Rough Guides Travel the Liberation Route Europe (Travel Guide eBook) by Rough Guides

Author:Rough Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Europe
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2019-06-14T04:57:54+00:00

Operation Vitality, the capture of South Beveland

The 2nd Canadian Division – having captured Woensdrecht – moved up the Beveland peninsula on 24 October. Here they engaged the German 70th Infantry Division, many of whom were weakened by chronic stomach disorders. The first mission of the Canadian division was to cross the Kreekrakdam, which connected South Beveland to the mainland. The difficult terrain resulted in the failure of an initial armoured assault, and it became clear that the infantry would have to capture the dam.

The infantry encountered little resistance before they reached the main German defensive line on the South Beveland canal. Believing a frontal attack would be costly, the Canadian forces were to outflank the German line with the help of the newly arrived Scottish 52nd Lowland Division. On 26 October, the Scots launched a successful amphibious assault across the Scheldt, forcing the German troops to withdraw to their next line of defence on the Sloedam, the 1.5km causeway linking South Beveland to Walcheren.

The capture of Walcheren

All that remained for the Allies to do was to take heavily fortified Walcheren Island. To limit German defensive options, RAF bombers breached the dykes on 3 October 1944, flooding most of the island.

The Allies had two ways of attacking Walcheren – by sea or land, although the only overland connection to the island was the Sloedam, which had been fortified at both ends. The causeway was attacked on 31 October by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, but proved difficult to overcome. To support the stalled offensive, on the night of 2 and 3 November, Scottish soldiers of the 6th Battalion Cameronians crossed the waters 2km south of the causeway in a surprise attack, codenamed Mallard. The successful operation forced a German withdrawal, enabling the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division to gain ground. The causeway finally fell to the Allies on 3 November.

On 1 November, another amphibious landing had taken place at Vlissingen (Flushing), on the southwest of Walcheren. British, French and Dutch commandos were supported by heavy bombardment of the German coastal defences, and within a few hours had captured the centre of Vlissingen – although German resistance continued in the north of the city. A second landing at Westkapelle, northwest of Vlissingen, went less smoothly. Four of the heaviest German batteries were still in operation and engaged a group of 25 British gunboats that had supported the landings. After two hours only five of the Allied boats were operational, but the landing craft survived and the commando forces reached the shore, where they silenced the German guns. Middelburg, the island’s main town and the capital of Zeeland, was captured on 6 November. The Scheldt estuary had been cleared of German forces, but it took another three weeks to clear the area of mines and for the first Allied shipping to reach Antwerp.

The Battle of the Schledt had lasted just over a month, and had cost the Allies dearly. The First Canadian Army suffered nearly 13,000 casualties, around half of which were Canadian nationals.

Zeeland and South Holland sites

Liberation Museum Zeeland

Coudorp 41, Nieuwdorp, bevrijdingsmuseumzeeland.

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