Senior Editor: Helen Fanthorpe
Managing Editor: Carine Tracanelli
Proofreader and Indexer: Stewart Wild
Head of Production: Dan May
DTP: Pradeep Thapliyal
Design: Slawek Krajewski
Cover Design: Nicola Erdpresser
Picture Editor: Aude Vauconsant
Cover Photo Research: Tom Smyth
Cartography: Katie Bennett
Liberation Route Europe credits
Chairwoman: Victoria van Krieken
Managing Director: Rémi Praud
Program Manager: Peter Kruk
Project and Communications Manager: Scott Durno
Project Assistant: Roxane Biedermann
Historical Advisors: Jory Brentjens, Jan Szkudliński, Joël Stoppels, Carlo Puddu
Strategic Partner: vfonds
First edition 2019
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-178-919-430-2
The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the accuracy and currency of all the information in Rough Guides Travel the Liberation Route Europe, however, they can accept no responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result of information or advice contained in the guide.
We’ve gone to a lot of effort to ensure that Rough Guides Travel the Liberation Route Europe is accurate and up-to-date. However, if you feel we’ve got it wrong or left something out, we’d like to know. Please send your comments with the subject line “Rough Guides Travel the Liberation Route Europe Update” to mail@uk.roughguides.com
Nick Inman is a travel writer who specializes in France (where he lives) and Europe in general. Writing this book gave him an opportunity to do research into the wartime service of his late father, David Inman, who enlisted in the summer of 1943, two months before his eighteenth birthday. In January 1945, he was posted to the Netherlands for service in the Royal Artillery. He was initially stationed at Nijmegen and in April his division took part in the liberation of Arnhem and Ede. Following the defeat of Germany, his unit guarded a refugee camp. He spent the aftermath of the war in Trieste and then in Gaza, where he was promoted to sergeant, before being demobbed in September 1947. Nick would like to dedicate this book to him.
Joe Staines is a freelance editor and author specializing in art, culture and history. Joe worked at Rough Guides from 1999 to 2012. He has a keen interest in World War II. His mother, the actress Pauline Letts, took part in an ENSA tour of newly liberated France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the winter of 1944, as part of the cast of the West End play A Soldier for Christmas.
Nick Inman: This book is the result of teamwork. It took shape through discussions with Rémi Praud at LRE, my co-writer Joe Staines (always to be relied on for his eclectic knowledge and perceptive ideas) and the team at Rough Guides – Agnieszka Mizak, Carine Tracanelli and Helen Fanthorpe. Our collective challenge was to explain the Liberation (past) and Liberation Route (present) in the clearest possible way. The hard task of managing and editing the book was undertaken by Helen Fanthorpe, exemplary in her dedication to the project. Katie Bennett helped us translate complicated instructions into clear maps. I’d also like to thank James Overton for sharing his knowledge of Sicily with me; John Dixon for helping me understand military organization; the staff of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for their help in documenting an important aspect of the Liberation; and Scott Durno, Jory Brentjens and Carlo Puddu who contributed their expertise when and where needed.
Joe Staines: Thanks to my co-author Nick Inman for many stimulating exchanges about World War II, and to Jory Brentjens and Jan Szkudliński for advice about the Netherlands and Poland respectively. Thanks to all those at Rough Guides involved in creating the book, especially to Helen Fanthorpe for her diligent and supportive editing.