The images and the entire text used on this and all other USMBOOKS web pages are the copyrighted property of USM Inc.  Those images and the text may be used by others ONLY AFTER completion of a formal international licensing agreement and payment of a licensing fee! It is therefore, illegal for anyone to take any of the material found on USMBOOKS.com and use it for their own purposes without our written permission, irrespective of any excuse they may feel they have for doing so.

With the recent coverage of the 75th anniversary of the 1944 Market-Garden Operation in southern Holland focussing on the liberation of the southeastern part of the country, we would like to offer this rare immediate post-war World War II era photo book.

Oorlog en Herstel in Noord Limburg 1940 - 1950 (War and Recovery in North Limburg 1940-1950) is a commemorative photo book published by Dagblad voor Noord Limburg in Venlo, Holland in 1950.

This 9-1/4 x 12-1/8 inch, 250 or so page photo book (pages are not numbered) has page after page of photos not found in any other immediate post-war books. German Wehrmacht troops entering the country in May 1940 on foot and crossing rivers, spring 1940 battle damage, Dutch and German soldier graves, POWs in Deutsche Reichsbahn box cars, sandbags protecting historic and public buildings, resistance efforts and illegal, underground newspapers, removal of Dutch church bells for transport to Germany, cars pulled by horses or with gas generators, members of the Dutch Nazi Party the NSB, members of the SD or Sicherheitsdienst (Nazi Security Service), British Churchill tanks and American Sherman tanks, a pile of Nazi Iron Crosses, heavy artillery, citizens in hiding and on Red Cross transports, liberation and burial of civilian victims, Allied aerial photographs of destroyed bridges, Nazi POWs, civilians living in huts and bombed out buildings, children playing with left behind German and Allied ammunition, etc.

Eight pages of text at the start of this book tell the story of what happened in the Dutch province of Northern Limburg from 1939 through World War II, its liberation, and the rebuilding that took place there until 1950. The text touches on the mobilization of the Dutch army, the German invasion in May 1940, more than four years of German occupation, heavy battles in and around nearby Arnhem and Nijmegen in the fall of 1944, enormous tank battles in Venray and Overloon and subsequent liberation by American and British army troops. And, after the jubilation of the time around the liberation, the confrontation with the reality of destroyed housing, public buildings and infrastructure and the need for rebuilding (without any available supplies or building materials), returning refugees, searching for missing family members, and the lack of food.

Part of this area in southern Holland was liberated in the fall of 1944, but there were also cities and areas that were not freed until spring 1945.  Winter was extreme that year!

The last few pages show the enormous damage in the area after the battle was over and the efforts to rebuild slowly, while dealing with displaced and sick citizens (scurvy was a big problem). The last page in this nearly 70 year old book has information about the National War Museum in Overloon. This spectacular, museum which still exists today, was opened right on the battlefield and displayed many original artillery pieces, tanks and other military vehicles.

This is a First Edition of Oorlog en Herstel in Noord Limburg 1940 - 1950 printed in 1950, and NOT a later reprint. It is in nice used condition, no odor. Previous owner's name written on the front fly leaf.