Battle of Walcheren Causeway
Battle of Walcheren Causeway | |||||||
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Part of Battle of the Scheldt | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Canada United Kingdom | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William Jemmet Megill | Gustav-Adolf von Zangen | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
15th Army | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
unknown | unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
160 killed & wounded | 60+ killed |
The Battle of Walcheren Causeway (Operation Vitality) was an engagement of the
Background
After the breakout from
Tactical importance
A feature known as the Sloe Channel separated the island of Walcheren from the South Beveland isthmus. A narrow causeway connected the two, known to the Dutch as the Sloedam (it literally dammed the Sloe Channel) and in English as the Walcheren Causeway. The causeway carried a rail line from the mainland onto the island and to the port of Vlissingen (or Flushing, as it was known in English). A paved road also ran the length of the causeway, which was about 40 metres (130 ft) wide and a kilometre (0.6 mile) long. On either side of this causeway, which was elevated only a few metres (feet) above sea level, marsh, mud-flats and deep water all hindered movement between Walcheren and South Beveland.
Prelude
As the Allies had to secure a port of the capacity of Antwerp before they could contemplate the invasion of Germany itself, the Battle of the Scheldt involved bitter fighting.[1]
By 31 October 1944, all land surrounding the Scheldt estuary had been cleared of German control except for Walcheren Island, from where coastal batteries commanded the approaches to the waterway. These guns prevented the Allies from making use of the port facilities of Antwerp to alleviate their logistical concerns.
The island's dykes had been breached by attacks from
The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division had marched west down the South Beveland isthmus and by 31 October had cleared all German opposition from South Beveland. Walcheren Island was connected to South Beveland by a narrow causeway, 40 metres wide and 1600 metres long.
Plans to employ assault boats over the Sloe Channel were thwarted by muddy conditions unsuitable for water craft. The Calgary Highlanders had been selected for this amphibious operation, as they had received stormboat training in the UK in anticipation of an opposed water crossing of the
Battle
"C" Company of
"B" Company of
A new fireplan was drawn up and Major Bruce McKenzie's "D" Company inched forward under intensive gunfire, reaching the west end, and securing it, at dawn on 1 November.[3]
German counter-attacks were heavy and prolonged, and included the use of flame weapons on the Canadians. At one point, all Calgary Highlander officers in one company were wounded or killed, and the brigade major, George Hees took command of a company.
Company Sergeant Major "Blackie" Laloge of the Calgary Highlanders was awarded the
Two platoons of
Aftermath
Landings by British Commandos of the 4th Commando Brigade eventually sealed the fate of the German defenders on Walcheren Island, attacking from seaward at Flushing and Westkapelle. The battle for the causeway itself had been a costly, and ultimately unnecessary, diversion.[6][page needed]
The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division went into reserve in the first week of November, moving into the Nijmegen Salient for the winter. The Calgary Highlanders suffered 64 casualties in the 3 days of fighting at Walcheren Causeway. Le Régiment de Maisonneuve had one man killed and 10 wounded. The Black Watch suffered 85 casualties in the period 14 October to 1 November 1944, the bulk of them suffered on the causeway.[6][page needed]
Legacy
- The Battle of Walcheren Causeway is commemorated annually by The Calgary Highlanders and Regimental Pipes and Drums with a parade and church service on the Wednesday night or weekend closest to the anniversary of the battle. Representatives and members of the local Dutch community in Calgary are usually invited to attend the service. The battle was selected from among the Regiment's 20 Second World War battle honours as being most representative of the spirit of determination displayed by the unit's forerunners, the 10th Battalion, CEF, whose counterattack at St. Julien during the Second Battle of Ypres is also commemorated annually by the Regiment.
- A permanent monument was erected at the causeway and dedicated in the 1980s. The causeway itself no longer exists as such; land on both sides of the former railway embankment has been reclaimed and the Sloe Channel is now farmland. Remnants of German concrete fortifications still exist both on Walcheren Island and South Beveland.
- In the 21st century, the monuments were moved due to rail and road construction. A large monument dedicated to the French troops that fought a battle there in May 1940 predominates, overlooking memorials to both the 52nd (Lowland) Division and the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade who fought there in the autumn of 1944.[7][8]
- The assault on Walcheren Causeway is depicted in the 2020 Dutch film The Forgotten Battle.
Other battles
Brief fighting had occurred in the vicinity of the causeway and Arnemuiden in May 1940 during the German invasion of the Netherlands.[9]
References
- ^ Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, v.6 Triumph and Tragedy, pp. 190–95, 200–5
- ^ Black Watch War Diary
- ^ Bercuson, David Battalion of Heroes: The Calgary Highlanders in World War II
- ^ Farran, Roy History of the Calgary Highlanders 1921–1954
- ^ Stacey, C.P. Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Volume II: The Victory Campaign, page 405
- ^ a b Copp.
- ^ "Regimental Monuments". Calgary Highlanders. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ "Memorial Monuments Sloedam 'The Causeway'". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ The Dutch book Slagveld Sloedam gives details of all the Walcheren Causeway battles.
Bibliography
- Copp, Terry, The Brigade.
Further reading
Brooks, Richard (21 June 2011). Walcheren 1944 : storming Hitler's island fortress. Botley, Oxford: Osprey Pub. Co.