Battlefield Tours Zeeland

11/01/2025

📺 Ooggetuigenverhaal Bert Sandee
Afgelopen jaar zijn in opdracht van het Bevrijdingsmuseum Zeeland vele ooggetuigenverhalen vastgelegd door Studio Haak en Visser uit Middelburg. Omroep Zeeland heeft inmiddels al veel van deze indrukwekkende verhalen uitgezonden.

Deze week was het verhaal van Bert Sandee te zien. Bert was elf jaar oud toen de oorlog uitbrak en groeide op vlak bij de strategisch belangrijke Sloedam. Hij maakte van dichtbij mee hoe zijn familie moest vluchten, hoe hun boerderij werd bezet door Duitse troepen, en hoe ze de bevrijding van Zeeland beleefden. Zijn verhaal laat niet alleen de harde realiteit van de oorlog zien, maar ook momenten van menselijkheid en hoop.

Bekijk hieronder het hele verhaal 👇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf0B4IsGC6U

09/01/2025

Als er één plek in onze gemeente is waar lokale verhalen van oorlog en bevrijding samenkomen, dan is dat wel het Bevrijdingsmuseum Zeeland in Nieuwdorp. Speciaal voor ‘80 jaar Slag om de Schelde’ opent het museum gratis haar deuren voor inwoners van de gemeente Borsele. Zaterdag 18 januari is de eerste van twee open dagen. Reserveer snel (gratis) tickets!

Om drukte te voorkomen, vragen we bezoekers vooraf e-tickets te reserveren. Dat kan via de speciale pagina op de website van het Bevrijdingsmuseum Zeeland: https://tickets.bevrijdingsmuseumzeeland.nl/nl/opendag-gemeente-borsele/tickets.

Zijn de beschikbare tickets vergeven? Op woensdag 19 maart 2025 is er een tweede kans om het museum gratis te bezoeken. Tickets voor deze dag zijn beschikbaar vanaf 1 maart!

01/01/2025

24/12/2024

Een virtuele kaars voor George Roney.

24/12/2024

24/12/2024

Het front in de Ardennen ( rondom Bastogne ) 24-12-1944 ( project '44.ca )

08/11/2024

Bij werken langs de IJzerdijk in Diksmuide heeft een aannemer restanten gevonden van een Belgische soldaat uit de Eerste Wereldoorlog. En dat gebeurt niet…

06/11/2024

03/11/2024

03/11/2024

02/11/2024

During the morning of November 2, 1944 No. 48 Commando captured Zoutelande where No. 47 passed through them to assault the final major German battery, the four 150 mm guns four kilometres west of Vlissingen. The only approach was over an anti-tank ditch, then across some 2,000 metres of open country. They suffered heavy casualties. Two troops managed to work forward to the battery but Germans near the anti-tank ditch cut them off from the remainder of their unit. By nightfall the position by the anti-tank ditch had been cleared but every troop leader in the Commando had been wounded. Next morning the commando’s captured the battery, silencing the last guns which had made the landing beaches at Westkapelle a misery for the unsung members of the supporting units who worked there.

📸 Picture: German prisoners of war in Westkapelle are escorted to the beach by commandos from 41 Royal Marine Commando.

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02/11/2024

Monument onthuld in westkapelle bij herdenking van 80 jaar bevrijding

Met de officiële onthulling van het monument heeft Westkapelle herdacht dat het dorp op 1 november 1944 werd bevrijd.

01/11/2024

Four hours after the first landing at Flushing on November 1, 1944. Three troops of Royal Marines Commandos of No 4 SS Brigade, together with No 4 (Belgian) and No 5 (Norwegian) troops of No 10 (IA) Commando, commanded by Peter Laycock were due to touch down on the west coast of the Island near Westkapelle. The odds against Infatuate II, as the operation was called, were high but so were the stakes.

Success would speed the opening of the harbor of Antwerp and shorten the war. Around the rim of the Island, the Germans had constructed a series of coast defense batteries armed with weapons ranging from 22cm guns deadly to landing craft. The heavy guns of the battleship Warspite and the monitors Roberts and Erebus would engage the main German batteries before the landings.

No. 41 Commando’s touched down at 10:10 AM on the north shoulder of the gap. Twenty minutes later, the remainder negotiated the gap in Buffalo Amphibious Vehicles, dismounted and attacked Westkapelle supported by Flail Tanks of the 1st Lothian and Border Horse. In an hour they had cleared the village and found two nearby batteries unoccupied and under water. South of the gap, 48 Commando suffered casualties from artillery fire as they came shore. Swiftly they captured a radar station, then attacked the 120mm battery which had run out of ammunition. Its garrison was in no mood to surrender and beat off the first assault with machine-gun fire.

A second attack which followed with air strikes, shelling by Roberts and the artillery, convinced the Germans to change their minds. The battery surrendered with about 100 prisoners. By the end of November 3, 1944 the German resistance between Vlissingen and Westkapelle was broken. A few days later, on 8 November, the fighting on Walcheren came to an end.

📸 Picture: This LCT has just beached on the island of Walcheren at Westkapelle, the most western point of the island, during the final phase of the battle to free the Belgian port of Antwerp. Note the badly damaged buildings and sea defences in the background. IWM A 26268.

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01/11/2024

In the early hours of November 1, 1944, the soft rumble of 20 assault landing craft departing Breskens Harbor grew into a full roar as they set out across the Scheldt toward Flushing (Vlissingen), 5.5 kilometers away. At 4:45 a.m., artillery fire began, targeting port defenses and nearby German batteries. By 5:40 a.m., the artillery shifted to the flanks, clearing the way for the beach assault. In the pitch darkness, No. 4 Commando and French troops from No. 10 Inter Allied Command landed, swiftly overtaking German anti-tank guns and pillboxes before any defensive fire could begin.

Soon after, German defenses came to life as 20mm Flak cannons and machine guns swept the beach. Despite intense fire, the commandos pushed forward, followed closely by the 4th Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and the rest of the 155th Brigade. Fierce street fighting ensued in Flushing’s outskirts and port areas, with local resistance joining the battle. Clearing German bunkers and fortifications was especially challenging, with Typhoon air support from 84 Group and artillery proving essential.

📸 British troops landing on Walcheren at dawn, November 1, 1944. This photo shows soldiers advancing along the waterfront near Flushing, with shells bursting ahead.

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