20 Feb 25 - Belgium: An Afternoon In Bastogne

This was my last afternoon on my European mini-break. The trip started with twitching the Dutch Spectacled Eider & Pygmy Cormorant, followed by visiting Arnhem and some Birding in Luxembourg. On the final afternoon, I squeezed in a visit to the town of Bastogne. Bastogne was the site of Hitler's last failed gamble to stop the Allied advance towards Berlin: which is became known as the Battle of the Bulge. This was a good excuse for another WW2 historical side trip.

This US Sherman Tank greets visitors to the Bastogne War Museum: This was the most widely-used medium Tank by the Western Allies. It was successful given the numbers built, the good balance of firepower, protection and mobility, combined with good reliability and ease of repair. However, they were vulnerable to incoming fire due to their thin armour and they struggled against the heavier German Tigers and Panzers

The background to the Battle of the Bulge started when the Germans launched a surprise attack on 16 Dec 1944 through Belgium's Ardennes countryside. The Americans clearly didn't think the Germans would push through this heavily wooded terrain. However, this wasn't the first time German troops had pushed through this area and not for the first or last time, did the American high command ignore the lessons of history. The Germans pushed the French back in Aug 1914 in this area and they repeated an invasion through the Ardennes in 1940. The 1944 campaign was intended to stop Allied use of Belgian's Antwerp port, to split the Allied lines and to destroy each of the four Allied armies in turn, in an attempt to force the Allies to negotiate a peace treaty. It was an ambitious plan, which had potential to succeed, given this area was being used by lightly-armed American troops as a rest and recuperation area away from the front lines.

US Willys Jeep: Over six hundred thousand were produced during WW2 and the design went on to become familiar to people for decades to come

I arrived in early afternoon. As I drove towards the town, I saw signs for the Bastogne War Museum and decided that might be a good place to spend the rest of the afternoon. It proved to be an excellent museum which provided visitors with a lot of the wider WW2 background prior to the German attack at the start of the Battle of the Bulge. There were plenty of interesting exhibits in the museum. But it isn't the only museum in town and there are a number of other interesting WW2 items scattered around the town, as well as, in the surrounding countryside. I would probably have needed two or three days to do the area justice, rather than just a few hours. The following photos are from the Bastogne War Museum.

This map shows the sites for other interesting WW2 items scattered around the town, as well as, in the surrounding countryside

German Jagdpanzer 38(t): This was an effective light tank destroyer, but it was lightly armoured and vulnerable to return fire

Another view of the Jagdpanzer 38(t)

German Kubelwagen: About fifty-five thousand were built during WW2. They were an effective vehicle in many different terrains

German Kubelwagen: The inside looks very basic by today's standards, but they need to be judged against other WW2 vehicles. Porche's original WW2 design was adapted after the war into the early Volkswagen Beetles

US Field Radio: I think the latest iPhones are too big

German MG42 Machine Gun: This effective machine gun came into widespread use from 1942

US M1917 Browning Machine Gun: Despite being designed in the latter end of WW1, they were used widely in WW2, Korea and Vietnam

US M2 M2HB 50 calibre Browning Machine Gun: Despite being designed in the latter end of WW1, they were used widely in WW2 right up to the conflict in Afghanistan

US M45 Quadmount Anti-Aircraft Gun: This consisted of four M2 M2HB 50 calibre Browning Machine Guns mounted to provide an effective mobile Anti-Aircraft unit

US WW2 era Harley Davidson: Another brand that continues to sell well to this day

US Sherman: The crew wouldn't have survived this hit

Looking through the hole into the Sherman

Bastogne was the key town in the Battle of the Bulge, as there were a number of roads which radiated out West from the town. It was being held by the 101st Airborne Division, the African-American 969th Artillery Battalion and Combat Command B of the 10th Armoured Division. The town was surrounded and low on provisions and munitions, whilst resupply from the air wasn't realistic in constant low cloud. Had the town fallen, the Germans would have been able to quick advance and potentially capture a large fuel supply dump. If that had happened, they would have been able to resupply and push on towards the coast. Despite overwhelming numbers and low supplies, the bravery and determination of the Americans, resulted in them continuing to hold the town.

