Hell broke loose above Overloon on the 12th of October 1944. The Allies bombarded the German positions with heavy artillery and concentrated air attacks. Overloon was recaptured house by house by the British, but not much of the village survived. When Harry van Daal returned after the attack to see this total devastation, he decided that the battle field must remain intact to keep the memories of this terrible war alive.
That is War Museum Overloon’s most important message. The museum is located on the middle of the battle field of the Overloon tank battle of 1944. It houses a large, comprehensive exhibition about the Netherlands during the Second World War, with more than 150 military vehicles. This makes Overloon the largest war museum in the Netherlands.
• The largest exhibition about the use of German paratroopers (the Fallschirmjäger).
• Blockbuster, a multimedia presentation about the bombardments of British, German and Dutch towns.
Because of the very extensive grounds and unique collection, a number of different group tours are possible. For example, an impressive tour past the unique collection of military vehicles.
Militracks has been organised since 2010 and is the largest event in the world about Second World War German vehicle engineering. More than 100 unique German vehicles from all over Europe come to Overloon with their crews. Visitors can even catch a ride!
The Battle for Overloon is the largest tank battle in history that took place in the Netherlands. The battlefield tours consist of tours in small groups in historic military vehicles.
In this cemetery, all 280 graves but one are British; 265 soldiers and 14 pilots. The one remaining grave is of a Dutch soldier. Most fell during the battles of October and November 1944 when the British Second Army moved forward.
This military cemetery in Ysselsteyn is the final resting place of more than 31,500 German Second World War soldiers. It is one of the largest of its kind and the largest military cemetery in the Netherlands by far.
