Next to the Dutch soldiers' monument.

One of two Allied monuments in a small memorial plot originally erected around a statue in memory of 24 Netherlands Soldiers who died defending the Heumen lock bridge against German invasion in 1940.

 The plaque includes 82nd Airborne Division shoulder patch, glider and parachutist badges, the World War II shoulder patch of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Devils in Baggy Pants) and an inscription remembering U.S. Paratroopers who fought and died in the liberation of the area during Operation MARKET GARDEN September 1944 in World War II.

 Across the Maas-Waal Canal in September 1944 were four bridges that would play a role in Operation MARKET GARDEN. These bridges were the target for the 1st Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, which landed near Overasselt ( DZ OBOE) on 17 September 1944. Germans blew up or destroyed the bridges near Malden, Hatert, and the Honinghutje, so that no military vehicles could cross them. The southernmost and smallest bridge, a vertical-lift bridge known as Bridge Number 7 (in American attack plans), the Molenhook bridge or Heumen lock bridge, was located between Heumen and Molenhoek, near the sluice at the current intersection of Kapitein Postmalaan and Sluisweg. Local artist Jac Maris, as head of the regional resistance, had shown the Americans the way to this bridge. On deploying after landing, American forces were well positioned to attack the bridge from both sides, but the Germans stood their ground until nightfall.

Eventually, this bridge, as the only one of the four, could be taken intact, turned out to be essential for the liberation of Nijmegen. This was the only bridge heavy British vehicles could use to get to Nijmegen.

Seven U.S. paratroopers from Company B, 1st Battalion, lost their lives during the fighting around Lock Bridge in Heumen, including: Sergeant Lawrence F. Blazina, Technician 4th Grade Onie A. Burnett, Private Donald W. Forein, Private Fred Grainger, Private Patrick J. McGrath, Private Jerry M. Murphy and Private Edward J. Schutt.

On 19 September 2024, 80 years after the fighting at the bridge, the Heumen mayor and U.S. representatives unveiled this monument in memory of the American soldiers who lost their lives there during the liberation of Heumen.

Sources of information: www.europeremembers.com, www.tracesofwar.com, en.wikipedia.org, www.beatnavyuniform.com

Operation Market Garden

In memory of the brave paratroopers of the 504th Parachute

Infantry Regiment (US 82nd Airborne Division) who lost their

lives during the capture of the Heumen lock bridge

(Bridge no. 7) on September 17, 1944

Ter nagedachtnis aan de moedige parachutisten van het 504th

Parachute Infantry Regiment (US 82nd Airborne Division) die

sneuvelden tijdens de verovering van de sluisbrug bij Heumen

(Brug nr. 7) op 17 september 1944

17 september 2024