A map of the Battle of the Bulge: This shows the situation on 26 Dec 1944 as the Allies were halting the German attack

A week into the campaign, there was a break in the low cloud cover, which finally allowed the Allies to use their aircraft in the Battle of the Bulge. Resuming the air cover, along with the arrival of US tanks from Patton's Third Army, which broke through the German lines to relieve Bastogne, started to turn the Battle of the Bulge around.

Replica of the P-51D Mustang: Mustangs were the main fighters used by the US during this period of the war

Replica of the P-51D Mustang: The Mustang is painted to remember the highest US Mustang Ace, Major George Preddy. Sadly, he was killed by friendly fire near Liege in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He was pursuing a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 that was strafing Allied ground forces. The ground troops missed the German plane and hit his

This corner of the museum shows what the aftermath of the Battle looked like in Bastogne: Sadly, we are all too familiar with the destruction in parts of Syria, Ukraine and the Gaza strip these days

When I arrived in Bastogne I had passed the Bastogne Barracks. This site houses the Bastogne Nuts! Museum and there were more WW2 vehicles on display outside the Barracks. The Nuts! Museum is named in tribute to Brigadier General McAuliffe, who was the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division. He famously responded with Nuts!, when the Germans demanded Bastogne's surrender, after they had encircled the town. The US troops managed to hold the town, until they were relieved. I had trouble finding the right road to return to the Barracks, but that allowed me to see more of the historic parts of the town.

This one way road doesn't look too dissimilar to many British streets

However, British streets don't tend to have a square and a Sherman tank at the end

The Bastogne Church of Saint-Pierre

Medieval Treves Gate: This is one of the last remnants of the Medieval town walls. It was built in 1332

Monument to the dead of the two wars and the people of the Ardennes: This memorial is near the Treves Gates

Finally, I found the correct road to the Bastogne Barracks. I didn't have time to look around the museum. But I did have time for a quick look at the WW2 vehicles on display outside the Barracks and in front of the adjacent Army Restoration Workshop.

US Half-track

British Achilles Tank Destroyer: This looks like the British variant with a heavier 17 pounder cannon, rather than the US 76 mm cannon of the US M10 Tank Destroyer. These Tank Destroyers were better at tackling the German Tiger and Panther Tanks

Another US Half-track

US Transporter: I don't know much about this vehicle

With German supplies running low, the involvement of the Allied Air Force and American troops being rushed to the area, the tide of the battle steadily changed to favour the Americans. The Germans were eventually forced to retreat, but many were captured or killed during this retreat. The Battle of the Bulge was largely over after a month, but it took another two to three weeks before the last German units were pushed back to their starting positions.

Presumably, this is a US heavy artillery piece

Presumably, this is another US artillery piece

I had enjoyed the visit to Bastogne. However, the cloud was settling in and it was time to start heading to the coast. I finally reached Dunkirk around 20:00. I asked to buy a ferry ticket and they wanted to roughly double the price to one hundred and eighty Euros as I was booking at the last minute. I wasn't prepared to pay that price, knowing that I should be able to get a daytime ticket from Dieppe to Newhaven. As I passed Calais, I decided to try their ticket office and found I could get the one AM ferry for one hundred and eight Euros. This was a bit more than I would pay for a day time crossing, but I wouldn't have to find somewhere to sleep for the night. After an uneventful ferry crossing, I was back in Dover just after 01:45 UK time and home for 05:30. It had been a brilliant and busy three days in Europe.

