The operation began prosperously and by the end of the first day the Scots had reached the Dommel and the Afwateringskanaal near Boxtel over a wide front. Schijndel, Sint-Michielsgestel, Liempde and Olland were liberated. In some places, especially Schijndel and Olland, the devastation was enormous. The enemy had also blown up all the bridges and attempts to establish bridgeheads took a lot of effort. After crossing the Halsche Water near Esch on the second day, the Highlanders' advance ground to a halt. Boxtel was liberated. It was not until October 26 that the attack got under way again after two Scottish battalions had crossed the 's-Hertogenbosch-Tilburg road. The enemy was now forced to hastily withdraw his troops to a new line. This ran along the Drongelens Afwateringskanaal to the villages of Loon op Zand and Dongen. There, on October 27, the next phase of the operation would begin.

The Netherlands

Seaforth Highlanders in Liempde. 

Sherman tank in Gestel

Boxtel

51st Highlanders monument. 

Scottish Highlanders route in Meierijstad, Boxtel and Sint-Michielsgestel 

While Sint-Oedenrode welcomed the Allies jubilantly on 17 September 1944, neighbouring Olland still sighed under the yoke of the occupying forces. The Germans' headquarters were located in Olland's parsonage. Artillery and machine guns are set up in several places in Olland. Olland finds itself in the front line of the Allies and the Germans for weeks. In early October, residents are told to leave the village. Those who dare to return will be shot. It is a sad exodus of large families, often with very young children, who have to leave hearth and home behind. Accompanied by German soldiers with rifles, a long line of people leaves the village in the direction of Boxtel. Many are taken in by relatives and acquaintances in Kasteren, Boxtel, Gemonde and Sint-Michielsgestel. Wednesday 4 October 1944 is a particularly gloomy day for Olland. There is a change of troops on the German side, a parachute battalion under Major Jungwirth takes over Olland and the surrounding area. As a precaution, the tower of the Roman Catholic church is blown up. But the rest is also totally destroyed, possibly hit by British shells. This is followed by more than two weeks of artillery exchanges with much destruction of houses and loss of livestock.On 23 October, Operation Colin begins. The 51st Highland Division liberates Schijndel and Olland. In the early morning of 23 October, one unit, the 5th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, sets off along the Ollandseweg towards Olland. Without any losses, they manage to capture Olland. They suffer only from mines and trees as road blocks. By evening they set up their command post at the Slophoos, near the so-called ‘German railwayline’.After Boxtel was also liberated on 25 October, most of the evacuees return. Some stay a little longer at their hiding addresses. The scene that confronts the returnees is heart rending. Olland appears to have been hit hard. Much is in ruins, house after house burnt down or destroyed, craters in the road. Many cattle have been killed by shells. The church has been totally destroyed. It is a picture typical of the liberation in many Brabant towns and villages. But thanks to the evacuation, there were only few civilian casualties.

Evacuation and destruction

At 07.30 on Monday 23 October, the advance of the 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders starts from the Schijndelse Heide along the German line towards Boxtel. In the woods of the Hermalen near the café Het Groene Woud (then the Slophoos), the Seaforths encounter German opposition and have to take out several German positions. But the advance proceeds well and one company reaches the bridge over the Afwateringskanaal near Boxtel near the Schijndelsedijk at 10.30 am. They are warned by civilians that the bridge will be blown up by the Germans if they cross. As a result the Seaforths take up positions on the Schijndel side of the bridge. However, they do shell the other side, trying to prevent the Germans from blowing up the bridge. Even so, at 11.20 am, it is blown up. As a result, the Seaforths cannot continue the attack towards Boxtel. B Company then moves to the bridge at Munsel, a few hundred metres away, but fails to cross. C Company remains at the blown bridge while A and D spend the whole day clearing Hermalen woods. In the process, several farms catch fire. Nearly all the farms around the café catch fire, too.&nbsp;Meanwhile, the sister battalion of the 2nd, the 5th, protects the left flank. From the northern outskirts of Sint-Oedenrode, they set off at dawn on 23 October 1944 along the Ollandseweg towards Olland. Without any losses, they manage to take Olland. Here, too, the enemy has retreated towards Liempde behind the Dommel river. They do, however, suffer from mines and road blocks in the form of trees across the road. At 6pm, they set up their command post at the Slophoos. Throughout the night and the next day, they continue to occupy their positions around Olland. Only by the evening of 24 October do they leave in trucks for the north of Schijndel.It must have been extremely crowded here; a stream of trucks and tanks passing by the pub. Some units of the 7th Armoured Division, the famous Desert Rats, also pass by. The pub itself is briefly used as a headquarters by the 5th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders.

