This cycling route invites you to explore the landfront of Flushing, leading you through the surrounding towns of Nieuwdorp and Middelburg. The defensive line once stretched across Walcheren, Ritthem, and toward Fort Rammekens. Along the way, you can discover the fort, bunkers, and various landmarks that tell the story of this strategic zone.Three additional highlights include the Liberation Museum in Nieuwdorp, where visitors can learn about the liberation of Zeeland as well as the construction of the Atlantikwall in the region and the Battle of the Scheldt. Not far from there, on the Sloedam, you’ll find Zeeland's most important memorial. This memorial commemorates the flanking operation to capture the Sloedam and Walcheren from the German occupiers. Finally, Park Toorenvliedt in Middelburg is another appealing location that was developed later in the war (1944) and where an important communications bunker is located.&nbsp;

The Netherlands

A bicycle laid down on the grass next to a gravel path in front of an anti-tank bunker at landfront Vlissingen, Netherlands.

nl_atlanticwall_1025_0148.jpg

nl_atlanticwall_1025_0036.jpg

The entrance to a bunker at the bunker complex Dishoek, Netherlands, showing the bunker identifier and some of the original camouflage paintwork.

nl_atlanticwall_1025_0091.jpg

nl_atlanticwall_1025_0019.jpg

Cycling the defenses of Zeeland through the region of Walcheren: from Flushing to Middelburg and Nieuwdorp

The bunker at Louwerse’s Wegeling has a reinforced concrete wall protecting the entrance side. The other bunker stands on a farmyard along the Rammekensweg.Due to the dike bombing of 7 October 1944, west of Fort Rammekens, the village and its defensive structures were flooded later that same day.

​​Widerstandsnest Eschwege Ritthem​ 

Along the Zeedijk of the Jacobpolder, several bunkers remain. One of them has been made accessible and can be visited. It is a troop bunker combined with an emplacement for a light anti-aircraft gun — one of three that once stood here. From these positions, the airspace above the Sloedam was defended against attacks by fighter aircraft.

Stützpunkt Scharnhorst

Other bunkers of the Kernwerk can be found at the eastern mouth of the Buitenhaven of Vlissingen, specifically at the Veiligheidscentrum Zeeland, a fire brigade training centre. These bunkers can only be visited with permission from the centre. They are remnants of the naval battery Kernwerk Vlissingen, including a type M 145 ammunition bunker and a type M 170 gun bunker — the latter being the last casemate of this type in the Netherlands. This bunker shows damage to the gun opening caused by wartime bombardment and heavy artillery fire. This section of the dike was heavily bombed multiple times by the British strategic air force.There is also a type 114A neu bunker with an armoured turret for two machine guns (6-Schartenturm), the only bunker of this type built in the Netherlands. In addition, there is a type 633 bunker for a machine grenade launcher (M 19), which is also the only remaining example in the country.In 1939, two Dutch cast-steel machine-gun casemates were built here, which still survive. One faces forward, the other flanking. The flanking casemate is rare among remaining bunkers. It has been restored by the Stichting Bunkerbehoud and is the only one of all the bunkers here that is freely accessible to the public.

Stützpunkt Nettelbeck 1

In 1943, on the Marnixplein, an air force hospital bunker (type 638) was constructed. The entire airfield, along with all its defensive works, has disappeared due to the expansion of Vlissingen. This bunker is therefore the only remaining structure that recalls Vlissingen’s aviation history. (The bunker is currently still covered with soil, but it will be excavated next year and will be open to visitors at set times.)

Landing zone - hospital bunker Vlissingen

This was a powerful air defence, posing a serious threat to attacking aircraft. Except for the battery on Vrijburgweg, all the others have been demolished. Even this surviving battery, however, has been heavily damaged; only two gun positions and a shelter bunker remain. Officially, it was known as the schwere Flak-Batterie Vlissingen-Nord.During the inundation, the battery ended up in the water behind a hastily constructed embankment — a vulnerable position that a naval officer once described as looking like a stranded ship, an easy target for aircraft. Nevertheless, the battery remained active until the final days of the war. It supported the defenders of West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, and on 28 October 1944 the battery was involved in shooting down a Lancaster bomber.

