{"id":3505,"date":"2018-11-13T10:48:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T09:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.driel-polen.nl\/?page_id=3505"},"modified":"2021-01-12T14:45:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T13:45:41","slug":"2018-burgemeester-van-overbetuwe-dhr-a-s-f-van-asseldonk","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.driel-polen.nl\/en\/herdenkingen\/herdenkingen-2015-2024\/2018-burgemeester-van-overbetuwe-dhr-a-s-f-van-asseldonk\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Burgomaster of the municipality Overbetuwe, Mr. Drs. A.S.F. van Asseldonk"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Address by the Burgomaster of the municipality Overbetuwe,
\n<\/strong>Mr. Drs. A.S.F. van Asseldonk <\/strong>at the Commemoration of the contribution
\nof the\u00a0 <\/strong>1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade <\/strong>to Operation Market Garden, 74 years ago
\n<\/strong>Driel, 22 September 2018<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dear veterans,
\nDear surviving relatives,
\n<\/strong><\/em>Your Excellencies<\/strong><\/em>,
\nLadies and gentlemen<\/em>, <\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the three Polish veterans who are here today. Your presence here means so much to us.
\nOur heritage of freedom has been built on your brave sacrifices.<\/p>\n

We are deeply grateful to you!
\nYour story is the one we\u2019ll be commemorating today.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen,<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been 74 years since the soldiers of the Polish Parachutists Brigade were dropped over the meadows and orchards of Driel.<\/p>\n

On 21st September 1944, the fifth day of Operation Market Garden.
\nWith an impossible task: to cross the river and strengthen the Oosterbeek lines.
\nThey had hoped to be used in the Battle of Warsaw. But they ended up fighting in another country. For another nation. For us.<\/p>\n

And whoever may think the efforts of these heroes are slowly in danger of being forgotten about will be left utterly disappointed.<\/p>\n

There is still a huge amount of interest in their brave actions.
\nHere in the Netherlands. But definitely in Poland too.
\nTake Captain Ludwik Zwolanski, for example. Various activities bear his name.<\/p>\n

We know Zwolanski as the one who managed to establish the very first contact with the recently landed parachutists.
\nHe had landed his Horsa 899 near the Ginkel heath as early as Monday 18th September 1944. In order to serve as a liaison officer within the British headquarters.<\/p>\n

He waited for the arrival of his compatriots in front of the Driel landing zone with a number of radio operators. He desperately tried to establish radio contact for hours after the descending parachutists had disappeared from view.
\nUnsuccessfully. He felt there was only one option left for him. To cross the Rhine. Swimming.
\nThere was no dinghy available.<\/p>\n

Captain Zwolanski took off his uniform and tied a camouflage net around his head and shoulders. Dressed only in his underwear\u2026\u2026and armed with a revolver and a commando knife\u2026\u2026he made his way across to the cold water\u2019s edge.
\nHe briefly hesitated. He could see light traces of German bombs making contact all around him. And so he bravely waded into the two hundred meter wide river.<\/p>\n

He arrived on the other side wet and muddy. He was known as the \u2018black bandit\u2019 as a result of his dark appearance.
\nAs he didn\u2019t know the password, he cursed so loudly that a fellow officer recognised his voice and made sure the sentry allowed him to pass through.
\nHe directed him to General Sosabowski\u2019s command post.
\nZwolanski entered, politely saluted and introduced himself.
\n\u2018Captain Zwolanski reporting for duty, General\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen,<\/strong>
\nThe arrival of the Polish parachutists was a fantastic moral boost for the enclosed para\u2019s.<\/p>\n

They also formed a bridgehead, here in Driel, for four days, allowing many allied forces to be evacuated across the Lower Rhine.<\/p>\n

They would have been lost without the Polish soldiers\u2019 steadfast actions.
\nIt\u2019s partly down to their efforts that we have lived in freedom for as long as we have.<\/p>\n

Freedom which Dutch soldiers have also been fighting so hard for during the past decades.<\/p>\n

Driel is home to more than thirty veterans.
\nBoth men and women who have worked in recent conflicts and wars.<\/p>\n

They too fought for other people, in another country.<\/p>\n

Take Patricia van der Does, for example. She left for a mission to the former Yugoslavia in 1997. A country torn apart by a terrible civil war.
\nPatricia was only 20 years old at the time. She describes her motivation as follows \u2013 and I quote:
\n\u201cYou want to help people, do your bit. I was prepared to give my life for this. You start off on your journey with that conviction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Jurgen Janssen also embarked on a mission in 2005 with that same conviction.
\nTo Iraq. To the province of As-Samawah.<\/p>\n

As an air gunner in a helicopter, one of his jobs was to collect the injured.
\nThere was a major threat.
\nAn Italian air gunner was shot down three days before he was due to fly his first mission.
\nA helicopter was a highly desired trophy, so he was regularly shot at from the ground.
\nAt one point Jurgen was surrounded by a group of armed men.
\nAll this has resulted in him looking at life very differently now and he describes this as follows:
\n\u201cI am now much more thankful for the little things in life. For running water. That you can simply pop into the supermarket without needing to look over your shoulder. You normally wouldn\u2019t stop and think about things like that. We really don\u2019t know what freedom is here, because we\u2019ve never lost it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I completely agree with Jurgen. We often don\u2019t quite realise just what an incredible gift our freedom is.<\/p>\n

And the price others have had to pay for this. Patricia and Jurgen didn\u2019t return to the Netherlands unscathed. What they saw, heard and experienced out in the war torn areas they visited has certainly left its mark.<\/p>\n

Protecting our freedom may well seem like something far removed from our own personal lives.
\nBut when you consider that a number of our villagers did this for us\u2026\u2026that they were prepared to give their lives\u2026\u2026then it certainly starts to feel very close to home.<\/p>\n

Or when you stop and think that Captain Zwolanski swam across the river just a few hundred meters from here. And back again too. He eventually did survive those hellish days.
\nOthers were captured, injured, or even made the ultimate sacrifice: with their lives.<\/p>\n

Our Polish heroes went to the absolute limits.
\nAnd for this we are still intensely grateful.<\/p>\n

Dzi\u0119kuj\u0119 bardzo!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Address by the Burgomaster of the municipality Overbetuwe, Mr. Drs. A.S.F. van Asseldonk at the Commemoration of the contribution of the\u00a0 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade to Operation Market Garden, 74 years ago Driel, 22 September 2018 Dear veterans, Dear …<\/span> <\/p>\n

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