Waal bridge in 1940

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Just like roadblocks, river casemates were also constructed before the Second World War in response to the ever increasing threat of war from the east. The bridges across the major rivers Waal, Meuse and IJssel were constantly guarded at the time. This was also the case for the railway bridge and the new road bridge across the Waal in Nijmegen, which had only just been constructed.During the May days of 1940, the decision was taken to man the casemates at Nijmegen to their full capacity. When the German attack began, the road bridge and the railway bridge across the Waal were destroyed from the casemates before the German troops could use them. Since this did not bring the German advance to a halt, the casemates were abandoned in the evening of 10 May. Until the repair of the bridges the casemates were disregarded, because they had lost their function. From 1943, they served as storage rooms for initiating devices for explosive substances.In September 1944, Operation Market Garden was launched. The aim of this operation was to take the bridges across the Meuse, Waal and Rhine and in this way circumvent the Westwall, the strong German line of defence. Fierce fighting erupted in the area around the Waal bridges. One of the greatest mysteries that surround this battle is the question of why the bridges had not been destroyed, like some years earlier.Lent-WestThe detonator that was to be used for destroying the railway bridge could be found at the Lent-West casemate. However, the responsible German 1st lieutenant Gerhard Brettschneider did not have any contact with his commander and was reminded once every day of the importance of the railway bridge for an attack by their own troops and the connection with the troops in Nijmegen. This is why he did not take the initiative to blow up the bridge. On 20 September, he witnessed the Crossing and fled before the Americans reached the casemate.Lent-East and Lent-MiddleThe situation was different at the road bridge. Two casemates that provided a view of the bridge were situated here. The detonator for the road bridge was probably in or near the Lent-East casemate. SS-Brigadeführer Heinz Harmel was stationed here, and he had been ordered to defend the bridge for as long as possible. When it became clear that this was no longer possible, he decided to have the bridge blown up. He waited until several Allied tanks were driving on the bridge and gave the order – but nothing happened, and the tanks were able to cross safely and take the bridge. There are several theories about why this happened: Had the connections between detonator and explosive been damaged during the fighting, or had there been sabotage? Why the Waal bridge did not explode then has remained a mystery to this very day.Since the 1990s, the 3 casemates have been protected as national monuments.

Rivierkazemat Lent-West