de nacht voor de bevrijding van Noorbeek.
Anders dan eerder werd aangenomen waren er al in de nacht van 11 op 12 september 1944 Amerikaanse soldaten in Noorbeek.
Lees hieronder het verhaal van Kenneth C. Thayer (auteur van het boek: "The Young Liberators") die samen met 2 mede soldaten al in hartje Noorbeek was tijdens een verkenningspatrouille op 11 september 1944.
links: Kenneth C. Thayer
Lees hieronder het verhaal van Kenneth C. Thayer (auteur van het boek: "The Young Liberators") die samen met 2 mede soldaten al in hartje Noorbeek was tijdens een verkenningspatrouille op 11 september 1944.
links: Kenneth C. Thayer
I was personally involved in the attack on Norbeek and remember it clearly.
The 12 September 1944 was the official date of our crossing of the Dutch border.
However, I was a member of a patrol which crossed the frontier on 11 September.
My company- Company "K" of the 3rd Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division crossed an open field under enemy artillery fire and descended a short hillside to a flat field.
We proceeded across the open field to, what we later learned was Norbeek.
I personally passed through a family backyard where there were beautiful birds, which I later was told were golden pheasants.
We all pressed on to the main street to te town and turned to the right.
I noticed that store fronts and other signs contained names with two vowels.
I knew this to be of the Dutch language and shouted to my buddies, "Hey we must be in Holland."
Source: Email conversation on 13/06/2008 with Mr. Kenneth. C. Thayer
I have had some additional thoughts concerning our liberation of Norbeek.
Our third battalion 119th infantry regiment 30th infantry division, drew up near the Netherlands border on 11/9/44, late afternoon.
After setting up the perimeter of defense, my company K company commander Captain Harry Hopcraft obtained permission from our battalion commander to send out a small patrol after dark.
This would be a "listening patrol". He selected my platoon sergeant T/Sgt (later second Lt.) Clyde B. Proby, another GI and myself.
The purpose of a listening patrol is to advance a few hundred yards to the front and stop and listen for any enemy activity or voices, and then advance another hundred yards or so, and repeat the process.
The lead person Sgt. Proby, would watch for signs of a German minefield. What we didn't know at the time the night of the 11th, was that we had actually crossed into Holland.
After about an hours patrol we returned to our company position. As you know, the following day, the entire battalion crossed the Dutch border and were the first Allied troops to do so.
So, on reflection, the night of the 11th, our three man patrol was actually the first Allied troops to enter Holland.
If there is anyone who remembers our entrance into Norbeek on the 12th, ask if they remember the damaged street caused by a Sherman Tank making a right hand pivot and therefore tearing up the paved surface.
This would be near the stores in the photograph you sent.
Source: Email conversation on 14/11/2008 with Mr. Kenneth. C. Thayer
The 12 September 1944 was the official date of our crossing of the Dutch border.
However, I was a member of a patrol which crossed the frontier on 11 September.
My company- Company "K" of the 3rd Battalion, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division crossed an open field under enemy artillery fire and descended a short hillside to a flat field.
We proceeded across the open field to, what we later learned was Norbeek.
I personally passed through a family backyard where there were beautiful birds, which I later was told were golden pheasants.
We all pressed on to the main street to te town and turned to the right.
I noticed that store fronts and other signs contained names with two vowels.
I knew this to be of the Dutch language and shouted to my buddies, "Hey we must be in Holland."
Source: Email conversation on 13/06/2008 with Mr. Kenneth. C. Thayer
I have had some additional thoughts concerning our liberation of Norbeek.
Our third battalion 119th infantry regiment 30th infantry division, drew up near the Netherlands border on 11/9/44, late afternoon.
After setting up the perimeter of defense, my company K company commander Captain Harry Hopcraft obtained permission from our battalion commander to send out a small patrol after dark.
This would be a "listening patrol". He selected my platoon sergeant T/Sgt (later second Lt.) Clyde B. Proby, another GI and myself.
The purpose of a listening patrol is to advance a few hundred yards to the front and stop and listen for any enemy activity or voices, and then advance another hundred yards or so, and repeat the process.
The lead person Sgt. Proby, would watch for signs of a German minefield. What we didn't know at the time the night of the 11th, was that we had actually crossed into Holland.
After about an hours patrol we returned to our company position. As you know, the following day, the entire battalion crossed the Dutch border and were the first Allied troops to do so.
So, on reflection, the night of the 11th, our three man patrol was actually the first Allied troops to enter Holland.
If there is anyone who remembers our entrance into Norbeek on the 12th, ask if they remember the damaged street caused by a Sherman Tank making a right hand pivot and therefore tearing up the paved surface.
This would be near the stores in the photograph you sent.
Source: Email conversation on 14/11/2008 with Mr. Kenneth. C. Thayer
Hieronder ziet u foto's van de bevrijding van de kern van Noorbeek in September 1944
38th signal battalion in Noorbeek december 1944 - maart 1945
Bevrijdingsoptocht in noorbeek in september 1945
Bevrijdingsfeest noorbeek in 1994
Bevrijdingsfeest in noorbeek 2004
bevrijdingsfeest noorbeek 2009
Deel 1 van de parade
Deel 2 van de parade
