This morning the first copy of the Operation Market Garden 2019 route magazine was presented to the mayor of Meierijstad.
Prior to this festive moment there was a briefing with the press in which we talked about the plans for the event. Then we went outside where an original Dodge WC 51 was parked. The children of one of the volunteers then handed over the first route book to Burgemeester de Rooij.
All participants of OMG2019 will receive this route book which contains more than just the practical information about the event. There is also a lot of attention for the history of Operation Market Garden. A large number of important places that we will drive past during the routes have been described, so that not only is a nice keepsake but also a reference work.
Copies of the route magazine are also for sale on our Basecamp.
With this we have reached another milestone, the event is really about to start!
The organizers of Operation Market Garden 2019 recently reached full agreement with the authorities on all necessary traffic measures for both routes.
This is an important milestone because in the Netherlands in 2019 it is becoming increasingly difficult to have a vehicle convoy of this size spread over two weekends through two countries, three provinces and twenty different villages and towns. In particular with regard to the financing of the required traffic measures, the necessary obstacles were encountered.
The hundreds of participants who have already registered with their vehicles can therefore be reassured: we are going to drive, and you will soon be witnessing it!
For all doubters who have not yet decided to participate: this is your chance to participate, possibly for the last time, in one of the largest commemorative vehicle convoys the Netherlands and Belgium have ever experienced.
Only four months left and our registration for participants is coming to an end! Yes indeed; If you still want to take part with your World War II vehicle, do not wait any longer and register today!
After 30 June registration is no longer possible and you won’t be able to participate. That would be a shame because our beautiful base camp offers you a whole week of entertainment in a historically correct ambiance.
On December 11 our chairman Karel van Soest had the privilege and pleasure to meet the well-known WWII veteran Vince Speranza.
Vince enlisted in to the US Army on October 25, 1943. He volunteered for the Parachute Infantry. He was sent overseas with Company H, 3rd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division from Camp Shanks aboard the Queen Mary. He arrived in France in November 1943 and would later fight in the Battle of the Bulge.
During the defense of Bastogne, his unit was defending the hamlet of Savy (a stone’s throw to the north of the center). During an attack by the German force from Longchamps one of his good friends was seriously wounded. When he asked Vince for a drink, and this was not immediately available in the neighborhood, after the attack Vince hurried to the center of Bastogne to look for something drinkable.
