Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 31 Introduction There have been many proud chapters in Canada’s military history but one of the best known and most significant was the Liberation of the Netherlands. On May 5, 1945 - 75 years ago - German troops surrendered in the Netherlands. Three days later, Germany gave its unconditional surrender signalling an official end to the Second World War. The Dutch people have never forgotten our brave soldiers’ efforts to free their country after years of harsh German occupation during the Second World War. Occupied Europe The Second World War of 1939-1945 would greatly impact the lives of countless millions of people. This included both those who would serve in uniform and civilians who had to endure great suffering when the fighting came to their homelands. In Europe, country after country fell to the invading forces of Nazi Germany during the opening stages of the conflict. By mid-1940, much of the western portion of the continent, including the Netherlands, had been conquered and occupied. It would take years of hard struggle for the Allies to build up their resources and turn the tide of the war. On June 6, 1944, the campaign to free “Fortress Europe” from the west finally began when Allied forces came ashore in Normandy, France, on D-Day. The liberating armies would soon advance north and east, but the Netherlands, with its challenging terrain of canals, dykes and floodlands, would prove to be a very difficult battleground. The Battle of the Scheldt In mid-September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market-Garden, a daring land and airborne attack behind enemy lines in the eastern Netherlands. The goal was to bring the war to a rapid end by cutting in half the German positions in Northwest Europe. The German resistance was determined, however, and the bold offensive failed. It soon became apparent that the conflict would drag on. To maintain pressure on the German forces, the Allies needed a reliable way to keep the flow of vital supplies moving to the front lines of Northwest Europe. This meant a large seaport would need to be taken on the continent. The major Belgian port city of Antwerp was captured almost intact in early September 1944 but there was a complicating factor. Antwerp is located some 80 kilometres from the North Sea and is accessible only by the Scheldt river - a waterway that was still in enemy hands. Much of this portion of the Scheldt runs through the Netherlands and the First Canadian Army led the way in fierce combat to clear the Germans from its shores in the fall of 1944. Our troops would succeed in opening up the port of Antwerp to Allied shipping – a key step in the liberation of Northwest Europe – but it would come at a great cost. More than 6,000 Canadian soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner in this bitter campaign. The Liberation of the Netherlands continued ...
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==