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Announcement 4th September 2024
All the required forms are now available to download from the LINKS PAGE in the main menu to the right.
Garden 80 -2024.
For those that are participating on the XXX Corps military remembrance commemoration tour of the Netherlands, we have pleasure in revealing the what’s on where. :
Saturday 7th September: Base camp Leopoldsburg; gathering of management team & MP unit.
Sunday 8th: Preparations of base camp ready for arrivals. Newcastle & Hull ferries ship out.
Monday 9th: Arrivals; Newcastle & Hull ferries, registration and allocation of convoy places. Dover>Dunkirk ships out & arrives pm. Registration & allocation of convoy places. Harwich ferry ships out.
Tuesday 10th: Arrival; Harwich ferry, registration and allocation of convoy places.
Wednesday 11th: Fueling & preparations. Optional arrival of EEC participants. Briefing. Recon 2 Dingos to Suykerbuyck Café. Wreath laying. (Press opportunity).
Thursday 12th: Display; public admission, schools, media – PRESS. Final arrivals of EEC participants. 40’s Dance.
Friday 13th: Preparations; fueling & briefing. Evening ceremony (details to follow).
Saturday 14th: Operation Garden 80 commences: Occupation of Valkenswaard town centre. Overnight in the streets of Valkenswaard.
Sunday 15th: Movement via, Leende, Heeze, Geldrop, Mierol, Mierlo Hout, Helmond Son en Breugle. Overnight Son en Breugle. Two wreath laying ceremonies en route. Lunch time stops in several towns (details to follow).
Monday 16th: Son en Breugle – Camp open to Public, schools and dignitaries. Partial fueling available. PM Two units depart for Sint Odenrode & Eerde Mill (details to follow).
Tuesday 17th: Movement from Son en Breugle to Grave & Overasselt (details to follow in due course); Overnight in both Grave & Overasselt. Wreath laying at Grave bridge pm and Balgoij (final details to follow).
Wednesday 18th: Grave & Overasselt to Groesbeek. Partial fueling available.
Overnight at Kleine Amerika camp on drop zone area for General Browning’s team.
Thursday 19th: Groesbeek; camp open all day to public and schools etc.
Friday 20th: Groesbeek to end camp on Island in the sector of Bemmel. (this is where XXX Corps ended up in 1944 (further details to follow in due course).
Saturday 21st: End of commemoration – return to docks all ferries overnight with the exception of Dunkirk.
As time goes on the details of camps etc. will be communicated. At this time the details of the program are still being evolved. Whilst we have the route itself and the events on the route we still have to deal with the respective towns and communities to tie in with local happenings and timings for passage etc.
To update all on what has been happening in recent months; we had a period of planning in NL two months ago. There was an immediate response from the towns that we approached and it was very positive. Since our last visit ongoing discussions have been taking place and it would appear that the political climate has changed dramatically in the Netherlands and it would appear that XXX Corps will be made most welcome.
We are aware of the crippling costs of fuel in recent months due to the deplorable situation in the Ukraine (which is unfortunately ongoing) and will be for the foreseeable future. The effects of the “war” created by the Russian state will be long lasting the world over for some years to come. It is of course right and incumbent upon us to support the Ukrainians in what must be termed as the “rape” of their country in no uncertain terms. Their mindless acts are without foundation and should be condemned. A Spanish philosopher once said; "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Possibly “we” in the west are somewhat forgetful of what has happened in the past and our past relations with Russia. This brings us to the current day and the west being unready for this aggressive act undertaken by the Russians regime.
One of the prime motivations in what we do is to remind people of the futility of war and more importantly to commemorate those that gave their lives for our freedom. In that light we propose to carry on with the return to the Netherlands for 2024 and to underline the educational value of the undertaking to ensure that people are reminded of what Britain and its Allies had to undertake to ensure our future.
