Attack on German troop train

The rail connection from Oldenzaal to Germany was of great importance to the German occupiers. During the German invasion on 10 May 1940, the first armoured troop and rolling stock trains entered our country here. During the war, the line was heavily ridden to transport war material. On the morning of June 29, 1944, American bombers, escorted by fighter planes, were on their way to Germany to bomb targets. The weather was nice and clear and from an altitude of 7000 meters the fighters discovered a German troop train. They let themselves down. The Mustangs, four or five of them, were brought into position one after the other and dived down from the German border to shell the train longitudinally. With a hellish noise they roared over the train, sowing death and destruction. Anti-aircraft guns were installed on the train in front and behind, but the soldiers did not have the time to put them in position. In a panic, they jumped off the train and into the roadsides. But the Mustangs made another turn and repeated the shelling several times. Then they disappeared. The consequences were terrible. There were many dead and wounded. A nurse who wanted to offer help was turned away. The Germans themselves took care of the removal of the dead and wounded to hospitals. The soldiers who were not seriously wounded were marched to Oldenzaal, where they were received in the school of the Franciscan sisters on gasthuisstraat. The train was towed to Germany by a locomotive from Gildehaus a day later. But this locomotive was also shot at by Allied fighter planes and also destroyed. After most of the havoc at the disaster site was cleared, local residents found a letter from the commander, which showed that the soldiers came from France. They probably went on leave to their homeland to be deployed on another front.

Stichting Historische Kring Losser