Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor1
Yes, it was. There was another less known battle later on (in 1945) which ended in the Allies taking the city, but this refers to the first battle during Market Garden.
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True. It was in the aftermath of this second battle that my father was born (not in Arnhem, as all inhabitants of Arnhem and the villages around it were evacuated after the 1st battle). With some fighting still going on in the perimeter, my heavily pregnant grandma was carried across the lines in a wheelbarrow by the farmers where she was staying. The Canadians sheltered her in one of their makeshift bunkers, and that's where my dad was born.
From what I've heard from all the stories, both battles completely changed life around here. With the entire area bombed flat, my father still recalls growing up amidst the ruins. The farmlands were littered with bomb craters (makes great playing for a child
), and every so often live ammo was found (makes not so great playing for a child
). With everything destroyed and no money to quickly rebuild it, it was a very hard time to grow up.