In the meantime the German troops on North and
South Beveland and on Walcheren were cut off on the
eastern side because of the liberation of Woensdrecht
on 16 October. More then a week later the attack on
South-Beveland was launched, also carried out by
Canadians and British. Operation Vitality I was a
direct attack over the Kreekrakdam, and Operation
Vitality II comprised a landing of amphibious craft
near Baarland. On 28 October the Allied Forces built a
temporary bridge next to the destroyed bridges over the
Canal through South Beveland. A day later both parts
of the attack line met each other near 's-Gravenpolder.
The town of Goes and the western part of South Beveland
were then liberated relatively easily.
Only Walcheren remained to be liberated. On this
peninsula the Germans had a series of artillery batteries,
concrete bunkers, machine gun nests and other enforce
ments. With the aim of limiting German manoeuvre
the Allied Forces decided to flood Walcheren before
launching their attack. After the civilian population
was warned of the coming danger by leaflets, the sea
embankment near Westkapelle was bombed. Nevertheless
dozens of civilians were killed during this bombardment
and the following flooding. 46 people were killed in
Westkapelle when their hiding place, a windmill, took
a direct hit. Because the seawater spread only slowly
over the land east of Westkapelle, the sea embankments
of Vlissingen and Veere were bombed as well. At this
point the Germans were forced to withdraw to the higher
grounds of the peninsula, but their heavy artillery was
situated in the dunes area. The RAF was not able to
silence the German artillery before the battle began.
The attack on Walcheren comprised several actions.
On the eastside the Sloedam was attacked, in the south
there was a landing near Vlissingen (Operation
Infatuate I) and in the west a landing near Westkapelle
(Infatuate II) took place. Alongside the Canadians
fought British, French, Dutch, Belgian and Norwegian
troops.
Near the Sloedam the attackers found themselves
in an extremely difficult position. This dam is more
than a kilometre long and completely bare, with only
silt and salt marshes on both sides of it. Between 31
October and 3 November a severe battle took place.
However, the Allied Forces managed to form a bridge
head, also thanks to a crossing through the Sloe-area
(Operation Mallard). Meanwhile the Allied landing
near Vlissingen had taken place in the night of 31
October on 1 November near the so-called Slijk-harbour
but here, as well, several days of severe battle took place
before the Germans surrendered. On 3 November the
Allied Forces assaulted the hotel Britannia, which was
transformed into a fortress, on the Boulevard Evertsen.
This hotel was the headquarters of the German
garrison commander Colonel Reinhardt. Not until
after many hours of battle did Reinhardt surrender
and Vlissingen was liberated.
Also near Westkapelle the Germans put up a staunch
resistance. Although the villages of Westkapelle and
Domburg were liberated quite quickly, the German
artillery located in the dunes caused a lot of trouble.
The attack on such artillery batteries near Dishoek,
Oostkapelle and Vrouwenpolder took its toll. The libera
tion of Middelburg proved to be far less a struggle.
Apparently the German General Daser was not inclined
to fight to the last ditch. Finally the liberation of North
Beveland quickly followed. The 450 men German
occupation surrendered without notable battle.
It is a historical oversight that so little attention
has been paid to the battle of the Scheldt estuary. The
potential of Antwerp harbour as a supply harbour was
of principal importance for the march to Berlin by the
Allied Forces.
With hindsight Eisenhower should not have given
in to Montgomery's demands over OPERATION
MARKET GARDEN, by which time the German 15th
Army had been allowed the opportunity to organise
the defence of the Scheldt estuary. The fierce battle
and the clearing of the Scheldt of mines took almost
three months. During this period, Antwerp could not
be used as a supply harbour and so there was a hold
up in the supply to the Allied Forces and their march
to Berlin came to a halt.. Because of this the Germans
were able to launch the Ardennes-offensive. Not without
reason Antwerp was the main goal of this German
attack in December.
Later Montgomery admitted his error of judgement.
By then, Antwerp harbour had already proven its utility.
During November enormous effort had been applied
to clear the harbour of mines. On 28 November 1944,
with some ceremony, the first convoy of Liberty ships
was welcomed. On 1 December more than 10,000
tons of supplies could be safely landed.
Translated from Handboek van deTweede Wereldoorlog (Utrecht:
Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, 1980)
58 Zeeuws Tijdschrift 2004/6-7
