Origin

Battledetective.com started out of the personal interest of Tom, the webmaster. From his parents, he inherited a fascination for World War Two in general and Operation Market Garden in particular. An exact date of when his enthusiasm started is difficult to determine, but there is evidence of Tom corresponding with renowned Dutch historian Dr. Lou de Jong of the Netherlands Royal Institute for War Documentation dating back to 1983. At age 13 Tom discovered an error in De Jong's authoritative 29-volume work "The Kingdom of the Netherlands in World War Two" and wrote the author about his findings.

Wrong caption The caption under this photograph reads: "German Prisoners of War are taken away in Leeuwarden". The location is the street named Demer in Eindhoven.	Letter of appreciation The correspondence between the historian and Tom was printed in the 2005 compilation book with "Letters to Dr. Lou de Jong."

Proof that this street is actually in Eindhoven, is in our comparison photograph on this website under Now & Then, Holland.

Another example is this photograph from 1984, at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, when Tom met veteran Oscar Mendoza of "B"Co./326th Airborne Engineer Battalion on the Drop Zone near Son.

Mendoza made a parachute jump in 1984. He became immortalized in this photograph, taken in September 1944 near the bridge in Veghel.

Mendoza was injured in his jaw but refused to be evacuated as a casualty. Instead, he commandeered a cargo bicycle and collected A4-aireal delivery bundles that were dropped to resupply the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment.

His interest in World War Two never decreased and through the years, Tom did research, collected artifacts, visited battlefields and museums, attended reunions and commemorations and met

numerous WWII-veterans. 

He is a member of the Board in the Society of Dutch Airborne Friends,

member of the Friends of the Hartenstein Airborne Museum,

Associate Member of the 101st Airborne Division Association,

Member of the Donald R. Burgett Fan Club,
Red Cross Voluntary Investigator for Missing Persons of World War Two and

Honorary Citizen of Clarksville, Tennessee;

the city next to Fort Campbell, Kentucky,

home of the 101st Airborne Division.

On www.battledetective.com,the results of his research

are now on-line.