Joël Stoppels Battlefield Tours

Joël Stoppels Battlefield Tours De tours zijn geschikt voor alle leeftijden. Visiting battlefields from any conflict is both a fascinating and moving experience.
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Battlefield Tours is gespecialiseerd in het geven van rondleidingen over de bevrijding van Nederland en Europa in de Tweede Wereldoorlog en neemt u mee naar de meest indrukwekkende locaties! Soldiers who fought those wars left behind a legacy; their name on a war memorial, an experience passed down to the family or a faded photograph in a frame. How do we understand the significance of that legacy

and how do we understand what the battlefields mean to us now? These are all questions we regularly ask on Battlefield Tours and they are at the heart of what we do: myself and my team of Specialist Battlefield Guides of The International Guild of Battlefield Guides are there to help you decipher that legacy, and understand a past that touched us all; whether it relates to the sandy beaches of Normandy or the concrete walls that once surrounded Berlin.

“The Germans used to come over at night with the bombers and do some damage. The next night they came over again and I j...
03/07/2025

“The Germans used to come over at night with the bombers and do some damage. The next night they came over again and I just got out of my trench. I couldn't stop in. Of course, that's the most dangerous place to be! However, a sergeant came up, he says, "What are you doing out of your trench?" I replied, "I just can't stop in!" So the sergeant then said, "Here, just a minute". He went and got something. "Here, drink that!" Now, I didn't know what it was, but I drank it and he had to take it off me. "Don't drink it all!" he said. And I didn't know, but it was whisky! And it made me really drunk! But, it had done me the world of good, because I went down in my trench and slept all night”

Private Ronald Ritson, Major E.R. July 1944

Read more 👉 https://bbc.in/2UYL7UV

📸 Picture: Royal Signals despatch riders wash and shave in slit trenches at 69th Brigade HQ 50th Division, 13 June 1944.

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03/07/2025

In June and July 1944, the Canadians could hardly move without meeting with stubborn resistance from German divisions. Fierce fighting ensued, and costly for both sides in human lives and in material.

Where the Americans ended up in July 1944, was the so-called Bocage of Normandy. The terrain was difficult thanks to the...
03/07/2025

Where the Americans ended up in July 1944, was the so-called Bocage of Normandy. The terrain was difficult thanks to the dense hedgerows, whose small, impenetrable foliage only miltiplied the impossible task of getting through it. The hedges were drained by a network of sunken roads, often 1.5 m below general ground level. These sunken paths 'irrigated' the landscape and allowed the German soldiers, who were under constant aerial threat, to move around unseen and launch undetected attacks. Each field was a small fortress to be conquered. With machine guns and heavy artillery placed at the corners, the Germans always allowed the Americans to advance to the middle of the field before opening fire on what was essentially a sitting target. The GIs called the middle of the field 'the point of no return' as there was no longer any question of going back.

Source: Objective Saint-Lo by Georges Bernage.

📸 Picture: Two US troops, possibly artillery observers judging by their binoculars catch up on their sleep and eat.

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At daybreak of July 1, 1944 all German resistance had definitely come to an end in the northern part of the Cotentin pen...
02/07/2025

At daybreak of July 1, 1944 all German resistance had definitely come to an end in the northern part of the Cotentin peninsula. Around 10,000 prisoners had been captured in Cherbourg and 6,000 more in La Haque during the fighting of the last days (June 27-30). At the end of June it was quite clear that the Germans had completely lost all hope of driving the Allies back to the sea. But the capture of the Cotentin did not break the German fighting power in Normandy for the time being. Hard fighting was to follow among the hedgerows until the end of July 1944.

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Allied tanks were given air intake and exhaust vents to allow them to come ashore from shallow water. Tanks needed to co...
02/07/2025

Allied tanks were given air intake and exhaust vents to allow them to come ashore from shallow water. Tanks needed to cover up the large air vents on their rear decks. This was done by adding large sheet metal vents for air intake and exhaust.

These vents, officially called "fording stacks" not only provided air flow to the engine, but were sealed to prevent water from seeping into the engine compartment. Once on shore the tank crew could pull the attachment pins and these vents would fall off.

📸 Picture: Canadian tank crews removing vents from their M10 tank destroyer in the Normandy beachhead, June 1944.