A pub at the heart of the liberation

There are few places in Brabant where time has stood still. Brabant people often feel that time has stood still and cherish their history and the familiar old image of their forefathers. Here and there in the landscape and in small villages you can still find the old farms and barns of yesteryear, sometimes more than a hundred years old. Of course, there are the cities with a medieval character like Breda and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, but slowly Brabant too will be overtaken by the ravages of time. One of the locations in Gemonde where time has stood still are the barns and farm at the T-junction of Sint Lambertusweg and Oude Boomgaard. Really everything is redolent with 1944.&nbsp;On 25 October 1944, the farmyard is buzzing with activity. Two days earlier, the staff of the 152nd Brigade of the 51st Highland Division has set up its headquarters here. Tables are used to set up radios and put down maps. There is a kitchen for cooking for the officers. Motorcyclists and trucks drive back and forth with messages and supplies. Telephone wires hang in the trees to the front line. Here and there a tent has been put up as are beds in the sheds.&nbsp;On 24 October 1944, more than a hundred British and American Airbornes walked from the Kampina to Boxtel and liberated the town; a day later they continue their march to the headquarters of the 152nd Brigade here to some rest, get something to eat and freshen up. Many photos are taken and the men relax and smoke a cigarette together, before being taken in trucks to Brussels and from there back to England.We kindly request visitors to respect the residents. They know their special history, but prefer not to have visitors just walking or cycling into the farmyard.

Paratroopers meet Scotsmen

On 23 September 1944 over Boxtel, a C-47A Skytrain nicknamed ‘Buzz Job Mike’ is hit by German anti-aircraft fire. The aircraft is one of a series dropping off supplies as part of Operation Marker Garden. The plane crashes on the Schoonberg (now the Gemondse Beemd).Two of the five crew members are killed. The plane soon catches fire and crashes within seconds. At the crash site, not only the aircraft remains are found, but also personal items, such as the so-called dogtag (Identity tag) of the navigator, Bruce Journey. Also found is a watch with the time of the crash on 23 September.The C-47 was towing a glider. This managed to detach itself and land safely just in time, but everyone is captured by the Germans. Technical Sergeant Reis and Second Lieutenant Cyril Babcanec, co-pilot of ‘Buzz Job Mike’, are killed when the plane crashes. The pilot, Captain Robert H. Kirry, survives the crash. He is subsequently captured and spends the rest of the war in a German POW camp. In and around Gemonde, besides the C-47A, seven WACO gliders, several fighters and bombers also came down.

The Buzz Job Mike

Boxtel residents can celebrate three times on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 October. For they have been liberated three times. On the morning of the 24th, some armoured vehicles of the 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment drive from Best to Boxtel. The group consists of several Bren Gun Carriers and Humber armoured cars. The Carriers are parked on the outskirts of the town. The two Humbers under the command of Lieutenant Gordon Dalton drive on to the town centre. There they&nbsp; halt at the blown Swan Bridge. Dalton lets them explore the other side of the Dommel and takes time himself to have a bite to eat and pose for some curious civilians. After a while they head back towards Best.On the Kampina Heath from 17 September 1944, dozens of Allied Airborne soldiers have been hiding. They are American, Polish and British glider pilots and airborne soldiers. The Boxtel resistance supplied them with food for weeks. They could hear the shelling on Schijndel during the days before 23 October 1944, and the impatient British Airbornes in particular are only too eager to seek out their British comrades after hiding from the Germans for weeks. The Americans are a little more cautious. In the evening of 24 October, they set off from the Kampina at 17.30 to make contact in Boxtel with the British 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders on the other side of the Afwateringskanaal. Klaas Dekker from Boxtel plays an important role by informing the Seaforth Highlanders that Airborne soldiers are already in Boxtel. From the Kampina, they form a motley crew of about 120 resistance fighters from Boxtel and British, American and Polish Airbornes, a Dutch commando and German prisoners of war. They arrive first at Stapelen castle and occupy the cloisters in the castle. At 7pm, they decide to continue towards the centre of Boxtel, more or less liberating the town and occupying positions around it.Not until the next morning do they come into contact with tanks of the East Riding Yeomanry and infantry of the Seaforth Highlanders as they drive into Boxtel. It is still dark when the new liberators arrive in Boxtel at 4.30am.&nbsp; This is the third group to liberate Boxtel. The crews of the Sherman tanks are dumbfounded by the dozens of paratroopers. Have paratroopers landed here? Either way, Boxtel is now definitively liberated.

