Operation Amherst
Warfare
History Hit
4.5 • 943 Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the 7th April 1945, 702 French members of the Special Air Service parachuted into the Netherlands to recapture Dutch canals, bridges and airfields in the fight against the occupiers. This was one of the last major airborne missions of the Second World War and, despite a multitude of difficulties, it resulted in the liberation of parts of the Netherlands and paved the way for the Canadian advance. Joël Stoppels is a battlefield guide and founder of Battlefield Tours, he takes us through the mission and its challenges, and explores some of the atrocities perpetrated throughout the war and during the German retreat, discovered by the advancing French paratroopers.
Joël’s website can be found here.
For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here.
If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the app, go to the Android or Apple store.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | When we think of the final months of the Second World War in Europe, we think of the vast waves of infantry moving across the continent, the daring British and American parachute missions and the elated scenes of final liberation. |
| 0:15.0 | Yet what we don't hear about is Operation Amherst. |
| 0:19.0 | This was the code name given to the airborne landings of some 702 French paratroopers into occupied Holland. |
| 0:26.5 | They were part of the British Special Air Service, the SAS, and in this daring mission, |
| 0:31.2 | which was one of the last major airborne operations of the Second World War in Europe, |
| 0:35.8 | they heralded the liberation of parts of Holland, discovered holding camps for victims of the Holocaust, |
| 0:41.2 | and paved the way for advancing Canadian forces. |
| 0:44.0 | I'm your host James Rogers. This is the warfare podcast and to take us through this period of history |
| 0:49.9 | as we reach its anniversary here in April I'm joined by Joel Stoppel, one of Europe's most well-known |
| 0:56.0 | battlefield guides and the founder of BattlefieldTtors.nU. As Joel explains, when it comes to this operation, what could go wrong did go wrong, but it didn't stop the troops from fulfilling their mission. |
| 1:10.0 | Hi Joel, welcome to warfare. How you doing today? |
| 1:12.0 | Yeah, great. Thank you for having me here in this podcast. |
| 1:15.7 | Not a problem at all. I think you are our first battlefield tour guide and you have one hell of a reputation. So you got to tell us, you got to take us through. |
| 1:25.8 | What are your most popular sites that you go to? Yeah I visited a lot of sites, especially at the |
| 1:31.7 | last years when I was involved in a project with a camera team, |
| 1:34.8 | a video team to record all the historical places all over Europe, from Monte Cassino to Normandy to the UK, |
| 1:41.9 | so that was an amazing project. to a lot of guides but also historians and veterans. |
| 1:48.0 | But I think where I'm now living and I'm living in the city of Groningen. It's the northern part of the Netherlands. |
| 1:54.0 | It's one big city. There was one big urban battlefield during the end days of the Second World War, |
| 2:00.8 | April 1945. The Canadian 2nd Infantry Division was involved in heavy |
| 2:06.2 | house-to-house fighting, clearing each house for house, and I think that's, yeah, it's a battlefield that's |
| 2:11.7 | nearby my house, so I can walk outside and you see the |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.