The Dutch city of Tilburg was liberated in October 1944; it was part of Operation
Pheasant: the large-scale Allied operation to clear Noord-Brabant of Axis forces. Now
the city was liberated by the Scottish forces but also Dutch Allied Forces of
the Prinses Irene Brigade took part in the battle; in this video you're going to
learn about another forgotten World War II battle: the Battle of Tilburg. Keep watching.
Hey good to have you back on the channel; if you're new I'm Stefan; I'm a Dutch history
teacher and I like to cover history on location for you and I'm now in the Dutch city of Tilburg
on the Vrijheidpark (or Freedom Park) and you see a different war memorials and this is
a memorial of a Scottish World War II soldier because the Scottish forces liberated this city in
October 1944, although Dutch Allied forces also a took part in the battle. If you find
these on location videos interesting consider subscribing and also hit that notification bell.
The city of Tilburg is located in the south of the Netherlands in the province
of Noord-Brabant. During the 19th century the textile industry grew and Tilburg was
nickednamed wolstad (wool city). Thus gradually a city structure with shops and workers' houses
was created. The development into a city brought with it the need for a general expansion plan,
which was drawn up in 1917. By 1940 the city had around 93,000 inhabitants. During the
German invasion of the Netherlands the Germans threw bombs on the city because the city had a
junction of railway connections. On May 12 the first German troops entered the city. There were
23 deaths among the civilian population. From 10 to 13 May 8 Dutch soldiers were
killed in Tilburg. A total of 20 soldiers from Tilburg were killed in various places
in the Netherlands. The city was under German occupation till October 1944. During the war,
a total of 130 Tilburg Jews were murdered and 92 Tilburgers died from forced labor in Germany.
Early September Brussels and Antwerp were liberated and there was rumor that
the Netherlands was going to be liberated as well... therefore Dutch citizens started
to celebrate prematurely the liberation. Many German soldiers actually believed this and
many left their posts but they soon returned as it turned out the Allies weren't showing up
yet. These events occurred on September 5th and are known as 'Dolle Dinsdag' or Mad Tuesday.
Maastricht was the first Dutch city to be liberated mid-September. The
Allies then launched Operation Market Garden. An operation which failed in his primal objective,
yet the Allies did create the Corridor and from there launched Operation Pheasant to
liberate the rest of Noord-Brabant. And Tilburg was one of the cities that was to be liberated.
The German forces west of the Corridor were led by Gustav-Adolf von Zangen. He knew very
well he couldn't stop the Allies and made preparation for a withdrawel. This
was against the orders of his superiors. “He came to the conclusion that fighting
a delaying fight was the only viable option. Von Zangen wanted to compensate for the loss
of terrain with saving time. On the one hand, he did not wish to jeopardize the safe retreat;
on the other hand, the impression was not to be created that the 15.
Armee was seeking a safe escape across the major rivers without resistance.”
And with Allied air superiority this was not going to be an easy task. Van Zangen had three
German army corps under his command: the one in Zeeland and West-Brabant, one in Midden-Brabant
and one in Den Bosch. He soon had to give up the latter. As reserve the weak 256th Volksgrenadier
Division was arrived mid-October in Tilburg. He received mobile units like Kampfgruppe
Chill but was clearly not prioritized. This was because German high command laid the focus on
the Battle of Aachen as wel as the preparations for the Ardennes Offensive. As Polish, American,
Canadian and British forces advanced from Belgium different Dutch cities and towns were liberated.
As the fighting in West-Brabant intensified Von Zangen directed most of his forces there
(this happened on 8 October). He expected Allied forces to advance from the Corridor shortly after.
Part of the XII British Army Corps was the 15th Scottish Division under
the command of General Barber. On 26 October Oisterwijk was
liberated. From the south the 4th Armoured Brigade reached Tilburg.
Part of this where Dutch Allied soldiers that were part of the Prinses Irene Brigade and
behind me you see a monument dedicated to those men. From Hilvarenbeek they were ordered to
liberate Tilburg. For two days they were involved in heavy fighting against the men of the Volksgrenadier
Division. The defenders this hold their ground the Allies decided not to sacrifice the men
of the Dutch Brigade and replaced them by more experienced Scottish soldiers; this happened on
October 27th. By that time the Germans had already abandoned the city. Reports did reach the Allies
that there were still some Germans in the city but most likely these were rear guard troops that were
about to leave Tilburg. Nevertheless Scottish artillery men started a preliminary artillery
barrage, which at the end was totally pointless. Needless to say the civilians of the city suffered
severely and especially those living in the southern quarter of Broekhoven. As one student wrote
“Closer and closer the projectiles hit. […] I fall flat on my stomach next to a garden wall.
More people huddle against the houses, others run across the street, still others lie on the road.”
During the barage members of the block crew (blokploegen) came to the aid of
those at need, were hit by sharpnel. And as the liberators cautiously entered the city they were met with
unprecedented enthusiasm, while the dead and wounded were silently tended to by those who
have set themselves the task of bringing relief to those who experienced the dark side of the liberation.
The city of Tilburg and especially the part of Broekhoven saw significant damage. Yet,
the fighting was of a smaller scale compared to Den Bosch that saw much more intensive street
fighting. But the liberation of Tilburg claimed more victims in Tilburg than the
beginning of the war. The hard truth is that Tilburg was liberated on October 27, 1944,
but the war was far from over. In the liberation month of October 1944, 78 people were killed in
Tilburg by artillery bombardments. Between October 27, 1944 and May 5, 1945 (liberation
of the Netherlands), 71 Tilburgers were killed by 'German missiles' (V1 & V2 rockets) or mines.
if you want to have an overview of the liberation of the Netherlands click here.
If you want to learn about another forgotten World War II battle that took place in the
Netherlands during the liberation, click here for the Battle of Groningen. Thanks for watching and HOUDOE!