Battle of the scheldt

12 min read

Greatest Battles

THE SCHELDT ESTUARY, BELGIUM & THE NETHERLANDS, 13 SEPTEMBER – 8 NOVEMBER 1944

Written by Alex Bowers

German troops await the arrival of the Allies at Leopold Canal. On 13 September, the Algonquin Regiment would face their full wrath

The success of the 1944 Normandy Campaign had come at a heavy cost. Having sustained over 200,000 casualties, the battered and bruised Allies faced new logistical challenges as their advance took them further and further away from the beachhead secured months earlier. While Germany’s decisive defeat in the Falaise Gap had enabled sizable gains in France and across the Belgian border, the enemy had retained control of several channel ports, preventing the Allies from shipping supplies into these facilities. A crisis threatened if war materiel could not be brought to the continent and then transported to the liberating forces on a far larger scale.

Located on the left flank closest to the French coastline, the First Canadian Army was allocated the unenviable task of besieging the channel ports. Unfortunately, the German defenders would fight with stubborn tenacity to hold Boulogne, Calais and other seabound fortresses (Dunkirk would not fall until 9 May 1945), leaving their much-needed harbours either out of reach or otherwise extensively damaged when the Canadians broke through to them. Hope appeared to rest on Antwerp, situated in Belgium near the border with the Netherlands and boasting the largest port facilities in Europe.

Royal Marine commandos observe the gaping hole in the seawall created by the RAF. The tactic was deemed necessary by Lieutenant-General Simonds, but also claimed innocent lives

The Ninth Brigade launched a daring amphibious assault from behind the Breskens Pocket that took the German 64th Division by surprise

The Belgian resistance captured Antwerp almost entirely intact before the British 11th Armoured Division rolled in on 4 September. Despite the initial victory, the port was by no means safe until the region surrounding it could be cleared of a considerable enemy presence. Beyond Antwerp was the Scheldt estuary, which remained in the hands of the German 15th Army, commanded by General Gustav-Adolf von Zangen. This area needed to be captured if Allied vessels were to enter the harbour unmolested by German coastal batteries and mines. Belgian fighters had attempted to seize strategic bridges over the Albert Canal around the outer reaches of the city, but had been unable to save two of the crossings from German demolition when the 11th Armoured Division halted in Antwerp instead of pushing forwards. XXX Corps commander Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks later expressed regret at not s

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