During World War II, the Netherlands was the scene of five years of continuous air warfare between the Allied and the Nazis as the Netherlands lies en route from England to Germany and was designated and built up as the foremost line of Nazi air defence of Germany.
Also, in 1944 there was heavy land fighting during the largest Allied airborne attack of the WWII in the south and east of the country in 1944–45.
The Netherlands has over 3,900 cemeteries and memorials, the highest in absolute numbers and in density in the whole of Europe, according to the official national government committee for remembrance.
[8] If Allied war graves are present at a cemetery, a green identification plate is placed at the entrance carrying the text: Oorlogsgraven van het Gemenebest (Commonwealth War Graves) After launching Operation Barbarossa, the supply chain of metal from the Soviet Union to Nazi Germany collapsed.
[12] As a result of the destruction of this cultural heritage, many chose to memorialize the war with a carillon, often as a replacement for the one lost.