EvanL
06-02-2004, 06:16 PM
The Liberation of the Netherlands was completed on May 5, 1945 by the First Canadian Army. It had been a long and difficult campaign.
Following the initial Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and the breakout from the bridgehead which saw the Canadians engaged in bitter fighting at Caen and Falaise, the First Canadian Army was assigned the task of clearing the coastal areas and opening the channel ports for vital supplies. The First Canadian Army was international in character. In addition to three Canadian divisions it had a Polish Division, a British Corps, and at various times American, Belgian and Dutch troops.
Under the command of General H.D.G. Crerar, the Canadians, on the left flank of the Allied forces, pushed rapidly eastward through France towards Belgium. September began with the 2nd Canadian Division being welcomed to Dieppe. Boulogne, Calais, and Cap Gris Nez followed, and by the end of September the Channel coast, with the exception of Dunkirk had been cleared and Southern England freed of the harassing fire of rockets and shells which had been launched from these sites. Farther north, the 2nd British Army seized the port of Antwerp with its installations virtually intact.
Meanwhile, the British and American troops had pushed forward on a broad front and were engaged in a major struggle in southern Holland. In September, in a bold effort to cut through Holland, the 2nd British Army mounted an airborne attack to secure river crossings at Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem. If successful this operation would have given the Allies control between the Rhine and Ijsselmeer (Zuiderzee), and would have severed the connection between Holland and Germany. As it fell just short of success, it became apparent that the war would continue through the winter and into the spring of 1945.
Following the initial Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and the breakout from the bridgehead which saw the Canadians engaged in bitter fighting at Caen and Falaise, the First Canadian Army was assigned the task of clearing the coastal areas and opening the channel ports for vital supplies. The First Canadian Army was international in character. In addition to three Canadian divisions it had a Polish Division, a British Corps, and at various times American, Belgian and Dutch troops.
Under the command of General H.D.G. Crerar, the Canadians, on the left flank of the Allied forces, pushed rapidly eastward through France towards Belgium. September began with the 2nd Canadian Division being welcomed to Dieppe. Boulogne, Calais, and Cap Gris Nez followed, and by the end of September the Channel coast, with the exception of Dunkirk had been cleared and Southern England freed of the harassing fire of rockets and shells which had been launched from these sites. Farther north, the 2nd British Army seized the port of Antwerp with its installations virtually intact.
Meanwhile, the British and American troops had pushed forward on a broad front and were engaged in a major struggle in southern Holland. In September, in a bold effort to cut through Holland, the 2nd British Army mounted an airborne attack to secure river crossings at Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem. If successful this operation would have given the Allies control between the Rhine and Ijsselmeer (Zuiderzee), and would have severed the connection between Holland and Germany. As it fell just short of success, it became apparent that the war would continue through the winter and into the spring of 1945.