Seventy-five years ago the fate of the Netherlands hung in the balance as the Allies and the Wehrmacht battled for control of the Dutch bridges over the Rhine in Operation Market Garden. The Allies lost that battle, leading to the catastrophic Hunger Winter, or man-made famine, in the northern two-thirds of the country.

By that time, however, the southern portion of the country had already been liberated and was put under the control of a Dutch Military Government under Prince Bernhard (married to Princess Juliana, heir to the Dutch throne). The city of Maastricht, through which many of the aviators who were helped by Dutch-Paris had traveled on their way to Spain, had already been liberated by American troops on September 14.

In the days leading up to the 14th, there were plenty of signs to give the people of Maastricht reason to hope that their liberation was near. Brussels, which wasn’t all that far away, had been liberated on the 3rd. They could hear artillery firing, although that only meant that battle was heading their way. More tellingly, the Germans were burning their files and documents. There was no reason to do that unless they were planning to leave. Furthermore, and somewhat shockingly, there were German soldiers moving through town who looked worn and ragged. The people of Maastricht were used to seeing the occupation forces strutting around with highly polished boots and sharp creases. These soldiers looked like they might be losing.

My father, who was six years old, had his own sign. His older brother who had been underground with the resistance for some time had come back home. His mother made him leave his gun at the back door when he came in the house, but the point was that he was back home.

On the morning of the 14th the people in his neighborhood were anxious that the sound of artillery fire might be bringing the fight onto their doorsteps, but hopeful that they would soon see the last of the occupation forces. Children were told to stay inside. Most people stayed inside. Then a tank rolled down the street and stopped in the intersection.

The people of the neighborhood did not recognize the tank, but that did not mean it was an Allied tank. It could have been a new model German tank. But when a soldier popped out of the top and lit a cigarette, they knew it could not possibly be a German. They were liberated!