This time, road marching has taken my blog to Arnhem in the Netherlands for a 1 day road marching event. The Arnhem Road March commemorates the events of Operations Market and Garden, which occurred in the Second World War.
Day One – Getting to Arnhem
We assembled late in Cirencester, to be taken by coach to Arnhem. We got on a ferry early in the morning, before driving the rest of the way through Europe. The journey was long and we hardly knew one another, so there was little conversation.
The event really kick starts on the second day, with some battlefield tours and a visit to the cemetery.
Day Two – Time to Remember
An opportunity to explore the history of the area, and spend some time remembering the events of the Second World War.
We boarded the coach to go on a battlefield tour, which began with being told of how the paras and gliders came in and landed in the various zones.
We stopped off in a field, near where several companies pushed through, however were ambushed by Germans who were actually in a training exercise. The operation had caught the Germans by surprise, so it was lucky that they were positioned there to defend the railway line and surrounding area.
In this field, you could still see the remains of some of the trenches and it was crazy to think that all those years ago, men were fighting and dying there.
We then headed to the Airborne museum in Oosterbeek. Here we looked around and learned the story of Operations Market and Garden, from the initial assault to the final failure at the bridge in Arnhem.
We came out, had some photos outside a tank they had there, as well as a group photo outside the museum and then had lunch.
After our lunch we went back on the bus and headed for the war cemetery.
That really hit home. Looking around the graves seeing people aged 19, 20 and 21 (all ages similar to my own) lying there and messages from their loved ones really put everything into perspective.
The day was very humbling, however we felt an element of pride being able to engage in remembrance events prior to taking part in the international road march.
Day Three – The March
We woke up early, ate our breakfast and jumped on the coach to take us to the start of the march. The weather wasn’t great; it had rained in the early hours of this morning, so it was wet when we arrived.
The coach parked a short walk away from the starting point, which happened to be a field next to the Airborne museum we went to. We all formed up together for a wing photograph, before splitting off into our three individual groups for the day’s march.
My team, Team Alpha, set off with Team Charlie (the 10km group) and Team Bravo (the other 25km group) were a little further back. We set off and with me at the front setting a Nijmegen pace, we soon lost the 10km team!
Throughout the march, we had a couple of heavy downpours of rain (which certainly weren’t pleasant!) however in general the weather was fine.
We only had one member of the team who struggled, so we slowed the pace and kept her motivated to finish the march. We stopped at an ice cream van along the route where a slush puppy went down a treat!
After having gone through the gruelling 40km per day for 4 days at Nijmegen, this 25km march felt a breeze! On the final day of Nijmegen, the first rest stop didn’t come until 20km, so marching back into the field at 14:00, having finished the day’s march, felt somewhat anti-climactic.
Nonetheless, the atmosphere was great and we relaxed for a bit whilst waiting for the other teams to come in. Once they had all arrived, we made our way back to the coaches and returned to base.
Day Four – Homeward Bound
A swift but engaging trip to Arnhem is a great break away for a day’s road marching!
Looking back over Arnhem, I found it both educational and fun; aside from the ‘stroll’ of a road march, I learned a lot about the Airborne Assault that occurred in the area over the Second World War, and the sheer scale of the destruction caused and the lives lost.
