The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of
military operation
A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations ma ...
s led by the
First Canadian Army, with
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
and
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
units attached, to open up the shipping route to
Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the
Allies in north-west Europe. Under acting command of the First Canadian's
Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds
Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Ha ...
, the battle took place in northern
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and southwestern
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
from 2 October to 8 November 1944.
The Canadians had been delayed, and pressure on the Scheldt left wanting, by Allied decisions to focus on Arnhem (
Operation Market Garden), Boulogne (
Operation Wellhit
Operation Wellhit (the Battle of Boulogne) from 17 to 22 September 1944, was an operation of the Second World War by the 3rd Canadian Division of the First Canadian Army to take the fortified port of Boulogne in northern France. The 9th Canadian ...
), Calais (
Operation Undergo
Operation Undergo was an attack by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on the German garrison and fortifications of the French port of Calais, during September 1944. A subsidiary operation was executed to capture German long-range, heavy artill ...
) and Dunkirk. By the time the Canadians were sent into the Battle of the Scheldt, the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
defenders had been reinforced. The Germans staged an effective delaying action, during which they flooded land areas in the
Scheldt estuary, slowing the Allied advance. After five weeks of difficult fighting, the Canadian First Army, at a cost of 12,873 Allied casualties (half of them Canadian), was successful in clearing the Scheldt after numerous
amphibious assault
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...
s, obstacle crossings, and costly assaults over open ground.
Once the German defenders were no longer a threat, it took another three weeks to
de-mine the harbours; the first convoy carrying Allied supplies was not able to unload in Antwerp until 29 November 1944. Once Antwerp was opened, it allowed 2.5 million tons of supplies to arrive at that port between November 1944 and April 1945, critical to the successful Allied advance into Germany in 1945.
Background
Following the Allied breakout after success in the
battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
, they began a series of rapid advances into the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, far from their initial avenues of supply along the northern coast of France. By the fall of 1944, captured ports like
Cherbourg were far away from the front line, stretching Allied supply lines and causing great logistical problems.
Antwerp is a deep-water
inland port
An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port.
Examples
The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...
close to Germany. It is connected to the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
via the river
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
, which allows the passage of ocean-going ships. Following the
destruction of Rotterdam in 1940, Antwerp was the largest surviving port in Western Europe, and the obvious choice to support an invasion of Germany. This had been recognized as early as December 1941, when the Anglo-American armies made their
first plans for a European offensive.
[Weinberg, Gerhard. ''A World at Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 700.]
The
White Brigade of the Belgian resistance seized the port of Antwerp before the Germans could destroy it as they were planning. On 4 September, Antwerp was taken by the
11th Armoured Division with its harbour 90% intact.
However, the Germans had heavily fortified
Walcheren
Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...
peninsula at the mouth of the
Western Scheldt
The Western Scheldt ( nl, Westerschelde) in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the W ...
, establishing well dug-in artillery impervious to air attack and controlling access to the river. This made it impossible for Allied minesweepers to clear the river and open the port at Antwerp.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 120.] As part of the
Atlantic Wall, Walcheren peninsula was described as the "strongest concentration of defences the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
had ever constructed.
Allied preparations
On 5 September,
SHAEF
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF ...
's naval commander, Admiral Sir
Bertram Ramsay advised the Commander of
21st Army Group, General
Bernard Montgomery, to make the Scheldt his main priority, stating that as long as the mouth of the river was in German hands, the port of Antwerp was useless. That same day, thanks to
Ultra
adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. ' ...
intelligence, Montgomery became aware of Hitler's intention to hold the Scheldt at all costs. However, Montgomery was focused on preparations for the ill-fated
Operation Market Garden later that month. Among the Allied senior leaders, only Admiral Ramsay saw opening Antwerp as crucial to sustaining the advance into Germany.
Montgomery had an additional incentive not to prioritize Antwerp: his apparent desire for the 21st Army Group to spearhead the invasion of Germany and capture Berlin. On 9 September Montgomery wrote to Field Marshal Sir
Alan Brooke
Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Sec ...
(the
Chief of the Imperial General Staff
The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial G ...
) that "one good
Pas de Calais
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...
port" would be able to meet the logistical needs of the 21st Army Group, though not the American armies in France.
Three days earlier, on 6 September, Montgomery ordered Canadian General
Harry Crerar
General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who became the country's senior field commander in the Second World War as commander of the First Canadian Army in the campaign in N ...
to prioritize the capture of just such a port,
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
.
[Copp, 1981, p. 150.] Montgomery's views obliged
Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
to support a plan for the 21st to invade Germany, whereas the use of Antwerp would allow all of the armies to be supplied for such an invasion.
Due to these factors, little was done about Antwerp during September. On 12-13 September, Montgomery ordered the
First Canadian Army to clear the Scheldt after
taking Boulogne,
Calais (
Operation Undergo
Operation Undergo was an attack by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on the German garrison and fortifications of the French port of Calais, during September 1944. A subsidiary operation was executed to capture German long-range, heavy artill ...
), and
Dunkirk (
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
); General Crerar stated that this was impossible because he did not have sufficient manpower.
Montgomery refused Crerar's request to have
British XII Corps under General
Neil Ritchie
General Sir Neil Methuen Ritchie, (29 July 1897 – 11 December 1983) was a British Army officer who saw service during both the world wars. He is most notable during the Second World War for commanding the British Eighth Army in the North Af ...
assigned to help clear the Scheldt, because he needed XII Corps for Operation Market Garden.
Had Montgomery secured the Scheldt estuary as Admiral Ramsay had advised, Antwerp would have been opened to Allied shipping far earlier than it was, and the escape of the German
15th Army from France could have been stopped.
Instead, the German 15th Army was able to deploy defensively and prepare for the expected advance.
German positions
Walcheren peninsula was held by a mixture of ''
Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) and
''Heer'' (army) personnel, commanded by General
Wilhelm Daser
Wilhelm Josef Daser (31 August 1884 in Germersheim – 14 July 1968 in Ingolstadt) was a German military officer who commanded the 70th infantry division of the Wehrmacht during the Battle of the Scheldt and surrendered unconditionally on 6 Novem ...
. Its garrison consisted of the 202nd Naval Coastal Artillery Battalion, 810th Naval Anti-Aircraft Battalion, 89th Fortress Regiment, and
70th Infantry Division.
Additionally, as part of
Operation Fortitude
Operation Fortitude was the code name for a World War II military deception employed by the Allied nations as part of an overall deception strategy (code named ''Bodyguard'') during the build-up to the 1944 Normandy landings. Fortitude was di ...
(the deception plan for the Normandy invasion), the Allies had tricked the Germans into believing they would land in the Pas-de-Calais region of France instead of
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. As such, the Wehrmacht had reinforced the 15th Army in the Pas-de-Calais, providing a critical mass of troops and materiel close to the mouth of the Scheldt.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
ordered planning for what became the
Ardennes Offensive
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
in September 1944, the objective of which was retaking Antwerp. Hitler ordered the 15th Army to hold the mouth of the river Scheldt at all costs, calling the island "Fortress Walcheren."
The Germans at Walcheren were on the far right of the German line, and were deprived of supplies as the Wehrmacht focused its strength on the planned Ardennes offensive and replacing losses elsewhere. However, the flat
polder ground of the Dutch countryside favoured the defensive, and was felt to compensate for the 15th Army's reduced numbers.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 10.] Field Marshal
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12 December 1875 – 24 February 1953) was a German field marshal in the '' Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Born into a Prussian family with a long military tradition, Rundstedt entered th ...
told General
Gustav-Adolf von Zangen
__NOTOC__
Gustav Adolf Karl Friedrich Ernst von Zangen (7 November 1892 – 1 May 1964) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a commander of the 15th Army in the Netherlands in 1944 during World War II. He was a recipie ...
: "Enemy supplies, and therefore, his ability to fight, is limited by the stubborn defence of the Harbour, as intelligence reports prove. The attempt of the enemy to occupy the Western Scheldt in order to obtain the free use of the harbour of Antwerp must be resisted ''to the utmost''. In his orders to his men, Von Zangen declared:
Plan of attack
From September, Ramsay was deeply involved in planning the assault on Walcheren peninsula. He appointed Captain
Tony Pugsley of the Royal Navy, who landed the 7th Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Division on D-Day, to the First Canadian Army headquarters to start preparations.
![Guy Simonds e010786106-v8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Guy_Simonds_e010786106-v8.jpg)
After previously ordering the Channel ports to be cleared first, Montgomery decided the importance of Antwerp was such that the capture of Dunkirk could be delayed. The First Canadian Army, under temporary command of Lieutenant-General
Guy Simonds
Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Ha ...
, was supplemented by the
British I Corps,
2nd Canadian Infantry Division
The 2nd Canadian Division, an infantry division of the Canadian Army, was mobilized for war service on 1September 1939 at the outset of World War II. Adopting the designation of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, it was initially composed of v ...