Boxtel, liberated three times within 24 hours

On 24 October, the 153rd Brigade attacks towards Esch to take the bridges over the Essche stream and create a bridgehead on the other bank. The 5/7th Battalion Gordon Highlanders leave Sint-Michielsgestel early in the morning and soon arrive in Esch. There, the Gordons are bombarded by German mortars and discover that the three bridges in Esch over the Esschestroom river have been blown up by the Germans. A decision is quickly made to build a bridge over the remains of the blown up Gasthuis bridge near Haarenseweg, despite the shelling. This proves very dangerous as the Germans intensively shelled the area around the bridge. Then the commander, Lieutenant Colonel G.D. Renny, devises a stratagem. While building a bridge at its original location, a smaller one is constructed a little to the east. Here, two companies cross at 7.30pm and soon there is a small bridgehead. The engineers, meanwhile have to work throughout the night to get the main bridge ready.The next day, their comrades from the 1st Battalion set oof from Sint-Michielsgestel. On the way to Esch, they pass the grounds of the Dommel Golf Club. This inspires the battalion's acting commanding officer and passionate golfer, Major Martin Lindsay.&nbsp; He describes what happens. ‘I wonder when golf has taken place so close to the front line as, all the time we were playing, shells or mortar bombs were crashing down less than half a mile away. There were only four holes, the others being in a minefield, and we had only three clubs between us, as the Germans had stolen all the rest. There was a brigade H.Q. set up a hundred yards from the first tee, and as I teed up my ball I wondered what the penalty was for hitting a brigadier. (…) A full colonel (medical) came out of a tent, looking very pompous and displeased, and proceeded to stand in the middle of the fairway. I suppose he thought we were not taking the war seriously. ‘By Jove, it does me good to see golf again!’ said a young Yeomanry half-colonel (as the Americans say) striding by in his jodhpurs. ‘Very well, then I’ll call you at my court-martial,’ I replied. (…) But just in front of the fourth green the Divisional General was holding a conference of all his commanders, and this was too much for us.’

Teeing off in the middle of a war

The 7th Battalion Black Watch leaves the Kloosterstraat in Schijndel around 11.15 am on 23 October and reaches the Gemondsedijk junction.&nbsp; From there, the battalion continues around 14.00 until it makes contact with the Germans near Sint-Michielsgestel at the T-junction Gemondseweg and Schijndelseweg (see also story 5). Two Sherman tanks of the 1st Northampton Yeomanry are hit by so-called Panzerfauste and an 88 mm gun positioned in a meadow where Sint-Michielsgestel's fire station is now. But the opposition is soon cleared and after capturing some German soldiers and taking out the cannon, the men reach the bridge over the Dommel river opposite the now demolished monastery. This is blown up by the Germans at the very last moment. With a resounding bang, the bridge breaks into pieces and falls into the water of the Dommel.&nbsp;The 7th Black Watch are able to keep up with the advance of the tanks as the infantry ride along in Kangaroos, tanks without turrets. Bill Mosely of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry drives his Sherman tank in the vanguard towards Sint-Michielsgestel. The Sherman tank in front of Bill Mosely is hit and knocked out just before the built-up area of Sint-Michielsgestel. He suspects that there is a German observer in the church tower of Sint-Michielsgestel. So he fires at the tower with his tank. Moments later they enter the village, just too late to take the bridge over the Dommel. Nevertheless, Major Small of A Company of the Black Watch sends one of his platoons in boats across. There it establishes a small bridgehead. The German defenders are no longer strong enough to dislodge the Scots. The Black Watch manage to get two more companies across before 21:30 hours and secure the bridgehead so that a new bridge can be built by the engineers. This task is accomplished during the night and by 02:00 the whole battalion is across the Dommel. The current, modern bridge, the Thomas Rennie Bridge, is named after the division commander to commemorate this action.