So what is happening now; we are scheduled to have further meetings in September in the Netherlands to further progress talks with Dutch regional government and communes to outline the various towns that will need and want to be brought into the picture.
There is a lot of work ahead of us all and we would hope to make a further statement by mid October when we expect to be able to start on the booking in process. We would also hope to have the costs of the operation at that time so that we can start staged payments as per the arrangements made for the 2019 event. With regard to ferries, we are able to announce that we have incorporated the northern ports into the planning and those two ports are now effectively full for our planning purposes.
We know that some have volunteered to take responsibility for their various units (we are extremely grateful). This event will need people to undertake some tasks to ensure that the organizers can try to enjoy the moment too. When booking in starts it would be appreciated if any person that has first aid training should make themselves known please.
Due to the number of vehicles and personnel, we will (as you know) be commencing in Belgium. This is absolutely essential that participants should do their utmost to ensure that they use the preferred days for shipment. So that is something to bear in mind. The shipment dates will be published when we start booking in. The transport of the operation in NL is complex and we need to comply with the timings given to us by the transport company. In a similar light the movement plans are being evolved and the overall plan will be complex.
We would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding, this task is unprecedented and will likely be the significant remembrance event in Europe for 2024.
G & Team
Announcement 20/01/2022
Due to high demand and a rapid response the tour for The Netherlands is effectively full.
However, we are now operating a waiting list and it may be that should we have any really rare and interesting vehicles that we might be able to accommodate them. Thanks to all who have made the effort in replying to our request. Now the work with the logistics can commence.
*****
A Happy New Year to one and all and may we send you our best wishes for 2022. Covid is still on our back so please stay vigilant and stay safe.
During the course of last year and after travel restrictions were lifted somewhat (on continental Europe), it enabled us a few weeks in the Netherlands to have some meetings with relevant parties to pursue our wish to return to the Netherlands for 2024 and the 80th anniversary. The results were very encouraging and we believe that given your support that this could be more impressive than the 2019 tour. This of course means that we will need more manpower to supervise the camps and the day to day running of convoys and from this point of view we need to be in control of our own event…….. read on
In undertaking various discussions whilst in the Netherlands, we first of all addressed the problems that we thought needed attention due to matters of concern that occurred in 2019;
TRANSPORT: We believe that we now have a workable solution and the whole question of transport to and from the docks in the Netherlands would (we propose), be organised with a consortium of transport companies that (when approached), were very sympathetic to our need to have timely transport. Notably comments were made about 2019 by the relevant companies and that they were overall impressed with our event. In that respect, given the size of the companies involved we are confident that we will be able to have a transport facility that will give us all peace of mind.
One thing that struck us was the fact that generally all thought (in the Netherlands) that what XXX Corps did in 2019 was exceptional thanks to all of you for your efforts and support. In conclusion, the political climate appears to be warming towards us and a number of communes on the route are asking why they weren’t included etc etc etc. It is generally thought that the “political will” that was apparent at that time was wrong and that due to certain individuals having now moved on, that there is now an air of optimistic opportunity for the return of XXX Corps in 2024.
Having looked at the ‘lay of the land’ we embarked on the framework of an itinerary which will encompass a tour of 2 weeks in duration (please don’t despair yet, so read on). We thought that this would give us all a bit more time to relax on the camps and that at certain locations (whilst moving up ‘Club Route’) we would endeavour to have some two night camps at various locations. This will give is the opportunity to welcome visitors to our camps and time for refuelling and preparing for the next section of the Club route.
BASE CAMP: We have some very exciting news on the start point which will also be our base camp where off loading of all vehicles will take place. More details to follow in due course.
