Operation Quick Anger Commemoration 2019: After the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, one of the greatest defeats suffered by the Allied forces during the Second World War, the northern part of the Netherlands remained under Nazi German occupation until 5 May 1945. In the spring of 1945, the Western Allied forces launched several operations to liberate the north of the Netherlands; two of them were Operation Quick Anger and Operation Cannonshot. Operation Quick Anger, also known as the Second Battle of Arnhem, marked the beginning of the liberation of the northern part of the Netherlands. The First Canadian Army played a crucial role in the liberation of the country. After the Second Canadian Corps had secured the eastern banks of the River IJssel, Operation Quick Anger started on 12 April 1945.
The Allies crossed the IJssel from the east, a branch of the Rhine, at Westervoort. To liberate Arnhem, an enormous Allied military force was gathered at the small village of Westervoort on the east bank of the River IJssel. Arnhem is situated on the opposite bank of the river. The operation was led by the 49th British 'Polar Bear' Infantry Division, supported by the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, the Royal Air Force and boats of the Royal Navy. The first troops crossed the IJssel in amphibious vehicles; within 11 hours, the Allied forces had constructed a temporary bridge and thousands of military vehicles crossed the river to liberate Arnhem. On 14 April 1945, Arnhem was liberated, and within a month the rest of the Netherlands followed. The Second Battle of Arnhem, in which the village of Westervoort played an important role, has never received as much publicity as the lost Battle of Arnhem in September 1944.
In April 2019, we took part in the memorial tour and commemoration ceremony of Operation Quick Anger. Authentic military vehicles and their owners gathered at Huis Vredenburg in Westervoort for the Operation Quick Anger memorial tour. In our Ford Jeep, alongside the other Second World War vehicles, we drove through the Liemers and the Achterhoek, rural regions east of the River IJssel. The tour ended at the Crossing to Liberation Monument on the east bank of the IJssel at Westervoort, where we attended the memorial and wreath-laying ceremony. This Second World War monument is set at the exact spot where the Western Allies crossed the river in 1945 to liberate Arnhem; it is one of the many monuments on the Liberation Route Europe.
Since 2011, the commemoration ceremony at the monument has been held annually to remember the contribution of the soldiers during Operation Quick Anger. In the Netherlands, and even in Westervoort itself, it is relatively unknown that the village played such an important role during the liberation of the country. During the liberation of the Netherlands, more than 7,600 Canadian soldiers were killed; they are buried in military war cemeteries across the Netherlands. The Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery is the largest Canadian war cemetery in the Netherlands; it holds the graves of 2,339 Canadian and 276 British soldiers.
Operation Quick Anger Commemoration 2019: WWII military vehicles gathered at Huize Vredenburg in the Dutch village of Westervoort for the 2019 memorial tour, which preceded the commemorative ceremony. In the spring of 1945, Operation Quick Anger – also known as the Second Battle of Arnhem – marked the beginning of the liberation of the western and northern parts of the Netherlands.
