As part of the deal that has allowed me to explore the battlefields from Rachel’s base in Maastricht, Netherlands while she teaches at...

Background I was looking for something else and came across a number of RCAF aircrew who are buried in the Maastricht General Cemetery,...

Early Years Percy Ivan Mervyn was born on February 20, 1925, to Albert Mervyn and Dorothy Mittie Dickson in Sault Ste Marie. He was their...

This year was the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands and the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Liberation...

My next stop on the D-Day tour was Gold Beach, the British Beach in the centre of the D-Day landings. Gold Beach had 4 sectors, but due...

As I continued on my Normandy Tour, I took a one-day Canadian Beaches and inland tour. I had been to Juno beach before but felt since the...

US Beaches I hadn’t visited any US D-Day beaches during my previous visit to Normandy, so I decided to take a one-day tour of the...

Back Story During a recent visit to Normandy, I visited a number of locations associated with Flight Lieutenant Robert McKenzie, a...

The exploration of the Battle of the Scheldt continued, looking at the Action on the Northern Bank. Fortunately, I did not have to sleep...

Thanks to a teacher girls’ weekend in Milan, Rachel’s car and I got to spend some time exploring the Battle of the Scheldt, a major...

As part of the 80th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden there was a demonstration of the parachute drop at Eerde, just north of...

I was fortunate to arrive back in the Netherlands in time for celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Limburg...

A question about this map from a post about the Canadians at Second Ypres led to the fascinating story of two grandfathers in the Great...

On our last day of touring, we worked our way back south of Arras before heading back home to Maastricht. Monchy-le-Preux Our first stop...

After a good day on the Somme, we headed up to Arras for Part Deux of the Rachel Battlefield Tour. Rob Wolsey, a Canadian Battlefield...

After listening to my war stories and some dedicated blog reading, Rachel decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about, so on...

This tour is taken is following Norm Christie’s excellent series for King and Empire. The Battle of Passchendaele, episode 4, in his For...

The next stop on my tour of Ypres was the Battle of Mont Sorrel, 2-13 Jun 1916. As with other tours, this adventure is following Norm...

I recently spent a week in Ypres, following the Canadian action in the area. The tour was based on the excellent book series, For King...

During my recent trip to Arras, I became interested in the mining operations in the war. The Battle of Messines is the apex of the mining...