Major General Robert E. Urquhart together with artist A. van Wordragen unveil the plaque for the ‘Remember September 1944’ monument in the square at Nassaustraat in September 1987.
An annual commemoration is held of all British servicemen and Arnhem civilians who were killed or injured during the fighting in Arnhem West in September 1944. That is roughly the area around Utrechtseweg, Onderlangs and Lombok, Heijenoord and Hoogstede-Klingelbeek. In memory of all these victims of the Battle of Arnhem, a monument, entitled ‘Remember September 1944’, has been erected on the square at Nassaustraat in the district of Lombok.
Major General Robert E. Urquhart thanks artist A. van Wordragen for the plaque for the ‘Remember September 1944’ monument on the square at Nassaustraat in September 1987
This monument was unveiled on 17 September 1987 by Major General Robert (Roy) E. Urquhart CB DSO, commander of the British First Airborne Division during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944.
At the unveiling by Major General Urquhart, only the bronze plaque standing on an easel was shown to the public. This plaque would some time later be attached to the famous concrete column on the square. The complete monument was facing the St Elisabeths Gasthuis and thus the city centre of Arnhem.
Major General Robert E. Uquhart after the unveiling with interested spectators.
The monument was designed by Arnhem artist and goldsmith Ad van Wordragen. The concrete standing column has a spear-shaped tip pointing skyward, on top of which is a bronze plaque, which is also spear-shaped. This plaque shows an image of a parachute descending over the traffic bridge over the Rhine near Arnhem, with the tower of the Eusebius church to the side. A cannon of the howitzer type used by the British First Airborne Division during the Battle of Arnhem is aimed at the whole. Below the plaque are two bronze bars bearing the texts: ‘Remember September 1944, Airborne West Arnhem, 17 September 1987, And: Unveilled by Major-General R.E. Urquhart C.B. D.S.O.’
Major-General Robert E. Uquhart gives a short speech before the unveiling of the plaque. Next to him the mayor of Arnhem Job Drijber.
Annually on the Friday afternoon before the Airborne commemoration weekend. The bronze used by van Wordragen for the plaque the artist had found immediately after the war in a destroyed part of the nearby St. Elisabeths Gasthuis. Thus, a tangible piece of Arnhem’s war past ended up in the monument. The monument stands in a stone paving of small cobblestones and clinkers surrounded by an enclosed fence.
In 2021, the monument was adopted by the pupils of Montessori College Arnhem on Utrechtseweg. An adoption officially recognised by the National 4 and 5 May Committee in The Hague. It is special that during the annual commemoration at the monument, the pupils of Montessori College Arnhem are the first to lay a wreath, symbolically representing the future as representatives of the youth. Literally ‘The Bridge to the Future’!