Battle of Overloon

Battle of Overloon
Part of World War II
Churchill tanks with infantry advance during the attack by 3rd Division on a German pocket near Overloon, 14 October 1944.
Date 30 September – 18 October 1944 Location Overloon, Netherlands Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  United States	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Lashmer Whistler Lindsay McDonald Sylvester	Kurt Student
Strength
2 divisions	1 division?
Casualties and losses
1,878 men 3 aircraft 40 tanks	600 infantry unknown number of tanks

The Battle of Overloon was a battle fought in the Second World War battle between Allied forces and the German Army which took place in and around the village of Overloon in the south-east of the Netherlands between 30 September and 18 October 1944. The battle, which resulted in an Allied victory, ensued after the Allies launched Operation Aintree. The Allies went on to liberate the town of Venray.

In September 1944, the Allies had launched Operation Market Garden, a major offensive from the Dutch-Belgian border across the south of the Netherlands through Eindhoven and Nijmegen toward the Rhine bridge at Arnhem, with the goal of crossing the Rhine and bypassing the Siegfried Line in preparation for the final drive toward Berlin. Allied airborne troops were defeated at the Rhine bridge in Arnhem and the advance stopped south of the Lower Rhine, resulting in a narrow salient that ran from the north of Belgium across the south-east of the Netherlands.

German forces attacked this salient from a bridgehead west of the bend in the river Meuse (known as Maas in Dutch and German) near the city of Venlo. The bridgehead was established by retreating German forces who were reinforced with troops arriving from nearby Germany by crossing the Meuse in Venlo. The western edge of this bridgehead ran through the Peel, a region with bogs and several canals blocking an Allied advance. The Allies decided to attack the bridgehead from the north, and this meant they had to capture Overloon and Venray, which were on the road toward Venlo.

...
Wikipedia