Bunker forest North battery

At the next bunker, the waterway makes a bend and becomes a former tank ditch. On either side of the ditch stand machine-gun bunkers of type 630. The tank ditch originally bent north at this point, but this section has since been filled in. Continuing along the route, one reaches a gun bunker for a mobile anti-tank gun (type 625). From this bunker, the cannon controlled the bridge over the tank ditch.Crossing the Abeelseweg, two more type 630 bunkers are visible. One was constructed using wooden formwork, the other with concrete blocks (Formsteine). Here, the tank ditch originally ran toward the Kanaal door Walcheren, but this section has also been filled in. Continuing the road toward the canal, a tank obstacle can be seen along the Vlissingseweg. This consists of reinforced concrete “dragon’s teeth,” known to the Germans as Höckerhindernisse. A tank ditch was not geologically possible here. The barrier extended to the canal dike, but this section has disappeared due to infrastructure improvements.Behind this is a bunker (type 629) where an anti-tank gun could be stationed and the crew was accommodated. The defence was conducted from prepared positions in the surrounding area, rather than from the bunker itself.Continuing along the service road toward Vlissingen, at the corner of the Abeelseweg intersection one encounters a crew bunker (type 621) for ten men. During the war, this bunker served as a company headquarters. Immediately after completion, the bunker was camouflaged as a house by painting windows on the walls and adding a pitched roof. The Bunker Preservation Foundation has since restored this camouflage.Continuing along the road toward Vlissingen, after more than a kilometre, the Steengracht in West-Souburg can be seen — a waterway that, in early 1942, served as a tank ditch for the fortress of Vlissingen before being expanded into its final form.This brings the route back to West-Souburg, completing the loop.

Vlissingsche watergang bunkers

Corporal Powell (B Company, Calgary Highlanders) wrote that they left just before midnight. The shells coming from their own guns hurtled over their heads, to strike with great noise and a brief flash of light at the German end of the dyke. The noise was unnerving and deafening. You couldn't even hear yourself think, Powell said.As soon as they got closer to the end of the causeway, the defences opened fire. With everything at their disposal, the Germans sprayed the long dyke. Like chaotic fireworks, glowing bullets and grenades drew streaks of light crisscrossing the air. Hits from explosives made the dyke body tremble under soldiers' boots. An anti-tank gun fired massive armour-piercing shells along the bare embankment. The red-hot projectiles hurtled past, bouncing in all directions like a pinball over the basalt blocks.Around Corporal Powell, one comrade after another tumbled to the ground injured. One incident remained etched in Powell's memory. At the time, the whole group was lying as flat as possible on the ground when a shell exploded close to a comrade. The badly hit soldier still stammered "I'm dying" before he was left motionless. The survivors rolled into a huge crater, from where they could hear German soldiers talking a little further away. Powell and his comrades huddled in the crater, keeping as still as possible, while flares above their heads bathed the night in daylight. The hours crept on slowly until they were given permission to retreat. Metre by metre they crept back along the Sloedam causeway back to their starting position. For now, the road to Walcheren remained barred.

Grenades bounce across the Sloedam

When twilight began, the German defence realised what was happening. Arriving landing boats were heavily attacked, fortunately causing only minor damage and few casualties. Meanwhile, the British commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson, set up his command post in the bunker at Oranjemolen.Now a bridgehead had been successfully secured, new troops could land on Uncle Beach in the afternoon. When darkness fell at the end of the day, a new group of landing craft shuttled the last units towards the bridgehead. However, what began as a successful landing would change into a three-day war in the centre and on the boulevards of the port city.At Uncle Beach there is an artillery observation bunker of the 143 type. The Bunker Preservation Foundation has restored and furnished this bunker as a museum. Its purpose was to coordinate the artillery positions located in the countryside of Walcheren when directing fire onto potential landing beaches.The bunker was equipped with an armoured dome from which observations could be made using a periscope. During the Battle of Walcheren, however, this system no longer functioned: due to the deliberate flooding following the dike bombardments, the artillery positions had been abandoned and were no longer operational.Auf der Website von <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.zeeuwseankers.nl/de/geschichte/die-schlacht-an-der-scheldemuendung">Zeeuwse Ankers</a> finden Sie umfassende Informationen, persönliche Geschichten und Videos über die Schlacht an der Schelde.<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe class="video" width="640" height="480" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SHQ7Wz8nRsk" start="0"></iframe></div>

