Anniversary for the French Battle of March in and around Kapelle

By means of: Britta Janssen

49 minutes ago

General

KAPELLE – Saturday, May 18, it is time for the tenth edition of the French Battle March from Kapelle. Because of the anniversary, the organization of the French Battle March splits the ten-kilometer route into two five-kilometer walks and a tour with a historic military vehicle.

The French Battle March is an annual walking tour with different distances, which is held in memory of the French soldiers who helped the Netherlands in the defense against the German occupiers in the Second World War in May 1940. Many French soldiers also died. Some of them are buried at the French Military Cemetery on the Kitskinderseweg in Kapelle. Every year in May, a commemoration is held at the monument on the French cemetery, where dignitaries from France are also present. The French commemoration is part of the Toujours Kapelle commemoration and activity week, in which the French Battle March is traditionally also held.

Traffic jam

All routes of the walking tour run across the military cemetery and past the monument with the commemoration wreaths and also visit the Memorial 40-45 Kapelle museum, which commemorates that period. A reenactment camp is being built on a site near the museum using old military equipment. A parade will be held through the village with the old equipment on Saturday morning. The start of the parade is at De Vroone village hall at 9.30 am.

‘Zeeland 250’

At the French Battle March, walkers can choose from routes of five, ten, fifteen, twenty and thirty kilometers. All routes are on paved and unpaved roads and paths. Walkers can start from 7:30 am. The registration fee is five euros, four euros for members of the walking association and one euro for children up to twelve years old.

The French Battle March is part of the ‘Zeeuwse 250’, a circuit of six Zeeland walking tours with a total length of about 250 kilometers. “About a hundred people have registered for the entire cycle,” according to the organization of the French Battle March. “Anyone who completes five of the six tours will receive a souvenir. It is an initiative of Sport Zeeland and the province of Zeeland. Both parties want to draw more attention to walking and have the various events reinforce each other.”

Routes

The five-kilometre route goes through the heart of Kapelle, via the Zeeuws Fruit Museum (new name of the Fruit Growing Museum), the French military war cemetery and the Memorial 40-45 Kapelle museum. The long routes from the ten kilometers go towards the Post Bridge where the monument is located that commemorates the battle around this bridge (photo). More information about this battle will be provided on signs there.

The walkers who cover twenty and thirty kilometers will take a walk across the Post Bridge through the Yerseke Moer nature reserve and then return to the rest point at the bottom of the bridge. The walkers of the ten kilometers can get into old military vehicles here and be taken back to Kapelle, where they continue their route along the same route as the participants of the five kilometers. The hikers of the fifteen, twenty and thirty kilometers return to Kapelle via the Kapelse Moer nature reserve and then join the short-distance route.

The start and finish of the walking tours is at the De Vroone village hall in Kapelle. Free parking is available in the parking lot of De Bloesem sports center on Vroonlandseweg. There is limited parking near De Vroone.