, and
II Canadian Corps
II Canadian Corps was a corps-level formation that, along with I (British) Corps (August 1, 1944 to April 1, 1945) and I Canadian Corps (April 6, 1943 to November 1943, and April 1, 1945 until the end of hostilities), comprised the First Canad ...
, with the
Polish 1st Armoured Division
The Polish 1st Armoured Division (Polish ''1 Dywizja Pancerna'') was an armoured division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. Created in February 1942 at Duns in Scotland, it was commanded by Major General Stanisław Macze ...
, British
49th and
52nd Divisions attached. Additionally the
51st (Highland) Infantry Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...
was to give up its transport to enable the movement of forces into battle positions. Montgomery promised the support of
RAF Bomber Command in attacking the German fortifications and that of the
USAAF
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
8th Air Force
The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...
"on the day concerned".
![Mapnorthernfront](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Mapnorthernfront.gif)
The plan for opening the Scheldt estuary involved four main operations, conducted over daunting geography:
* Clearing the area north of Antwerp and securing access to the
South Beveland
Zuid-Beveland (; "South Beveland") is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt.
Topography
It is a former island, now peninsula, crossed by the Canal through Zuid-Bevela ...
peninsula.
* Operation Switchback, clearing the
Breskens Pocket
The Breskens Pocket was a pocket of fortified German resistance against the Canadian First Army in the Battle of the Scheldt during the Second World War. It was chiefly situated on the southern shore of the Scheldt estuary in the southern Nether ...
north of the Leopold canal and south of the Western Scheldt.
* Operation Vitality, the capture of the
South Beveland
Zuid-Beveland (; "South Beveland") is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt.
Topography
It is a former island, now peninsula, crossed by the Canal through Zuid-Bevela ...
peninsula, north of the Scheldt and east of Walcheren peninsula.
* Operation Infatuate, the capture of Walcheren.
The first attacks occurred on 13 September.
After an attempt by the 4th Canadian Armoured Division to storm the
Leopold Canal on its own had ended in bloody repulse, General Guy Simonds, commanding the II Canadian Corps, ordered a halt to operations in the Scheldt until the French channel ports had been taken, reporting the Scheldt would need more than one division to clear.
[Copp & Vogel, 1984, p. 124.] The halt allowed the German 15th Army ample time to dig in to its new home by the banks of the Scheldt.
Operation Switchback commenced on 21 September when the
4th Canadian (Armoured) Division moved north roughly along the line of the
Ghent–Terneuzen Canal
The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal (Dutch: Kanaal van Gent naar Terneuzen), also known as the "Sea Canal" (Zeekanaal) is a canal linking Ghent in Belgium to the port of Terneuzen on the Westerschelde (Scheldt) Estuary in the Netherlands, thereby providin ...
, given the task of clearing an area on the south shore of the Scheldt around the Dutch town of
Breskens
Breskens is a harbour town on the Westerschelde in the municipality of Sluis in the province of Zeeland, in the south-western Netherlands. Its population is 4,787 ().
The town is noted for the ''Visserijfeesten'' (Fishery Festival), the largest ...
, called the "Breskens Pocket". The Polish 1st Armoured Division simultaneously pushed for the Dutch-Belgian border further east and the crucial area north of Antwerp.
The
Canadian 4th Armoured Division advanced from a hard-won
bridgehead
In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...
over the Ghent-Bruges Canal at
Moerbrugge to find themselves the first Allied troops facing the formidable obstacle of the double line of the Leopold and
Schipdonk Canals. An attack was mounted in the vicinity of
Moerkerke, crossing the canals and establishing a bridgehead before counter-attacks forced a withdrawal with heavy casualties.
The 1st Polish Armoured Division enjoyed greater success to the east as it advanced northeast from
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
. In country unsuitable for armour, and against stiffening resistance, the division advanced to the coast by 20 September, occupying
Terneuzen and clearing the south bank of the Scheldt east toward Antwerp.
It became apparent to Simonds that any further gains in the Scheldt would come at heavy cost, as the
Breskens Pocket
The Breskens Pocket was a pocket of fortified German resistance against the Canadian First Army in the Battle of the Scheldt during the Second World War. It was chiefly situated on the southern shore of the Scheldt estuary in the southern Nether ...
, extending from
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...
to the
Braakman Inlet and inland to the Leopold Canal, was strongly held by the enemy.
In October, Montgomery detached the British 51st Highland Division, 1st Polish Division, British 49th (West Riding) Division and
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade
The 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the Canadian Army that saw active service during World War II. The brigade was composed of the 6th, 10th and 27th Canadian Armoured regiments and saw service in northwest Europe, landin ...
from the First Canadian Army so they could help the
2nd British Army to take part in
Operation Pheasant
Operation Pheasant, also known as the Liberation of North Brabant, was a major operation to clear German troops from the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. This offensiv ...
, an offensive to liberate North Brabant and expand the Arnhem salient. Simonds saw the Scheldt campaign as a test of his ability, a challenge to be overcome, and he felt he could clear the Scheldt with only three divisions of the 2nd Corps despite having to take on the entire 15th Army, which held strongly fortified positions in a landscape that favoured the defensive.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, pp. 19–20.] Simonds never registered complaints about his lack of manpower, ammunition, and air support.
Battle
Securing access to South Beveland
On 2 October, the Canadian 2nd Division began its advance north from Antwerp. Stiff fighting ensued on 6 October at
Woensdrecht
Woensdrecht () is a municipality (named after the village) in the southern Netherlands.
Woensdrecht is the home of the Woensdrecht Air Base, which is located to the north-east of the village of Woensdrecht and to the north-west of Huijbergen.
...
, the objective of the first phase. The Germans, reinforced by
Battle Group Chill, saw the priority in holding there, controlling direct access to South Beveland and Walcheren island.
![Alligators passing Terrepin amphibious vehicles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Alligator_amphibious_vehicles_passing_Terrepin_amphibious_vehicles_%28to_the_left%29_during_the_Battle_of_the_Scheldt_-_October_13%2C_1944.jpg)
There were heavy casualties as the Canadians attacked over open, flooded land. Canadian historians
Terry Copp
Terry Copp (born 1938) is a Canadian military historian and Professor Emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University and is co-founder and Director of the Laurier Centre for Military and Strategic Disarmament Studies since the late 1980s.
Copp was born ...
and Robert Vogel wrote: "the very name Woensdrecht sends shivers down the spines of veterans of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 30.] Driving rain, booby traps and land mines made advance very difficult. Attacking on 7 October in heavy mist, the
Calgary Highlanders
The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, itself part o ...
came under heavy fire from German positions. As described in its war diary, "the battle thickened...the Germans forces...hit back with a pugnacity which had not been encountered in the enemy for a long time".
The
Régiment de Maisonneuve
Le Régiment de Maisonneuve is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces.
The regiment is Canada's twenty-sixth most senior reserve infantry regiment, and comprises one battalion serving as part of the Canadian Army Reserves.
Lin ...
was halted 1,000 yards from their target while the next day,
The Black Watch of Canada was stopped in its attempt.
On 9 October, the Germans counter-attacked and pushed the Canadians back.
The war diary of the
85th Infantry Division reported that they were "making very slow progress" in face of tenacious Canadian resistance.
Back at SHAEF headquarters, Ramsay, who was more concerned about the problems facing the Canadians than their own generals, complained to
Supreme Allied Commander General
Dwight Eisenhower that the Canadians were having to ration ammunition as Montgomery made holding the Arnhem salient his main priority.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 42.] After Ramsay raised the issue with Eisenhower, the latter informed Montgomery on or about 9 October "the supreme importance of Antwerp. It is reported to me this morning by the Navy that the Canadian Army will not repeat not be able to attack until 1 November unless immediately supplied with ammunition."
Montgomery replied by writing: "Request you will ask Ramsay from me by what authority he makes wild statements to you concerning my operations about which he can know nothing repeat nothing...there is no repeat no shortage of ammunition...The operations are receiving my personal attention".
Field Marshal
Walter Model
Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defen ...
, who was commanding
Army Group B
Army Group B (German: ') was the title of three German Army Groups that saw action during World War II.
Operational history
Army Group B first took part in the Battle of France in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The second formation of Ar ...
, ordered: "The corridor to Walcheren will be kept open at any price; if necessary, it will be regained by forces ruthlessly detached from other sectors".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 31.] Model, a tough and ruthless
National Socialist
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
fanatic known for his devotion to Hitler, was called "the
Führer
( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Nazi Germany cultivated the ("leader princip ...
's Fireman" because Hitler always gave him the toughest jobs. Model sent the 256th ''Volksgrenadier'' division and assault gun companies to allow the release of Battle Group Chill, the "fire brigade" consisting of
6th Parachute Regiment and assault gun companies.
