Battle of Walcheren Causeway
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| Battle of Walcheren Causeway | |||||||
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| Part of Battle of the Scheldt | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Canada United Kingdom |
German 15th Army | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Brigadier W.J. Megill | General von Zangen | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 64 (Calg Highrs) | |||||||
The Battle of Walcheren Causeway was an engagement of the Battle of the Scheldt between the the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, elements of the British 52nd (Lowland) Division and troops of the German 15th Army in 1944. It was the first of many conflicts on and around Walcheren Island.
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[edit] Strategic Importance
After the breakout from Normandy by the British 2nd Army and 1st Canadian Army at the start of September 1944, supply lines increased in length and placed a burden on the logistical services of the Allied armies. The reluctance of German forces to relinquish control of the channel ports meant that large amounts of gasoline were being consumed simply by trucking supplies from the Normandy beaches to the new frontline in Belgium. With the capture of Antwerp's port facilities intact, the Allies managed to gain a deep-water port. German defences on both sides of the waterway leading into Antwerp, however, made possession of the port useless until the coastal batteries on both sides of the channel were cleared.
[edit] Prelude
By 31 October 1944, all lands surrounding the Scheldt estuary had been cleared of German control, save for Walcheren Island, whose coastal batteries commanded the approaches to the waterway. These guns made possession of Antwerp irrelevant as far as easing Allied logistical concerns.
The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division had marched west down the South Beveland isthmus and by the 31st 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 Slooe 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 Seine River, which invasion planners had predicted would be necessary approximately 90 days after the landings in Normandy. In the event, the ground was too boggy to employ the boats, and the Highlanders were utilized as conventional infantry in a landward attack directly over the causeway.
[edit] Battle
"C" Company of the The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada took heavy casualties on the evening of 31 October 1944 in an attempt to "bounce" the Causeway. During their attack, the existence of a deep crater on the causeway was discovered; this crater had been blown by German engineers as an anti-tank obstacle. It was later utilized by the Canadians as a company command post during the battle as it developed.
"B" Company of The Calgary Highlanders were ordered forward just before midnight and were similarly stopped halfway down the causeway.
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.[1]
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 Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions at Walcheren Causeway, at one point throwing back German hand grenades before they could explode amongst his men.[2]
Le Regiment de Maisonneuve took over the bridgehead on Walcheren Island on 2 November, but were forced back onto the Causeway. A battalion of Glasgow Highlanders were ordered to pass through, but they also were unable to achieve a bridgehead on the island.[3]
[edit] 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.[4]
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.
[edit] Legacy
The Battle Honour WALCHEREN CAUSEWAY was granted by the Canadian government as a separate honour to the units that fought there, in addition to the honour THE SCHELDT.
The Battle of Walcheren Causeway is commemorated annually by The Calgary Highlanders 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 Slooe Channel is now farmland. Remnants of German concrete fortifications still exist both on Walcheren Island and South Beveland.
[edit] Other battles
Brief fighting had occurred in the vicinity of the causeway and Arnemuiden in May 1940 during the German invasion of the Netherlands.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ 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
- ^ Copp, Terry The Brigade
- ^ The Dutch book Slagveld Sloedam gives details of all the Walcheren Causeway battles.