A race against the clock

On 23 October, Operation Colin gets off to a smooth start. Schijndel and the surrounding area are quickly liberated and the three battalions of the 154th Brigade are sent through the breach in the German front. Then things soon slowed down. At the southern edge of Sint-Michielsgestel, things almost go dramatically wrong.Far ahead of the Scottish infantry, the foot soldiers, are Sherman tanks of the 144th Royal Armoured Corps plus some light reconnaissance vehicles of the 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry .The tanks are keen to reach the Dommel as quickly as possible, but a kilometre outside Sint-Michielsgestel they encounter a German roadblock. Once that is taken, the attackers encounter a second, a third and a fourth. After this, the vanguard finally reaches the outskirts of the village, near the exit to the Beekvliet minor seminary. Bullets are flying around: dangerous for civilians.&nbsp;On either side of the road are two large farms. Closest to the village the Spierings family lives. Their farm soon catches fire and the family run for their lives. Across the road the Kapteijns family lives. When the shooting starts, the family runs to the makeshift shelter in front of the house. There they are safe for the time being, at least so it seems. But then German mortar shells fall down and the roof catches fire. What's worse, the burning roof collapses, starts to slide and partly lands on top of the shelter. The family is now trapped. Every second counts. Father Kapteijns wriggles his way out. He attracts the attention of Allied soldiers engaged in battle with the Germans. A few turn and run back. They immediately start removing the burning remains with shovels. They are just in time and are able to save the family. These then have to take shelter next to the soldiers in the ditch alongside the road for the time being, at least until a little later the last German defenders are driven off.

When every second counts 

The inhabitants of Schijndel suffer Allied shelling in September and October 1944. This period came to be known as the ‘Garnet Weeks’. Nearby villages such as Sint-Oedenrode, Eerde and Veghel have already been liberated during Operation Market Garden. But Schijndel is still in German hands and lies in the front line for weeks. From late September 1944, young and old seek refuge in air-raid shelters and many residents are evacuated by the Germans to other villages, such as Boxtel and Den Dungen.&nbsp; In the Sisters of Charity's infirmary and nursing home, German occupiers set up a hospital for their wounded, and German soldiers frequent the place. This does not prevent the brave sisters from secretly sheltering American wounded as well. Allied pilots and crew members of (glider) planes that come down in the area were secretly taken to Lidwina Hospital by inhabitants of Gemonde and Schijndel. There, they are cared for by Mother Superior Sister Veronica. But German male nurses also take care of some captured American wounded, including glider pilot George Brennan, who crashed at Beek near Gemonde.After four nerve-wracking weeks, Monday 23 October 1944 dawns. Finally the liberators of Schijndel, the 5th Battalion Black Watch, arrive. Relieved, the hiding American Airbornes can go outside to smoke a cigarette with the British liberators. The statue De Kloek (mother hen) now stands in Verona Park. It recalls the protection offered by the sisters of the Lidwina convent during World War II. During the 1984 unveiling, pilot George Brennan poignantly expressed his profound thanks. He praised the courage and helpfulness of the sisters, who risked their own lives for him and many others.

At last a cigarette 

Around midnight on 22 October 1944, the 5/7th Battalion Gordon Highlanders attack Wijbosch. At 03.00 hours the report comes in that the positions have been secured. At 06.25 hours, the 5th Battalion Black Watch led by Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Bradford, together with the Sherman tanks of the 144th RAC, move towards Schijndel. They move behind an artillery barrage. A company manages to take the two mills of the Pegstukken at 07:30 hours. B Company captures the Janssen-de Wit factory. A and B Company suffer two casualties, unfortunately as a result of friendly fire. Meanwhile, Schijndel itself is shelled intensively to weaken any German resistance. Because of the smoke and dust of the artillery shelling, the leading companies lose their way. They have advanced a little too far south. As soon as the British artillery shelling stops and the clouds of smoke lift, to their amazement, their own commanding officer and his staff are suddenly in front of them, at Janssen-de Wit's factory (now demolished) in Plein 44. The simple reason: Bradford did take the right route through the exploding shells.Bill Bradford is a remarkable officer. During the fighting in May, April and June 1940 in France, as an officer in the 51st Highland Division, he is captured by the Germans near St-Valery. After nine days, he manages to escape and tries to cycle across the Pyrenees. He is captured again, this time by the French, and imprisoned in Vichy-France. Once more, he manages to escape again and hides on a boat and arrived in Algiers. In Algiers, he steals a small boat to sail to Gibraltar, without any experience whatsoever. A few weeks later, Bill Bradford is back in England. From 1943, he will start working for the General Staff in London regarding planning for D-Day in Normandy. On 6 June 1944, he is a liaison officer for US general Omar Bradley. After the bloody landing at Omaha Beach, where Bill Bradford is also present with the Americans, he works for General Bradley until 24 July 1944. He is then given command of the 5th Black Watch at Caen until the end of the war in Europe in 1945. After World War II, he commands some other British units until his retirement in 1959. After that, Bill Bradford keeps himself busy managing his estate, Kincardine Castle in Kincardine, until his death in 1996.

