ADVICE TO VISITORS

Travel to Holland

There is currently a range of ferry crossings to mainland Europe and Holland from various UK ports that can be used by those visiting the MARKET GARDEN battlefields. In the north, Newcastle has an overnight service (fourteen hours) to Amsterdam and further south Hull has a similar service to Zeebrugge (Belgium). Harwich has sailings to the Hook of Holland (three and a half hours). Both Amsterdam and the Hook are about two hours drive from Nijmegen on good motorways. However, sailings from the East Coast are not as frequent and can be more costly than those from the Channel Ports but savings in fuel and tiredness always make these services worth considering. The Channel crossing, though shorter and quicker does mean that the visitor is faced with a four-hour drive from Calais, via busy motorways (toll-free) around Antwerp and through southern Holland. For those who dislike ferries there is the Channel Tunnel, but this option, though quicker, can be more expensive. It is worth checking out all the options available and make your selection of routes based on UK travel, ferry times and cost. Special offers and Internet deals are always worth keeping an eye open for and have, in my case, resulted in impromptu visits to the continental battlefields.

Traffic law requires you to carry a full driving licence, your vehicle registration document, warning triangle and a spare fuel can of an approved type. You should also take spare head light bulbs etc and, if your headlights do not have left hand drive adapters, black tape. Do not forget your passport and a GB sticker.

For those travelling by air and hiring cars, Amsterdam/Schipol is a major international hub while Eindhoven is a significant regional airport within an hour of Nijmegen. A good web site to visit for up to date travel information is:

Insurance

It is important to check that you are properly insured to travel to France, Belgium, Holland and Germany (the tour crosses the border briefly at Wyler). Firstly, check with your insurance broker to ensure that your car is properly covered for driving in the above countries and, secondly, make sure you have health cover. Form E111, available from main post offices and grants the bearer reciprocal treatment rights in most European countries but, even so, the visitor should consider purchasing a package of travel insurance from a broker or travel agent. It is a legal requirement for a driver to carry a valid certificate of motor insurance.

Accommodation

As a Dutch holiday area, there are plenty of hotels and B and Bs in the Groesbeek area from which to chose. However, the area is very popular with walkers and, therefore, cheap accommodation, on occasions, can be difficult to find during the period Easter to October. Other hotels in the Nijmegen area cater for business customers and nearly always have space, particularly at weekends. There are a number of well-run campsites in the Groesbeek area. Information on availability of rooms and bookings can be made by telephone to the Groesbeek Tourist Office, whose staff all speak excellent English. A similar service is offered by the Nijmegen office. For those with access to the Internet a visit to the following web site will be helpful if searching for the better hotels, http:/hotels.bookings.nl/tourist.nederland.hotbot.html/. A few hotels that feature in the following chapters are still open for business today. These include the Hotel Restaurant Sionshof half way between Groesbeek and the centre of Nijmegen. The Sionshof has a memorial to the 82nd Airborne Division on its walls and is where the Coldstream Guards were located during their period as divisional reserve.

Courtesy

Much of the Groesbeek area is open farmland. However, many of the surrounding villages were also a part of the battlefield and, consequently, heavily fought over. Please respect private property in both open country and villages, particularly avoiding driving on farm tracks and entering non-public areas in villages. Adequate views of the scene of the action can be enjoyed from public land. In the city of Nijmegen, drive carefully and please be careful not to block access by careless car parking. Although there are not as many cyclists on the Groesbeek Heights as elsewhere in flatter parts of Holland, please watch out for them and do not block cycle lanes. Do not be tempted to gain access to the bank of the Waal on the Nijmegen side without permission, as this is industrial private property. However, on the opposite side it is possible to walk down to the landing site. The people of Holland extend a genuine welcome to those who come to honour the memory of their Allied liberators. To preserve this welcome, please be courteous to the local people at all times.

Maps

Good maps are an essential prerequisite to a successful battlefield visit. Best of all is a combination of contemporary and modern maps. The Battleground series of course, provides a variety of maps. However, a full map sheet enables the visitor or indeed those who are exploring the battlefield from the comfort of their armchair, to put the battle in a wider context. A number of modern of maps are available in both the UK and Holland. A good road map of Holland and a city map of Nijmegen are essential to navigate the tour, most of the latter, however, do not cover Groesbeek area. This is best covered by a detailed map available in stationers and in garages in Nijmegen. Normally, detailed maps of the Netherlands are only available on order from a specialist map shop in the UK or as a special order through high street book shops such as Waterstones.

NCOs of the 82nd Airborne collect maps and ammunition at their departure airfields.

The Nijmegen area covered in this guide and chapter numbers