Joe's Bridge is the nickname given to Bridge No.9 on the Bocholt-Herentals Canal outside the town of Neerpelt, in the Belgian city of

Lommel Lommel () is a municipality and city in the Belgian province of Limburg. Lying in the Kempen, it has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the arrondissement of Maaseik. Besides the residential town, Lommel also has a number of nature reserv ...

just south of the Belgian-Dutch border."Latitude and longitude of Joe's Bridge in Belgium" https://latitude.to/articles-by-country/be/belgium/95321/joes-bridge The bridge was captured by British troops in September 1944, becoming the springboard for the ground offensive of Operation Market-Garden.

Capture

While the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

engaged the German forces around

Hechtel Hechtel-Eksel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On 1 January 2018 it had a total population of 12,290 an area of 76.70 km2 giving a population density of 150 inhabitants per km2. The municipality was created i ...

, the Irish Guards advanced rapidly north-east through the villages of Eksel,

Overpelt Overpelt (, ) is a town in the municipality of Pelt and a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. In 2018, the municipality of Overpelt had a total population of 15,478. The municipality consisted of the following pop ...

and

Neerpelt Neerpelt (, ) is a town in Pelt (municipality), Pelt and a former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg. In 2018, the municipality had a total population of 17,174. The total ...

, and launched their combined infantry-tank assault, with artillery support, from the grounds of the zinc processing factory in Overpelt and took the bridge undamaged. The capture of the bridge completed the encirclement of German troops in Hechtel. German units tried for some days to recapture the bridge from the north but were driven off, once with bayonets. Once the bridge was secure, men of the 615th Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, set about repairing it, while the Irish Guards secured a bridgehead along the N69 main road towards

Valkenswaard Valkenswaard () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant. The municipality had a population of in , with an area of of which is water. The name Valkenswaard ste ...

. Some to the west, in the center of Lommel, SS troops had placed 40 randomly selected Belgian civilians in the street, at machine gun-point, as a human shield. The swift advance of the British from the east prevented a massacre. The Germans held the north side of the canal up to 17 September, apart from the area around the bridge. The bridge became known as "Joe's Bridge", after Lieutenant–Colonel

Joe Vandeleur John Ormsby Evelyn Vandeleur, Distinguished Service Order, DSO and Bar (14 November 1903 – 4 August 1988), usually known as Joe Vandeleur from his initials, was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer who served in the Second World War. Early lif ...

, or possibly because the Royal Engineers troop who repaired it was known as "Joe's Troop".

Post-war

The bridge was rebuilt after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and a memorial below the southern edge of the bridge records its famous name. The Irish Guards Memorial is on the northern bank, on a side-road off the road to Valkenswaard. Joe's Bridge is on the "Airborne trail", a , footpath from

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

, created as a permanent reminder of Operation Market-Garden by the Dutch hiking association (OLAT). It was officially opened in September 2004, during the festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the Liberation.

References

External links

Joe's Bridge with pictures & history.

{{Use British English, date=April 2025 Siegfried Line campaign 1944 in the Netherlands Arch bridges in Belgium Bridges in Flanders Buildings and structures in Limburg (Belgium) Lommel September 1944 in Europe

Capture

Post-war

See also

References

References

Further reading

External links