Nijmegen during the Second World War
Most British people who attend the Four Day Marches are aware of Nijmegen’s part in Operation Market Garden, even if it only having seen the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’. Many also know about the city’s role in the front line until early 1945. Little has however been written in English relating to Nijmegen’s experience of war prior to September 1944. While not a comprehensive history, this page attempts to summarise some episodes of Nijmegen’s war history prior to its liberation by US Airborne and British Army troops.
German Invasion May 1940
The Dutch armed forces mobilised in September 1939. It was hoped this would help deter invasion, as it did in 1914. If an attack did come, it was accepted that Dutch forces could not stop the inevitably stronger Germans. They could however slow any advance and, if the larger French and British forces were successful further south, there was a chance that any invasion would stall. This did not, of course, happen.
The Wehrmacht were aware that Dutch engineers had mined all key bridges within easy reach of the border, including the road and rail bridges at Nijmegen. As the River Waal was a formidable natural defence, a decision was made to try to capture these bridges intact by taking the sentries by surprise. A plan to use a civilian barge to tow a 100 man raiding party downstream the night before the invasion was abandoned due to the presence of a Dutch Navy gunboat upstream close to the border. Instead, a Waffen-SS motor-bike reconnaissance unit, reinforced with armoured cars, were assigned the task of passing through Dutch defences south of the Waal as soon as hostilities commenced, drive the 6 km to Nijmegen at top speed and seize both bridges.
At dawn on 10 May 1940 German forces invaded the Netherlands at the same time as their attacks on France, Belgium and Luxembourg. The SS reconnaissance unit advanced to Nijmegen as planned, only to witness both bridges being blown as they arrived. Dutch forces south of the Waal soon withdrew westward to prepared positions along the Maas-Waal canal. Nijmegen was the first Netherlands city to fall and saw no more substantive fighting during the 1940 campaign.
By destroying the Nijmegen bridges, the Dutch Army not only prevented German forces south of the Waal from joining up with others further north, but also effectively blocked the river, denying the river route to the invaders.
The Waal ferry, closed when the road bridge opened in 1936, recommenced shortly after the end of hostilities. Dredging under the north span of the road bridge allowed limited river traffic, while the fallen central arch was repaired. The road bridge was finally re-opened in 1943.

It is possible that one reason the SS were slow in attempting to blow the bridge in September 1944 was the knowledge that Germany had provided the resources to re-build it, a major task given the shortages of wartime!
Among Nijmegen City forces in 1940 were the Burger Wacht. This was a part time citizen force mobilised in national emergencies such as civil disorder and foreign invasion. All main Dutch cities had a local unit, many commemorating their role in 1940 with the award of a special medal. Apart from a policing role, the Burger Wacht saw little action in Nijmegen, the 1940 campaign in the city being over by mid Morning on the 10 May.
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LEFT: Prior to May 1940, the Dutch Army built a bullet proof barrier at the south end of the bridge. This was to be used to slow up a German advance in the event a failure to blow up the bridge.
The Bridge in 1940
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ABOVE and RIGHT: The Nijmegen road bridge after it had been blown by Dutch Army Engineers on the morning of 10 May 1940.
LEFT: The Nijmegen rail bridge was blown by the Dutch Army on the same morning.