Liberation Route listening point Thorn
At each Liberation Route listening point, you can hear an audio drama about the impressive experiences of one or more people during the final years of the war. In Thorn, you listen to the story of how the severely understaffed Brigade Piron defended the front line along the Wessem-Nederweert Canal while the village lay in the front line for months and was evacuated.
The Brigade Piron defends Thorn against heavy German resistance
After the failure of Operation Market Garden, the Allied advance in Central Limburg came to a halt. The severely understaffed Belgian Brigade Piron had to defend a twenty-kilometre front along the Wessem-Nederweert Canal against strong German forces. Heavy fighting took place in and around Thorn, and after its liberation on 25 September 1944, the village remained on the front line for months. The situation was so dangerous that almost all residents had to evacuate. Only in mid-November did British troops take over and finally drive out the German forces.
Click here to listen to the recording: Thorn on the Front Line