Giving your life for a foreign country. That was the reality for Scottish teenagers and twenty-somethings during Operation Market Garden. They fought tooth and nail to liberate Best from the yoke of Nazi Germany. A monument was already there for them, but now a group of residents wants to give the fallen soldiers a face. “It is very important that they are not forgotten” says artist Briët.
In Koetshuistuin (coach house garden), a park in the heart of the village, stands ‘Schots Monument‘ (Scottish monument). The memorial was unveiled in 1994, fifty years after the liberation. It depicts three soldiers breaking through a window. In the eyes of co-initiator Ad van de Wiel and Antoinette Briët, the creator of the statue, it is beautiful, but more can be done to give the fallen soldiers a face.
Five plaques with 171 names should show Best residents in the future who made the ultimate sacrifice. “It is very important that people are given a name. And that you also know how young those people were”, Briët explains. “There are boys who are only 17. The average age of the fallen here was 25. They were just starting to live”, Van de Wiel adds.
Huge German troops
At first, the Allies thought that the liberation of the village would be easy, but it turned into a bitter battle with the occupier. German troops that had withdrawn from West Brabant had ended up in Best via the railway. “They had a huge force here. And those German soldiers did not give up easily”.
As a result, the liberation of Best was delayed. That the battle for the village was not easy is evident from the story of a liberator who was seriously injured but fortunately survived. “That boy said that he had not eaten for days, because there was no supply of food. The only thing that was supplied was ammunition, so that they could fight. But there was not enough of that either”.
Finally, on 24 October 1944, the flag could be flown in Best. Many soldiers, on both sides, paid the ultimate price for the liberation. A total of 171 names will soon be on the plaques. This list was compiled with the help of a military historian. “We know that we do not have a complete list, but we have been as careful as possible”.
The Comité Schots Monument (Scottish monument committee) wants to unveil the Wall of Honour on 24 October. That will be eighty years since Best was liberated.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