Landings in Flushing

The ‘Landfront’ was designed to defend the fortress against rear attacks. The ‘Landfront’ began in the west, in the dunes near Valkenisse, and extended towards Koudekerke and further on in the direction of the Walcheren Canal. On the east side of the Canal, the front continued its way toward Ritthem. There it ended at Fort Rammekens.During the Allied attack on Walcheren, in November 1944, the German defence line was not finished yet. However, the ‘Landfront’, with its artillery batteries, was such a threat that it was decided to inundate the island of Walcheren. Although the German defenders tried to retain the ‘Landfront’ for as long as possible by protecting the bunkers and casemates from the rising sea water, the defence line had to be considered as lost.During and after the Second World War, the majority of the ‘Landfront’ was preserved. In 2013 it was designated a national monument.Visit the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.zeeuwseankers.nl/en/story/battle-of-the-schelde">Zeeuwse Ankers</a> website (Zeeland Anchors) for comprehensive information, personal stories and videos about the Battle of the Scheldt.&nbsp;

Landfront Vlissingen

At the beginning of 1944, the German Fifteenth Army was responsible for the defence of the Channel Coast, from Le Havre to the Scheldt estuary. With the Allied invasion and the fighting in Normandy from 6 June 1944, the Fifteenth Army continued to guard the Channel Coast in the belief that the real invasion still had to come. When the German defences in Normandy collapsed and it was clear that no further invasion would come, the German Fifteenth Army had to pull out and be secured.The rapid fall of Antwerp placed the High Command of the German Army in a difficult position. The troops west of Antwerp were threatened to become trapped. They eventually managed to escape via Zeeland. The “German Dunkirk” would thus provide a substantial contribution to the new defence of the Netherlands across the rivers and delay the ultimate liberation of the Netherlands.During the German retreat, the headquarters of General von Zangen, the commander of the Fifteenth Army, was first moved to Wondergem near Ghent and then, on September 5, to the Toorenvliedt Estate near Middelburg. When Von Zangen left ten days later, Toorenvliedt took on its old role of division headquarters.General Daser, the Festungscommandant of Walcheren, would continue to command his troops on Walcheren and the Bevelanden form this place. Forced by the rising water on Walcheren,a result of the breaching of the dykes, he had to retreat to South Beveland on October 17.When this headquarters was also threatened by the approaching Canadian troops from the east (Operation Vitality I and II) at the end of October, he returned to two buildings on the Dam Square in Middelburg. There, Daser would eventually capitulate.

Middelburg - Estate Toorenvliedt 

Prior to the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, Fort Rammekens became part of the Dutch defences.After the capitulation of Zeeland on May 17 it was put into use by German units and from 1942 the fort became part of the Atlantik Wall; the German line of defence along the coasts of north-west Europe. strongpoint surrendered on 5 November 1944 after Scottish troops presented the German garrison with a written ultimatum: surrender by 16:00, or the fort would be subjected to heavy artillery fire. Shortly before the deadline expired, the white flag was raised.Just outside the fort lies a bunker for anti-tank artillery. Instead of a two-metre-thick reinforced-concrete roof, it has a 22-cm curved steel plate—the last surviving example of this bunker type anywhere in Europe. On the fort’s French Crownwork, a Tobruk bunker for a mortar also remains.When the Allied decision was made to inundate Walcheren by bombing the sea dykes, 247 Lancaster bombers dropped 1270 tonnes of bombs on the Zeedijk near Westkapelle on October 1, 1944. Although the bombs breached a hundred meters of the dyke, the relatively high altitude of the village and its surrounding area meant that only a small part of Walcheren was flooded. It was therefore decided to carry out new bombings on Walcheren's lower lying dykes.On October 7, 58 Lancasters bombed the Nollendijk west of Vlissingen and 68 Lancasters bombed the sea dyke at Ritthem, just west of Fort Rammekens. Later, two more bombings would follow west of Veere and again around Westkapelle. The hole that was struck in the dyke just west of Fort Rammekens was about 400 meters wide. The water flooded the land and inundated a larger part of Walcheren. When the Scottish 157th Infantry Brigade approached Fort Rammekens on November 5, the commander set an ultimatum; surrender or be shelled by artillery. The small German garrison decided to surrender.The breach in the dyke would eventually be closed with Phoenix caissons in February 1946, caissons intended for the construction of an artificial harbour during the invasion of Normandy.Visit the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.zeeuwseankers.nl/en/story/battle-of-the-schelde">Zeeuwse Ankers</a> website (Zeeland Anchors) for comprehensive information, personal stories and videos about the Battle of the Scheldt.