19 Feb 25 - Arnhem: A Bridge Too Far

After successfully seeing the Dutch Spectacled Eider and a bonus Pygmy Cormorant in Lelystad, I dropped Pete Moore at the town's station to catch the train into Amsterdam to meet up with his wife, Claire and younger son, Rowan. I still had some time before I needed to head back to the UK. I was keen to look for Grey-headed Woodpecker. This was a Western Palearctic Tick and very different looking to the ones I've seen in Nepal, India, Thailand & Tibet. There are rare in Holland, so I needed to look further afield. The best looking option was to head for Luxembourg, which also gave me a reason to visit this new country.

A modern Dutch windmill farm: There were lots of wind turbines throughout the West of the country and these ones, like many I saw, are built on surrounding farmland. Thus proving that farmland and wind turbines can co-exist, albeit there is some loss of land around each turbine

Better still the road from Lelystad would take me through Arnhem, which is the site of one of the famous World War Two battles and I do like my military history. So, heading for Arnhem was an easy decision. I had read about the Allied paratrooper drop into Arnhem while I was at school. But I vividly watching the film A Bridge Too Far at university, on the evening that the Marines recaptured South Georgia after the Argentinian invasion. The reality of an extended battle as shown in the film, was magnified by the breaking news from the South Atlantic, as I got home that evening.

A statue in Garderen to the Canadian troops who permanently liberated the Arnhem area in Apr 1944: I bumped into this statue as I was drive from Lelystad to Arnhem

Following the Normandy landings and the subsequent breakout from Normandy in August 1944, there were competing pressures from the two main army groups, the British commanded by Field Marshall Montgomery and the Americans commanded by Lieutenant-General Bradley, on who should be allowed to lead the next major Allied offensive. In the end, Montgomery was tasked with this next offensive, known collectively as Operation Market Garden. His ambition plan was an landing of airborne troops to capture major bridges, around the cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, with the final bridge being at Arnhem over the River Rhine. The intention was crossing the Rhine, would allow the Allies to push rapidly into Germany in a bid to end the war. The airborne troops were to hold these bridgeheads until an armoured column could punch its way through the German lines to link up with the troops holding each bridge. This was to be the largest airborne operation in history, involving nearly thirty-five thousand men being dropped by parachute or gliders.

This is how cycle lanes should be created in towns: Note, the different colour of the road surface and the road surface appears to be the high grip tarmac that we use near some road junctions. This is a much better idea of designating cycle lanes, rather than just painting lines on the road, which is what I've seen locally at Lytchett Minster

There is a well-known maxim that, any plan will immediately start to fail as soon as the fighting begins. This was the case with Operation Market Garden. Firstly, one of the key bridges around Eindhoven at the town of Son was destroyed by the Germans. The river was eventually crossed using a Bailey bridge, but only after significant delays. Secondly, the bridge at Nijmegen was not captured at the earliest opportunity, due to conflicting priorities. This allowed the Germans to reinforce their positions around the bridge. The bridge at Nijmegen was finally captured on the fourth day of the campaign after troops crossed the river in small boats. That evening, the first Allied tanks crossed the bridge. However, there were insufficient tanks and troops at that point to push on the final few miles to the bridge at Arnhem. This was about the same time that the paratroopers who had captured and held the North end of the Arnhem bridge for four days, finally ran out of bullets and were forced to surrender. Had the Nijmegen bridge been captured soon after the airborne landings, it might have been possible for the armoured column to cross the bridge in strength and get to Arnhem while the paratroopers still held it.

Getting close to the Arnhem bridge: This is what I was expecting some of the building by the bridge to look like. I was disappointed to find there weren't any old buildings left near the bridge

Although the bridge at Arnhem had fallen, there were still Allied paratroopers who were holding a bridgehead at Oosterbeek, about three miles West of the Arnhem bridge. While there wasn't a bridge there, holding both sides of the Rhine would have allowed the Allies the chance to cross the river at this point. The paratroopers managed to hold this bridgehead for another five days, before they were finally forced to cross and pull back to the South side of the Rhine. At the end of the battle, this left the Allied front line to the South of the Rhine. To prevent German reinforcements threatening the Allies, the decision was made for the Arnhem bridge to be bombed and destroyed by the US Air Force on 7 Oct 1944. This took pressure off this part of the front line. It wasn't until Apr 1945, that Allied troops, including Canadian soldiers, pushed through and liberated the Arnhem area.

