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Home , Battle of the Scheldt, Bergen Op Zoom, Black Friday (1944), Breda, Eastern Scheldt, Kapelle

the battle by paul versijp. thanks to piet hoedelmans and liberation museum . of the translated by b.e.s.t. english, julia ross.

preface

In 2014, our region celebrated 70 years and there were tens of thousands of of Liberation, combined with the 70th soldiers involved on both sides. anniversary of the . The 70 year Liberation programme has In addition, the cost of this battle to been developed in close cooperation with soldiers, civilians and material was the Municipalities of the Brabant Wal enormous. To do justice to the extent of (, and the damage and especially to the ), the Municipality of the importance of the Battle of the Scheldt of Zeeland, individuals and within the framework of World War II in institutions located on the Brabant Wal North-West Europe, it is time to share and with Zeeland/ Canadian partners. the story behind this battle.

One of the objectives of the programme The Battle of the Scheldt consisted of is to make the Battle of the Scheldt better several operations. These operations will known to a larger audience; we have to be highlighted in this brochure. acknowledge that the vast majority of The reasons and the effects of the choices have never heard of it. made by the Commanders are also Even in our own region, this battle is discussed. unknown to many people. This in itself is remarkable, because it was the biggest But let's start in western . and most prolonged battle that took place on Dutch soil during World War II.

Furthermore, the battlefield was vast. It stretched from the North Sea to beyond and from Bruges to the . It lasted 85 days

[1] the breakout

After the on June 6, Coast and was ordered to take the French day has become known as Crazy 1944, the Allies wanted to get to port cities along the Channel, with the Tuesday (Dolle Dinsdag). History has as quickly as possible, but that was not intention of putting them to good use. taught us, however, that the joy of the easy. The landings on the beaches during Dutch people was short-lived. When the D-day were - contrary to expectations - The 2nd advanced to the Allies did not advance further, the successful. The problems arose when the east of the Canadians, towards . Germans were able to recover. The Allies wanted to advance. Normandy's The march went so fast that they consequences of this were far-reaching. landscape, consisting mainly of small regularly caught up with, and overtook, fields, lined with dense hedges and criss- returning German troops. At the The war carried on and in the part of the crossed with narrow sunken roads, made beginning of September 1944, the British north of the rivers, a winter the march through this area difficult. army crossed the Belgian border, still of terrible hunger took hold. without any significant resistance. On the Furthermore, the conquest of the French evening of 3 September, the British army cities of Caen and Falaise, strategically reached and a day later, located in the northwest of Normandy, . The British staff were under had not been without casualties. After a the impression that the Germans were as hard battle, the allied armies were able to good as defeated. Field Marshall Bernard break out in early August 1944. Montgomery, Commander of the 21st The countryside of northern France was Army Group - to which both of the open. American troops advanced towards above-mentioned armies belonged - Paris. On August 25, 1944, under ordered the British to halt just before the Brigadier Philippe LeClercq, the French Dutch border on 4 September 1944. troops which constituted part of the 1st American Army entered Paris as In the Netherlands, the news of the rapid liberators. The British and Canadians advance of the Allies had filtered through advanced to the north. The 1st Canadian and the fact that German units were Army pushed forward along the Channel fleeing strengthened the rumours. This

