X-Nico

unusual facts about Ruhr Valley



21st Army Group

The airborne formations were then to be relieved by armoured forces advancing rapidly northwards through Eindhoven and Nijmegen to Arnhem, opening the north German plains, and the industrial Ruhr Valley, to the Allies.

Bundesautobahn 40

It crosses the Dutch-German border as a continuation of the Dutch A67 and crosses the Rhine, leads through the Ruhr valley toward Bochum, becoming B 1 (Bundesstraße 1) at the Kreuz Dortmund West and eventually mergeing into the A 44 near Holzwickede.

Elan Valley Reservoirs

The lessons learned from the destruction of the Nant-y-Gro dam culminated in the 1943 Dam Busters raid when RAF Bomber Command used the same principles to breach the dams in the Ruhr Valley.

South Kirkby and Moorthorpe

The South Kirkby motto is 'Friendship, Unity & Progress', and the town has been twinned with Sprockhövel in the Ruhr Valley of Germany since 1981.

Upper Derwent Valley

The topographical similarity between the Upper Derwent Valley and the Ruhr Valley of Germany led to the dams being used as a practice environment for the Lancaster bombers of the 617 Dam Busters Squadron in 1943 before their attack on the Ruhr dams.


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