Battle for the Belgian Canals

On September 6th 1944 the British Guards Armored division attacked across the Albert canal in Beringen. They were not expecting any significant German resistance and were hoping to be on the Belgian / Dutch border later that day. However the Germans were building a new defensive line behind that same Albert canal. It took four days of heavy fighting before a bridge across the next canal was captured, the now famous Joe’s Bridge across the Meuse-Escaut canal at Neerpelt.

In this tour we are going to follow the main line of advance of the Guards Armored division, starting at Beringen move to Beverlo and Heppen. We will then move forward towards Hechtel which took 5 days of heavy fighting to secure. We end this tour at Neerpelt where we will visit Joe’s Bridge and talk about the capture of the bridge and the subsequent German attempts to retake it.

Tour itinerary

Beringen Bridgehead
Beverlo
Heppen
Hechtel
Capture of Joe’s Bridge
German counterattacks at Joe’s Bridge

This tour takes around 8 hours.

Languages

This tour is available in English and in Dutch.

Pricing

We have a flat fee price for our tours:

Price for a full day private tour for 1 to 4 persons including transportation is €450.
For 5-8 persons I have to charge €620 to cover the rent of a large minivan.
Lunch and museum entrance is not included in the price.
For a group of more than 4 persons please visit my Groups page