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Article by Jeroen Koppes
Published on April 26th, 2018

Battle for the river Elle

"And now, on 11 June 1944, I was alone with two other men from another company with very little ammunition, cut off and not sure what to do. We crept like cats from place to place, hoping to find our lines or at least other Germans with a leader among them. Stray shots, bad luck or the will of God, I’ll never know why, but by nightfall the others were dead. I found a place on the top of a rather high hedgerow, curled up with my machinegun and waited for something to happen. In the end I was fast asleep." Obergrenadier Martin Eichenseer of the 916. Grenadier Regiment about the battle for the Elle.

Article by Wilco Vermeer
Published on February 11th, 2017

First attack on the Waal Bridge, 17 September 1944

The capture of the various bridges across the rivers and canals in Mid-Holland was one of the most important assignments given to the three airborne divisions who were deployed during Market garden. Regarding the 82nd Airborne Division around Nijmegen, the railroad bridge across the Meuse at Grave, the bridges across the Meuse-Waal canal at Mook-Molenhoek/Katwijk and the railroad-traffic bridge across the Waal at Nijmegen.

Article by Wesley Dankers
Published on February 9th, 2017

Sabotaging heavy water in Norway

"We were not informed about production of heavy water in Vemork. We were not informed about the Germans wanting to use heavy water for the development of an atomic bomb. Before leaving England, we were told our action had the highest priority but we were not aware how great the influence could be on the outcome of the war." as Joachim Rönneberg and Birger Strömsheim declared in 1989. They belonged to a group of Norwegian commandoes who were involved in one of the most daring operations during World War Two: the attempt at sabotage of the production of heavy water in the Norwegian town of Vemork.

Article by Auke de Vlieger
Published on January 29th, 2017

Battle for Stalingrad

The German invasion of the Soviet Union had been a certainty for Adolf Hitler for a long time. Advancing to the east meant Lebensraum (space to live) for the Germans to him. Hitler had already described this idea in his political work Mein Kampf. In his opinion, Germany was overpopulated and the nation needed more territory. He wanted to find this Lebensraum in Poland and in the Soviet Union. The Bolshevists were his arch enemies and he therefore considered the Soviet Union a more important goal than Great Britain. The Germans lost the Battle of Britain but they opened a new front in the east nonetheless. This two-front war was to prove fatal for Germany later on.

Article by Wesley Dankers
Published on January 13th, 2017

Atomic bombs on Japan

Introduction "I am aware of the tragic impact of the atomic bomb. It is a terrible responsibility which has come to us. We thank God it has come to us instead of to our enemies and we pray He may guide us in using it in His footsteps and to His purposes." Harry S. Truman, August 9th, 1945.

Article by Mia van den Berg
Published on December 19th, 2016

Operation Haudegen

Introduction Operation Haudegen was the code name of a secret mission of the meteological department of the Kriegsmarine on the island of Spitsbergen, carried out by a small complement of 11 men. The name Haudegen (Swashbuckler) referred to the commander of the unit, Dr. Wilhelm Dege. It was the last unit of the Kriegsmarine to surrender as late as September 5th, 1945, forced by circumstances; nearly four months after German general Alfred Jodl had signed the unconditional capitulation of the German armed forces in Reims, France on May 7th, 1945.