Fort Rammekens

Le musée retrace plusieurs évènements importants de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. L’exposition démarre dans la salle de réception, où Kees Sinke dit au revoir à sa mère. L'histoire de Kees Sinke, mobilisé en 1939, sert de fil conducteur à l’exposition. Le musée établit des liens avec le présent et met l'accent sur le ressenti humain. Il rend ainsi hommage à tous les soldats qui se sont battus pour la Paix et la Liberté. La bataille de l’Escaut tient une place centrale dans cette exposition. Lors de cette bataille, trop souvent oubliée, de la fin de l’année 1944, la région de l’Escaut occidentale fut le théâtre de violents affrontements, l’objectif pour les Alliés étant de sécuriser la voie navigable menant à Anvers, une ville déjà libérée. Les opérations aéroportées dans les régions d’Arnhem et de Nimègue (opération Market Garden) ayant échouées, l’ouverture du port d’Anvers était d’une importance cruciale pour pouvoir envoyer rapidement des troupes supplémentaires et les approvisionnements nécessaires au front. La bataille de l’Escaut joua donc un rôle capital dans la libération des Pays-Bas et la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le musée rend également hommage au bataillon de la Zélande. Ce bataillon était principalement composé de volontaires qui, à la suite de la libération de la Zélande, voulaient aider les forces alliées à libérer les Pays-Bas et l’Europe occidentale du joug des forces d’occupation.

The Liberation Museum Zeeland takes us back to a special part of Zeelands history. During the Second World War Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen of various nationalities united in the fight against the German occupation forces. This struggle resulted in a lot of dead and wounded on both sides. The local population in Zeeland also suffered heavy casualties.

The museum offers a tour along important events during the Second World War. The exhibition starts in the Reception area, where Kees Sinke says goodbye to his mother. Kees Sinke was called up in 1939 during the mobilization. The story of Kees Sinke serves as the guideline that leads us through the exhibition.

At different points in the museum connections are made with the present and each time the focus is on people. In this way the museum pays tribute to all the forces who fought for the peace and freedom in which we live today.

The battle of the Scheldt occupies a prominent place in the exhibition. During this so often forgotten battle at the end of 1944, the area around the Western Scheldt provided the scene of action, aiming at clearing the waterway into Antwerp, that had already been liberated. Because the airborne landings known as Operation Market Garden near Arnhem and Nijmegen had failed, the opening up of the harbour in Antwerp was of vital importance for the shipping in of troops and essential supplies for rapid transportation to the front. Thus the battle of the Scheldt played a key role in the liberation of the Netherlands and the ending of the Second World War.

The museum also pays attention to the Zeeland Battalion. This Battalion was mainly formed by volunteers who, after the liberation of Zeeland, wanted to support the forces still endeavouring to free the Netherlands and Western Europe from the yoke of the occupational forces.

Cycling the defenses of Zeeland through the region of Walcheren: from Flushing to Middelburg and Nieuwdorp

Photos

Sites et histoires le long de la route

Widerstandsnest Eschwege Ritthem

Stützpunkt Scharnhorst

Stützpunkt Nettelbeck 1

Landing zone - hospital bunker Vlissingen

Bunker forest North battery

Vlissingsche watergang bunkers

Grenades bounce across the Sloedam

Landings in Flushing

Landfront Vlissingen

Middelburg - Estate Toorenvliedt

Fort Rammekens

Musée de la Libération de la Zélande

Cycling the defenses of Zeeland through the region of Walcheren: from Flushing to Middelburg and Nieuwdorp

Photos

Sites et histoires le long de la route

​​Widerstandsnest Eschwege Ritthem​

Stützpunkt Scharnhorst

Stützpunkt Nettelbeck 1

Landing zone - hospital bunker Vlissingen

Bunker forest North battery

Vlissingsche watergang bunkers

Grenades bounce across the Sloedam

Landings in Flushing

Landfront Vlissingen

Middelburg - Estate Toorenvliedt

Fort Rammekens

Musée de la Libération de la Zélande

Widerstandsnest Eschwege Ritthem