A bloody battle raged in this area, the hills between the Koevering and Eerde, between 24 and 26 September '44. The Germans did everything in their power to prevent British troops advancing to Arnhem. The advance route was under constant, murderous fire. Many lost their lives. The British and Americans therefore called it the "highway to hell ': Hell's Highway.
The Germans lost the battle of Eerde, but the Americans had to deploy many troops. So many, that the road to Arnhem here at the Koevering mill, lay unprotected. The German Jungwirth battalion succeeded in cutting off the road here. They set a large number of British trucks on fire and managed to halt the advance for up to 39 hours. As a result, vital supplies and reinforcements remained stuck in Brabant. That was the death knell for Operation Market Garden. The road was recaptured and freed up only on September 26. On that same day, the British decided to evacuate their troops from Oosterbeek. Market Garden had failed. The plan to advance to Germany through Arnhem could not be carried out.