On 10 October, the
Royal Regiment of Canada
, battle_honours = See #Battle honours
, website =
, identification_symbol =
, identification_symbol_label = Tactical recognition flash
, nickname = Royals
, battles ...
launched a surprise attack against the German lines at Woensdrecht, but for the next days was engaged in heavy fighting against counterattacks from Battle Group Chill.
Major-General
Charles Foulkes of the 2nd Division sent the Black Watch to support the Royal Regiment.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 34.] The German forces at Woensdrecht greatly outnumbered the Canadians and had Model known of this, he might have launched a counter-offensive. Instead he used
attrition tactics by making piecemeal counterattacks. During this time, war diaries of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry noted "many snipers in the houses and hedges" had been encountered while the weather was "cold and wet with high winds. Floods rising again".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 40.]
Simonds had planned to commit the 4th Division to assist the 3rd Division with clearing the Breskens Pocket, but problems faced by the 2nd Division forced Simonds to start peeling off units from the 4th Division. On 9 October 1944, the
South Alberta Regiment was ordered to "protect the right flank of 2 Division and prevent infiltration between 2 Div and 1 Polish Armd. Div".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 46.] The next day, Simonds ordered General Harry Foster of the 4th Division "to send 4 Cnd Armd Bde to the Antwerp area at the rate of one get a day, beginning 11 Oct".
![Map - Battle of the Scheldt (Oct-Nov 44)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Map_-_Battle_of_the_Scheldt_%28Oct-Nov_44%29.jpg)
On 13 October, that would come to be known as "Black Friday", the
Canadian 5th Infantry Brigade's Black Watch was virtually wiped out in an unsuccessful attack. The Black Watch attacked German positions, already known to be well defended, while the rest of the 2nd Division was not engaged, suggesting that neither Foulkes nor Simonds had taken seriously the problem of fighting by the river Scheldt.
The Black Watch, whose officers had come from Montreal's Scottish elite, had billed itself as the most exclusive regiment in the Canadian Army. Despite this reputation, the Black Watch was considered to be a "jinxed" regiment which had had more than its fair share of misfortune.
One officer of the Black Watch reported that the soldiers sent to replace the Black Watch men killed and wounded in France "had little or no infantry training, and exhibited poor morale" and that the men of C Company had "all been killed or taken prisoner" during "Black Friday". The Black Watch had already taken very heavy losses at the
Battle of Verrières Ridge
The Battle of Verrières Ridge was a series of engagements fought as part of the Battle of Normandy, in Calvados, during the Second World War. The main combatants were two Canadian infantry divisions—with additional support from the Canadian ...
in July 1944 and its heavy losses on "Black Friday" almost finished the regiment. The Calgary Highlanders were to follow up with a more successful action, and their Carrier Platoon succeeded in taking the railway station at Korteven, north of Woensdrecht.
[Two kilometres northeast of Woensdrecht] Fighting at
Hoogerheide
Hoogerheide is a village in the municipality of Woensdrecht, North Brabant, Netherlands. The name "Hoogerheide" means "High Heath" in English. The Grand Prix Adri van der Poel cyclo-cross race is held annually in Hoogerheide.
The village was firs ...
[Two kilometres southeast of Woensdrecht] also ensued. On 16 October,
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, based at John Weir Foote VC Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario. The RHLI is part of 31 Canadian Brigade Group, which is part o ...
, known as the "Rileys", under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Denis Whitaker
Brigadier William Denis Whitaker, (February 27, 1915 – May 30, 2001) was a Canadian athlete, soldier, businessman, and author.
Early life
Born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Whitaker was educated at the University of To ...
, attacked Woensdrecht at night, taking much of the village. However, they were unable to pass beyond the ridge to the west of Woensdrecht.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 34.] By 16 October, Woensdrecht was secured, cutting the land link to South Beveland and Walcheren. The "Rileys" suffered losses on 16 October equal to those of the Black Watch on "Black Friday".
The Canadians achieved their first objective, but had suffered heavy casualties.
On 14 October, Montgomery issued "Notes on Command" that were highly critical of Eisenhower's leadership and asked he be made Land Forces commander again.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 43.] On the next day, Eisenhower replied that the issue was not the command arrangement, but rather the ability and willingness of Montgomery to obey orders, saying he had ordered him to clear the Scheldt and warned if he was unable to obey orders, he would be fired.
Stung by Eisenhower's message, a chastised Montgomery promised: "You will hear no more from me on the subject of command...Antwerp top priority in all operations of 21 Army Group".
On 16 October, Montgomery issued a directive along that line.
To the east, the British Second Army attacked westward to clear the Netherlands south of the
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
(''Maas'') during Operation Pheasant, securing the Scheldt region from counter-attacks.
As part of his newly focused efforts to assist Simonds, Montgomery assigned the British 52nd Lowland Division to the First Canadian Army.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 56.] The 52nd division, recruited in the Lowlands of Scotland, was a mountain division, requiring men with unusual strength and stamina in order to fight in the mountains, making it into something of an elite division within the British Army.
Simonds greatly appreciated having the Lowlanders under his command and told Major-General
Edmund Hakewill-Smith that the 52nd was to play the decisive role in taking Walcheren island.
As such, Simonds ordered Hakewill-Smith to start preparing an amphibious operation as Simonds planned to land the 52nd Division on Walcheren at the same time the Canadians attacked the island.
Meanwhile, Simonds concentrated forces at the neck of the South Beveland peninsula. On 17 October, Major-General Harry Forster announced 4th Division would attack on 20 October to take the area known as the
Wouwsche Plantage.
The offensive began in the early morning of 20 October and was led by the Argyll and Lake Superior regiments.
On 22 October, the
Lincoln and Welland Regiment, known as the "Lincs" in the Canadian Army, and
The Algonquin Regiment
The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers) is a primary reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army comprising two companies. A Company is located in North Bay, Ontario, and B Company is located in Timmins, Ontario. The regiment fall ...
took Esschen in a surprise attack.
On 23 October, the German 85th Division launched a counterattack led by some
self-propelled (SP) guns.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 47.] The
Sherman tanks of the
Governor General's Foot Guards
The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is the senior reserve infantry regiment in the Canadian Army. Located in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall, the regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry unit, and the members are part-time soldiers.
...
and the
Lake Superior Regiments were decimated by the German SP guns.
For the next days, there occurred what the 85th Division's war diary called "extremely violent fighting".
The war diary of the Canadian
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders spoke of "nightmarish fighting" at Wouwsche Plantage. The fighting at Wouwsche Plantage was considered so important that Montgomery arrived at the headquarters of the 4th Canadian Division to press Forster for speed, but Forster protested that the flat ''polder'' country made speed impossible. One company of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment lost 50% of its men in a single day's fighting, while an advance company of the Algonquin Regiment was cut off and surrounded by the Wehrmacht, requiring desperate fighting to break out. The Canadians now advanced towards
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.
Etymology
The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil ...
and would take part in Operation Pheasant in an effort to take the city. The advance would force Rundstedt to redeploy the elite 6th Parachute Regiment, which until then had been blocking the 2nd Canadian Division on the Beveland isthmus to the defence of Bergen op Zoom.
By 24 October, Allied lines were pushed out further from the neck of the peninsula, ensuring German counterattacks would not cut off the 2nd Canadian Division, by then moving west along it towards Walcheren island.
Operation Switchback
The second main operation, Operation Switchback, opened with fierce fighting to reduce the
Breskens Pocket
The Breskens Pocket was a pocket of fortified German resistance against the Canadian First Army in the Battle of the Scheldt during the Second World War. It was chiefly situated on the southern shore of the Scheldt estuary in the southern Nether ...
. Here, the
Canadian 3rd Infantry Division encountered tenacious German resistance as it fought to cross the Leopold Canal. An earlier failed attempt by the Canadian 4th Armoured Division at
Moerbrugge had demonstrated the challenge they faced. In addition to the formidable German defences on both the Leopold Canal and the Schipdonk Canal, much of the approach area was flooded.
The Breskens pocket was held by the 64th Division commanded by General Knut Eberding, an infantryman with extensive experience on the
Eastern Front who was regarded as an expert in defensive warfare.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 78.] When the 15th Army had retreated from the Pas-de-Calais region of France across the Low Countries in September 1944, an enormous number of guns and ammunition ended up in the Breskens Pocket, including one hundred
20 mm anti-aircraft guns. They were used by the Wehrmacht as a sort of "super-heavy
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
" and were much dreaded by the Canadian infantry. 20-mm guns could shred a man to pieces within seconds.
Besides the 20-mm guns, the 64th Division had 23 of the famous
88 mm flak guns, known for their power to destroy an Allied tank with a single direct hit, together with 455 light machine guns and 97 mortars.
