Maasfront
On 30 October 1944, Waalwijk was liberated by the 51st (Highland) Division of Major General Tom Rennie, however the Scottish troops did not stay long. Immediately after the liberation of the Oostelijke Langstraat on 5 November, they left for the De Peel region. The Allied advance came to a standstill at the Bergsche Maas canal. The new Front became the responsibility of the First Canadian Army and both Canadian and Polish units took turns staying in the various towns and villages that winter, including the Langstraat.

Billeting
On 20 February 1945, the 2nd Armoured Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Stanisław Koszutski took over the Kaatsheuvel-Waalwijk sector. The soldiers were housed in schools and other larger buildings, but also in private homes. An officer from the battalion staff (a unit of just over 800 men) that was at that time in Waalwijk, found out who wanted to house the soldiers and then divided them.

A little bit of home
For the ordinary soldier, shelter with ordinary civilians was a godsend. For a moment, they could maintain the illusion that they were not soldiers, for a moment they felt what it was like to be home again. For the civilians, it was a nice way to show how grateful they were to the liberators. In the words of a Waalwijker: They are good soldiers and (…) highly regarded by the civilians.’ But there were also material advantages for the hosts. The people where the Polish soldiers were billeted were mostly not very well off. When the soldiers returned from the Front, they received an extra ration of coal, a whole bag full, for a few days. This is of course was shared with the family where they were staying. Friendships, and sometimes even relationships, often developed from this stay. And when the Polish troops left the Langstraat for the last time at the end of February 1945, the farewell was full of melancholy. It's therefore not surprising that after the war more than 1000 veterans returned to the Netherlands to start a new life there.