UPDATES

(most recent to older)

January 20th, 2010: We received 'new' documents from the National Archives about alleged looting by US Army personnel in Holland in 1944. See Case File # 13 and scroll to the bottom of the page.

January 6th, 2010: We drew up our report of the September 18th 2009, Monument Dedication to Lt-Col. Cole in Best at the end of Battle Study # 10.

January 3rd, 2010: Please read the report of our battlefield visit to the site of The Battle of Biazza Ridge in Sicily, Italy in August 2009.

January 2nd, 2010: We proudly present our 12th Battle Relics-article about the invasion currency the airborne men of the 1st Allied Airborne Army carried into battle during Operation Market Garden in The Netherlands in September 1944.

December 23rd, 2009: Read the report of the dedication of the monument to the 326th Airborne Medical Company at Barièrre-Hinck, outside Bastogne of December 13, 2009.

December 20th, 2009: It took a while, but now we've finished our report on the 65th Anniversary Commemoration of Operation Market Garden.

November 17th 2009: The barrack where General MacAuliffe replied his famous "Nuts!" to the Germans' proposal to the encircled 101st Airborne Division to surrender will be open to the public next month. A unique location as it is situated on the grounds of a Belgium military installation. Also a unique occasion to visit the original Command Post of "General Tony", because of uncertain plans of the Belgian government to close the barracks! This is the invitational poster:
 

(click to enlarge)

November 15th, 2009: Read the latest update in our Case File #4, the tragic incident of an American fighter pilot strafing a German Ambulance with Dutch civilians in it. We guided the grandson of two of the victims to the location in the woods in Son. Scroll down to the bottom of the file for the update.

October 11th, 2009: We have added a new category to our Now&Then section: Now&Then Miscellaneous.

September 4th, 2009: Finally we were able to get the full story of our Case File # 9. Our witness told the full story and we submitted the Case File.

September 1, 2009:  We finished the Then&Now format of nine locations we have visited in Sicily last month and added them to our Now&Then Worldwide page. Just scroll to the bottom to see these last additions.

August 20th, 2009: We just came home from a 7-day trip to Sicily, Italy. We have visited the sites of the Allied invasion in 1943, codenamed Operation Husky. Reports and Then&Now-photographs will be posted soon.

(click to enlarge)

August, 7th, 2009: We are proud to announce the report of our trip to the battlefield where an Allied soldier earned the prestigious Military Cross in a daring raid across enemy lines. Read our Battle Study # 17.

July 28th, 2009:  Announcing a special remembrance and reenactment event and the first edition of the Airborne Memorial Walk in Eerde, The Netherlands next September. For the 65th Commemoration of Operation "Market Garden", a "living museum" will be created with drops on the original Drop Zone of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War Two, where parachutists in vintage equipment will tumble from an original C47 "Dakota". Also there will be mock battles, ceremonies, the reception of World War Two veterans, a 1940's style dance evening and more...All this from 17 to 20 September. The 20th will also mark the start of a new tradition: The Airborne Memorial Walk. For more information click on the pictures below:

July 25th, 2009: After a trip to Fulda, German, we've added a few Now&Then-comparisons in  our WorldWide-page. Scroll to bottom.
 

June 27th, 2009:  Fellow historians Frenk Derks van de Frenk Derks van de Ven and Frits Janssen of the "Remember September 1944" Foundation will be hosting exhibitions in Son (area of operations of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division) and Mook (area of the 82nd) in The Netherlands next September 2009 for the 65th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden.
This is the invitational poster:

June 12th, 2009:  Please read the updates in our Case File # 2 and Case File # 4. Scroll down to the bottom of these pages to read the input of several of our viewers. We thank Peter DeVisser of Raleigh, North Carolina, Henk Scheepens of Son, The Netherlands and Hans van Melis from Eindhoven, The Netherlands for their tribute to this website.

June 4th to 7th 2009: Our battledetectives were present in Normandy, France for the 65th Anniversary of D-Day. We chose not to write a full report like we did for previous commemorative events, but will use our research material in case files presented here. We do wish to share this Now&Then-picture with our viewers now though. It shows paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division moving through Saint-Marie-du-Mont shortly after D-Day. The "Now"-photograph shows a reenactor depicting an American MP patrolling the same street:

(click on the image to enlarge)

May 7th, 2009: We have added a modest paragraph to our Battle Study # 6 about the locations of Aid Stations of the 101st Airborne Division in World War Two. The new paragraph features the Divisional Hospital in the Zonhove Sanatorium in Son. We were given an copy of a very comprehensive history booklet about  the Airborne Hospital in the Sanatorium during Operation Market Garden by the family of the late Dutch Airborne Friend Kees Wittebrood. For the booklet, click here.