While Montgomery focused on Operation Market Garden in September 1944, Eberding used three weeks of quiet to have his men dig in. He later expressed amazement about the Allied air forces hardly ever bombing the Breskens Pocket in September, allowing his men to build defensive works with barely an effort to stop them.
The flat, swampy ''polder'' country made the Breskens Pocket into an "island", as much of the ground was impassable with only a few "land bridges" connecting the area to the mainland. The Wehrmacht had blown up
dykes to flood much of the ground so that the Canadians could only advance along the raised country roads.
Eberding reported that the ''polder'' country was "a maze of ditches,
canalized rivers and commercial canals, often above the level of the surrounding countryside...which made military man
euvrealmost impossible except on the narrow roads built on top of the dykes. Each of these roadways were carefully registered for both artillery and mortar fire".
It was decided that the best place for an assault would be immediately east of where the two canals divided: a narrow strip of dry ground, only a few hundred metres wide at its base beyond the Leopold Canal (described as a long triangle with its base on the
Maldegem
Maldegem (; vls, Moaldegem), earlier spelled Maldeghem, is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Maldegem, Adegem and . and have always been separate hamlets of Maldegem. ...
-
Aardenburg
Aardenburg is a small city close to the Dutch border with Belgium. It is part of the Sluis Municipality, located in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. Its medieval name was Rodenburgh (Red Castle).
In the Sint-Baafskerk, (Saint Bavo's C ...
road and its apex near the village of Moershoofd some east). Despite the fact that the Ultra intelligence provided by
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...
had revealed that the 64th Division was digging in for a hard fight and that Eberding had ordered a fight to the death, Canadian military intelligence seriously underestimated the size of the German forces. They expected Eberding to retreat to Walcheren island once the 3rd Canadian division started to advance.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 79.] However, Simonds appreciated the problems imposed by the polder country and the Germans concentrating their forces at the few "land bridges". He planned to use
amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, ca ...
s known as "
Buffaloes" to travel across the flooded countryside to outflank the German forces.
Simonds planned to strike both at the Leopold canal and at the rear of the Breskens Pocket via an amphibious landing at the Braakman inlet.
A two-pronged assault commenced. The Canadian 3rd Division's
7th Brigade made the initial assault across the Leopold Canal, while the
9th Brigade mounted the amphibious attack from the northern (coastal) side of the pocket. The 7th Brigade was known as the "Western Brigade" in the Canadian Army as its three regiments were all from western Canada with the
Canadian Scottish Regiment
("Ready for the fray" or "ready to sting" – see §Motto)
, colours = Red, blue, and green
, colours_label =
, march = Blue Bonnets Are over the Border
, mascot ...
coming from
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
area, the
Regina Rifles
The Regina Rifles are a Junior B box lacrosse team based in Regina, Saskatchewan, playing in the top league in Saskatchewan, the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League. The expansion team entered the Saskatchewan Major Box Lacrosse League (later became ...
from the
Regina area, and the
Royal Winnipeg Rifles
The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (R Wpg Rif) are a Primary Reserve one-battalion infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Nicknamed the "Little Black Devils", they are based at Minto Armoury in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles are part of 3r ...
from the
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
area, while the 9th Brigade was known as the "Highland brigade" as its three regiments were all
Highland regiments
A Scottish regiment is any regiment (or similar military unit) that at some time in its history has or had a name that referred to Scotland or some part thereof, and adopted items of Scottish dress. These regiments were created after the Acts ...
with two coming from
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
and another from
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. The
North Shore Regiment made a diversionary attack across the Leopold Canal, while the Regina Rifles regiment and the Canadian Scottish Regiment made the main assault.
The
Royal Montreal Regiment
The Royal Montreal Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based in Westmount, Quebec. It is part of the 2nd Canadian Division's 34 Canadian Brigade Group.
Lineage
File:RMR Colour.jpg, The regimental colour of The R ...
, which had never seen action yet, were pressing to get into the fight, and as such, the B company of the Regina Rifles, nicknamed the "Johns", agreed to step aside so one company of the Royal Montreal Regiment could take their place.
![Field hospital, Walcheren Dyke (11874872204)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Field_hospital%2C_Walcheren_Dyke_%2811874872204%29.jpg)
The 9th Highland Brigade, however, was unable to land at the same time as expected, owing to their unfamiliarity with amphibious vehicles. The assault began on October 6, supported by extensive artillery and Canadian-built Wasp
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and othe ...
s, equipped with
flamethrowers. The 7th Brigade was supposed to be on their own for 40 hours, but instead faced 68 hours of the Germans using everything they had to try the stop the Canadians from crossing the Leopold canal.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 82.]
Simonds had planned to take the Wehrmacht by surprise by avoiding a preliminary bombardment and instead having the Wasps incinerate the German defenders with a "barrage of flame".
The Wasps launched their barrage of flames across the Leopold Canal, allowing the 7th Brigade troops to scramble up over the steep banks and launch their assault boats. However, the Germans had dug in well and many escaped the flamethrowers. One company of the Royal Montreal Regiment was almost destroyed on the edge of the Leopold canal. The Germans brought down heavy machine gun and mortar fire and only a few of the Montrealers made it to the other side. The A company of the Regina Rifles did not attempt to cross the canal because the volume of machine gun fire convinced the experienced "Johns" that it was too dangerous to try to cross the canal in daylight.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 83.] The Royal Montreal Regiment company held their precious "bridgehead" for several hours before being joined by the "Johns" three hours later when D company of the Regina Rifles crossed the canal. They were joined by C and A companies in the evening.
By that time, most of the men of B company of the Royal Montreal Regiment, who had been anxious to get into action, were dead.
By contrast, the "barrage of flame" worked as expected for the Canadian Scottish Regiment, who were able to cross the Leopold canal without much opposition and put up a
kapok footbridge within the first hour of crossing the canal.
Two precarious, separate footholds were established, but the enemy recovered from the shock of the flamethrowers and counter-attacked, though the Germans were unable to move the Canadians from their vulnerable bridgeheads. Brigadier J. C. Spraggree became worried that the Regina Rifles might be destroyed by the Germans' ferocious defence, leading him to order his reserve, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, to cross over the Canadian Scottish Regiment's bridgehead and link up with the Regina Rifles.
The polderland, which limited avenues of advance, proved to be a major difficulty as the Germans concentrated their fire along the few raised roads.
At the same time, the Regina Rifles came under heavy counterattacks and were barely hanging on.
Canadian losses were so heavy that a squadron of tankmen from the 17th Hussars Regiment were given rifles and sent to fight as infantrymen.
The Canadian historians Terry Copp and Robert Vogel wrote the fighting "...was at close quarter and of such ferocity that veterans insist that it was worse than the blackest days of Normandy".
The war diary of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles reported: "Heavy casualties were suffered by both sides and the ground was littered with both German and Royal Winnipeg Rifle dead".
The war diary of the Canadian Scottish regiment sardonically noted: "The grim fighting was such that
Piats and bazookas were used to blow down walls of houses where resistance was worst. These anti-tank weapons are quite handy little house-breakers!" By 9 October, the gap between the bridgeheads was closed, and by early morning on October 12 a position had been gained across the Aardenburg road.
The days of 10-12 October were ones of intense struggle while the men of the 7th Brigade with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles took, lost and then retook a group of houses known as Graaf Jan and the Regina Rifles found themselves pinned down by a group of well dug-in pillboxes that seemed to be resilient to artillery. The Germans had ample artillery, together with an immense number of artillery shells, and brought down heavy fire on any Canadian advance.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 84.] Making the fighting even more difficult was the heavy rain that started the day after the crossing of the Leopold canal, with a post-operation report on Operation Switchback stating: "In places the bridgehead was little bigger than the northern canal bank. Even protection was slight: slit trenches rapidly filled with water and had to be dug out many times a day".
The Canadians could not advance beyond their bridgehead on the Leopold canal, but Eberding, not content with stopping the Canadians, decided to "annihilate" the 7th Brigade by launching a series of counter-attacks that cost the German 64th Division dearly, as Canadian artillerymen were killing German infantrymen as proficiently as German artillerymen were killing Canadians.
Simonds' plan failed when the 9th Brigade did not land at the same time as the 7th Brigade crossed the Leopold Canal and the 64th Division decisively stopped the advance of the 7th Brigade. In the end, only Eberding's determination to wipe out the 7th Brigade allowed Simonds' plan to work.
In terms of numbers lost as a percentage of those engaged, the battle of the Leopold Canal was one of the bloodiest battles for Canada in World War II, with 533 killed and another 70 men breaking down due to battle exhaustion.
Copp and Vogel wrote: "One in every two men who crossed the Leopold became a casualty!"
