© E. Heijn 2012  Life is like riding a bicycle;to keep youre balance you have to keep moving Albert Einstein

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Friday, 21-08-2015

Today I left home late, because the museum in Nieuwdorp will not be open before 13.00

My first stop was the memorial at the Causeway on the Walcheren side. There was a lot of fighting at the beginning and at the end of the war.

After May 10, 1940 the Netherlands capitulated the retreating British and French expeditionary army kept on fighting. During the withdrawal there was a large group of French soldiers took a wrong turn at Bergen op Zoom and landed on South Beveland. They were in a trap and could only wrong turn make it back to the other side of the Scheldt wrong turn. In rear guard around 200 soldiers have died. These are buried in Kapelle.


During the fighting the center of Middelburg on May 17th went up in flames. It is unclear whether it was the French who wanted to cover their retreat or the Germans who wanted them to surrender.


By the end of the war, the Battle of the Scheldt occurred in September and October 1944. This was done to ensure that the port of Antwerp could be reached for the supply of equipment. On Walcheren the Germans had made a lot of bunkers with large canons, with which they could reach the whole estuary of the Scheldt. To put the guns out of action a large number of battles had to be faught, including at the Causeway. At that time it was a dam 25 meters wide where the railway and highway on it. On both sides of the dam was the sea.

After the monument I cycled to Nieuwdorp. I arrived still too early, but I was allowed to enter around a quarter to twelve. At ease, I have gone through the exhibition.

Around half past one I exited and I was back on the bike.

In Kapelle, I visited the French war graves. In addition to the 198 soldiers who died at the beginning of the war, there are also a number of French commandos who have come examined the German coastal defence in Holland.

From there I was in Rilland in a jiffy and the campsite Hof Maire. I was recognized immediately with the question of where the children were, or that I had come alone.

The tent was set up quickly and then I just went to get groceries.

Then I showered and prepared my food. Then it's already time to go to sleep…….