Isn’t that our Commanding Officer?

The Scottish 51st Highland Division monument is unveiled on 23 October 1994 on Vlagheide. That year marks the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the area. The unveiling is attended by a large group of veterans. Ten years earlier, a trip by Scottish veterans also took place. The driving force behind these trips and the current memorial is Lieutenant General Sir Derek Lang, the last commander of the division. In 1944, during the liberation of North Brabant, he commanded the 5th Battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, which fought at Wijbosch and liberated Camp Vught and Waalwijk, among other places. It is a design by Scottish sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot. It is a bronze statue of a Dutch girl offering flowers to a Scottish Highlander in kilt with bagpipes. It stands on a block of granite from Scotland. A plaque lists the towns and villages the division liberated during Operations Colin (23 October - 1 November 1944) and Guy Fawkes (4-5 November 1944). It also features their motto in Gaelic, which reads: ‘La a bhlair's math na cairdean’. This means: On the day of battle, it is good to have friends. On 15 September 1996, the monument was moved and unveiled again in its present location. A hedge in the shape of their emblem (HD) was cut in front of the monument. From this acronym which could be seen on signposts wherever the division went during the war the Highlanders derived the nickname ‘Highway Decorators’. The monument symbolizes regained freedom and peace and is also in memory of all fallen Scottish soldiers. The communities liberated by the division during operations all received a replica of the statue in 1994.

Scottish liberators

To drive the enemy out of North Brabant for good in mid-October, British Field Marshal Montgomery devises a combined plan. The Canadian army will advance north to the Westhoek, the British west from ‘s-Hertogenbosch to Moerdijk. The Canadian attack is called Operation Suitcase, the British Operation Pheasant. The Canadians launch their attack on 20 October 1944; the British follow two days. The next day, the 51st Highland Division, of Major General Tom Rennie begins their attack. Their sub-operation is called Colin and begins between Eerde and Liempde. In Operation Colin, the German opponent, the 59. Infanterie Division of Lieutenant General Poppe, despite a numerical minority, has one advantage: the many streams and canals, such as the Dommel, the Afwateringskanaal near Boxtel and the Essche stroom.Operation Colin has two main axes. In the first, the 153rd Brigade will move from Eerde to Wijbosch and from there to the south-eastern part of Schijndel. At the same time, the 152nd Brigade will attack west towards De Dommel across a wide front, from Schijndel to Olland. Behind the first two brigades, the third, the 154th, is lined up on the Schijndel Heath in Kangaroos and Carriers. Kangaroos are Canadian RAM tanks, but without turrets, allowing the infantry to keep pace with the attacking tanks. This brigade is intended for the second phase. From Schijndel, it will advance to Sint-Michielsgestel. Additional support is provided by the Sherman tanks of the British 33rd Armoured Brigade.The attack begins on 23 October, an important date for the Highlanders. For it is the second commemoration of El Alamein, one of the turning points of World War II, and they see this as an auspicious omen. Indeed, the attack proceeds fairly well. The German troops are overrun and by evening the division has reached or even crossed the Dommel across a wide front. The monument in Wijbosch was unveiled in October 2024 in honour of the village's liberators. Here, the 5/7th Battalion Gordon Highlanders lost two men, the 5th Queens Own Cameron Highlanders fifteen and the 5th Black Watch a total of three.&nbsp;