May 5th, 2009: Battledetective Tom has been appointed, with no votes against it, as a new Board Member of the Dutch Society of Airborne Friends. 2009 being the 65th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden, Tom attended the April meeting of the "Platform Celebration Market Garden 2009". A comprehensive overview of planned activities can be found here.

April 28th, 2009: At the largest military show in Europe, we found a battle relic that was uprooted after more than 90 years. One can take 'uprooted' literally this time...! Take a look at Battle Relic # 11!

March 25th, 2009: In the Dutch town of Zutphen in the province of Gelderland, we took some new Now&Then comparison photographs.
Three have been added at the bottom of our Now&Then Holland 2-page.
 

March 18th, 2009: Original Klooster Dreef bricks surface from underneath asphalt street top! Only to be burried again after several hours! If only these bricks could tell! They could add a lot more knowledge to our Case File # 2! Roll to the bottom of the page to read our story on the Klooster Dreef bricks.

March 12th, 2009: Battledetective Tom has become a member of the Work Group Missing Persons of World War Two. This group is part of the Dutch Red Cross. As a Red Cross volunteer Tom will join ranks with forensic experts, DNA-analysts, military grave- and identification experts, historians and police detectives. Their job is to investigate the faith of people in The Netherlands who have been listed as missing since World War Two.
Since 1945 the Red Cross has helped surviving family members and loved ones, to learn about what happened to their missing persons. Because of new legislation concerning the exhumation of unidentified bodies and better DNA analysis techniques, the Red Cross has beefed up their investigative section. Due to the sensitive nature of the cases (some deal with Dutch volunteers into Nazi military service), no direct reference to any of the investigations can be made here. However, working these cases will no doubt further improve Tom's battledetective skills.

"Detective work by the Red Cross"

March 10th , 2009: Battledetective Tom has been nominated to become the Dutch Society of Airborne Friends new Board Member. The cause is a sad one. Board Member Ton Giesbers passed away on Sunday March, 9th 2009. Tom was given a 2 week consideration period but he has already made it clear to chairman Van Luyt that he has accepted the position.

March 3rd, 2009: Through our contact form, we received the amazing news that the M1C paratrooper steel helmet of Captain John W. Kiley of 3rd Battalion of the 506th Regiment, the subject of our Case File # 1, is currently in a private collection. We have received detailed information regarding the helmet and also some images, taken exclusively for battledetective.com. Look here.
 

February 20th, 2009: We have completed our Battle Study # 16 with documents thatwe have obtained from the research material for Cornelius Ryan's book A Bridge Too Far. Curator Douglas McCabe of the University of Ohio in Athens, provided us with numerous documents, interviews, diagrams and maps. Most of these shed new light on this particular Battle Study, but may very well form the start of new BattleDetective.com-publications.

December 6th, 2008: Behind the scenes we have been developing our theory about the location of the German detonating device to destroy the vital road bridge at Nijmegen, Holland in 1944. We have almost gathered all evidence together but meanwhile we have drawn up our report with our findings. Read about them in our Battle Study # 16.

December 1st, 2008: We have made some trips to Germany and while visiting the cities of Frankfurt am Main and Cologne, we made some Then and Now comparisons. This gave us the idea to start a new section in our Now&Then files: Now&Then Worldwide; an ambitious category for photographs of battlefields around the globe.

September 28th, 2008: Read our report on our participation in celebrations and activities commemorating the 64th anniversary of Operation "Market Garden" The Netherlands.

August 25th, 2008: We've added Battle Study # 15 with the results of our (still active) investigation of the stories behind three action photographs taken during Operation Market Garden in The Netherlands. Are they real of have they been staged? Read the file!

August 3rd, 2008: A new Battle Study, # 13, is added. Read about the "Bridge that, through her weakness, saved a city from destruction".

July 27th, 2008: We have added a Now&Then Holland Part 2-page to the Now&Then-section! We have chosen a different format for this new page. Take a look!

July 7th, 2008: Check out our new Battledetective-Store!

June 29th, 2008: A new Battle Study (#12) has been completed. The study describes our research to find the exact location of a famous World War 2 photograph. Battle Detective found the veteran who personally took the photograph!

