Previous Family History Tours
Read about previous family history and research tours
An engineer in Eindhoven
Fiona came to the Netherlands with her mother whose father had been involved in the Market Garden operation in September 1944. They did not know much about his history, only that he had been in the engineers and had been billeted with a family in Eindhoven. They had some postcards and an address of a house of this family with whom he had kept in touch after the war.
They asked me to take them to the places where he must have been, and to tell them some of the background about the how and why of that battle, and the Netherlands at that time.
After our research
We left Haarlem for the Belgian border from where the British troops entered the Netherlands. Fiona's grandfather had certainly come to Eindhoven through Valkenswaard. I had been given two addresses where we went to look, the houses there were from before the war, so that's where he had been. We visited a local museum and I was able to tell them the background and show them. For the first time, Fiona and her mother had an idea where their (grand)father had been and what it must have been like. A very successful day.
David Dobie's foster son
David Dobie was an officer in the 1st airborne division who led his troops to Arnhem during Market Garden. He was wounded, managed to escape and hid for a while with a family in Ede. From there he swam the Rhine to organize the evacuation of hundreds of other officers and soldiers who were in hiding. David can be seen briefly in the series "Band of Brothers", as the "Mad Colonel".
His foster son went with me to Arnhem for a day. I had done the necessary preliminary research and found where David Dobie had landed, how he had led his troops to Arnhem and where he had been wounded. It was very special that we also found the house in Ede where he had been in hiding. A very emotional moment, and an interesting day with someone who had known David Dobie, and a number of other officers, very well personally.
An emotional day at Arnhem
A superb and emotional day of tribute to a very brave few. Our excellent guide, historian Martin Van Elmpt, went far beyond the call to learn all he could about my godfather David Dobie who was one of the three battalion commanders in that fateful operation. Thus we were able to stand at the very places where he landed, fought, was wounded, his hospital, escape, and hiding places from the Nazis as the few British Paras struggled at The Bridge too Far against overwhelming odds.Never forgetting the hardship endured by the Dutch civilian townsfolk, a private guide is definitely the way to go… thank you Martin
Tim LaPage
A tribute to grandfather
Russell came to Arnhem and Nijmegen for two days, where his grandfather had fought during Market Garden. In uniform, he also came to show his respect. It was the weekend of September 17, when many things are organized and remembered.
His grandfather had landed near Grave and had been in the boats during the infamous crossing of the Waal at Nijmegen. That crossing was demonstrated during the commemorations with the son of Julian Cook (Robert Redford in "A Bridge too Far"), the commander of that action, as a special guest. I was able to put the two in touch, and we couldn't stop talking. We were taken in a jeep to further commemorations where Russell was welcomed as a special guest. A very emotional experience.
Research into the Poles in Arnhem
Bernhard was training in the Irish army and had to give a presentation about the Polish contribution during the battle of Arnhem. He came for two days with his wife Donna to visit the places where the Poles had fought, and to learn more about Market Garden. He took a lot of pictures. I was able to show him what he needed for his presentation and made sure that Donna also had a nice weekend in the interesting and also beautiful surroundings around Nijmegen and Arnhem.