The men who broke down under battle curled up in a fetal position and refused to move, speak, eat or drink as their spirits had been broken by the stress of the fighting. On 14 October 1944, Eberding, a man deeply committed to National Socialism, ordered that German soldiers who retreated without orders were to be regarded as
deserters
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which a ...
and
summarily executed
A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...
, and "...where the names of deserters are ascertained their names will be made known to the civilian population at home and their next of kin will be looked upon as enemies of the German people".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 102.]
The Canadian 9th Brigade conducted an amphibious operation with the aid of
Terrapin
Terrapins are one of several small species of turtle (order Testudines) living in fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae.
The name ...
(the first use of the vehicle in Europe) and Buffalo amphibious vehicles, crewed by the British 5th Assault Regiment of the
Royal Engineers.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 92.] The brigade planned to cross the mouth of the Braakman Inlet in these vehicles and to land in the vicinity of
Hoofdplaat, a tiny hamlet in the rear or coastal side of the pocket, thus exerting pressure from two directions at once. An "after action" report described the scene on the Terneuzen Canal: "As darkness fell only tail lights showed. The locks at Sas Van Gent proved difficult to negotiate, for the Buffaloes were not easily steered when moving slowly. Their aeroplane engines created a sound so like the roar of aircraft that over Flushing the anti-aircraft guns fired sporadically...Because of the damage to the locks near the ferry (at Neuzen) it was necessary to cut ramps in the bank and by-pass the obstacle. Not only was this a slow progress, but many craft were damaged. The decision was therefore taken to postpone the operation for 24 hours".
The delay allowed for Admiral Ramsay to volunteer the services of Lieutenant-Commander R.D. Franks of the Royal Navy to serve as a pilot, guiding the Buffaloes expertly down the river Scheldt without the Germans noticing.
Franks reported: "It was nearly ideal night, calm and quiet with a half moon behind a light cloud, but a bit of haze which restricted visibility to a mile at most. We were quite invisible from the north shore of the Scheldt, where all was quiet...Our touchdown was planned to be on either side of a
groyne
A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concre ...
...we were able to identify it and then lie off flicking our lamps to guide the LVT's in. They deployed and thundered past us...I could see through my binoculars the infantry disembark on dry land and move off".
In spite of difficulties in manoeuvring vehicles through the canals and the resulting 24-hour delay, the Germans were taken by surprise and a bridgehead was established. The
North Nova Scotia Highland regiment landed with no resistance and woke nine sleeping German soldiers at their dug-out, taking them prisoner.
The
Highland Light Infantry
The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fus ...
regiment's major problem at the landing site was not the Wehrmacht, but mud.
After the initial landing, the
Cameron Highlanders and the
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of 33 Canadian Brigade Group, 4th Canadian Division and is headquartered in Cornwall, Ontario.
Regimental badge
Superimposed upon a ...
were landed by Franks.
Once again, the Germans recovered quickly and counter-attacked with ferocity; however, they were slowly forced back. Upon hearing of the landing at the Braakman Inlet, Model reacted promptly, telling Hitler: "Today, the enemy launched a decision-seeking attack on the Breskens bridgehead".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 94.] Living up to his reputation as the "Führer's Fireman", Model ordered Eberding to immediately "annihilate" the Highland Brigade.
Starting on daybreak on 10 October, the Highland Brigade came under counter-attack, with the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highland regiment, known as the "Glens" in the Canadian Army, spending two days fighting for the village of Hoofdplaat with a loss of 17 dead and 44 wounded.
The North Nova Scotia Highlanders took three days to take the village of
Driewegen, with the regimental war diary reporting: "The artillery is kept busy and this dyke to dyke fighting is very different to what we have been doing. It appears the enemy are a much better type than we have been running into lately".
The Canadian Army was known for the quality of its artillery, which took a heavy toll on the German counter-attacks by day, with the war diary of
15th Field Regiment for 12 October reading: "Today we were the busiest we have been since Cormelles and Falaise pocket days".
The Germans' nightly attacks enjoyed more success, with the Highland Light Infantry losing and then retaking the village of
Biervliet
Biervliet is a small city in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Terneuzen, and lies about 16 km South of Vlissingen.
Biervliet received city rights in 1183. It was originally a fishing village which specialised ...
during a confusing night battle.
Canadian Major-General
Daniel Spry of the 3rd Division changed the original plan to commit the 8th Brigade in support of the 7th Brigade, and instead sent the 8th Brigade to link up with the 4th Division and then come to the support of the 9th Brigade.
![Map - Battle of the Scheldt (Breskens pocket)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Map_-_Battle_of_the_Scheldt_%28Breskens_pocket%29.jpg)
The
Canadian 10th Brigade of the 4th Armoured Division crossed the Leopold Canal and advanced at Isabella Polder. Then the 3rd Division's
8th Brigade was called to move south from the coastal side of the pocket. This opened up a land-based supply route into the pocket. Eberding used his reserves in his counter-attacks and reported to the
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht that some units of the 64th Division had "been reduced to one third".
Between 10 and 15 October, the 64th Division staged a "fighting retreat", as Eberding called it, to a new pocket designed to shorten his lines, since so many of his units were now under-strength.
The Canadian Scottish Regiment found the village of
Eede empty and abandoned, entered the village and promptly came under heavy artillery bombardment.
The
Queen's Own Rifles regiment, leading the advance of the 8th Brigade, found the village of
IJzendijke
IJzendijke is a city in the municipality of Sluis, about 10 km east of Oostburg, in the Dutch province of Zeeland.
The town received city rights in 1303.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1127 as Isendica, and means " dike of Iso ...
"well defended" on 15 October, but abandoned the next day.
The Highland Light Infantry and the "Glens" broke through the main German line, but General Spry, unaware of this, ordered a withdrawal, in order to concentrate greater forces.
The German officers explained away their retreat by claiming they were being overwhelmed by tanks, but in fact there were only four, belonging to the
British Columbia Regiment
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) is a Primary Reserve armoured reconnaissance (recce) regiment of the Canadian Army; the regiment is subordinate to 39 Canadian Brigade Group of the 3rd Canadian Division. Established in 1883, ...
, operating north of the Leopold canal.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 104.] The presumed tanks were actually the
M10 self-propelled anti-tank guns of the 3rd Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment which provided fire support to the Canadian infantry.
Joining the Canadians on 20 October were the
157th Highland Light Infantry Brigade of the 52nd Division, which allowed Spry to group the three brigades of the 3rd Division for the final push.
From the summer of 1944 the Canadian Army experienced a major shortage of infantrymen, owing to policies of Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...
. In order to defeat
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...
, the ''
Union Nationale'' premier of Quebec who called a snap election in 1939 to seek a mandate to oppose the war, Mackenzie King had promised that only volunteers would be sent to fight overseas and that there would be no overseas conscription. With only so many Canadians willing to volunteer, especially as infantry, the Canadian Army ran seriously short of infantrymen, as their losses were not compensated by replacements.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 106.] In planning the final push, Spry favoured a cautious, methodical approach, emphasizing firepower that was designed to save as many of the lives of his men as possible.
The 3rd Division fought additional actions to clear German troops from the towns of Breskens,
Oostburg
Oostburg ( Zeelandic Flemish: ''Wòstburg'') is a city in the south-western Netherlands. It located in the municipality of Sluis, in the province of Zeeland. As of 1 January 2015, its population is 4731, down from 5008 in January 2005. It received ...
,
Zuidzande and
Cadzand
Cadzand is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, about 8 km northwest of Oostburg. The village contains 790 inhabitants (2010). Better known to many visitors is the nearby beach at Cadzand- ...
, as well as the coastal fortress Fort Frederik Hendrik. When advancing, the Canadians proceeded very slowly and used massive firepower via air strikes and artillery bombardments when faced with opposition.
The shortage of infantry replacements meant that Canadian officers were loath to engage in operations that might lead to heavy losses.
On 24 October, Montgomery arrived at the headquarters of the 3rd Division. Despite the fact that Montgomery had chosen to fight the Battle of Arnhem instead of clearing the Scheldt in September 1944, thus having allowed the Germans to dig in, he criticized the 3rd Canadian Division for its slow advance, saying the Breskens Pocket should have been cleared weeks ago and calling the Canadian officers cowards for their unwillingness to take heavy losses.
As a result, the 157th Brigade was withdrawn as a punishment and the 3rd Division was ordered to press on with "all speed".
Despite the fact that the Canadians could not afford heavy losses, the 3rd Division began a period of "intense combat" to clear out the Breskens Pocket.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 108.] The
Régiment de la Chaudière attacked the town of Oostburg on 24 October, losing an entire company, but since they had been ordered to take Oostburg at "any price", the "Chads" dug in to hold their ground while the Queen's Own Rifles came to their aid.
On 25 October, the Queen's Own Rifles took Oostburg after what its war diary called "a wild bayonet charge" amid "fairly heavy" casualties.