[3] antwerp

The British had already liberated this The supply lines from Normandy were important port city on September 4, far too long. Supplies were transported to 1944. Principally thanks to the brilliantly artificially landscaped ports, the so- organised resistance in Antwerp, the port called Mulberries, which were destroyed facilities fell into the hands of the Allies by a storm shortly after construction. intact. It was a different story for the By pulling out all the stops, a transport September 1944, Antwerp. ports on the Channel coast. system had been set up from Normandy The Canadians had not yet driven out the to the front. Twenty-four hours a day, access to Antwerp from the open sea, remaining German garrisons from these seven days a week, the goods which proved to be the Achilles heel of the cities, but if they had been forced to were needed to keep the front moving Antwerp harbour and broke the Allies. surrender, the Germans would have were supplied via a one-way loop. But totally destroyed the port facilities. whatever measures the logistics The Germans had lost the battle of specialists came up with, the supply Normandy, suffering huge losses and the These facilities would have consequently capacity of 5,000 tons a day was totally defeat of two of their armies; in late been unusable for the transportation of insufficient. The scarcity of goods for the August/early September the troops which much-needed supplies to allied troops. units at the front took its toll on the rapid were left fled back in the direction of Furthermore, with an average daily advance. their safe faster than the transshipment capacity of 40,000 tons, On September 12, the front line came to Allies could advance. This contributed to the was on a completely a halt along the waterways running east- the image of a virtually defeated German different level in comparison with the west in northern . The use of a army. Channel ports. At the time, Antwerp was port with sufficient transshipment As said previously, the allied armies the largest port in Europe; it had the most capacity, in this case Antwerp, was the involved were exhausted and their equip- up-to-date port facilities, many well- only solution. ment urgently needed maintenance. educated port employees and excellent After the capture of Antwerp, the British rail and water connections. Using the Antwerp was liberated and the port leadership ordered a three-day stop in port of Antwerp would give the Allies a facilities were undamaged, but the order to allow the men to get their breath decisive advantage. River, which provides back and to enable urgent repairs to be

[5] carried out to the equipment. In retrospect, the British could have carried on for about twenty miles to the Dutch village of Woensdrecht, where there was open access to South Beveland. In view of the lack of German opposition, this goal was certainly feasible. The consequences of not choosing this approach becomes clear later in this story.

To make matters worse, Montgomery was focussing his attention on a different direction. Although the Supreme Commander of the invading forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, insisted on opening the port of Antwerp, back in London Montgomery managed to get political support for another approach. In addition, he had sparked the enthusiasm of the staff officers of his army, as well as those of the 2nd British Army, and set them to work on his plan.

Canadian vessel Fort Cataraqui in the port of Antwerp.

[6] the situation on the german side

On the afternoon of 4 September, the Flanders be left behind and sacrificed to based in the Cort Heyligers barracks and Germans raised the alarm from Berlin. protect the heavy and other citizens of Bergen op Zoom and the The Kreekrak Dam, which was close to weapons installed there - including anti- surrounding area. the port of Antwerp, had suddenly aircraft guns. This action would prevent become a critical point for them. access to the Western Scheldt for as long This was the last escape route for their as possible, forcing the intrepid British who had remained along the navy to remain at a certain distance. Channel and North Sea coasts. There was The naval personnel referred to it as a threat of a second Stalingrad (on a "Gibraltar at the Scheldt estuary". smaller scale, about 125,000 men). This had to be prevented at all costs, and Furthermore, the area near the aforemen- immediate action had to be taken. tioned dam, already easily-defensible due to its natural features, was further The most important event was the strengthened by inundation and the evacuation of six divisions of the 15th construction of the so-called dragon's across the Western Scheldt. Later, these teeth, 'Rommel's asparagus', bunkers and troops would be useful when fighting in traps. northern Belgium and . The workforce used for this construction Hitler, however, commanded that a work had been rounded up through reinforced division in the north-west German raids and consisted of former corner of Belgium and in Zeeuws- dock workers of a unit

[7] [8] market garden

The fast advance and the decoding of corridor in enemy by the army. effort by the Allies and all available German reports about the huge losses to The success of the operation depended stocks. This brought the advance of the Berlin lead Montgomery to be convinced on speed and tight planning. The whole rest of the front line to a halt, including that the Germans were as good as operation was devised and prepared the southwest of the Netherlands, where, defeated. What was needed to kill off the within a week. In anticipation of the just over the Belgian border, the port of German war machine was, in his agreement of the supreme command, Antwerp was ready for use. The outcome opinion, a rapid march across the region Montgomery moved the troops from the of Market Garden is well-known. of the great rivers in the east of the Antwerp sector to . Antwerp It was a failure, which Montgomery later Netherlands. The march would then was under the command of the 1st admitted. He had sorely underestimated progress around the top of the Siegfried Canadian Army, whose hands were still the military power of the German army line, into the German lowlands and full with West and East Flanders. and was mistaken about the speed at directly to Berlin, the heart of Nazi Furthermore, Antwerp could put up which he could advance. After Market . resistance for a good week to defend the Garden, Eisenhower, who had never His operational plan consisted of a city and port against German actions. been a supporter of the Operation and combined action of airborne troops in On September 12, Eisenhouwer was well-aware of the importance of the eastern North Brabant and to reluctantly gave Montgomery the port of Antwerp, was unequivocal. secure the crucial bridges and a march go-ahead, provided, however, that the Montgomery was ordered to put the port from the Belgian border towards port could be made available for urgent of Antwerp into service for the allied by the 2nd British Army. The attack redeployment requirements as soon as case. But that was no longer so simple. would start at the city of in possible. With this he was casually Belgium and go through putting the burden on the Canadians, The stubborn Englishman continued to towards . Then the troops who drolly and cynically renamed the drive his troops towards the north-east would push through to Arnhem. whole Battle of the Scheldt 'Operation instead of north-west, even after the Cinderella'. official end of Market Garden on The plan foresaw the securing of the September 28. Only on October 16, bridge over the near Arnhem by Market Garden began on 17 September. under threat of dismissal, was he forced airborne troops and the creation of the This bold Operation demanded a massive to comply.

