Battlefields Cruise WWII

After you set sail on the Magnifique IV, you’ll receive the official welcome by the crew, after which you’ll unpack, settle in and get a short overview of the days to come from your tour leader. You’ll then be invited by your tour leader on a walking tour of this beautifully preserved city with Roman roots stopping by town’s main square, known as the “Vrijthof”. This will be followed by dinner onboard, the perfect opportunity to share the day’s experiences and get to know your fellow passengers.

The first part of our program on day two takes place entirely underground! After breakfast, a bus will take you to the marl cave in Valkenburg which served as a shelter for six days and six nights to roughly 400 people in September 1944, when heavy fighting took place during the liberation Valkenburg. After liberation, the Velvet Cave served as a field hospital for American soldiers, some of whose signatures can still be found on the walls. Your next stop is Margraten, the American Cemetary and Memorial commemorating the 8,301 US soldiers who died when the US 30th infantry division liberated this site on 13th September 1944. The afternoon bus will take you to Roermond where a local guide will take you around town and share the story of how this town was caught in the crossfire during the last months of the war when, in August 1944, Hitler strengthened the German line of defence at the western border of Germany. This line ran right through Roermond, and the inhabitants of this town suffered badly as a result. However, nowadays Roermond is a cosy provincial city famed for its rich cultural heritage and known throughout the world as the home of Pierre Cuypers who, having designed both the Rijksmuseum and the Central Station in Amsterdam, is regarded as one of the most important Dutch architects of the 19th century.

The Magnifique IV sets sail early on the morning of day three, giving you the chance to enjoy a leisurely breakfast while you drift on toward Venlo. From there, you’ll hop on a bus to visit the largest war museum in the Netherlands, the National War and Resistance Museum in Overloon. Here you will learn not only how more than 50 million people lost their lives in just five years, but also how the resourceful Dutch population managed to survive the restrictions and shortages of oppression. Attention is paid to not only resistance and the nature of the persecution during in the time of occupation, but also how the liberation came to be, with special attention being paid to the Battle at Overloon. You’ll also visit the German War Cemetary Ysselsteyn, which was created in swamp land half an hour from the German border because Dutch towns refused to bury the German dead. The rows of grey crosses here stretch a kilometre deep, it’s one of the world’s largest German war cemeteries and though 32,000 people are buried here, sadly, it doesn’t even represent 0.05% of all the deaths in the Second World War. After that sobering visit, we’ll lighten the mood considerably for the evening with a stroll around the magnificent castle gardens of Arcen.

After breakfast, a bus will take you to the National Liberation Museum in Groesbeek where you’ll learn about the economic and political circumstances that lead to the second World War. It also shows the different roles ordinary people were forced to play in order to survive German occupation and goes on to detail the landing of allied forces in Operation Market Garden, the final push into Germany and, ultimately, liberation. Interestingly, the museum also tells the story of the time directly after the war, how the land was revitalised and rebuilt and how a more united Europe was created. You’ll also visit the Canadian War Cemetary near Groesbeek, one of the largest Commonwealth War Cemeteries where many young men who fell in the Rhineland battles in the final months of the war are buried. You will re-join the ship in Cuijk, a friendly town along the river.

Your day begins with a morning bus ride after breakfast to the city of Nijmegen. Here, a local guide will take you on a tour around the Waal bridge and share some fascinating stories about the battles that took place here. A few steps from the bridge, a brand new information centre about World War II has been built, well worth a visit. A relaxed lunchtime cruise aboard the ship will bring you to Arnhem, famous for its involvement in Operation Market Garden. Here you’ll learn about how this was one of the largest airborne operations of World War II in which the Allied Forces tried to encircle the heart of Germany’s industry in a bold effort to end the war by Christmas 1944. The book and popular movie “A Bridge Too Far” tells the tragic story of this courageous military manoeuvre. Your ship will dock for the night near the John Frost bridge, where a local guide will take you on a walking tour of the bridge, named after the heroic British Major-General who defended it during the Battle of Arnhem.

After breakfast, a bus will take you to the Airborne museum in Oosterbeek where we strongly recommend seeing the underground airborne experience, which puts you in the midst of the battle of Arnhem. Later, you’ll visit the British War Cemetary, where 1,754 Allied Troops are buried, followed by a walking tour of a little church that served as in infirmary in the middle of the front line. Every year, veterans and their families still come to this church in September to pay their respects. On the way back to the ship in Wijk bij Duurstede, you’ll stop by “Ginkelse Heide” where the 17th battalion of The King’s Own Scottish Borderers landed on 17th September. In Wageningen you’ll visit the Hotel “de Wereld” where Canadian General Charles Foulkes and German Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of German forces in the Netherlands on 5th May 1945. Over dinner, the Magnifique will set sail for Amsterdam, our final destination.

Your morning begins with a guided tour of Amsterdam, partly on foot and partly in canal boat, over the course of which your tour guide will take you to the Dutch Resistance Museum to step back in time to the 1940s and learn the stories of the Dutch people who lived during that time. Then you’ll visit the Hollandsche Schouwburg which was originally a theatre that was converted during World War II to a deportation centre and is now a commemoration centre. After lunch, your tour guide will take you through the centre of Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank house, where you will come to understand exactly why the Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg wrote of Anne Frank: “one voice speaks for six million – the voice not of a sage or a poet but of an ordinary little girl.” This will be followed by a final dinner onboard.

Fond farewells to the captain, crew, tour guide and new friends you will have made on this epic journey back in time. A final breakfast will be served, and disembarkation will take place until 9.30 am.