This cannon was used by the Germans in Ossendrecht.
Put out of action on October 6, 1944, when a young German conscript soldier was killed.
DEACTIVATING A CANNON: At the end of the war, on October 6, 1944 to be exact, Jac van Dooren was sitting in the living room in the morning when he suddenly heard noise on the street. He looked through the window and saw German soldiers riding through the street with a cannon. He quickly put on his coat, went outside immediately and inconspicuously followed the Germans with the cannon. This cannon was driven into the O.L.Vrouw ter Duinenlaan behind the home of the Van den Eijnden Mous family and positioned between the home and the river De Heiloop. Jac, who was in the resistance, knew that two resistance fighters were in hiding with this Van den Eijnden family. He knocked on the door and was let in. Hidden behind the curtains, the three resistance fighters followed the actions of the Germans at the cannon. They saw how the tired-looking soldiers set up the cannon and to their surprise they also saw that the soldiers immediately got into a vehicle and drove away. The cannon and the 2 machine guns were left unguarded by the Germans. As it turned out later, the soldiers had driven to the water pumping station to quickly eat and drink something. Jac and his 2 mates immediately took action. Jac, who was a blacksmith by trade, quickly managed to disable the cannon by removing the breech, after which he carried this heavy block of metal to the Heiloop river, which was a bit further away, and hid it in the river there. In the meantime, his two companions had grabbed the 2 machine guns, after which the three of them returned to the home of the Van den Eijnden family as quickly as they could. In the afternoon the Allies continued their advance and the Germans, leaving behind the disabled cannon, retreated further towards Hoogerheide, which meant that Ossendrecht was liberated from this moment on. On 7 October 1944 Jac went to get the breech from the Loopke and stored it in his workshop. When the municipality of Ossendrecht started using the abandoned cannon as a war memorial, Jac notified the municipality that the breech could be picked up at his home, which was done. Source: Tracesofwar.nl
Translated by Google •
In the know? Log-in to add a tip for other adventurers!