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On June 29, 1944, the 11th Armoured Division managed to get tanks in the key positions at Hill 112, the height that sepa...
01/07/2025

On June 29, 1944, the 11th Armoured Division managed to get tanks in the key positions at Hill 112, the height that separated the Odon Valley from that of the Orne. They repelled the attacks of SS Panzer divisions. At 11:00 am the SS commander Wilhelm Bittrich was ordered to start the attack, this attack started early in the afternoon. According to Germans, a number of successes on the British are booked at Gavrus where a number of British tanks were knocked out. But the British 15th Scottish Division, heavily supported by artillery fire and support from naval ships, fought against the 9th and 10th SS Divisions that night with resounding success. 38 German tanks were knocked out and the SS-Frundsberg was driven back to its starting position. The effect on the morale of the two SS Panzer divisions was enormous. Because of limited information, the British Lieutenant General Dempsey decided to withdraw the 11th Armored Division, fearing a large-scale attack on the other flank. The Germans quickly occupied Hill 112. It turned out to be a disastrous mistake. It would now take much more time and lifes to recapture Hill 112 than could be saved by this retreat. After a fresh attack by the 11th Panzer Corps was repulsed the following day, General Montgomery ceased the offensive during Operation Epsom. The VIIIth Corps had lost just over 4,000 men in five days. More than half of them were from the 15th Scottish Division, who had no doubt proved their courage.

📸 Picture: Infantry of 8 Rifle Brigade (Motor), 11th Armoured Division, move forward cautiously near Eterville, Normandy, 29 June 1944.

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01/07/2025

🎥☕🚿Notes from Normandy: Engineers capture a German portable tea wagon and transform it into their own refreshment stand (Rommels Tea wagon); soldiers enjoy a shower from a makeshift device in the field

After the 2nd Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders captured a bridge over the river Odon at Tourmeauville on June 26, 1944 th...
01/07/2025

After the 2nd Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders captured a bridge over the river Odon at Tourmeauville on June 26, 1944 the 11th Armoured Division pushed southwest, reaching Bretteville-sur-Laize less than a dozen miles from Cean. Their next objective was to be Hill 112, the height which separated the Oden Valley from that of the Orne. On 28 June 1944, after a series of running battles, the Sherman tanks of the 23rd Hussars made it onto the heights but further progress was blocked by German Tiger tanks on the reverse slope. Artillery and aircraft joined in unsuccessful attempts to dislodge the German tanks. General O’ Conner, fearing that further progress might endager his lines of communication, ordered his tanks to stay put, making 112 the most advanced point reached during operation Epsom. Meanwhile other battalions of the 15th Scottish Infantry Division had headed along the Odon to Gavrus, to secure the bridges there, before retreating northwards to link up with the 46th Infantry Brigade at Grainville. This effectively trapped the Germans in this sector in a pocket and the ensuing battle was a merciless confrontation. Some 30 tanks belonging to the German 21st Panzer Division were destroyed around Mouen and Verson, most of them falling victim to Allied tanks or to the ferocious tank-busting Hawker Typhoon. On June 29, 1944 the weather improved and the British prepared to meet the German counter-attack. Meanwhile, Hi**er informed his entourage that the German general Friedrich Dollmann would be tried at court martial for this lack of command during the battle of Cherbourg. Having been warned, he died on June 28 in dubious conditions. Officially, he died as a result of a heart attack, but other sources (such as his chief of staff, General Pemsel) mention poison su***de. He was replaced by General Paul Hausser.

📸 Picture: A casualty is brought back to a universal carrier which is being used to evacuate wounded, 49th (West Riding) Division, Operation 'Epsom', 27 June 1944.

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SOURCE OF STRENGTHWhence comes our strenght to live and fight,And face monotony of war?What changes doubtful dawn to lig...
30/06/2025

SOURCE OF STRENGTH

Whence comes our strenght to live and fight,
And face monotony of war?
What changes doubtful dawn to light?
And gives us will to do yet more?

The choking dust, the burning heat.
The ever-present threat of death;
The stench, the blood, no quiet retreat,
All threaten our desire for breath.

Then comes the balm, the healing cup
To smooth away the lines of hate,
The little note that cheers us up
And tell us 'courage dear, we wait'.

