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An Entity of Type : dbkwik:resource/krD_GSPHhNL2IejCI7diCQ==, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations by the Canadian 1st Army, led by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from October 2 to November 8, 1944. Nothing was done about the blocked port of Antwerp during September because most of the strained Allied resources were allocated to Operation Market Garden, a bold plan for a single thrust into Germany that began on September 17. In the meantime, German forces in the Scheldt were able to deploy defensively and prepare for the expected advance.

AttributesValues
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • Battle of the Scheldt
rdfs:comment
  • The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations by the Canadian 1st Army, led by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from October 2 to November 8, 1944. Nothing was done about the blocked port of Antwerp during September because most of the strained Allied resources were allocated to Operation Market Garden, a bold plan for a single thrust into Germany that began on September 17. In the meantime, German forces in the Scheldt were able to deploy defensively and prepare for the expected advance.
sameAs
Strength
  • 60000(xsd:integer)
  • 90000(xsd:integer)
dcterms:subject
foaf:homepage
dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
Partof
Date
  • --10-02
Commander
  • Guy Simonds
  • Gustav-Adolf von Zangen
  • Bertram Ramsay
  • Harry Crerar
Caption
  • Buffalo amphibious vehicles taking Canadians
  • across the Scheldt in Zeeland, 1944.
Casualties
  • 41043(xsd:integer)
  • Canadian: 6,367
  • Roughly 10-12,000
  • Total: 12,873
Result
  • Allied victory;
  • Antwerp opens to Allied shipping
Place
  • Northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands
Conflict
  • Battle of the Scheldt
Units
abstract
  • The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations by the Canadian 1st Army, led by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from October 2 to November 8, 1944. By September 1944, it had become urgent for the Allies to clear both banks of the Scheldt estuary in order to open the port of Antwerp to Allied shipping, thus easing logistical burdens in their supply lines stretching hundreds of miles from Normandy eastward to the Siegfried Line. Since the Allied forces had landed in Normandy (France) on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the British 2nd Army had pushed forward into the Low Countries and captured Brussels and Antwerp, the latter with its ports still intact. But the advance halted with the British in possession of Antwerp, while the Germans still controlled the Scheldt Estuary. Nothing was done about the blocked port of Antwerp during September because most of the strained Allied resources were allocated to Operation Market Garden, a bold plan for a single thrust into Germany that began on September 17. In the meantime, German forces in the Scheldt were able to deploy defensively and prepare for the expected advance. In early October, after operation Market Garden had failed with heavy losses, Allied forces led by the Canadian 1st Army set out to bring the port of Antwerp under control. But the well-established German defenders staged an effective delaying action. During which time the Germans flooded the Scheldt Estuary, which slowed the Allied advance. Complicated by the waterlogged terrain, the Battle of the Scheldt proved to be a challenging campaign in which the losses suffered by the Canadians exacerbated another conscription crisis. After five weeks of difficult fighting, the Canadian 1st Army—bolstered by attached troops from several other countries (the vast majority from the United Kingdom) —was successful in clearing the Scheldt after numerous amphibious assaults, obstacle crossings, and costly assaults over open ground. Both land and water were mined, and the Germans defended their line of retreat with artillery and snipers. The Allies finally cleared the port areas on November 8 at a cost of 12,873 Allied casualties (killed, wounded, or missing), half of them Canadians. Once the German defenders were no longer a threat, it was a further three weeks before the first ship carrying Allied supplies was able to unload in Antwerp (on November 29, 1944) due to the necessity of de-mining the harbours.
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