My first view of the Arnhem bridge: What I hadn't appreciated until I read about the aftermath of Operation Market Garden, was that the original bridge had been destroyed in Oct 1944 and was rebuilt to look the same as the original bridge in 1948

Canadian 25 pounder artillery gun in Jacob Groenewoud Park: Jacob Groenewoud was a Dutch officer who had training with the British SOE and American OSS. He was dropped into the Arnhem area with the paratroopers to liaise with the local Dutch resistance and gather intelligence. Sadly, he was killed by a sniper within a couple of days of his arrival. I had assumed this artillery gun must have been used in Market Garden. However, I don't remember seeing any in the Bridge Too Far film and they were too large to be dropped during the Market Garden operation. But it is still a memorial to the paratroopers who were dropped into Arnhem

The plague on the artillery gun commemorates the 18th Para Field Ambulance: It says "A stone with a badge, a name, a date buried here, brothers, friend and mate they fought their battles to free us all till the bugle sounded their last call"

This signboard shows an overhead view of the Arnhem bridge in 1936

It took me a few minutes to cross the bridge: It took Germans four days before the bridge fell. The paras had been asked to hold it for no more than forty-eight hours before they expected to be relieved

There was a museum to the paratroopers who landed in Arnhem. But time was getting on and I had a long journey ahead of me. So, I decided to give the museum a miss and continue on my route. The next landmark was the bridge at Nijmegen.

The similar-looking bridge at Nijmegen: This is about ten miles South of the Arnhem bridge

I still had a two hundred and fifty mile drive ahead of me. I finally arrived about 23:30 at my destination of Haff Reimich, Luxembourg: my seventy-nineth country. More about that in the next Blog Post. I didn't have any accommodation booked, so the sleeping bag was pulled out for a night in the Focus Hotel.

18 Feb 24 - Making A Spectacle Of Itself

On 13 Jan 25, news broke that a male Spectacled Eider had been found on the island of Texel, in Holland (pronounced Tessel). This is only the seventh Western Palearctic record of this mythical Seaduck. There are five previous accepted records being seen high in the Arctic: three records from Finnmark in North Norway and two Svalbard records. In early Nov 24, A male was also briefly seen near Reykjavik, Iceland, but it wasn't relocated. I wonder if this is the Texel individual.

I was immediately interested in a trip to see the Spectacled Eider, if it stuck around. However, there were two problems stopping me heading off. One was the pale phase Booted Eagle had been found the day before in Cornwall and due to prior commitments, I had been unable to head West to look for the Booted Eagle until 16 Jan. The second was I was due in Pompey on 20 Jan, as I was one of the Wildlife Guides in the first ORCA team on a Saga Cruise in the 2025 season. Before I headed off for the cruise, Pete Moore had asked if I was thinking of heading to Texel and we hatched the beginnings of a plan for a trip during the Feb half term.

I was keeping track of the news on the Spectacled Eider which I was on the cruise and was pleased to see it was being seen daily along the East side of Texel. When I returned, I discussed dates with Pete for his first European twitch. To be honest, I've only been on one mainland European twitch to see the gorgeous and confiding Hawk Owl that turned in Zwolle in Holland in Nov 13. But I've been on eleven twitches to Ireland over the years.