Lieutenant Boos of A company of the Queen's Own Rifles was awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC ...
for leading what should have been a suicidal bayonet charge on the Oostburg town gates but ended with him and his men taking the gates.
Despite tenacious German opposition, inspired at least in part by Eberding's policy of executing soldiers who retreated without orders, the Canadians pushed the Germans back steadily.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 110.] In the last days of the battle, German morale declined and the number of executions of "deserters" increased as many German soldiers wished to surrender rather than die in what was clearly a lost battle.
The Régiment de la Chaudière, which could ill-afford the losses, seized a bridgehead on the ''Afleidingskanaal van de Lije'' (Derivation Canal of the Lys), over which the engineers built a bridge.
On 1 November, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders stormed a pillbox and captured Eberding, who, despite his own orders to fight to the death for the Führer, surrendered without firing a shot. After being taken prisoner, Eberding met Spry and accused him of not being aggressive enough in taking advantage of "opportunities", saying any German general would have moved far more swiftly. Spry responded that having lost about 700 men killed in two "aggressive" operations within five days, he preferred a methodical advance that preserved the lives of his men. Eberding replied that this showed "weakness" on the side of the Canadians, noting that Wehrmacht generals were only concerned with winning and never let concern with casualties interfere with the pursuit of victory.
Operation Switchback ended on 3 November, when the Canadian 1st Army liberated the Belgian towns of
Knokke
Knokke () is a town in the municipality of Knokke-Heist, which is located in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium. The town itself has 15,708 inhabitants (2007), while the municipality of Knokke-Heist has 33,818 inhabitants (2009). ...
and Zeebrugge, officially closing the Breskens Pocket and eliminating all German forces south of the Scheldt.
[Montgomery also bestowed the nickname "Water Rats" on the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, a play on the ]Desert Rats
The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname.
After the Muni ...
title the 7th Armoured Division had earned in the Western Desert. General Harry Crerar
General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who became the country's senior field commander in the Second World War as commander of the First Canadian Army in the campaign in N ...
reportedly hated the term, though it was meant as a tribute to their success in amphibious operation
Amphibious warfare is a type of Offensive (military), offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the opera ...
s in Normandy and the Scheldt. (Granatstein, Jack. ''The Generals: Canadian Senior Commanders in the Second World War''.)
Operation Vitality
![2ndcanadianinscheldt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/2ndcanadianinscheldt.jpg)
On the afternoon of 22 October, Major-General Foulkes, as acting commander of the 2nd Canadian Corps told the 2nd Canadian Division that the start of Operation Vitality, the operation to take the South Beveland peninsula, had been pushed forward by two days by the "express orders from Field Marshal Montgomery who had placed this operation at first priority for the British and Canadian forces in this area". Major Ross Ellis of
The Calgary Highlanders
The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, itself part of L ...
told Foulkes that the men were tired after the hard fighting earlier in October, only to be informed that the operation would go through.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 58.] Morale in the 2nd Division was poor, with only the Royal Regiment of Canada, the
Essex Scottish Regiment, the Cameron Highland Regiment and the Calgary Highlanders being able to assemble anything close to four rifle companies.
The attack was to be led by the 6th Brigade consisting of the Cameron Highlanders, the battered
South Saskatchewan Regiment and the even more battered
Fusiliers Mont-Royal, who despite being very under-strength were assigned to lead the attack on the centre.
This third major operation opened on 24 October, when the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division began its advance down the South Beveland peninsula. The Canadians hoped to advance rapidly, bypassing opposition and seizing bridgeheads over the ''Kanaal door Zuid-Beveland''
(Canal through South Beveland), but they too were slowed by mines, mud and strong enemy defences.
The war diary of the Fusiliers Mont-Royal reports simply that the regiment had taken "heavy casualties", the Cameron Highlanders reported "stiff opposition" from the 6th Parachute Regiment, while the South Saskatchewan Regiment reported: "The country over which we had come was not the kind you dream about to make an attack in as it was partly wooded, partly open, and it had many buildings, ditches, etc".
Joining the 6th Brigade later that day were the 5th Brigade, with the Calgary Highlanders leading the assault and reporting the "remnants" of two platoons that had advanced beyond the dyke to be joined by the Black Watch when night fell.
The Royal Regiment had seized its start-line during the night and in the early morning was joined by the Essex Scottish Regiment and the
Fort Garry Horse Regiment to make a slow advance supported by heavy artillery fire. On 25 October, the Essex Scottish Regiment reported that 120 Germans had surrendered and that the "tough shell of defences at the narrowest point of the peninsula was broken".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 59.] On 26 October, the 70th Infantry Division's commander General Wilhelm Daser reported to Rundstedt that the situation was untenable, and that retreat was unavoidable.
An
amphibious attack was made across the Western Scheldt by the
British 52nd (Lowland) Division to get in behind the German's Canal through South Beveland defensive positions. The 156th West Scottish Brigade described the Dutch countryside as "extremely difficult", but also noted that German morale was poor, stating that they had expected the Wehrmacht to fight harder and that most of their casualties were coming from mines and booby-traps.
With the formidable German defence outflanked, the
Canadian 6th Infantry Brigade began a frontal attack in assault boats. The engineers were able to bridge the canal on the main road.
With the canal line gone, the German defence crumbled and South Beveland was cleared. The third phase of the Battle of the Scheldt was now complete. Daser ordered his men to retreat and make a stand on "Fortress Walcheren".
Operation Infatuate
![Walcheren2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Walcheren2.gif)
As the fourth phase of the battle opened, only the island of Walcheren at the mouth of the Scheldt remained in German hands. The island's defences were extremely strong: heavy coastal
batteries on the western and southern coasts defended both the island and the western Scheldt estuary, and the coastline had been strongly
fortified
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
against amphibious assaults. Furthermore, a landward-facing defensive perimeter had been built around the town of
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushin ...
(Dutch: ''Vlissingen)'' to defend its port facilities, should an Allied landing on Walcheren succeed. The only land approach was the
Sloedam
The Sloedam was a dam, connecting the Dutch islands Zuid-Beveland and Walcheren near the town of Arnemuiden. Before the dam was constructed, these islands were separated by a stretch of water called the Sloe. The Sloedam was constructed in 1871 for ...
, a long, narrow causeway from South Beveland, little more than a raised two-lane road. To complicate matters, the flats that surrounded this causeway were too saturated with sea water for movement on foot, but had too little water for an assault in storm boats.
Inundation of Walcheren
To hamper German defence, Walcheren island's dykes were breached by attacks from RAF Bomber Command. Due to the high risks for the local population, the bombings were sanctioned at the highest level and preceded by
leafleting to warn the island's inhabitants. The first bombing was on 3 October at
Westkapelle, on the western shore of the island. The Westkapelle dyke was attacked by 240 heavy bombers, resulting in a large gap that allowed the seawater to enter. This flooded the central part of the island, allowing the use of amphibious vehicles and forcing the German defenders onto the high ground surrounding the island and in the towns. The bombing at Westkapelle came with severe loss of life, with 180 civilian deaths resulting from the bombardment and the resulting flooding. Attacks on other dykes had to ensure that the flooding could not be contained. On 7 October, dykes in the south were bombed, west and east of Flushing. Finally, on 11 October, northern dykes at
Veere
Veere (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Ter Veere) is a municipality with a population of 22,000 and a town with a population of 1,500 in the southwestern Netherlands, in the region of Walcheren in the province of Zeeland.
History
The name ''Veere ...
became a target. Bombing against the island defences was hampered by bad weather and requirements for attacks on Germany.
The island was then attacked from three directions: across the Sloedam causeway from the east, across the Scheldt from the south, and by sea from the west.
Battle of Walcheren Causeway
![Commandos landing near Flushing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Commandos_landing_near_Flushing.jpg)
The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division attacked the Sloedam causeway on 31 October. Post-war controversy exists around the claim that there was a "race" within the 2nd Division for the first regiment to take the causeway to Walcheren island, implying that the failure to take the causeway on 31 October was due to reckless determination to win the "race".
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 68.] Colonel
C.P. Stacey wrote about the "race" in the official history of the Canadian Army, a charge that was vehemently disputed by Copp and Vogel in the ''Maple Leaf Route''.
The 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division had advanced rapidly up to the causeway, which led to Brigadier Keefler giving orders to take the causeway while the task of taking the Beveland end of the causeway had been given to the 52nd Division. The Royal Regiment took the eastern end of the causeway in a night attack.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985, p. 70.] As there seemed an actual chance of taking the entire causeway, orders were sent to the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division to launch an attack, to be led by the "jinxed" Black Watch who were to advance down the causeway while the Calgary Highlanders and Le Régiment de Maisonneuve were to advance by boat.