[9] the run-up to the battle of the scheldt

the opportunity to form a formidable Montgomery had ordered the 1st Cana- defense along the Western Scheldt. The dian Army to clear the Western Scheldt West Zeeuws-Flanders region and the of Germans. The commander of this north-west corner of Belgium in army was initially General . particular formed a huge bulwark. Due to illness, he was replaced by the ambitious and decisive Major General The Germans were apparently more , who developed four plans deeply aware than Montgomery of the to open up the port of Antwerp, two of importance of Antwerp to the Allies. which were composed of several suppor- They knew that the use of this port ting operations. The fact that the British had not been would determine the further course of the These were Operation Aintree, Switch- sent to South Beveland after the libera- war. Hitler had personally ordered that back, Vitality and Infatuate, whose aims tion of Antwerp was a blunder. access to the port of Antwerp had to were respectively south-west Brabant This allowed the 15th German Army, remain in German hands at whatever together with the Kreekrak Dam, the under General Gustav-Adolf von cost. Immediately after Antwerp was west Zeeuws-Flanders/ north-west Zangen, to retreat to Zeeland. In a few taken, Polish troops succeeded in Belgium corner, South Beveland and days, as mentioned earlier, six deploy- liberating East Zeeuws-Flanders. . Furthermore, under the able divisions had crossed the Western The same troops, led by General Major codename Operation Suitcase, he Scheldt. Stanislaw Mazcek, would liberate Breda provided additional flank protection in The shift of operational deployment to and the surrounding area on 29 October West Brabant with a breakthrough to Market Garden had given the Germans 1944. Bergen op Zoom.

[10] the battle of the scheldt

The Battle of the Scheldt therefore and, from that position, could easily A narrow strip of land between the actually consisted of five operations. target the attackers. Braakman inlet (as it then was) and the The heavy German defences forced the inundated areas just across the Belgian Canadians cautiously but surely to get At the beginning of , the border was the only access to the area. down to work. In addition to the enor- Canadians started two operations at A combined action followed. Canadian mous strength of the German army in once: in the west of Zeeuws-Flanders, 4th Armoured Division troops attacked this section of the front line, the natural Operation Switchback began. The aim this isthmus, while troops from the conditions of the terrain also had a major was to expel the Germans from this area, Canadian 3rd Infantry Division executed influence on the course of the battle. which would result in securing the area amphibious landings from the sea. The tidal region of the Western Scheldt is south of the Western Scheldt. inhospitable, with its low-tide mud flats The Canadian 4th Armoured Division In the south-western part of North and salt marshes. and Canadian 3rd Infantry Division had Brabant, at the same time as Operation The dams between the were at an important role in this Operation. Switchback, the Canadian 2nd Infantry that time narrow isthmuses which you As was to be expected, they came up Division began Operation Aintree. could not cross unseen. The cover against numerous challenges. The canals Mission: to take the Kreekrak Dam, thus offered by the polders was scarce or non- in West Flanders formed a major obstacle gaining access to South Beveland. The existent and large areas had been and could be crossed only after fierce Germans saw the danger, and sent in elite flooded. In the eastern area of the battle and bitter fighting. Hot on the heels of troops from the area by bus, who theatre, the Germans had the advantage this exertion, the next, new challenge lay fought for the defence of the area with that they had constructed their defences in wait. Large parts of west Zeeuws- unparallelled intensity. The consequence on the high sands of the Brabant Wal, Flanders had been purposely flooded. of this was that the battle in Woens-

