Airborne Landings on Ginkel Heath Ede
The most important event involving Ede took place in September 1944. During Operation Market Garden, some 2.000 Allied airborne troops parachuted onto Ginkel Heath. They would attempt to capture the bridges at Arnhem.
Each year, this day is commemorated and relived in September during the Airborne Landings and Commemoration. The yearly event is suitable for young and old and free of charge.
Airborne Ede Landings programme
The air landings will be commemorated in September. Planes will drop paratroopers above the Ginkel Heath in Ede, as it was done during Operation Market Garden. Outdoor exhibitions will be organized and a variety of activities will take place during this ‘Airborne month’.
Bombing of Ede
On 17 September 1944, at the start of Operation Market Garden, allied planes bombed the southern part of Ede. The barracks occupied by German soldiers were the target of these bombings. Due to bad weather and navigation errors, many bombs landed on residential neighbourhoods in Ede instead of the barracks. Sixty-nine people were killed. Each year, a brief commemoration is held at the monument on the Parkweg road on the Friday before the Airborne Landings and Commemoration. Pupils from Ede schools will lay flowers at 11:25, which was the moment when the first bombs fell.
