September 2025, Leopoldsburg, Belgium. I am standing on Nicolaylaan Street, on the site of the old Cinema Splendid. On the morning of 15 September 1944, one of the most consequential military briefings of the Second World War took place inside its walls. Lt Gen. Brian Horrocks stood before his subordinate commanders of XXX Corps and briefed them on the advance to Arnhem,
September 2025, Hell’s Highway, south of Eindhoven, Netherlands. I am exploring Hell’s Highway in the vicinity of Achterste Bridge with author Jack Didden.
On 17 September 1944, Sherman tanks of the Guards Brigade led the XXX Corps advance from the Belgian border north towards Eindhoven, Nijmegen and, eventually, Arnhem. Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur’s Irish Guards battlegroup led the column, moving along a single raised road under the cover of a rolling barrage. The Germans destroyed eight British tanks in the opening hours of Market Garden along this section of road.