The best traffic-free bike rides around Loonse en Drunense Duinen

A bit of a desert area, loose sand, but easy to walk on

From the cycle path from Giersbergen to the Rustende Jager the sand dunes are clearly visible. Many unpaved footpaths and MTB routes also lead here.

A very beautiful area with good cycle paths.

Busy in the dunes Hundreds of Scottish soldiers gather around a small farm in the middle of the dunes at the end of 1944. Apparently this is an important place. But why exactly? A real hustle and bustle On the morning of Saturday 4 November 1944, Hoeve De Klinkert forms the heart of a range of activities. To start with, the café serves as the headquarters of the 152nd Brigade, which must liberate the western part of the current municipality of Heusden with its three battalions. But one of those battalions, the 5th Seaforth Highlanders, has also temporarily set up its headquarters there. At least as important is the arrival around noon of all kinds of heavy trucks that just fit on the narrow forest roads. The engineers They have bridge-building material with them. When the first phase of Operation Guy Fawkes is successful and Scottish foot soldiers, the infantry, are on the other side of the Channel, bridges must be built as quickly as possible so that tanks, guns and all other equipment can follow. For this purpose, the Allies used so-called Bailey bridges, named after the English engineer Donald Bailey. Such a bridge consisted of separate parts that could be put together in different compositions. An average Bailey bridge of 25 meters could be assembled by 40 men in three hours. Usually the job took longer. Hard work That afternoon, the first parts of a Class 40 bridge are assembled at De Klinkert. This designation indicates that the bridge can carry up to 40 tons. The colossus is built by the 280th Field Company. This is a unit of approximately 250 men. All their vehicles, and there are more than fifty of them, are parked around the farm. As soon as the infantry has a bridgehead over the drainage canal from 's-Hertogenbosch to Drongelen at the end of the afternoon, their work at the Duinweg begins. Further on, other units build three more Bailey bridges that night. It is now half past seven and pitch dark. In order not to make the enemy any wiser, only a few lamps are at the engineers' side. First, a bulldozer removes a section of the dike so that the bridge is a bit lower. Then the construction itself begins. It is not until the next morning that the bridge can be used by traffic. Sweaty, but satisfied, Major Clayton's men watch the first tanks disappear in the morning twilight in the direction of Drunen, over the new bridge, codenamed Wheat.

Nerves are running high. The last hours before a major attack are the worst. This also applies to the Scottish Highlanders who are preparing for the crossing of the Drainage Canal from 's-Hertogenbosch to Drongelen. It is Saturday 4 November 1944, a fresh and grey autumn day. The temperature fluctuates around nine degrees and there is a light wind. Soldiers of the 51st Highland Division arrive at various locations in the Loonse and Drunense Dunes at the end of the morning. The 5th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders has gathered around Giersbergen at the end of the morning. Lieutenant Colonel Walford's unit, over 800 men, has left Udenhout and is marching along the Rustende Jager to the hamlet. The soldiers are preparing for the upcoming operation. They hastily eat a so-called 'tiffin' meal', a light lunch. Weapons are checked, equipment checked and cartridges are distributed. The village on the northern edge of the dunes is a hive of activity for a while. At half past three the men march to the starting point. From the farm (now café) de Klinkert they walk over sandy paths to the wooded area just south of the canal dike. They arrive there an hour later. The thin canvas boats with which they are to cross are already ready, well camouflaged. Then the waiting begins. One of the Seaforths describes this episode very vividly: ‘We lay on the ground in the usual tense silence, waiting for the drumming of the guns. I remember a soldier in a ditch next to me. He was biting his lips and his hands were shaking. Then the first shells flew over us and somehow the tension was broken. He tightened the strap of his helmet, grinned at me, nodded in the direction of the explosions on the German side of the canal. ‘Exactly right!’ he said. It was then five past half four. The attack could begin."

Nice paved path along a dirt road. It can be quite busy here on weekends.

Very nice cycle paths on this route

Beautiful straight cycle path (Van Swinderenlaan) connects the Bosweg with the Oirschotsebaan