After the bend in the road, a shot was fired by a German anti-tank gun, but it was quickly silenced. The tanks continued on through the outskirts of the wood and regained the road at the junction with
Kruislaan. More German fire was encountered, a Sherman tank was hit and the driver killed. The German gun was then knocked out, but the advance was halted for the night from 16 to 17 April. The Allied troops withdrew to Planken Wambuis.
Some 300 Dutch SS soldiers (Dutchmen serving in the German armed forces) had taken up defensive positions to the east of Ede. These were located at Langenberg Barracks (Simon Stevin Barracks), in the outskirts of the De Sysselt woods and to the north of state highway 24 (now the N224) at the edge of the Traa woods. They had also set up an advance position on Drieberg hill, giving them a good view of, and clear field of fire onto, state highway 24. During the night, Ede town was shelled by British artillery and many residents took refuge in shelters.
The Allied advance resumed on Tuesday, 17 April. At 6 am, the first Sherman tanks reached the eastern edge of the Ederheide woods. They charged in line through a smokescreen to the western edge of the woods, taking prisoner fourteen SS soldiers on Drieberg hill in the process. German resistance from the positions to the south of state highway 24 held up the Allied advance across Ginkel Heath for a while.
Following this, British artillery shelled the barracks and the town. This caused the death of a 14-year-old boy on the Veenderweg road and also punched holes in the water tower. Then, four tanks stormed the site of the barracks. Flamethrower carriers following behind the tanks drove the SS soldiers from their trenches, who left behind dozens of dead as they fled. Around 50 SS soldiers were taken prisoner.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, 17 April, the Royal Scots Fusiliers Battalion of the British 49th Infantry Division ‘Polar Bears’, supported by the tanks of the Calgary Regiment of the Canadian 1st Tank Brigade, entered Ede along the Arnhemseweg road. Six Allied soldiers died during the liberation of Ede; the Sherman tank by De Langenberg restaurant commemorates the liberation.
Do you want to experience this story in its original location? Then visit the information panel along the N224 at the intersection with Nieuwe Kazernelaan and Arnhemseweg.
