Kangaroo Monument

The Kangaroo monument was erected in honour of the 101st Airborne Division that fought hard against the German occupiers here in September 1944. The Kangaroo is a reference to the division's call sign (radio name).

Behind the monument is a spacious villa from 1870, Huize Rustplaats, where doctor Kersemakers lived with his family. In the initial phase of Operation Market Garden, the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, supplemented by Engineers from the 326th Airborne Engineering Battalion, had been given the task of capturing and defending the four bridges over the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal and the Aa river so that ground troops could advance further towards Nijmegen and Arnhem. Doctor Kersemakers offered his house to use as a headquarters. After the war, the villa was renamed “Villa Klondike”, the call sign of the 501st Regiment.