Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Battle for the Roer Triangle

Battle for the Roer Triangle - Describes the backdrop, the events and unfolding of Operation "Blackcock", a British offensive to take the Roermond-Sittard-Heinsberg triangle in January 1945 during World War II.

The fighting was fierce and both Dutch and German civilians took heavy losses as most of the fighting was on their farms. Allied and German military losses were also high. The site notes, "Operation Blackcock was without any doubt a success for the allies since all the objectives of the operation were met. The German divisions were thrown out of the Roer Triangle with exception of the area immediately south of Roermond." This then cleared the way for the invasion of Germany and the beginning of the end of the European portion of World War II.

The site is listed at DMOZ as However, it is redirecting to If you have trouble with the link, try the first address as it is possible the site creator will actually move this content to the paid domain.

From the site:

This digital monument is dedicated to Operation "Blackcock", which was named after the Scottish black male grouse, and was the code name for clearing the Roermond-Sittard-Heinsberg triangle by the 2nd British Army in January 1945. The objective was to drive the German Army back across the river Rur and Wurm and move the frontline further into Germany. The operation was carried out under command of the XII Corps by three divisions, the 7th Armoured Division (better known as the "Desert Rats"), the 52nd Lowland Division and the 43rd Wessex Division ("Wessex Wyverns"). The operation is relatively unknown despite the sometimes fierce battles that were fought for each and every village and hamlet within the "Roer Triangle". Against a most determined enemy. And during extreme winter conditions.


Har Gootzen said...

Thank you for naming my site in your Blog. The URL is actually Soon the content of my site wil be reduced because I will publish it in a book (scheduled May 2006)

Success with your blog.
Har Gootzen

Miland said...

You are welcome. I am always glad to highlight good sites. does not host your site though. Typing it in redirects to You probably should consider getting paid hosting so you can actually have your content at

Best wishes,