Despite the fact that both Overloon and eventually Venray were taken by the Allies, the advance toward the bend of the Meuse near Venlo was postponed. This was due to the number of casualties the Allies had sustained and because troops were needed to secure more essential targets: the Scheldt estuary, leading to the vital port of Antwerp and the west of the province of North Brabant, in between Antwerp and the salient that had been established. The offensive was eventually resumed, and by early December the German bridgehead west of the Meuse was destroyed. Blerick (near Venlo) was liberated in the first days of December 1944; Venlo and other districts east of the Meuse were liberated on 1 March 1945 (during Operation Grenade). Some days before, Wehrmacht units had left the between Wassenberg (at the river Rur) and Venlo (at the river Meuse).
