Piet Kruijff, head of the local Resistance, had been organising the evaders into safe houses in Ede. Soon there were over 80 men in the town and it was becoming so congested that he began housing men in Oud-Reemst as well. By the time of the evacuation an additional 40 men were there. At first it was hoped that the Allied offensive would be quickly resumed thus liberating the men. Tatham-Warter even made plans to carry out operations against the Germans when the 2nd Army began crossing the Rhine. However, in October Kirschen informed the Resistance that there were no plans to attack north of the Lower Rhine in the near future. As the presence of so many Allied evaders would place a great strain on the Resistance and expose the civilians hiding them to great risk, it was decided to evacuate the men as soon as possible.