INTERACTION with the public; we would be looking at better advertising and informing the public of our routing and timings for the various runs. It is proposed that we will create a support committee that will comprise of locals (including dignitaries) to support us from behind the scenes and deal with any political hurdles that may occur. We are endeavouring to cooperate with the US Airborne re-enactors (UAR), they have some 200 members. We are proposing that they will interact with us at the historically correct locations. Careful thought has been given to this and we are of the mind that this will work well. We are not looking at splitting our convoys up with US Airborne vehicles so rest assured we are doing our very best to ensure that we meet the wishes of the two organizations. We are of the mind that we will have a unique opportunity in 2024 to create a ‘historical picture’ utilising the two groups to advantage with an emphasis on authenticity and no flags etc. Each organisation will have its own separate camps and will be independent of each other but both will be coordinated. Emphasis for all will and needs to be attention to detail. This is a unique opportunity and we will do our very best to assure that both groups operate in tandem to create a historic portrayal of what happened in the appropriate historic areas to further commemorate the 80th anniversary of this military feat.
ESCORTS; Escorts for our units will be by the traffic controllers (as per 2019), they will muster in the region of 40 motorbikes. In addition our own MP section will undergo traffic controllers training so that we have our own escort unit for backup as and when required.
CONVOYS: will be split into units of 25 vehicles and we will be looking for unit commanders to travel up front (of their respective unit). An ‘O’ group will be created so that the convoy commanders will be informed on daily movements. They will be responsible for communication between the ‘O’ group meetings and their units also for controlling the speed of their units whilst moving. There will also be a need for English speaking Dutch assistants. The controlling of movement speed is critical; as if the commander’s vehicle moves off too quickly, then gaps will appear and one will usually find that the vehicles at the rear will be driving like ‘bats out of hell’ to try and keep up or even catch up. We will also be looking for assistance with camp management and we will be looking for a number of people so that a shift system will be implemented to spread the ‘load’. This will ensure that no one person is on duty for too long. We will also designate an officer of the day and he will be on duty that day to deal with any problems that may arise.
FUEL: Whilst we had a distinct problem last time we are delighted to say that our fuel supplier has managed to arrange for us to have a fuel tanker that will be able to supply us with fuel. This will mean that we will not have to move units out to fuel stations and this will make life somewhat easier. This is good news!
GROUPS: It is of fundamental importance that when your group (or individuals from your group) book in that they indicate that they are from ‘group name’ so that we can ensure that you are kept together in one convoy unit etc. We would like to have one person designated as the group rep. for eventual dissemination of information on the tour once booking in has been accomplished. We will also operate a “Whatsapp group” so that everybody can have a daily bulletin.
BOOKINGS: It would be very much appreciated if you would be able to register an interest below. This will not commit you to anything at this stage but it will help us greatly to obtain a better overview with the logistics part of the operation.
FERRIES: At the moment we are anticipating using only Harwich to Hook and Dover to Dunkirk. However, should there be an uptake for the northern ports then we will obviously look at that in due course. It would be advisable to mention this when you register an interest if this concerns you.
Please bear in mind, that it is becoming increasingly difficult and time consuming to organise an event of this size. The job in hand is complicated and demands a certain ‘savoir faire’ to ensure that we get the desired result. Compromises have to be made in order to fit in with an ever changing political climate not to mention changes in road layouts etc. We believe that the climate now appears to be favourable for our proposed return for 2024. We will be commemorating the 80th anniversary of Market Garden and it is our duty to undertake this ‘pilgrimage’ in a respectful manner. Attention to detail should be our byword. 2019 was an eye opener in many respects. The sight on the base camp at Dommelen in 2019 was breath taking. After having spent months and months staring at excel sheets and finally seeing all of the vehicles together was a sobering moment. In 2019 we had some 230 vehicles on tour; in 1944 the British Army put 24,000 vehicles on the road for the operation. So in many respects we were the 1% club. In terms of numbers for 2024 we have no idea at the moment, but there will be a limit, so it is essential that you register an interest as soon as please.
The road ahead is long and arduous for the organisers but rest assured this will be an event that you will not want to miss so spread the word. ‘Lest we forget’.
G & the Team.
