A Bridge Too Many

Market Garden

Though the village of Niftrik was miles away from the fighting of Operation Market Garden, there was no escaping the violence of war for its inhabitants. On 1 September 1944 around half past seven in the evening, the railway bridge across the river Meuse was shelled by bombers of the American 458th Bomb Squadron. The bridge remained intact, but the two villages of Niftrik and Ravenstein on both sides of the river were severely damaged. There were also casualties in both villages. In Niftrik, 5 inhabitants of the village and a citizen of Nijmegen lost their lives.

May days of 1940

But this was not the first time the village was struck by a disaster. In May 1940 the Wehrmacht, the German army, attacked the Netherlands. At that time, the bridges and rivers also played an important part in the defence of the country. To prevent the Wehrmacht from crossing the Meuse from the north, the railway bridge that connected Niftrik to Ravenstein was destroyed. In addition, the houses in Niftrik overlooking the dike were set on fire, to prevent shooters from firing at the south bank of the Meuse from here and to prevent the houses from ending up in the line of fire. As a result of the fire, 80 people lost their homes, and the church, vicarage and the school of the village were destroyed as well.

 The last name on the plaque recalls a soldier who fell at the Grebbe line in May 1940, in the defence of the country.