If you have a few days available, a mini-break trip to Holland provides plenty of Birding and sight-seeing options. We favoured heading over on the evening of Mon 17 Feb and taking the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. While this was a bit more expensive that travelling via Calais or Dunkirk, it would be only be a couple of hours journey to the Texel ferry and it would give us about seven hours of sleep. I was happy to drive as I'm insured to take my car to Europe for three months in a year. The car's built in European Sat Nav is a nice advantage. Our plan was to have a day and night on Texel, before heading off to Lelystad to the North East of Amsterdam for a Pygmy Cormorant, which would be a bonus Tick for Pete. I would then drop him to catch a train into Amsterdam to meet up with his wife, Claire and youngest son, Rowan. I had a rough plan for an extra day or two in Europe, but more of that in future Blog Posts.

Green ideas, Dutch style: There were a lot of wind turbines across the country, especially in the more open Western side. Even, the car is being transported in a green way

I picked Pete up in his Wareham house about 15:30 and we were soon heading for Harwich. The check-in for the 23:00 ferry to the Hook of Holland closed forty-minutes before the ferry's departure. We thought we had an hour of time when we could find some food that evening and still arrive well in time for the ferry. We expected to hit the M25 around the rush hour, but being half term, we were banking on the traffic to be lighter than normal. As we got close to the M25, Pete said there was a two hour or so delay on the North bound route and my Sat Nav was showing heaving congestion on the South bound route. We weren't going to risk the long delays on my preferred route, so I would have to head for the Dartford Tunnel and add the toll into the cost of the trip. It was a slow crawl through Surrey and again at the Tunnel, but finally the traffic improved once we were North of the Thames. We arrived at the port about 21:30 and we were quickly through immigration. Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait for the next hour before could board the Stena ferry. By 22:15, we had had a look around the ship, found our cabin and bunked down for the night.

After about two & a half hours driving, we were in Den Helder: The ferry to Texel departs from the North end of the town

The alarm was set for 07:00 European time, to give us an hour for some breakfast and drinks in the cabin before our arrival. However, the ferry decided to wake us thirty minutes earlier, to advertise the restaurant was open. Still we had had a good night's sleep. We were quickly off the ferry and through the Dutch immigration with just one small worry. My car had the old GB numberplates. One of the million or so failures that Johnson's was responsible for, was the GB numberplates are no longer legal in Europe. We needed a UK sticker or new UK numberplates without the EU symbol on them. Due to a misunderstanding, the metallic sticker Pete brought along was also a GB one. I was worried I would get pulled over by the police at some point in the trip, but fortunately that didn't happen. I will have to get a new UK metallic sticker before I head off abroad again.

HNLMS Tonijn (S805): This is one of the main exhibits in this interesting-looking Naval Marine museum in Den Helder. Something I will have to check out if I get back to Texel

HNLMS Tonijn (S805): She was commissioned in Feb 1966 and decommissioned in Jan 1991

The Texel ferry departs from Den Helder on the half hour, for the twenty minute crossing to Texel. It was clear that it was going to be very tight to connect with the 10:30 ferry, having encountered slow traffic as we left the Hook of Holland. I wasn't wanting to race to try to catch that ferry while I adjusted to driving a UK car on the wrong side of the road. But we could take it steady and easily arrive in time for the 11:30 ferry. The Texel ferry is very impressive as it is a community-owned, not for profit ferry to benefit the islanders. Such a contrast to the Studland ferry which is owned by a hotel chain that wants to massively increase ferry prices to prop up the struggling hotel chain. Pete had been pre-warned by James Lowen, that we should pre-book the ferry. The twenty-eight euro return ticket was valid for a mid-week departure on any ferry. They have numberplate to speed up the check-in process. Perhaps the Scottish government should get the TESO company to run the ferries to the outer islands, as these ferries would be a massive improvement on the current Calmac fleet.

