Memorial details

Memorial type
Board / Plaque / Tablet
District
Lichfield
Town
Alrewas
County
Staffordshire
Country
England
Commemoration
Second World War (1939-1945)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
46459

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Current location

Memorial is no 212a in Orange Zone on Market Garden Way near intersection with Millennium Avenue
National Memorial Arboretum
Croxall Road
Alrewas
Lichfield
Staffordshire
DE13 7AR
England

OS Grid Ref: SK 1837414556
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
Rectangular metal plaque mounted on brick plinth. Inscription in embossed lettering on left hand side of plaque; Operation Market Garden route map on right hand side. There is a further orange-coloured plaque alongside which commemorates the assistance given by the Dutch underground resistance. There are black poplar trees dedicated to branches of the Market Garden Association, intended to be reminiscent of trees alongside the canals and roads of Northern Belgium and the Southern Netherlands.
Inscription
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN/ ON SUNDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER 1944 THE GREATEST ARMADA OF TROOP-CARRYING/ AIRCRAFT EVER ASSEMBLED FOR A SINGLE OPERATION TOOK TO THE AIR./ THE OPERATION WAS MARKET GARDEN, A COMBINED AIR AND GROUND/ OFFENSIVE INSPIRED BY FIELD MARSHALL BERNARD MONTGOMERY./ MARKET, THE AIRBOURNE PHASE OF THE OPERATION, INVOLVED ALMOST 5,000/ AIRCRAFT AND 2,500 GLIDERS. THEIR AIM WAS A BOLD ATTEMPT TO SIEZE AND/ HOLD LAND WITHIN OCCUPIED HOLLAND./ GARDEN, THE GROUND FORCES, WAS THE MASSED TANK COLUMNS AND MEN OF/ THE BRITISH SECOND ARMY. THEIR MISSION WAS TO DASH UP THE BACKBONE/ OF HOLLAND ALONG A STRATEGIC ROUTE TO LINK UP WITH THE POSITION THAT THE/ PARA-TROOPERS WERE FIGHTING TO CAPTURE AND HOLD./ MONTGOMERY'S AMBITIOUS PLAN WAS TO RACE THROUGH HOLLAND, LEAP/ ACROSS THE RHINE AND INTO GERMANY ITSELF. IT WAS, HE REASONED, THE/ LIGHTENING STROKE NEEDED TO END THE WAR IN 1944./ WE THAT REMAIN, CAN CRY./ WE THAT SURVIVED CAN SEE THE TREES,/ TOUCH THE GRASS AND FLOWERS SMELL,/ LISTEN TO THE MANY SOUNDS OF LIFE,/ VISIT WHERE, SO MANY FELL./ REMEMBER, FOR THEY ARE GONE./ BUT WHAT OF THOSE, WHO FOUGHT WITH US,/ CAPTURED BRIDGES TO DEFEND,/ FORGET THEM NOT, THEY WERE, THEY ARE,/ OUR COMRADES TO THE END./ AND WE THAT ARE LEFT, LIVE ON./ DENNIS G. SEAR, EX-30 CORPS./ TAKE THESE MEN FOR EXAMPLE,/ LIKE THEM, REMEMBER THAT PROSPERITY AND TRUE HAPPINESS CAN ONLY BE/ FOR THE FREE, THAT FREEDOM IS THE SURE POSSESSION OF THOSE ALONE WHO HAVE/ THE COURAGE TO DEFEND IT./ EXTRACT FROM THE FUNERAL ORATION OF PERICLES./ Map caption: IN THE TRAIL OF MARKET GARDEN/ SEPTEMBER/ 1944. [Dutch Resistance plaque]: Unknown
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
  • Base
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Brick
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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© WMR-46459

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