June 12th, 2008: Battle Detectives attended the Second European Trigger Time in Eerde, The Netherlands. A photo impression:

(click on the images to enlarge:)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  10  11 12

1 "Two Trigger Time Toms Toting Tommy Guns"

Reenacted photograph with Tom Colones. Local gun legislation forced the Toms to use 'air guns'.
2 With author and founder of the Trigger Time Community, Mark Bando.
3 Battle Detective Antoine (left) listening to historian Erwin Janssen on a location along "Hell's Highway".
4 A mixed crowd overlooks the battlefield of "A"Co./501st Parachute Infantry Regiment at the edge of the Sand Dunes of Eerde.
5 Mark Bando lecturing on personal accounts from his numerous interviews with 101st Airborne Division veterans. Note the combat jacket from his 2008 tour of Afghanistan.
6 Then & Now comparison of the location of an allied column on 'Hell's Highway' after the German attack on 'Black Friday', September 22nd 1944.
7 Then & Now comparison of the location of the draw bridge in Veghel; the main objective of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation "Market Garden".
8 Convention attendants listening to historian Erwin Janssen at the rail road bridge in Veghel; a secondary objective of the 501st.
9 501st Regiment sniper's lair at the Veghel cattle fodder factory. Recently designated a national landmark it will soon be restored in its pre-war condition.
10 Then & Now comparison of Veghel's Hoog Straat and Heilig Hart Plein.
11 Then & Now comparison of the Kuypers' bicycle shop. Today, the shop is still in business. In 1944 the company provided 501st Regiment paratroopers with 'steel horse' transportation to help the war effort.
12 Convention attendants listening to historian Erwin Janssen in front of the Veghel Church.

May 1st, 2008: Battle Detective Tom has been awarded the Certificate of Appreciation by Lt-Col Robert Balcavage, Commander of today's US Army 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry (Airborne).

The paratroopers of this unit were deployed in the Province of Babil, Iraq, 35 miles North of Bagdad in Iraq from September 2006 to December2007 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Responding to an announcement in Screaming Eagle Magazine by the official historian of the Medical Detachment of the 501st, Lt-Col Guy Lamunyon, California National Guard, Tom collected photographs of World War Two aid stations of the 501st. Parts of this research were used to draw up Battle Study # 6.
Tom sent photographs of locations in France, The Netherlands and Belgium. These photographs were framed and mounted on the walls of the 1st Bn./501st aid station in Iraq to inspire its personnel, reminding them of their unit's rich history.

This was reason for a much appreciated token of gratefulness:

Click on the image for original size:)

March 14th, 2008: Battledetective.com will attend the 2nd edition of the European Trigger Time Convention, which will be held in Eerde, Holland on the 31st of May and the 1st of June 2008.

Several battle detectives have already registered and paid their attendance dues.

(For more information, click here:)

March 13th, 2008: Battle Relic #7 has been updated with details of period medical research to the effects of the ingredients in our Motion Sickness Preventive pills.

March 10th 2008: We've updated our Case File #10 (the booby-trapped toilet) with some interesting finds from the archives.

March 8th, 2008: Read the results of our forensic detective work in the Vlokhoven Church belfry and garden in Case File #1 and on the first aid pouch of "Filthy 13" Sgt. Davidson in Battle Relic #10.

March 3rd, 2008: Announcing the Fourth Edition of the Bothers in Arms March. This year, on the 8th of June, the 4th of the Brothers in Arms Marches for re-enactors of the 101st Airborne Division will be held in Carentan, France. This event sets a very high standard in historical and military accuracy. Battledetective.com participated in all three previous editions. Each event had different characteristics. The first edition in 2005 was a rainy exercise and had the armored support of two period US Stuart tanks.  The 2006 March ended with a very moving ceremony on the Carentan Place de la Republique Square. And the 2007 edition of the BIA March was truly a physical challenge. The road to Carentan was long. And hot!

This is an impression of previous events:

We look forward to meeting all amateur historians who seek to get as close as possible to what paratrooper combat in Normandy in 1944 must have been like! For more information, contact:

Email : carentan.101@aol.com

Telephone  : +33.2.33.42.00.42

February 25, 2008: Battledetective.com visited the exact location of a tragic incident that took place on December 17h, 1944. An incident known as the Malmedy Massacre. We took comparison photographs and feature them in Now&Then-format. We also visited the Baugnezz44 Museum just a few hundred yards form the massacre location. The museum has a large collection about the Battle of the Bulge and shows the story the massacre and the subsequent investigation. A report in our Battlestudy # 11.

February 3rd, 2008: We've added Battle Relic # 10. Read about how Battle Detective Antoine found the first aid pouch of a member of the "Filthy 13" who died in Eindhoven during the bombing raid on the day after the city's liberation. This file is still active!

February 2nd, 2008: Battledetective.com recently met one of the witnesses in our Case File #12.

He recalled being present at a meeting where Bill Galbraight was told that the body of a dead German soldier was found in the Vlokhoven tower. This information may shed new light on our Case File #1. We will follow up on this lead as soon as possible.