The news from home, those precious lines,
From loved ones many miles away,
Instils our weary, tattered minds
With courage for another day.

G.H. Adlam, June 1944

📸 Picture: Captain E.N. Frost of The North Nova Scotia Highlanders, whose hand grenades are ready for use as he writes a letter home from his slit trench in Normandy, France, 22 June 1944. Canadian Archives of Canada, a136396-v8.

Source: Rhyme and Reason, A souvenir Volume of Verse by Canadian Soldier - Poets (February 1945).

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“As the artillery lifted, it was our turn to advance with our infantry, and the German machine guns opened up. Their bul...
30/06/2025

“As the artillery lifted, it was our turn to advance with our infantry, and the German machine guns opened up. Their bullets rattled harmlessly off our sides like jack-hammers, but wreaked havoc on the soldiers of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, killing many and forcing the remainder to go to ground, leaving us to advance on our own. We blasted with our Sherman tank every hedgerow with our own machine guns and high-explosive rounds to clear any cover that could be used by enemy machine-gun teams and anti-tank gunners, cutting down any German soldier who tried to make a run for it as we drove deeper into their defensive positions”

Captain David Render, June 26, 1944 (Launch operation Epsom)

Source: Tank Action: An Armoured Troop Commander’s War 1944–45 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016)

📸 Picture: Tanks of 4th Armoured Brigade with infantry of 15th (Scottish) Division near Cheux during Operation 'Epsom', 26 June 1944.

The great British offensive in Normandy, Operation Epsom, was finally carried out on June 26, 1944. The main phase of Op...
29/06/2025

The great British offensive in Normandy, Operation Epsom, was finally carried out on June 26, 1944. The main phase of Operation Epsom of what Field Marshal Montgomery called the "confrontation" began with heavy artillery and naval shelling. After a night of heavy rain, the clouds were so low that hardly any flights could be made. The Scots of the 15th Division advanced quickly. When someone was shot in the pale-yellow corn, his comrades marked his position so that the caretakers could find him. They stabbed the wounded rifle upright into the ground with a bayonet and hung his helmet on it. An observer noted that these landmarks looked "like strange mushrooms emerging at random places in the cornfield."

There was fierce fighting in several villages, especially in Cheux, where the Glasgow Highlanders lost a quarter of their soldiers in one day. In Saint-Manvieu on the left flank, the 43rd Wessex Division repelled attacks from the SS Panzer Division "Hi**erjugend". The Royal Scots Grays knocked out four German Panther tanks that suddenly emerged from a forest. The Grays, who had been added to a newly arrived 43rd Division brigade, "were looked at by our infantry. This was clearly their first fight and they did everything by the book: they blacked their faces, removed their rankings and whispered". But the two divisions proved to be a lot more effective than the veterans. By sunset, the 15th Scottish had almost reached the Odon in the densely wooded valley. The congested roads, heavy rain and confusion delayed the operation enormously. The next few days there would be bloody fighting in bad weather conditions.

📸 Picture: Infantry of 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, 15th (Scottish Division), advance through waist-high corn behind a Churchill tank of 9th Royal Tank Regiment at the start of Operation 'Epsom', 26 June 1944.

27/06/2025

🎥 After the U.S. troops landed on Utah Beach on 6 June 1944, the Germans blocked the road to Cherbourg. Montebourg was conquered after fierce fighting and was almost completely destroyed in the process. The Americans decided to isolate Cherbourg by cutting off the Cotentin peninsula. On 18 June 1944, they reached Barneville on the west coast of the Cotentin. Approximately 40.000 Germans were closed in ⬇️

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Our Story

Visiting World War 2 battlefields around Europe is a fascinating and moving experience. Soldiers who fought the war left behind a legacy; their name on a war memorial, an experience is passed down to the family or a faded photograph in a frame. How do we understand the significance of that legacy and how do we understand what the battlefields mean to us now? These are all questions we regularly ask on Battlefield Tours and they are at the heart of what we do: myself and the team of Battlefield Guides of The International Guild of Battlefield Guides are there to help you decipher that legacy, and understand a past that touched us all; whether it relates to the sandy beaches of Normandy or the concrete walls that once surrounded Berlin. Battlefield Tours tells you the story behind the liberation of Europe.