An initial attack by the Black Watch was rebuffed while it discovered the waters in the channel were too shallow for the 2nd Division to cross it, leaving a company of the Black Watch stranded on the causeway under heavy German attack.
The Calgary Highlanders then sent a company over which was also stopped halfway across the causeway.
During a second attack on the morning of 1 November, the Highlanders managed to gain a precarious foothold. A day of fighting followed and then the Highlanders were relieved by the Régiment de Maisonneuve, who struggled to maintain the bridgehead.
The Régiment de Maisonneuve finally did secure the bridgehead, only to find that it was useless for an advance, since the German defences in the ''polderland'' were too entrenched for an advance to be made.
Foulkes ordered Major-General Hakewill-Smith to launch the 52nd Division into a frontal attack on Walcheren, which Hakewill-Smith protested strongly. The "Maisies" withdrew onto the Causeway on 2 November, to be relieved by the 1st Battalion,
Glasgow Highlanders
The Glasgow Highlanders was a former infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, later renamed the Territorial Army. The regiment eventually became a Volunteer Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow ...
of the 52nd Division. Instead of launching a frontal attack as ordered by Foulkes, Hakewill-Smith outflanked the Germans by landing the Cameronian regiment at the village of
Nieuwdorp, south of the causeway, and linked up with the Glasgow Highlanders the next day.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 72.] In conjunction with the waterborne attacks, the 52nd continued the advance. The battle for the causeway had caused the 2nd Division 135 dead in what has become one of the most controversial operations of the 2nd Division, with much criticism centering on the decisions of Foulkes.
Despite the fact that Lieutenant-General Simonds and Foulkes were both British immigrants to Canada, the two detested one another and Simonds often spoke of his wish to sack Foulkes, believing him to be incompetent.
Because of port shortage, Captain Pugsley of the Royal Navy had to improvise heavily to provide the necessary shipping for the landings on Walcheren island.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 124.] Despite the refusal of Bomber Command to strike various German fortifications on Walcheren, opening up the Scheldt was regarded as so important that during a meeting on 31 October between Simonds, Foulkes, and Admiral Ramsay, it was decided that the landings on Walcheren were to go ahead.
Pugsley, aboard the command ship , was given the final decision, with orders to cancel the operation if he thought it was too risky.
At the same time, Simonds ordered two Canadian artillery regiments to concentrate 300 guns on the mainland, to provide fire support for the landings.
The amphibious landings were conducted in two parts on 1 November.
Operation Infatuate I
Operation Infatuate I consisted mainly of infantry of the
155th Infantry Brigade (4th and 5th battalions
King's Own Scottish Borderers
The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's O ...
, 7th/9th battalion,
Royal Scots
The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...
) and
No. 4 Commando, who were ferried across from Breskens in small landing craft to an assault beach in the south-eastern area of Flushing, codenamed "Uncle" Beach. With the Canadian artillery opening fire, the 4th Commando were carried ashore in twenty
Landing Craft Assault
Landing Craft Assault (LCA) was a landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd. ...
s, to be followed by the King's Own Scottish Borderers regiment who attacked Flushing.
During the next few days, they engaged in heavy street fighting against the German defenders, destroying much of Flushing.
The Hotel Britannia, which before the war had catered to British tourists, was the headquarters of the German 1019th Regiment holding Flushing and became the scene of "spectacular fighting" described as "worthy of an action film" when the Royal Scots regiment engaged to take the hotel, which finally fell after three days.
Operation Infatuate II
Operation Infatuate II was the amphibious landing at Westkapelle, also conducted on the morning of 1 November. To cross the shallow water required a daylight assault with fire support provided by the Support Squadron Eastern Flank (SSEF) commanded by Commander K.A Sellar, with additional support from the
battleship and two
monitors, and .
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 126.][ Between them providing ten 15-inch guns] Air support was limited due to weather conditions. With no air support, no spotter aircraft to guide the guns of his ships, and the Germans fully alerted with their coastal artillery already firing at the British ships, Pugsley was faced with the difficult decision to cancel or proceed, and after some deliberation, sent out the message reading "Nelson", which was the code name to land.
The radar-guided guns of the German coastal artillery took a heavy toll on the SSEF, which lost 9 ships sunk and another 11 that were so badly damaged that they had to be broken up for scrap as they were beyond repair.
After a heavy bombardment by the Royal Navy, plus a support squadron of landing craft carrying guns, troops of
4th Special Service Brigade
The 4th Special Service Brigade was a brigade-sized formation of the British Commandos formed during the Second World War in March 1944 from battalion-sized units of the Royal Marines. Due to the success of the British Army Commandos' operations ...
(Nos.
41,
47, and
48 Royal Marines Commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
and
No. 10 Inter Allied Commando, consisting mainly of Belgian and Norwegian troops) supported by the
specialized armoured vehicles (amphibious transports, mine-clearing tanks, bulldozers, etc.) of the
79th Armoured Division
The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day.
Major-General Percy ...
were landed on both sides of the gap in the sea dyke, using large landing craft as well as amphibious vehicles to bring men and tanks ashore. The Royal Marines took Westkapelle and
Domburg
Domburg is a seaside resort on the North Sea, on the northwest coast of Walcheren in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Veere, and lies about 11 km northwest of the city of Middelburg, the provincial capital ...
the next day. Anticipating the fall of "Fortress Walcheren", on November 4, Admiral Ramsay ordered that mine-sweepers start the work of removing the German mines from the river Scheldt, a task that was not completed until 28 November.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 pages 127.]
Heavy fighting ensued in Domburg as well before the ruins of the town were captured.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 127.] On 3 November, the Royal Marines had linked with the 52nd Division.
Part of the troops moved south-east toward Flushing, while the main force went north-east to clear the northern half of Walcheren (in both cases along the high-lying dune areas, as the center of the island was flooded) and link up with the Canadian troops who had established a bridgehead on the eastern part of the island. Fierce resistance was again offered by some of the German troops defending this area, so that fighting continued until 7 November.
On 6 November, the island capital
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
fell after a calculated gamble on the Allies' part when the Royal Scots attacked Middelburg with a force of amphibious "Buffaloes" from the rear.
Since Middelburg was impossible to reach with tanks, due to the inundations, a force of "Buffaloes" were driven into the town, forcing an end to all German resistance on 8 November. General Daser portrayed the "Buffaloes" as tanks, giving him an excuse to surrender as he was faced with an overwhelming force.
Meanwhile, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division had pushed eastward past
Bergen-op-Zoom
Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.
Etymology
The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soi ...
to
Sint Philipsland where it sank several German vessels in
Zijpe
Zijpe () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2013, Zijpe and Harenkarspel merged into Schagen.
Population centres
The former municipality of Zijpe consisted of the following cities, towns, villages ...
harbor.
With the approach to Antwerp clear, the fourth phase of the Battle of the Scheldt was complete. Between 20 and 28 November, Royal Navy minesweepers were brought in to clear the Scheldt estuary of
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s and other underwater obstacles left by the Germans. On 28 November, after much-needed repairs of the port facilities, the first convoy entered Antwerp, led by the Canadian-built
freighter ''
Fort Cataraqui
Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in July 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario (at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway), in a location tradition ...
''.
Aftermath
![The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B12260](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/The_British_Army_in_North-west_Europe_1944-45_B12260.jpg)
At the end of the five-week offensive, the Canadian First Army had taken 41,043 German prisoners. Complicated by the waterlogged terrain, the Battle of the Scheldt proved to be a challenging campaign in which significant losses were suffered by the Canadians.
Throughout the Battle of the Scheldt, battle exhaustion was a major problem for the Canadians.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 116.] The 3rd Canadian Division had landed on D-Day on 6 June 1944 and had been fighting more or less continuously since. A psychiatric report from October 1944 stated that 90% of battle exhaustion cases were men who been in action for three months or longer.
Men suffering from battle exhaustion would go
catatonic and curl up in fetal position, but the report found that after a week of rest, most men would recover enough to speak and move about.
According to the report, the principal cause of battle exhaustion "seemed to be futility. The men claimed there was nothing to which to look forward to – no rest, no leave, no enjoyment, no normal life and no escape....The second most prominent cause...seemed to be the insecurity in battle because the condition of the battlefield did not allow for average cover. The third was the fact that they were seeing too much continual death and destruction, loss of friends, etc".
The Canadian government policy of sending only volunteers overseas had caused major shortages of men, especially in the infantry regiments. Canadian units were too under-strength to allow leave, where U.S. and British units could. This stretched the soldiers tremendously. A common complaint of soldiers suffering from battle exhaustion was that the Army was trying to "get blood from a stone", with the under-strength units being pushed relentlessly to keep fighting, without replacements for their losses and no chance to rest.