January 17th, 2008: Battlestudy # 10 has been drawn up in accordance with the 'new' report guidelines. Read about the location where Medal of Honor winner Colonel Cole was killed on September 18th, 1944.

January 15th, 2008: We have added several new Now&Then comparison pictures on our N&T Holland page. See liberation photographs of Oirschot, Battle Detective Tom's old home town.

December 26th, 2007: Read the special report on our C-47 Sky Train ride with the Liberty Jump Team into the Rollé Castle Drop Zone outside of Bastogne, Belgium.

December 25th, 2007: Case File # 12 added: Read the results of our search for more details about a story that was told to us a very long time ago.

December 23rd, 2007: Battle Study # 9 added: The son of a veteran of "D"-Co./502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment requested Battle Detective to create a map, plotting the locations and battles of his Father. Visit Battle Study # 9 for our first map: Operation Market Garden.

December 1st, 2007: Due to overwhelming demand:  New items added to our Gift Shop: Deluxe Badge Clip and our ash gray physical training T-shirt. Get them while they last!

November 18th, 2007:  Read the latest addition in our Battle Relics Section: Battle Relic # 9.

November 17th, 2007: Check out our latest item in the gift shop below! Display your investigative credentials professionally with our deluxe leather badge and ID-card wallet.

October 26th, 2007: Reg Jans, our Belgian friend and expert of the Battle of the Bulge, submitted some excellent Now &Then photographs!

Check the Now &Then page of the Ardennes!

Thank you, Reg!

October 25th, 2007: Author Mark Bando submitted some important information on our Battle Relic Page about Captain Harwicks Captain's Bar.

Read the update!

October 11th, 2007: The results came back from the forensic toxicological lab analysis of the Motion Sickness Preventive tablets.

Astonishing results!

 See the update in our Battlerelic # 7. 

September 30th, 2007: Battle Detectives attended the First European Trigger Time in Bastogne:

A photo impression:

(click on the images to enlarge:)

All attendents of the Trigger Time European Covention at the Halt Station	Lecture by Peter Hendrickx about some of the American Soldiers buried at Margraten Military Cemetery	Battle Detectives Ivo and John inside the Bastogne Army Barracks which served as the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters during the battle
Battle Detective Tom and historian Mark Bando	Battle Field tour with explanations by Dutch historian Erwin Janssen	Doing photo comparisson research inside the chapel in Bizory

September, 2007: Battle Detectives will attend the First European Trigger Time in Bastogne in the end of September. This is the convention's invitational poster:   (click on the image to enlarge)

September 5th, 2007: New items added in our Gift Shop. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the description of our beautifully designed coffee mug and the unique Battle Detective vinyl stickers!

Battledetective.com went to Normandy, France, June 1 to 5, 2007.

This is a preview of some of the sites we visited in Normandy. The location of the battery of Point-du-Hoc:     The location of the recently rediscovered and uncovered battery at Maisy. For a full story about the recent excavation of this historically important site, we refer reader to this article by the Armorer Magazine. This is Tom with Garry Sterne, the owner of the battery site:     Tom and battle detective Antoine take a look inside one of the ammo bunkers of the battery:

Battledetective.com collectables available in our Gift Shop. As seen in the preview of our recent trip to Normandy! Here are some examples of our must-have-items: (click on images to enlarge)

Don't leave the office withour our "Combat Scene Do Not Cross/www.battledetective.com"- key lanyard. Holds ID, keys, cell phone, etc. Unique crime scene tape design. Today's gum shoes wear black ball caps. Block sun, wind and rain with our www.battledetective.com cap. One size fits all. Top quality workout T-shirt. Unique Battledetective.com badge-design. Comes in ash gray only. Ideal for work-out, making a fashion statement or under plain clothes. Specify size S to XXXL Heavy duty raid shirt. Unique CSI (Combat Scene Investigator)- design. Bold letters on back. Delicate design on front. Yellow letters on blue shirt only. Sizes S to XXXL This one holds a very important ingredient for good detective work; nice, hot coffee. Stylish design. Dishwasher safe. High gloss, vinyl stickers to show the world what your favorite website is. We use them to mark our forensic evidence collecting equipment. Badges...!? Badges...!? Of course we need to show our badges! Carry and show your credentials in style with our deluxe leather badge and ID-wallet. Black only. Specify badgestyle for shape of cut-out (star-shape, shield-shape or oval-shape). Badge and / or agency ID-card not included. Clip your agency's badge to your belt, pocket or inside your jacket. Top leather quality. Specify badgestyle for shape of backing (star-shape, shield-shape or oval-shape). Sold with FREE stainless steel neck chain. Black only. Badge not included.