The Forgotten Battle (2021) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Marinus van Staveren was a Dutch volunteer who joined the Waffen-SS Division Das Reich. However, his role was not combat-focused - he was reassigned to work as a secretary and translator for Oberst Berghof, the German commandant in Zeeland. This position exposed him to the Nazis' brutal methods, gradually shifting his loyalties toward helping the Dutch resistance.

• marinus van stavern
• waffen ss
• dutch volunteer
• collaboration

After witnessing the execution of civilian hostages and seeing the brutal methods of the Nazis, Marinus began to empathize with Teuntje and her father Doctor Visser. When he learned that Oberst Berghof had ordered Dirk's execution, Marinus attempted to warn Teuntje so she could help her brother escape. However, he was caught by a German officer and punished by being placed in the execution squad tasked with killing Dirk.

• marinus
• teuntje
• dirk execution
• warning

Teuntje stole a tidal map of the Sloe Channel from the mayor's office. The map revealed a deep channel that could allow Allied forces to safely cross the flooded terrain to Walcheren Island. This intelligence was crucial because the standard approach was heavily defended, but the hidden channel provided a way to flank the German positions.

• tidal map
• sloe channel
• walcheren
• allied forces
• teuntje

Janna was shot while helping Teuntje escape with Dirk's photographs of German artillery positions and the crucial tidal map. Despite being mortally wounded, she managed to reach the Allied lines before dying. The intelligence she delivered - including the artillery positions and the map of the Sloe Channel - enabled the Allies to successfully flank the German defenders at Walcheren.

• janna
• resistance
• intelligence
• artillery positions
• map

During the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, British Sergeant William Sinclair and Dutch SS translator Marinus van Staveren unexpectedly crossed paths and pointed weapons at each other. Both chose to spare the other - Sinclair likely recognized Marinus was no longer a true enemy, while Marinus had already shifted his loyalties. This moment reflected the complex moral choices in war, where enemies could become reluctant allies.

• sinclair
• marinus
• battle
• walcheren
• spare

Dirk Visser, Teuntje's younger brother, joined the Dutch Resistance and was arrested after throwing a rock at a German convoy. He was severely tortured to reveal the names of fellow resistance members but refused to cooperate. Despite Teuntje and Doctor Visser's appeal to Oberst Berghof for a lenient sentence, Berghof ordered Dirk's execution along with other resistance fighters.

• dirk visser
• execution
• resistance
• torture
• berghof

The initial Allied assault on Walcheren Island resulted in heavy casualties. However, the intelligence delivered by the dying Janna - including Dirk's photographs of German artillery positions and the tidal map showing the Sloe Channel - allowed Allied forces to find an alternative crossing route. This enabled them to successfully flank the German defenders, forcing the enemy to retreat.

• walcheren
• battle
• allied victory
• casualties
• flanking

Teuntje's brother Dirk was executed by the Germans despite her and her father's efforts to save him. This tragedy, combined with her discovery that Dirk had been secretly documenting German artillery positions along the Scheldt River, motivated her to fully commit to the Resistance. She used the information Dirk had gathered to help the Allied cause.

• teuntje
• resistance
• dirk death
• artillery positions

After Marinus and Teuntje chose to spare each other during the battle, Marinus was mortally wounded while defending Teuntje from a German soldier who attempted to harm her. Despite his earlier service in the Waffen-SS, Marinus had proven his loyalty shift by helping Teuntje and ultimately sacrificing his life to protect her. Teuntje tried to tend to his wounds, but he died from his injuries.

• marinus death
• teuntje
• german soldier
• sacrifice

During Operation Market Garden, Sergeant William Sinclair, Lieutenant Tony Turner, and soldier Henk Sneijder were traveling in an Airspeed Horsa glider when it was struck by anti-aircraft fire. The glider crash-landed in a flooded estuary in Zeeland. Turner was injured during the landing, and the team later learned the operation had failed. Turner was killed in a subsequent German attack, while Sinclair eventually reached Allied lines.

• operation market garden
• glider
• sinclair
• turner
• crash landing

The Allied victory at Walcheren was strategically crucial because it reopened the port of Antwerp to Allied forces. With the Scheldt estuary secured, supplies could flow through Antwerp rather than relying on distant ports. This significantly accelerated the Allied advance and contributed directly to the Liberation of the Netherlands on May 5, 1945.

• walcheren
• antwerp
• liberation
• port
• scheldt

At the start of the film in September 1944, Teuntje Visser worked in the office of a collaborationist mayor in German-occupied Zeeland. She and her father, Doctor Visser, were trying to maintain neutrality during the occupation. This position put her in a difficult situation as she balanced her family's safety with her growing moral objections to the occupation, eventually leading her to switch allegiances entirely.

• teuntje
• mayor office
• collaboration
• neutrality
• zeeland