[11] [12] drecht fluctuated for 18 days, with the The strength of the Canadian 2nd Zoom and the area north of the city. area falling from German into Canadian Infantry Division was too limited to This action meant that flank protection of hands and then back again. This struggle force a breakthrough towards the Kreek- the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division was to and fro led to many casualties among rak Dam. The reason for this was that no longer necessary. Due to the march of civilians and military personnel and the they were up against an open flank from other troops (including English, Ameri- material damage was huge. The village , across Brasschaat to Turn- cans and ) between Bergen op of Woensdrecht, for example, has hardly hout, which one of the three infantry Zoom and Tilburg, West Brabant, still any pre-1944 houses. brigades had to take to protect that flank. occupied by the Germans, was freed. The only way to expel the Germans on The action of the Canadian 4th Armou- Friday, October 13, 1944 is a dark the north side of the battle field was to red Division was effective. Afraid of chapter in Canadian military history. organise a march towards Bergen op being cut off from the other German The day is referred to as . Zoom. The already-planned Operation troops, the German defenders on the On that day, the Canadian infantry batta- Suitcase had not yet been implemented. Brabant Wal quietly left the battle scene lion Black Watch lost 183 men. From On October 28, the British 1st Army and retreated to Bergen op Zoom. October 15 to October 16, during a night Corps started an operation which was Using delaying tactics, a few days later attack on Woensdrecht, their Rileys lost also called Suitcase, but this was a they moved further northwards. 167 men and on October 23, the South frontal attack on the cities of West Saskatchewans lost 96. The reason for Brabant, with Bergen op Zoom being the The advance of the Brasschaat these terrible losses was that these troops target for the Canadian 4th Armoured Canadians to Bergen op Zoom was had to travel through the polders north of Division. After the Canadian 4th certainly not clear-cut, however, Woensdrecht, towards the Kreekrak Armoured Division was deployed in especially from Huijbergen to Bergen op Dam. The Germans had uninhibited west Zeeuws-Flanders, the troops were Zoom, where the Canadian advance range from the Brabant Wal on the north transported in the direction of guard took a real beating. No less than side of the polders and the railway dyke Brasschaat. From here, this division 28 and other armoured vehicles extension of the Brabant Wal. advanced northward, releasing Bergen op were disabled on the approximately

[13] [14] 8 kilometer-long dirt road to Bergen op Mallard). Scottish troops snuck across that the port of Antwerp could be used as Zoom. The forests in this area offered the the Sloe under the cover of darkness and of that date. The Western Scheldt was Germans excellent protection, enabling drove the Germans into this section of full of sea mines (the Western Scheldt them to disable the vehicles. In the the . was swept 15 times during that period) afternoon of October 27, the first tanks and there were sunken vessels in the drove into the suburbs of Bergen op To speed up the conquest of Walcheren, navigation channels. Zoom. Later that afternoon, against all it was decided to put the island under These obstacles had to be cleared before expectations, they were able to reach the water. This decision led to the bombing shipping traffic could start. This job centre of the city unhindered. In the days of the sea dyke at West and later eventually took another three weeks and after the liberation of the city, fierce on the sea dykes at (Flushing) on November 26, 1944, the first supply fighting between returning German and . A number of raids eventually ship and two coasters arrived at the port troops and the advancing Canadians took caused the sea defences to be destroyed, of Antwerp. On November 28, a place in the region. Both the military and with the result that a large part of of no less than 18 Liberty ships entered civilians suffered many losses, especially Walcheren was flooded. Dozens of the port. The lead ship was called Fort at Welberg. civilians in West Kapelle became victim Cataraqui and sailed under the Canadian to the bombing and floods, and, in the flag. This had a strong symbolic value At the end of October, Operation Vitality event, the effect of the inundation was seeing that the Battle of the Scheldt had got underway with an amphibious limited. The dreaded artillery was taken place under Canadian command. landing on the south Beveland coast. actually deployed in the high parts of Various nationalities operated under this Once across the Kreekrak Dam, and Walcheren: the dunes. Via landings at command structure. Besides Canadians, thanks to the amphibious landing, the Vlissingen (Infatuate 1) and on the North there were , English, Scottish, Canadians quickly occupied South Sea beach (Infatuate 2), it was up to the French, Belgians, Norwegians, Beveland. The final stage of the battle Norwegian to disable the Australians and Dutch. was the conquest of Walcheren. The German artillery. defence of this island was impressive. The Battle of the Scheldt cost 12,873 The German troops deployed there were At the beginning of it casualties, of which 6,367 were determined to defend this island at all became clear that the Germans could no Canadian nationals. 1,119 soldiers who costs. The only land access was the Sloe longer play any part in the blockade of fought in the Battle of the Scheldt now Dam, at that time just a dyke, about 1 Antwerp. Despite this situation, the lie in the Canadian War Cemetery in kilometer long and 50 meters wide with necessary methods of persuasion had to Bergen op Zoom. Over 900 of them are swamps stretching out on both sides. It be used to force the German divisional Canadian. The number of victims on the was not possible to cross this dam commissioner to surrender. German side is unknown. Among the unseen, so, once again, the answer lay in On November 5, the German resistance civilian population there were thousands an amphibious approach (Operation was finally broken, but this did not mean of victims.

