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Maandag 09:00 - 05:00 Dinsdag 09:00 - 05:00 Woensdag 09:00 - 17:00 Donderdag 09:00 - 05:00 Vrijdag 09:00 - 05:00

Joël Stoppels Battlefield Tours

Name: Joël Stoppels Battlefield Tours
Address: Calvijnstraat 4, Groningen, 9746BE, NL
Telephone: +31502803684
Price range: ££
Rating: 5

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Nederland
Groningen
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.

14/09/2026

This afternoon I had the opportunity to speak on NPO Radio 1 – Villa VdB about Band of Brothers, 25 years after this remarkable series was first broadcast.

We talked about the enormous impact the series has had on interest in the Second World War, and of course about the men of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

For many people, Band of Brothers became much more than just a television series. It inspired a whole new generation to learn more about WWII and to visit the places where Easy Company and other units actually fought.

And the interview could simply take place right from my own office, surrounded by books and military history. 🎙️

Even 25 years later, the series continues to capture the imagination of people around the world. Great to have the opportunity to talk about its history and legacy on Dutch national radio this afternoon.

13/09/2026

The Allied drive continues… 🚌💨

Source: British Pathé

12/09/2026

On September 12, 1944, American troops of the 30th Infantry "Old Hickory" Division approached the city of Maastricht. Major-General Leland Hobbs wrote a letter to the mayor warning of the artillery shelling of Maastricht. Something they could prevent in Maastricht by ensuring that the German troops would leave the city. This letter was brought through the front line by Nicolas Beaurieux (a resistance fighter from Roclenge) at the risk of his own life.

His mission was successful and the Americans were told that there were hardly any German soldiers left in the city, the order for an artillery bombardment was withdrawn. The German commander who had to defend Maastricht noted on the evening of September 13, 1944 that Wyck had been liberated and that the Americans (of the 120th regiment of the Old Hickory) were already south of the ENCI. He feared to be surrounded the next day and left the city with his men in the evening via Bosscherweg and Smeermaas. Maastricht was spared of destruction and the loss of lives. After the war, Nic Beaurieux was honored for his brave deed with a certificate and the golden medal of the city of Maastricht.

📸 Picture: An army jeep with commander Walter Morris Johnson of the 117th Regiment of the US Army 30th Division ("Old Hickory") arrives in Wycker Brugstraat near the Meuse bridge in Maastricht, 13 September 1944. Collection of RHCL Maastricht, ref. nr. GAM 3701.

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12/09/2026

It is September 12, 1944, 10:00 am. The writer of the After Action Report of the US 117th Regimental Combat Team notes: "'A' Co reported now in Holland – We are the first American troops to reach Holland." An hour or so later, the village of Mesch on the Dutch-Belgian border in South Limburg was liberated. Due to the rapid Allied advance after D-Day in June 1944, the liberation of the Netherlands seems imminent. However, it will take another 8 months, including a hunger winter, until the whole of the Netherlands is liberated in May 1945.

Source: Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie and After Action Report of the US 117th Regimental Combat Team

📸 Picture: The only known photo of American soldiers in Mesch on September 12: a soldier looking for hidden Germans. (Source: Book The Liberation of Eijsden-Margraten in September 1944 (2015).

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11/09/2026

Twenty-five years ago today, the terrorist attacks on the United States destroyed the Twin Towers and claimed 2,977 lives. Among the victims were men whose lives had already been shaped by the Second World War.

Robert Grant Norton served as a US Navy Seabee, helping to build and maintain vital infrastructure in the Pacific. At 85, he became the oldest victim of the attacks when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.

Father Francis Grogan had served as a Navy sonar operator during the Battle of the Atlantic. He was aboard United Airlines Flight 175.

WWII-era Army veteran John Talignani died on Flight 93, while former B-24 pilot Norman Wahlstrom lost his wife and daughter aboard Flight 11.

Remembering them means remembering not only how they died, but the long and meaningful lives they lived before that morning.

📸 Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres / U.S. Navy, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

10/09/2026

The Germans launched the first V-1 flying bombs against London on 13 June 1944, one week after the Allied landings in Normandy. At the height of the campaign, more than one hundred V-1s a day were launched against south-east England. The main campaign from launch sites in northern France came to an end in early September 1944, as these areas were overrun by advancing Allied forces. However, V-1 attacks on Britain did not end there. Air-launched V-1s continued to be used, and in March 1945 a renewed campaign against London was launched from sites in the western Netherlands using extended-range V-1s.

10/09/2026

In the early part of September 1944, Geel was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting encountered by Commonwealth troops since they had left Normandy. The 50th (Northumbrian) Division and the 15th Scottish Division were both involved here in the forcing of crossings of the Albert Canal and the Meuse-Escaut Canal, necessary for the advance into the Netherlands. Some of the casualties they suffered were originally buried in a meadow near the centre of the commune, and some in the St. Dymphna civil cemetery; these graves were later moved into Geel War Cemetery. The cemetery contains 400 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, six of them unidentified. More this week about the battle of Geel.

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09/09/2026

On 9 September 2001, Band of Brothers premiered on HBO. Twenty-five years later, the story of Easy Company continues to inspire generations around the world. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the ten-part series brought the experiences of the men of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, to life.

From their training at Camp Toccoa to Normandy, Operation Market Garden, Bastogne and the final months of the war, it showed not only the battles they fought, but also the friendships, sacrifices and human cost of war.

For many of us, Band of Brothers was more than a television series. It sparked a lasting interest in the Second World War and inspired us to visit the places where these events took place.

As a battlefield guide, I still see that impact today. Visitors travel from across the world to walk in the footsteps of Easy Company and discover the stories behind the series. Today, we remember the real men whose experiences made Band of Brothers possible. Their story deserves to be told, remembered and passed on to future generations.

Which episode or moment from Band of Brothers has stayed with you the most?

08/09/2026

On September 10, 1944, heavy fighting erupted on Geel’s Market Square. The accounts of what exactly happened that evening differ, but one thing is certain: both the Sherwood Rangers with their Sherman tanks and the crew of a German Jagdpanther from 1./schwere Heeres Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559 were taken completely by surprise.

According to one version, the Jagdpanther managed to knock out a Sherman guarding the square, but was itself disabled when its track was hit. Unable to move, the crew set the vehicle on fire before abandoning it. The wreck blocked the entrance to the square until two Shermans dragged it into the nearby park. There it remained until 1946, when a scrap dealer finally cut it up. The fire had completely erased its vehicle number. This wartime photo was taken during Operation Market Garden—you can clearly spot the Allied Douglas C-47 Skytrains flying overhead.

Source: Autumn Gale by Jack Didden and Maarten Swarts and website 👉 Battle for the Locks

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Adres

Calvijnstraat 4
Groningen
9746BE

Openingstijden

Maandag	09:00 - 05:00
Dinsdag	09:00 - 05:00
Woensdag	09:00 - 17:00
Donderdag	09:00 - 05:00
Vrijdag	09:00 - 05:00

Telefoon

+31502803684

Website

http://www.battlefieldtours.nu/

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