The Texel ferry approaching Den Helder: There is a ten minute loading and unloading time and a twenty minute crossing time, with a second ferry ready to cope with busy times of the year

Inside the Texel ferry: There is a spacious top deck area, with a cafe, plenty of seating, free phone charging and good toilets

Inside the Texel ferry

Spoonbill sign: Spoonbills and Little Terns breed on Texel

Texel Island dated : The island is about fifteen miles long and six miles at its widest. There were clearly a lot of ships wrecked on its seaward side

There are large sandy beaches at the Southern end of Texel

We were quickly off the ferry and heading for the Spectacled Eider site. Since it was found, it has been feeding on the East side of the island about three or four miles North of the coastal town of Oudeschild, with a large, scattered flock of Eider. Over the several hours we were there, it drifted North as it was feeding, before finally drifting South again to the Iron Cape Monument (shown as IJzeren zeekaap on Googlemaps). It was easy to locate where we needed to park, as it was the only place on the road next to the seawall, where there was more than a couple of cars parked.

The Texel fields are well below sea-level

This shows how low the fields are below the top of the seawall, which is another five to ten metres above the road

The parked cars for the Spectacled Eider twitch were next to this gorgeous-looking house

The Iron Cape Monument: This modern-looking structure was designed and built in 1854 as a daytime beacon to shipping. it was moved and strengthened when the seawall was raised in 1977. The Spectacled Eider was feeding in the first mile North of this obvious landmark, which is only visible once you walk up to the top of the seawall

The outer side of the seawall had a good cycle track

It was good to see this sign promoting the wildlife

It was a small twitch, but there were generally about ten birders and toggers throughout the time we were there

Eider: A small group of the hundred or so Eider feeding offshore

Spectacled Eider: Male. Although I located the Spectacled Eider quickly with the scope, it proved harder to pick up with only a 100 - 400mm lens on the camera in the choppy seas. Frequently, when I did see it, it became hidden behind waves in the time it took to take a batch of photos

Spectacled Eider: Male. Most of the time we were there, the Spectacled Eider kept near to, but separated from, the Eider

Spectacled Eider: Male. The Spectacled Eider was noticeably smaller than the Eider, with a smaller beak and lacking the long, sloping forehead of the Eider

Spectacled Eider: Male. Given they have a limited range around Alaska and the now out of bounds, adjacent Russian territory, this is a species I never thought I had much chance of seeing: especially, as the cost of the trip to Alaska is very expensive and they are not easy to see once you get there

Spectacled Eider: Male. On a number of occasions, it half rose out of the water

Spectacled Eider: Male. This is easily my favourite species of Wildfowl that I've seen & there are only fifteen species that I've not seen

Black-necked Grebe: This Black-necked Grebe popped up close to the shoreline and closer than I'm used to at Studland

Black-necked Grebe: It was good to see around ten Black-necked Grebes offshore

The photos are all very deceptive as it looks to be a nice sunny Winter's day. What they don't convey is there was a bitterly-cold twenty mile an hour wind coming straight into our faces and there was no shelter from the wind. By mid-afternoon, it was clear that the Spectacled Eider wasn't going to come any closer and I headed off to find a shop to get some food. But first, I nipped a quarter of a mile North. The coastal road is called Lancasterdijk (Lancaster Dyke), as it has a memorial to the one hundred and eighty-nine Allied aircrew who were killed on and around Texel during WW2. Many of the night-time bombers stationed in Lincolnshire and the Yorkshire coast, would have used the Dutch islands as a final landmark before heading out over the North Sea.

The Lancaster Monument: The memorial has the propeller from Lancaster ND363 PM-K which crashed here on 15 Feb 1944, after being shot down on its return from a Berlin air raid with the loss of its seven man crew

Texel honours the Allied war pilots with this monument. Died on or near Texel during the Second World War

The memorial also commemorates Eugene Darter of the US Air Force, who was killed on Texel on 16 Dec 1943

A windmill in Oudeschild

Confirmation in Oudeschild where babies come from

The best-looking biscuits in the Spar and fortunately, we weren't eligible to buy them: I did wonder if I should get some for those Birders who were checking out a rumoured Wallcreeper in Cornwall at the time, given that report came to nothing

After returning to pick Pete up, we headed out in search of Geese. Not a hard target, given there are many thousands of them on Texel. I will cover the Geese in the next Blog Post.