|
Storm Clouds |
Mobilization |
Fall of France |
Battle of Britain |
Pacific War |
Hong Kong |
Conscription |
Dieppe |
Spartan | Battle of
the Atlantic | Sicily |
Italy |
Overlord | Falaise |
France 44 |
Holland |
Germany 45 |
VE | VJ
The Scheldt Estuary operations made a
vital contribution to Allied victory in the Second World
War. They provided logistical facilities essential to
the final assault on Germany. By the early autumn of
1944 the Allied Expeditionary Force in North-West Europe
was in series administrative difficulties. Following its
victory in Normandy and rapid pursuit of the enemy
across France and Belgium, its lines of communication
were stretched to the breaking point. It was still
dependant on supplies landed on the original bridgehead
in Normandy, and the long haul from the beaches there
almost to the German frontier placed such a strain on
transportation resources that not enough fuel was
reaching the front to keep all the Allied armies moving.
The problem could only be solved by
acquiring large port facilities closer to the front.
Antwerp, the greatest port in North-West Europe, capable
of bringing in 30,000 tons a day, was captured undamaged
by the Second British Army on September 4th; but the
Germans still held both banks of the River Scheldt
between Antwerp and the sea, and the port could not be
used until they were dislodged. They fully realized how
important their positions were to the security of the
Fatherland, and the First Canadian Army's task in
evicting them turned out to be a very hard one.
The clearing of the
Estuary was carried out by the 2nd Canadian Corps,
employing four divisions, one of which was armoured, and
a commando brigade. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air
Force both played vital parts. Five water-borne assault
landings were made. For the first time in history large
scale inundations produced by aerial bombing were
used to harass an enemy's troops in battle.
|
Battle: |
The Scheldt 1944 |
October 2 -
November 8, 1944 |
|
Campaign: |
Siegfried Line |
August 25, 1944
-J anuary, 1945 |
|
War: |
World War II |
1939 - 1945 |
| |
|
Where: |
Scheldt |
|
Antwerp |
|
Belgium Holland |
| |
| |
Opponents |
|
Belligerents: |
Canada |
Germany |
|
Britain |
|
Netherlands |
|
Belgium |
|
Norway, Poland |
|
| |
|
Commanders: |
| Harry Crerar - Cdn |
| Guy Simonds - Cdn |
|
| Gustav-Adolf von
Zangen |
| 15th Army |
|
|
Forces: |
120,000 Men |
90,000 Men |
| |
|
Result: |
Allied Victory |
|
|
Casualties: |
Canada, US, Britain, France & Allies |
Germany |
|
Casualties - 12,873 |
|
(Canadains-6,367) |
|
|
Casualties - 10,000-12,000 |
| 41,043
Captured |
|
|
