Netherlands vs Germany

Gomez double leaves Dutch in peril
Mario Gomez's two splendid first-half goals were enough for Joachim Löw's side to move within sight of the last eight, leaving the Dutch on the brink.

Germany's Atlantic Wall was the most ambitious military fortification program of World War II. Following its conquest of Western Europe, Germany had to defend some 5,000km of Atlantic coastline from the Spanish border to the Arctic Circle. The United States' entry into the war and the inevitability of an Anglo-American landing in Western Europe resulted in the fortification of this coastline along its entire length. Focusing on the northern Atlantic Wall in the Low Countries and Scandinavia, this title addresses the special defensive features and unique aspects of fortification in these countries, such as the early focus on fortifying Norway, due to early British commando raids; the greater use of turreted naval guns; and, the establishment of first-line Flak defences in the Low Countries to counter the Allied strategic bombing campaign. ...

Revised and updated, this map of Germany provides a physical base, with relief clearly shown by a system of layer colouring. It extends from Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the west to Poland and Czech Republic in the east, to the north is Denmark and the Baltic, with Switzerland and Austria to the south. The map also features communication detail, with road, rail and canal networks all shown. The map key is in English, French and German, and the scale is 16 miles to one inch. ...

Revised and updated, this map of Germany provides a physical base, with relief clearly shown by a system of layer colouring. It extends from Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the west to Poland and Czech Republic in the east, to the north is Denmark and the Baltic, with Switzerland and Austria to the south. The map also features communication detail, with road, rail and canal networks all shown. The map key is in English, French and German, and the scale is 16 miles to one inch.

Operation Market Garden (September 17–25, 1944) was an Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation of all time. The operation plan's strategic context required the seizure of bridges across the Maas (Meuse River) and two arms of the Rhine (the Waal and the Lower Rhine) as well as several smaller canals and tributaries. Crossing the Lower Rhine would allow the Allies to outflank the Siegfried Line and encircle the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland. It made large-scale use of airborne forces whose tactical objectives were to secure a series of bridges over the main rivers of the German-occupied Netherlands and allow a rapid advance by armoured units into Northern Germany.