Battlefield Blog

Yesterday was one of those magical tours. With his son and wife we followed in the footsteps of Flight Engineer Alcock of 196 Sqdn RAF. He flew 4 missions in a Short Stirling to Arnhem, two towing a glider and two resupply mission. They kindly supplied me with a copy of his flight log and that became the start for my research. He flew with Flight Sergeant Sargant, not a very common name so that helps immediately to find more information about flights and crew. On the website of the UK National Archives you can download the Operations Record Book…

This is a non exhaustive and probably incomplete list of upcoming 80th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden events that are planned in the 101st Airborne Area, between Eindhoven and Veghel: Air Assault demonstration near Veghel: On 17 September near Veghel the 101st Airborne division and the Dutch Air Mobile brigade will perform a massive air assault demo. This is followed by a parachute jump from the Round Canopy Parachute . More info and the link to order your free tickers here (site in Dutch so Google Translate required): https://www.meierijstad.nl/Alle_onderwerpen/Bestuur_en_organisatie/Airborne_Air_Assault Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1139749883898632 There is a lot more info on events around…

This battlefield tour was a nice change of pace after a number of tours with small private groups. With no less than 75 men and women from the Dutch Army Reserves we visited the Hell's Highway area between Son en Breugel and Veghel. The day began in Son near the bridge across the Wilhelmina canal where we began with an introduction about Operation Garden and continued with the attempt to capture the bridge. The nearly successful German counter attack by the 107th Panzer Brigade on the 19th of September was (of course) also discussed. Son Bridge is near We continued…

This year I'm expanding my work area a bit to include the Hurtgenwald and the Battle of the Bulge. After reading and studying for months it's time to leave the safety of the office and go out and see the battlefields in real life. Boots on the ground is always very important to figure out exactly where to park the coach or minivan, how to walk to the monument or battlefield and to get a better idea of the terrain. Armed with a to-do list which should fit in a single day we (me and my son) set out from…

Today we visited the Arnhem area in the footsteps of Lance Sergeant Hugh Lake from 9th Company Field Engineers / 1st Airborne Division who was awarded a DCM for his actions. We began on the landing zones and then followed the footsteps of his 3rd Platoon to both the Recce Ambush and the Hotel Wolfheze. Hugh Lake, used with permission Then we visited his former positions which were around the Sonnenberg during the siege of Oosterbeek phase. The field he looked out over is almost exactly as it was in 1944 and the treeline still has many trees that bear…

On October 23rd 1944 the village of Sint-Michielsgestel was liberated by British troops of the 7th Battalion Black Watch, part of the 51st Highland Division. The attack was part of Operation Pheasant and the men were approaching from the direction of Schijndel, and being driven in Kangaroo Armoured Personnel Carriers (basically Sherman tanks without turrets) they made rapid progress until they reached the village. There they came under small arms and mortar fire, they debussed from the Kangaroo's and proceeded on foot through the village under heavy fire. Their objective was the bridge across the Dommel river however when they…

On request I also do a Bastogne / Battle of the Bulge tours and I was asked by a group of friends, which had been on an Arnhem tour last year, to do a two day tour. Day 1 We spent the better part of two days on the battlefield visiting different point around the perimeter, beginning at the Mardasson memorial where we discussed the strategic aims of the operation as well as a quick overview of what happened during the siege. The group also visited the excellent Bastogne War Museum which is currently in the process of expanding another…

In 1991 I moved to Arnhem and in 1992 I participated in my very first Airborne march. This is the annual commemorative march around Oosterbeek, the biggest one-day walking event in the world with up to 30.000 people participating. Since that very first time I only missed one march, making a total of 26 marches up to 2020. Unfortunately in that year the Airborne (as we call it) had been canceled due to the Covid restrictions. For this year the organizers quickly realized that a normal Airborne wasn't possible but they didn't want to cancel it outright. The solution was…

On September 11th I was the guide on a Hell's Highway bus tour, the tour was organized by Joel Stoppels Battlefield tour with which I've worked in the past. With 32 participants in the bus we had a great turnout and with perfect weather we set out from Eindhoven towards the bridge at Son. Our next two stops all had to do with the Battle at Best, first we visited the Robert Cole memorial. Cole was killed in the field bordering the woods on September 18th 1944, he would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Carentan…