Adventure walk in the hands of
Veteranen Valkenburg

by Jos Rodenburg

Veterans Valkenburg. Photo Jo van Aken

The foundation Veteranen Valkenburg e/o (SVV) has been asked to act as facilitator for the adventure walk. Jos Smeets conceived and elaborated the points of this walk. It became a tour along 20 points where eyewitnesses tell their story about what they have seen or experienced at that place. Those points are described on the following pages. The veterans’ mission statement kept changing all the time as Sept. 13 approached. The intention had been for NATRES or the 13th Brigade to provide personnel to escort the school youth. They had no time during that period. It was finally decided that the schools would come with their own escorts. After long delays, the schools were invited to participate. But alas, here too fate struck. Since the request was submitted to the schools way too late, they were told that they could no longer fit our request into their curricula at very short notice. This led to the following situation: there were no supervisors and no school children. What to do?
Meanwhile, the permit had been applied for. Much back and forth calling and talking. Meanwhile, dealing with personnel changes at the municipality which led to minor delays and especially to answering questions already asked again. But this too was eventually settled.
Meanwhile, preparations went on as usual despite the fact that there were no supervisors and school youth. This of course raises the question does it still make sense to continue since the intended objective of informing school youth does not hold up.
It is decided to continue. Looking at what the possibilities still are, the funds are redistributed. Fortunately, one school came forward with 45 students. The veterans of the SVV who signed up, some 17 in all, gather on the Sept. 13 at the haunt club Pub Henry VIII. Here the latest revisions to the adventure walk are communicated. Then they go to the assigned points where at some points re-enactors prepare the static display. With a slight delay, the adventure walk begins with a raid by Americans (re-enactors) in the Nicolaas and Barbara Church where they ask those present for help in liberating Valkenburg. The “help” troops go to assigned points where eyewitnesses tell their stories. The veterans man the point and take care of order and cleanliness. From 3 p.m. the long-awaited convoy with 80 old American vehicles from the 2nd World War enters Valkenburg. The veterans’ task is over and they retire to their haunt club.

| resistance in Valkenburg | genocide of the Jews in Limburg | genocide of the Romani in Limburg and elsewhere | Germans killed in action in Valkenburg-Houthem |