Pays-Bas / Lieu d'intêret
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During the advance of the American army through South Limburg, all bridges over the river Geul were destroyed. Except for one. It was located in the hamlet of Weert between Rothem and Bunde. The Americans did not know that when they arrived there in the late afternoon of 14 September 1944. But a young man by the name of Kouters, a helper of greengrocer Rox from Meerssen, did.
With the excuse that he had to fetch milk for his mother, who was dangerously ill, he persuaded the German guards to let him pass. Once behind the lines, he rushed to the Americans, told them that he knew about a bridge that was still intact, and then rode along with them on a tank to show them the way. The bridge passed undamaged into American hands.
The Germans opened up a heavy artillery barrage immediately afterwards, so that an expansion of the newly established bridgehead was out of the question. The American troops had to fight back for a full day to get a firm grip on the only bridge across the river Geul.
Fregatweg, Meerssen