This monument commemorates John Thorogood and Stanley Matthews, two crew members of a Sherman tank from the British 44th Royal Tank Regiment.
Erected by the community of Oud Rijsingen in gratitude to all British and American liberators of Sint-Oedenrode.
In the days following the Allied airborne landings in September 1944, the narrow liberated Corridor was attacked from multiple sides by German combat units.
On September 21, two British Sherman tanks from the 44th Royal Tank Regiment were deployed to support the advance of the American 101st Airborne Division towards the village of Olland.
Near Rijsingen, the lead tank came under fire from a German gun positioned just around the bend.
The tank took two direct hits and caught fire. The driver, Stanley Matthews, was killed. The other crew members managed to escape, but the tank commander, Lieutenant David Cohen, was wounded. Tank gunner John Thorogood was killed while trying to flee. Stanley and John were given a temporary grave near this spot and are now buried at the Commonwealth war cemetery in Uden.
The Sherman tank in the ditch along the Ollandseweg
In the battle that followed, several American and German soldiers were killed. Various farms in the area caught fire and were rebuilt after the war. The residents were evacuated. The inhabitants of Olland had to leave their homes and mostly moved to Boxtel, which was still occupied at the time. The residents on the Sint-Oedenrode side of the front were evacuated to the village of Sint-Oedenrode. It was not until the end of October that the residents could return to their largely destroyed neighbourhood.
The monument was designed by Louis Kleijne and unveiled by George Thorogood, John’s brother, on September 16, 1994, in the presence of many local residents and British and Dutch guests. The inscription reads: ‘Hun jonge leven hier gegeven’. In translation: ‘Their young lives given here.’
More information can be found in the book Proven Beyond Doubt, written by George Thorogood, John’s brother (Thorogood Publications 1995 / ISBN 0 9525394 03). See also page 72 in Brabant Bevrijd by Jack Didden & Maarten Swarts (Van Geyt Productions 1994 / ISBN 90 5327 064 7 paperback; ISBN 90 5327 088 4 hardcover).
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