target. Many Polish Airborne
Soldiers died during this action. Only 200 reached the other side.
On the monument you can read: (Poland will rise again) In 1999, 55 years after the Battle. Polish troops again in Driel. The commemoration was also attended by Dutch Apache Helicopters.
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