Classic Car Road Trip

Operation Cannonshot commemorations 2018

Following the failed Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944, known as the Battle of Arnhem, the northern part of the Netherlands remained occupied by Nazi Germany. In the spring of 1945, the Western Allies launched several military operations to liberate the northern part of the Netherlands, including Operation Quick Anger and Operation Cannonshot. To liberate the Dutch cities of Apeldoorn and Deventer, and the Veluwe, the high ground between these cities and Arnhem. Operation Cannonshot was launched on 11 April 1945. The 48th Highlanders of Canada crossed the River IJssel (a branch of the Rhine) from the east, between the villages of Voorst and Wilp. Wilp was the first village entered by the 1st Battalion of the 48th Highlanders of Canada. During the liberation of Wilp, 19 Canadian soldiers were killed, including their commanding officer.

In April 2018, we participated in the Operation Cannonshot commemorations. In our RAF-blue Ford Jeep, together with other Second World War army vehicles and their owners, we followed part of the route the Canadian liberators took in April 1945. En route we visited several Second World War memorials, including the memorial at the hamlet of Woeste Hoeve and the vast and impressive Dutch Field of Honour Loenen. We attended the memorial ceremony at the IJssel Crossing Memorial on the banks of the river between Voorst and Wilp, as well as the wreath-laying ceremony at the church in Wilp.

The Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums performed at both of the ceremonies. The memorial tour ended at the village church in Wilp. The memorial tour and the commemorations ceremony were organised by the Groene Soos and the Wilp Interest Group.

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   Operation Cannonshot Memorial and Tour: In April 2018, we participated in the Operation Cannonshot Memorial Tour with our own Ford GPW Jeep. Operation Cannonshot was launched by the Western Allied forces on 11 April 1945; they first liberated Deventer and then crossed the River IJssel from the east, aiming to liberate the areas around Apeldoorn and the Veluwe massif, which were occupied by Nazi Germany.

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   Operation Cannonshot Memorial Tour 2018: During this tour, we drove our 1942 Ford Jeep along part of the route taken by our Canadian liberators in April 1945. We followed the sandy tracks of the Veluwe, traversing a varied landscape of farmland, heathlands, wooded hills, and areas of drifting sand. The Veluwe, where the Canadians fought to liberate the Netherlands in 1945, is one of the country's most beautiful landscapes.

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   Operation Cannonshot Memorial Tour 2018: Our 1942 Ford GPW Jeep next to the impressive Monument Woeste Hoeve at the Dutch hamlet of the same name. On 8 March 1945, just two months before the end of the Second World War, the German SS executed 117 men on this spot. This was a reprisal for the attack on Hanns Albin Rauter, the highest-ranking SS officer and police chief in the occupied Netherlands.

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   Commemoration Operation Cannonshot: Our own Ford Jeep crossing the Apeldoorn Canal on the memorial tour in 2018. During the Second World War, following the successful crossing of the IJssel at Wilp, the soldiers of the 48th Highlanders of Canada and the Canadian Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment crossed the canal at this location on 16 April 1945 to liberate the city of Apeldoorn.

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   Operation Cannonshot Memorial Tour 2018: In our unique Ford GPW RAF Jeep, we drove along the dyke from Voorst to Wilp, along with other historic Second World War vehicles, to attend the commemoration at the 'De IJsseloversteek' (The IJssel Crossing) war memorial. This memorial is situated at the foot of the dyke, right on the banks of the River IJssel, at the exact spot where the Allies crossed the river in 1945.

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   Commemoration Operation Cannonshot 2018: The Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums were invited to support the memorial ceremony at the IJssel Crossing Memorial. The memorial stone stands in the floodplain on the banks of the IJssel, between the small villages of Voorst and Wilp. The Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums are a famous Dutch pipe and drum band who honour many Second World War commemorations.

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   Commemoration Operation Cannonshot: The IJssel Crossing Memorial on the bank of the IJssel commemorates the daring crossing of the river by the 48th Highlanders of Canada during Operation Cannonshot in the spring of 1945. During the 2018 commemoration, the Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums stood beside the monument and paid tribute to those who fell in the assault, while the river flowed quietly in the background.

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   Commemoration Cannonshot 2018: During the memorial ceremony, the Canadian flag stood proudly as a tribute in the floodplain along the banks of the IJssel, near the village of Wilp. In the distance lies the village of Voorst on the horizon. On this spot, the 48th Highlanders of Canada crossed the river in April 1945 to liberate the Dutch city of Apeldoorn. This experienced infantry regiment also liberated several villages on the Veluwe.

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   Operation Cannonshot Memorial and Tour 2018: Our own Ford Jeep during the memorial tour. Produced by the Ford Motor Company in April 1942, the jeep arrived in 1944 at Juno Beach, one of the Normandy landing beaches, just a few weeks after D-Day during the Second World War. From France, this vehicle advanced with the Allies through Belgium and into the Netherlands. The Jeep is painted in Royal Air Force blue.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot 2018: A convoy of historic military vehicles from the Second World War drove along the narrow dyke road between the Dutch villages of Voorst and Wilp, passing the IJssel Crossing Memorial on the bank of the river. The historic military vehicle in the foreground is a 1943 Dodge WC-51, a light military utility truck from the Second World War, which was used during this tour to transport the Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot 2018: After the moving memorial service marking this operation on the banks of the IJssel, we drove in our authentic Ford Jeep, accompanied by a convoy of other historic military vehicles from the Second World War, to the commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony at the village church in Wilp. This small, historic church stands at one of the highest points in the village and is the oldest dyke church in the Netherlands.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot 2018: The imposing convoy of historic military vehicles from the Second World War on the way to the small Wilp Village Church, visible on the right. Most of the vehicles, which participated in this commemorative tour, were Willys MB Jeeps. A few Dodges and motorcycles also took part, along with just one unique Ford GPW Jeep. During the war, Dodges were used to transport troops and light ammunition.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot and Memorial Tour: While the Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums played traditional and well-known Scottish melodies, the convoy of historic military vehicles drove past the 11th-century Wilp Village Church at a measured pace. All the military vehicles which participated in this memorial tour, served in the Second World War.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot 2018: The Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums were marching through the small village of Wilp. The members of this pipe and drum band all wear an individual regimental tartan of their own choice to commemorate all the Scottish regiments. The historic military vehicles are parked on one side of the street. This was truly an impressive sight for the residents of Wilp.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot: Our own Ford Jeep and several other military vehicles from the Second World War in front of the Village Church of Wilp. During the liberation of the village on the morning of 11 April 1945, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the 48th Highlanders of Canada was killed near the church by German shellfire. He was only 30 years old.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot: The renowned Highland Regiment Pipes and Drums were playing in front of the Wilp Village Church. In 1945, the church and its historic organ were severely damaged during the liberation of the village. In 2010, during the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, the Canadians made a donation to replace it for another pipe organ. A historic Naber organ from 1853 has since been installed.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot: A wreath was laid at the memorial plaque on the wall of the Wilp Village Church in memory of the 48th Highlanders of Canada. Nineteen soldiers of this regiment were killed in and around Wilp during the liberation of the village, including the Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Alexander 'Don' Mackenzie. He is buried at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery. The plaque itself was unveiled by Prince Bernhard in 1982.

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    Commemoration Operation Cannonshot and Memorial Tour: About thirty-six military vehicles from the Second World War participated in this memorial tour, among them this Canadian Willys MB Jeep, as a tribute to the Canadian soldiers. The annual remembrance services and the accompanying tour were organised by the Groene Soos, an association for owners of historic military vehicles, and the Wilp Interest Group.