Battlefield Blog

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…

Yesterday with my friend Edwin from Battlefield Discovery we visited the two nearby American Cemeteries to pay our respects and visit our adopted graves. (more…)

In late 2019 and early 2020 the Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek went through a big refit and when it was ready to open it couldn't because of Covid. The museum then briefly reopened in the fall of last year but I was not able to visit. Then was forced to closed again for months until, finally, this week when it could open it's doors again. (more…)

On the 17th of September 1944 at the start of Operation Market Garden C-47 "Chevelet" was heading towards the Netherlands, on board were ten pathfinders of the 101st Airborne division and five crewmembers. Their destination was drop zone A1 at Veghel where the pathfinders were to jump and then mark out the area for the 1st battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment which were to land there. (more…)