The Battles in and around the Netherlands.
The Battle of Antwerp.
In early September, 1944, British and American troops first entered the southern Netherlands.
Allies launched Operation Market Garden, a massive airborne assault on the Dutch town of Arnhem. The attack failed, and the Allied advance slowed down.
Antwerp was one of the biggest ports of Europe. But the river from Antwerp to the sea was still held by the Germans. The task of clearing the estuary of enemy forces was called the First Canadian Army.
The Battle of …show more content…
Scheldt. The First Canadian Army was led by Canadian General Harry Crerar. But ad the Battle of Scheldt Canadian Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds was in charge.
The First Canadian Army was ordered to clear the banks of the wide.
The landscape was hard to fight in, flat, soggy, sometimes-flooded land, situated below sea level and enclosed by a series of dykes.
The First Canadian Army lost nearly 13,000 men during the Battle of Scheldt, including more than 6,300 Canadians. By the 8th of November the estuary and its large islands had been captured.On November 28 the first convoy of Allied cargo ships entered Antwerp.
Battle of the Rhineland.
American forces in Belgium fought back against Germany's surprise attack in the Ardennes Forest.
A huge offensive to drive the enemy across the Rhine River. It fell to the First Canadian Army to clear the area between the Maas and Rhine Rivers.
In March the First Canadian Army was reinforced by some Allied units, including the 1st Canadian Corps. For the first time in history, two Canadian army corps were fighting together. And with an international strength of more than 450,000 men, the First Canadians became the largest army ever commanded by a Canadian officer.
The end of the war in the Netherlands.
Canadians in the
Netherlands.
The Canadians were greeted as heroes as they liberated small towns and major cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam. General Charles Foulkes, commander of the 1st Canadian Corps, accepted the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands on May 5th.
After the liberation of the Netherlands and the War.
More than 7,600 Canadian people died fighting in the Netherlands. They are buried in official war cemeteries across the country. The largest holds the graves of more than 2,300 Canadians. Located in Groesbeek.
On May 4th and May 5th, the Dutch people have a Remembrance Day. Not only remembering the people who where lost, but also the people who survived.
Every year the Netherlands sends thousands of tulips to Canada, to thank Canada for helping the liberation of the Netherlands.