Testimonials

  I had a fantastic day with Edwin Popken as expert guide.
The visit of the battle sites, combined with his on the spot knowledge of what really happened and... read more interesting details / background information on the persons involved was enriching for me and should be for anyone interested in military history.
He has all the background knowledge to make any day with him a day to remember.
Thierry Mathieu

  December 3, 2016 We hired Edwin Popken of Battlefield Discovery Tours to act as our guide while visiting the Ardenne region of Belgium in late October of this year. ... read more I was interested in tracing the footsteps of my Uncle who fought in the “northern shoulder” of the Battle of the Ardenne Forest (Battle of the Bulge) in 1944 and 1945 with the 2nd Army Division. From reading about this part of WWII I had only sketchy ideas of the geography and terrain of the area and the names of the towns and battle areas were familiar but in a fragmentary way. Edwin was able to bring all this together by providing us a detailed tour of the areas where the 38th FAB would have been positioned throughout this campaign. The thoroughness of his knowledge about military history and this particular battle area was invaluable in bringing the fragmentary aspects of the battle engagements during that time into a meaningful whole. There is NO possible way (even with extensive reading and studying) that we could have found these locations and understood the movements of this Division, Regiment, and Battalion without Edwin’s expert guidance. Communicating with him before our visit was invaluable and he was responsive and thorough in his answers to my emails. He designed a tour SPECIFICALLY for us and understood the kinds of information that would be not only of great interest but also of great personal meaning to us. We hired Edwin for a one day tour but felt we could easily have extended that to two or three. Edwin picked us up at our hotel in Malmedy and this worked perfectly. We were driven to all the sights in Edwin’s car. The day was full; we saw amazing sights and locations that only an experienced guide could bring us into and the accompanying historical information was thorough and excellent. We cannot say enough about the quality of the experience, the attention to detail of the tour, the personal nature of the tour, the ease and promptness of our communications with Edwin, the overall value of the day we spent, and the amazing experience of the bringing to life of what we had only read about. If you are looking for a guide to military sites during the course of the Second World War, we highly recommend that you will have the good fortune of hiring Edwin. …

  Just back from Oosterbeek which included three full day Battlefield Tours. Two of these were provided by Edwin Popken. I cannot recommend Edwin enough and his knowledge of Market Garden... read more is second to none. We wanted to be shown and understand the details from Joe's Bridge all the way to the Island. We split the days between the 101st airborne area and the 82nd Airborne area. The common thread was the journey of XXX Corps. Edwin is able to adapt each tour and goes the extra mile to ensure any request is dealt with. There was just I and my 11 year old son and although my son is very knowledgeable he is still 11 years old. At no time did my son lose interest and was keen to ask questions all day for two days. Edwin was fantastic with him. I have never visited so many slit trenches and fox holes before.
Both my son and I now have a much greater understanding why Market Garden was planned, the bravery on the ground, the sacrifices paid, what was achieved and the failures along the way. It is a battle so shaped by misinformation, media and debate that we are now able to understand what happened on the ground rather than on a cinema screen.
If you are in the Arnhem area and wish to walk in the footsteps of those brave individuals back in 1944, then Edwin is the guide you need to book. You will not regret it.

  Edwin gave us a wonderful tour of Arnhem and Oosterbeek to give us an insight into my father's experience during Operation Market Garden during Word War II. He brought... read more it to light with his knowledge of the facts, the geography of the area and selection of maps and photographs.

  Edwin is “the real deal” and I do not give that praise lightly. I am a retired military officer and historian. I spent a full day with Edwin examining Operation... read more Market-Garden from Eindhoven to Arnhem and many locations in-between. Edwin knows the battlefield like no other and he relates the story at any level - from strategic decisionmakers to minute tactical problems. He is not only so very knowledgeable but is also a warm and welcoming companion, so very relatable in manner. It was a great pleasure to learn from Edwin and I look forward to seeing him again.