[15] [16] reflection

After the Battle of the Scheldt had been Some of these V-weapons fell in the role. The Battle of the Scheldt does not fought and the Western Scheldt was centre of Bergen op Zoom as late as belong in this category. navigable again, the logistical problems February and March 1945, resulting in for the Allies were over. As a result, 37 casualties among the city's residents The Canadian Government has now also allied reserves could be rebuilt and and major material damage. A few years realised that the Battle of the Scheldt maintained so that in the spring of 1945, ago, a V-weapon was found and disabled should be more forcefully brought to the the offensive could be resumed. In this in a polder under the village of attention of the general public. sense, you could say that the outcome of Kruisland. This projectile had certainly The account you have read in this article the Battle of the Scheldt determined or been intended for Antwerp. clearly shows that the Canadian effort highly influenced the further course of and the sacrifices made by also the War in North West Europe. The Battle of the Scheldt is unknown to justify greater attention. the general public. Looking at the size The Canadian Government will try to Hitler considered the occupation of the and impact of this battle, this seems make sure the Battle of the Scheldt port of Antwerp by the Allies a disaster. strange, but explainable. Unlike, for doesn't disappear into oblivion in the And that's what it was. For him, it was example, Market Garden or the Ardennes coming years. We are aware of our debt the reason for launching the Ardennes Offensive, the struggle for the port of of honour to Canada, and we will help to Offensive () in Antwerp doesn't capture the imagination achieve that goal wherever possible. A December 1944, the main aim being the in the same way. beautiful example is the 70 year recapture of Antwerp. The Battle of the Scheldt was a struggle Liberation activities programme in 2014, in the mud; it lasted for a long time and being organised by the Municipalities of However, for the military staff in Berlin, stretched out over a huge area. In Bergen op Zoom, Steenbergen and this was a step too far. They would be addition, the Allied supreme command Woensdrecht, together with Zeeland and happy with the recapture of all areas east was Anglo-American. It is precisely Canadian partners. of the . Right up to the end of the because of this that after the Second war, thousands of V-weapons were fired World War, tributes such as feature films Part of this programme is dedicated to at Antwerp to damage the port as much were made of triumphs in which the introducing primary and secondary as possible and disrupt supplies. Americans and English played a leading school children to the Battle of the

[17] Scheldt, a subject which falls within regular history lessons on the Second World War.

The Canadian version of Liberation Route will soon be launched, in which the march of the Canadians and the troops under their command, together with the underlying stories, will be made available to the public.

[18] © 2017. Text Paul Versijp. Thanks to Piet Hoedelmans and Liberation Museum Zeeland. Text translated by: B.E.S.T. English, Julia Ross. | Graphic Design and print Peet Bakx, www.bakxxx.nl Images and photo's: canadaatwar.ca | Wikipedia | Het Markiezenhof Bergen op Zoom | Liberation Museum Zeeland. | www.canadays.nl | www.stichtingbbw.nl

Without prior consent of the publisher it is not allowed to reproduce (parts of) this publication. Concerning photo's and images we have made every effort to trace the source. We will not be liable for any damage caused by any inaccuracies in this brochure.