Underground Shelter

The textile manufacturer Engelbert Blijdenstein, owner of the nearby farm 'Judithhoeve', had built a large shelter here in 1943 between the trees and the thickets, about 20 m. long, more than 3 m. wide and so deep that you could stand upright in it. The walls and the bottom were covered with wooden planks and there were two entrances and exits. The top, flush with the surroundings, was covered with grass and heather sod. In this hiding place, Allied pilots and other people in hiding found temporary shelter. In 1945 this underground space was made available to the Loserse Binnenlandse Strijd-krachten/Strijdend Deel (BS/SG). The situation was favorable to their weapons storage. The weapons boxes, with nine stenguns and some hand grenades, were hung in the upper part of some water control wells of the nearby pumping station. Via back roads through the Haagse Bos, that place could be reached easily and unseen, without having to use the public road. The BS/SG in Losser actually took shape after the Allied landings at Arnhem. Long before that, there were resistance groups in Losser. When they met for the first time in this shelter on Good Friday 1945, they turned out to be 33 people. Looser was liberated at Easter. At this place is the info sign follow the path behind it about 100m. The contours of the former shelter were made visible in November 2022 by means of poles.

Stichting Historische Kring Losser