After the battle, the II Canadian Corps moved to the
Nijmegen sector to take over from the
XXX British Corps.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 134.] Although Antwerp was opened to Allied shipping on 28 November, the German 15th Army had delayed the use of Antwerp to the Allies from 4 September to 28 November 1944, which was longer than Hitler had hoped for, justifying the German decision to hold the river Scheldt.
Even before the Battle of the Scheldt, the Canadian Army was aware that it lacked reinforcements to replace its losses, and the losses endured during the fighting help provoke the
Conscription Crisis. The Canadian Defence Minister, Colonel John Ralston, was forced to report to the prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, that the current policy of only sending volunteers overseas was not sustainable as the losses in the Battle of the Scheldt vastly exceeded the number of volunteers, and conscripts would have to be sent overseas. Copp and Vogel strongly praised Simonds's leadership of the 1st Canadian Army, writing how his operations "were brilliantly planned and sometimes brilliantly executed". Copp and Vogel also defended the Canadians from charges of incompetence and cowardice made by American and British historians stating: "The Canadian Army had, through October, the most difficult and important task of all the Allied armies, it had carried through a series of complex operations to a successful conclusion and it had done this with verve and skill despite the growing manpower shortage now apparent on all the Allied fronts."
After the first ship reached Antwerp on 28 November,
convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
s started bringing a steady stream of supplies to the continent, but this actually changed very little.
Operation Queen
Operation Queen was an American operation during World War II on the Western Front at the German Siegfried Line.
The operation was aimed against the Rur River, as a staging point for a subsequent thrust over the river to the Rhine into Germa ...
continued to flounder while the Americans then suffered a major reverse in the
Hurtgen forest offensive by December. The dismal fall weather hindered not only the Canadians in the Battle of Scheldt, but also the operations of
First U.S Army in the Hurtgen forest, the
Third U.S Army in Lorraine, and the
Ninth U.S. Army, the
Seventh U.S Army and 1st French Army further south.
[Copp & Vogel, 1985 page 136.] On 5 November 1944, Eisenhower calculated that for the offensives into the western borderlands of Germany to be successful, over the following month, it would require 6 million artillery shells, two million mortar shells, 400 more tanks, 1,500 jeeps, and 150,000 spare tires to replace worn-out ones, none of which was readily available until the Scheldt was cleared.
By 15 December, only the Seventh U.S. Army had reached the Rhine by taking Strasbourg while the U.S. Third Army had advanced into Germany to run up against one of the strongest sections of the West Wall.
At least part of the reason for the failure for the Allied offensives was the shortage of infantry replacements, with the Americans coming close to running out of infantry replacements and the British being forced to break up divisions to provide reinforcements.
Germany recognized the danger of the Allies having a deep water port, and in an attempt to destroy it – or at least disrupt the flow of supplies – the German military fired more
V-2 rocket
The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...
s at Antwerp than at any other city. Nearly half of the V-2s launched during the war were aimed at Antwerp. The port of Antwerp was so strategically vital that during the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front, launched on 16 December 1944, the primary German objective was to retake the city and its port. Without Antwerp being opened, which allowed 2.5 million tons of supplies to arrive at that port between November 1944 and April 1945, the Allied advance into Germany in 1945 with the American, British, and French armies heading into the ''Reich'' would have been impossible.
Controversy
The Battle of the Scheldt has been described by historians as unnecessarily difficult, as it could have been cleared earlier and more easily had the Allies given it a higher priority than Operation Market Garden. American historian
Charles B. MacDonald
Charles Blair Macdonald (November 14, 1855 – April 21, 1939) was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the f ...
called the failure to immediately take the Scheldt "
e of the greatest tactical mistakes of the war." Because of the flawed strategic choices made by the Allies in early September 1944, the battle became one of the longest and bloodiest that the Canadian army faced over the course of the Second World War.
The French Channel ports were "resolutely defended" like "fortresses" and Antwerp was the only viable alternative. However, Montgomery ignored
Admiral Cunningham, who said that Antwerp would be "as much use as
Timbuctoo" unless the approaches were cleared, and Ramsay, who warned SHAEF and Montgomery that the Germans could block the Scheldt estuary with ease.
The Antwerp city and port fell in early September and were secured by XXX Corps under the command of Lieutenant General
Brian Horrocks
Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer, chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World W ...
. Montgomery halted XXX Corps for resupply short of the wide
Albert Canal
The Albert Canal (, ) is a canal located in northeastern Belgium, which was named for King Albert I of Belgium. The Albert Canal connects Antwerp with Liège, and also the Meuse river with the Scheldt river. It also connects with the Dessel ...
to the north of the city, which consequently remained in enemy hands. Horrocks regretted this after the war, believing that his corps might have advanced another with the fuel available. Unknown to the Allies, at that time XXX Corps was opposed by only a single German division.
The pause allowed the Germans to regroup around the Scheldt River, and by the time the Allies resumed their advance, General
Kurt Student
Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the '' Fallsch ...
's
1st Parachute Army
The German 1st Parachute Army (1. ''Fallschirm-Armee'') was formed in September, 1944, comprising 30,000 men.
History
Its first commander was Colonel General Kurt Student, the ''Wehrmacht''s airborne pioneer. During the Allied Operation Mark ...
had arrived and set up strong defensive positions along the opposite side of the Albert Canal and Scheldt river. The task of breaking the strengthened German line, which stretched from Antwerp to the North Sea along the Scheldt River, would fall to the First Canadian Army in the month-long, costly Battle of the Scheldt. The Allies "sustained 12,873 casualties in an operation which could have been achieved at little cost if tackled immediately after the capture of Antwerp. .... This delay was a grave blow to the Allied build-up before winter approached."
The British historian
Antony Beevor
Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War.
Early life
Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at tw ...
was of opinion that Montgomery, not Horrocks was to blame for not clearing the approaches, as Montgomery "was not interested in the estuary and thought that the Canadians could clear it later". Allied commanders were looking ahead to "leaping the Rhine...in virtually one bound." Despite Eisenhower wanting the capture of one major port with its dock facilities intact, Montgomery insisted that the First Canadian Army should clear the
German garrisons in Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk first, although these ports had all suffered demolitions and would not be navigable for some time. Boulogne (
Operation Wellhit
Operation Wellhit (the Battle of Boulogne) from 17 to 22 September 1944, was an operation of the Second World War by the 3rd Canadian Division of the First Canadian Army to take the fortified port of Boulogne in northern France. The 9th Canadian ...
) and Calais (
Operation Undergo
Operation Undergo was an attack by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on the German garrison and fortifications of the French port of Calais, during September 1944. A subsidiary operation was executed to capture German long-range, heavy artill ...
) were captured on 22 and 29 September 1944; but Dunkirk was not captured until the end of the war on 9 May 1945 (see
Siege of Dunkirk). When the Canadians eventually stopped their assaults on the northern French ports and started on the Scheldt approaches on 2 October, they found that German resistance was far stronger than they had imagined, as the remnants of the Fifteenth Army had had time to escape and reinforce the island of Walcheren and the South Beveland peninsula.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
claimed in a telegram to
Jan Smuts
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...
on October 9 that "As regards Arnhem, I think you have got the position a little out of focus. The battle was a decided victory, but the leading division, asking, quite rightly, for more, was given a chop. I have not been afflicted with any feeling of disappointment over this and am glad our commanders are capable of running this kind of risk." He said that the risks "...were justified by the great prize so nearly in our grasp" but acknowledged that "
earing the Scheldt Estuary and opening the port of Antwerp had been delayed for the sake of the Arnhem thrust. Thereafter it was given first priority."
See also
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Rifleman Khan
* ''
The Forgotten Battle'' (2020), a Dutch film about the Battle of the Scheldt
Notes
Footnotes
References
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Further reading
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External links
''Canadians on the Scheldt'' Photos, battle information, video and more on the Canadian role in the battle.
Official digital collection of experiences from World War II.
BBC, ''The Peoples War''
''Against All Odds'', a documentary by
Cliff Chadderton
Liberation of the Netherlandsat the online Canadian War Museum
''The Calgary Highlanders''Includes detailed history section with maps and descriptions of key battles such as Hoogerheide, The Coffin, and the storming of Walcheren Causeway.
article on the battle, including maps and detailed information on German formations.
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ttp://www.soldatenvanoranje.com The contribution of the Nr 2 Dutch Troop, Nr 10 Inter Allied Commando to Infatuate I and Infatuate II.
Memoirs of Joe Brown of Peebles (Battles at Flushing and Middelburg).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheldt, Battle Of The
Military history of Canada during World War II
Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...
Military history of the Netherlands during World War II
Battles and operations of World War II involving Belgium
Battles of World War II involving Canada
Amphibious operations involving Canada
Battles and operations of World War II involving the Netherlands
Battles and operations of World War II involving Norway
Battles and operations of World War II involving Poland
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...
October 1944 events
November 1944 events
Battles in Flanders
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...