Brug Roosteren: English version

During the first half of the 1940s the world was hit by one of the bloodiest wars so far. The results: Millions of victims and an incredible amount of damage. Like many parts of the world, Limburg wasn’t spared this fate. Even now, over 70 years later, when on caching trips, we often come across reminders to the darkest days in our history. Time to give them some attention in a series of caches!

On 10 May 1940, before the break of dawn, the mighty army of Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands. Although both small countries had been able to deploy their troops to strategic positions, it took the Germans little effort to overwhelm them. Especially the Dutch soldiers, often equipped with materials of over 50 years old and underpowered rifles, were no match for the Germans.

One of the most important defensive lines was the Juliana Canal, dug during the 1930s. At the western side of the canal there were troops, mostly draftees. Their main objective was to prevent the Germans from crossing the canal and reaching the river Meuse at any cost. All the bridges were rigged with dynamite.

For the Dutch, defending the canal near Roosteren proved quite difficult. In the early days of the canal there were two bridges and a pair of locks near this village. Also, further down the same road was the Maaseik bridge, one of few bridges over the river Meuse. For those reasons, more soldiers were stationed here, belonging to several regiments. A short distance behind the defensive line the Dutch army had even set up an artillery position. In 1940, the single artillery piece stationed here, a 'kanon 6-veld', a 6cm field gun, was just under 50 years old.

kanon 6-veld

Also because of the strategic importance, the German attack on Roosteren started earlier than other attacks. The Germans were determined to take the Maaseik bridge undamaged. A skirmish between Dutch border guards and German troops had already taken place near Susteren. Although all checkpoints had been warned in time, the dressed-up Germans were able to easily pass several checkpoints by using outdated passwords.

The Roosteren bridges in the late 1930s: The wide road bridge with the tram bridge right next to it. On the other side, a guard is vaguely visible.

On 10 May 1940, at about 3.30 in the morning, captain Braun, platoon commander of the 6th border reserve force, received the report that a group of 15 ‘Marrechaussees’, Dutch Royal Marshals, under the command of captain Willems, had arrived at the bridge. Captain Braun got in his car and drove to the bridge, accompanied by sergeant Spieker of the military police.

As soon as the two soldiers had gotten out of the car, the dressed-up German soldiers opened fire, killing both the captain and the sergeant.

The Dutch soldiers instantly returned fire, killing several Germans and wounding some others. For several hours the battle continued. Many men on both sides were killed or wounded, making this one of the bloodiest battles of the Juliana Canal. Eventually, the Dutch were completely out of ammunition, whilst wave after wave of German reinforcements joined the fight. Realising their situation was hopeless, the remaining Dutch men decided to surrender.

After their surrender, the Dutch soldiers, now prisoners-of-war, were forced to give medical aid to the wounded Germans. Most of their wounded Dutch comrades were left to die.

After the war, one of the Dutch men told his story. The enemy troops had been disguised very well. He only found out they were Germans when he was forced to give first aid to the wounded captain Willems, who wore his German uniform under his fake Dutch one. Besides, many of the soldiers who were among the marrechaussee group, were actually Dutch men sympathising with Hitler. They had volunteered in the German army. Most of them still spoke Dutch, only adding up to the confusion for the defenders.

5 Dutch soldiers were killed during the attack on the Roosteren bridge. Among them were captain Braun and sergeant Spieker. The privates Luttgens, Munnich and van Rozendaal were killed in the following gunfight.

Eight men were killed near Illikhoven bridge, south of Roosteren. After these men succeeded in blowing up the bridge, the Germans shelled their casemates. The casemate with the number 64 was manned by sergeant Vonken, corporal Vanhouttem and soldiers Vaessen and Teeven. In Casemate 66 were corporal de Lang, and privates Aretz, Bellen en Tilmans. They were all killed by direct hits from German artillery. Sergeant Bekx and private van Kaam were both severely injured.

Private Lamers met the same fate. He was stationed in casemate 72, halfway between the bridges of Roosteren and Echt, to the north. Here, the Germans made a successful attempt to cross the canal using inflatable rubber boats. When the Dutch soldiers in the casemate became surrounded, they surrendered. While they were being disarmed by the Germans, they noticed that private Lamers was not with them. He was found dead inside the casemate.

Private Lebartus Stanneveld was an artillery gunner. He was stationed with the field gun. When it became clear that the Germans had been able to take the bridge, he made his comrades retreat towards the river Meuse. Himself he stayed behind to cover their backs. Witnesses told Stanneveld fought like a wild animal to fight off the Germans. He was killed when the artery in his neck was hit by either a bullet or a fragment from a hand grenade.


left to right, top row: Private Lamers, sergeant Spieker, captain Braun,
private van Rozendaal and private Stanneveld. Bottom row: Private Munnich
and private Luttgens.



left to right, top row: Private Vaessen, corporal de Lang, sergeant
Vonken, corporal Vanhouttem and private Tilmans. Bottom row: Private
Aretz, private Bellen and private Teeven.

Because of a mistake during administration, the headstones of all these soldiers mention '6de Reserve Grens Compagnie' (6th Reserve Border Company) as their unit. It was also mentioned that all 15 soldiers died at Roosteren bridge.

In 1949 the monument was revealed, existing of a granite plate with the names of the 15 Dutch victims. The plate was attached to the western side of the bridge.
In 1963 the locks were demolished and a new bridge was placed. The plate was refurbished and placed on a part of a destroyed casemat in 1967. This is not a casemate which was originally located here.
In the 2000s the bridge had to be lifted to let larger ships pass. The monument had to be moved again. Once again it was completely refurbished and placed in a new location next to the bridge.

The information for the granite plate was received from the Oorlogsgravenstichting, the Dutch war graves commission, complete with mistakes made earlier. The plate also mentions all soldiers belonging to the 6de Reserve Grens Compagnie. Also, private Aretz's name was written with an -s instead of a -z. These mistakes were never corrected.

The monument before the last reconstruction of the bridge

This cache is part of a series. The caches are:

'40-'45: Kapelaan Berix  (GC2PEZJ) (in English) 
'40-'45: Veer Berg-Meeswijk  (GC2PEXA) (in English)
'40-'45: Brug Obbicht  (GC2PER6) (in English)
'40-'45: Sluis Born  (GC2PEP0) (in English)
’40-’45: Brug Roosteren  (GC2TV5X)
'40-'45: Sittard War Cemetery  (GC2TV9R) (in English)
'40-'45: Staff Sergeant Booher  (GC2TQC1) (in English)
'40-'45: Jürgen G. Krohnke  (GC2X5V3) (in English)
'40-'45: RCAF Bomber Crew  (GC2X60A) (in English)
'40-'45: Schepenkerkhof  (GC2X6KF) (in English)

All caches contain a bonus number. When you find all 10 of them, you can search for the bonus cache (GC2X6MV).

Hint:
You have to go deep for this one, but not an entire floor!