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Origin
Battledetective.com started in
2007 out of
the personal interest of Tom, the
webmaster. From his parents, he
inherited a fascination for World
War Two in general and Operation
Market Garden in particular. An
exact date of when his enthusiasm
started is difficult to determine,
but there is evidence of Tom
corresponding with renowned Dutch
historian Dr. Lou de Jong of the
Netherlands Royal Institute for War
Documentation dating back to 1983.
At age 13 Tom discovered an error in
De Jong's authoritative 29-volume
work "The Kingdom of the Netherlands
in World War Two"
and wrote the
author about his findings. |
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Wrong caption
The caption under
this photograph reads: "German
Prisoners of War are taken away in
Leeuwarden".
The location is the street named
Demer
in Eindhoven.
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Letter of appreciation
The correspondence
between the historian and Tom was
printed in
the 2005 compilation book with
"Letters to Dr. Lou de Jong." |
The original 1983 letter
This is a scan
from our archive of the prized
letter from historian Dr. de Jong. |
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Proof that this street is actually
in Eindhoven, is in our
comparison photograph on this
website under Now & Then, Holland.
Another example is this photograph
from 1984, at the commemoration of
the 40th anniversary of Operation
Market Garden, when Tom met veteran
Oscar Mendoza of "B" Co./326th
Airborne Engineer Battalion on the
Drop Zone near
Son and got his
autograph.
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Mendoza made a parachute jump in
1984. He became immortalized in this
photograph, taken in September 1944
near
the bridge in Veghel.
Mendoza had injured his jaw but
refused to be evacuated as a
casualty. Instead, he commandeered a
cargo
tricycle and collected
A4-aireal delivery bundles that were dropped to
resupply the 501st Parachute
Infantry Regiment. |
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 Tom's interest in World War Two never
decreased and through the years,
He conducted research, collected artifacts,
visited battlefields, archives and museums,
attended reunions and commemorations
and met
numerous WWII-veterans.
Tom is a member of
the Friends of the Hartenstein
Airborne Museum,
Life Member of the 101st
Airborne Division Association,
Honorary Citizen of Clarksville,
Tennessee; the city next to Fort
Campbell, Kentucky, home of the
101st Airborne Division
and
at the age of 50 decided to
actually add "battle" to this
detective and joined the Royal
Netherlands Army as a reserve
officer and currently has the rank
of first lieutenant (NATO: OF-1).
On
www.battledetective.com,the
results of his research
are published on-line. |
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Praise for Battle Detective.com
Click to enlarge
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Co-author of
"Operation Market Garden",
published in 2018 in several
languages
(Casemate Publishers;
ISBN:978-1-61200-586-7) |
Co-author of
the Arnhem edition in the
"Past & Present" series,
published in 2017 in several
languages
(Casemate Publishers;
ISBN:978-1-61200-540-9)
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Author Simon
Forty's
"Past & Present" series -
2016 |
Author G.J.
Detorre's "Screaming Eagle
Gliders" -2016
(Stockpole Books; ISBN:
9780811717564) |
Author Ian
Gardner's book
"Airborne, the combat story
of
Ed Shames of Easy Company"
- 2015
(Osprey Publishing; ISBN:
978-1472819383) |
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"Scratched:
World War Two II Airborne
Operations That Never
Happened"
MAJ John C. Gwinn, US Army
Army, School of Advanced
Military Studies, Ft.
Leavenworth, KS - 2014 |
Author Terry
Poyser's book "Fighting Fox
Company" - 2013
(Casemate Publishers; ISBN:
978-61200-212-5) |
Member of
"Team Holland in author
Terry Poyser's book
"Fighting Fox Company" -
2013 |
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"Enjoy your travels and
thanks so much for continuing with
your research and your website.
It
is excellent reading
with lots of
good information and photos. Take
care.
Your friends, Tom and Margie"
- Dr. Thomas J.
Nolan, Director, Laboratory for
Spatial Technology at Middle
Tennessee State University & his
wife
Margie Nolan, both historians
and members of the
Sergeant York Project; May 2013
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"I would like to thank you for
the absolutely outstanding work you
do at battledetective.com. It is
such a fascinating combination of
historical scholarship and
perceptive detective work. I learned
much from your study of the deaths
of
CPT Kiley and
LTC Cole."
- Author and
historian
Dr. John C. McManus, Missouri
University of Science and
Technology; June 2012 -
"[When]
John Klein came to Normandy with
Bill Galbraith and Manny Barrios to
help Roger Day and me launch
Tonight We Die as Men, he unwittingly
introduced me to a pair of Dutch
historians, Tom Timmermans and Tom
Peeters, who
later became my
research team in Eindhoven. Despite
having busy careers and their own
historical websites -
www.battledetective.com and
www.battleatbest.com - both men
are a joy to work with and have
helped me
shape this book into a
profound and meaningful historical
record, that I hope everyone who
reads will understand and appreciate."
- Author and
historian Ian Gardner in the
Preface
of his book
Deliver Us From Darkness;
September 2011 -
"... found your site to be quite interesting...
"
- Prof. David O'Keefe,
University of Ottawa, John Abbott
College, the Lester B. Pearson and
English Montreal School Boards;
October 2010 -
"Very nice job, Tom."
- Author and
historian Michel Detrez; March 2008
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"The paratroopers of the 501st
Infantry (Airborne) are forever
grateful for your efforts to
preserve the unit's history. Your
selfless service is a great example
for all to emulate. Thank you for
all the support you have shown the
Geronimos!"
" Citation on the
Certificate of Appreciation by
Lt-Col Robert Balcavage, Commander
of the US Army's 1st Battalion of
the 501st Infantry (Airborne); May
2008 -
"Tom Timmermans is a great guy
who I met at the 1st European TT
Convention. [...] who conducts
investigations into battle locations
and artifacts, he has a website
called 'Battle Detective.com'
[...]
Mr Timmermans does do good work.
This stems from his love of the
subject and his because of his
concern for
American veterans and
their families."
- Author and
historian
Mark A. Bando; December 2007 - |
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