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Clearing the Channel Coast was the task assigned, in World War II, to the 1st Canadian Army in August 1944, following the Allied breakout from Normandy. The Canadian Army's line of advance took them from Normandy to the Scheldt. En route, they were to capture the Channel ports needed to supply the allied armies and clear the Germans from the Channel litoral and most of the launch sites for the V-1 missiles. Most of the advance met with little more than sporadic resistance as the German 15th Army, wary of being outflanked and isolated by the rapidly advancing British 2nd Army, executed an orderly retreat north-eastwards towards the Scheldt. Resistance did occur in most of the Channel ports, designated on 4 September as "fortresses" by Adolf Hitler. Le Havre, Boulogne and Calais were subjected to full-scale assaults, as a result. A further assault was called off at Dunkirk, freeing resources for the clearing of the mouth of the Scheldt and the opening of the port of Antwerp. Two ports, Dieppe and Ostend were taken without opposition. ==Background== The German armies had strongly resisted the allied breakout from Normandy but, when it did occur, they had insufficient reserves of manpower and equipment to resist and no defence lines had been prepared in France. Consequently, they were chased out of much of northern France.〔Report 183, p.16〕 Fighting in the Falaise pocket ended on or before 22 August 1944 and the 1st Canadian Army was freed to move north-eastwards up the coast. The 1st British Corps had started to advance eastwards from the River Dives along the coast on 16 September, as soon as German resistance faltered. Reconnaissance had been ordered on 19 August and the authorisation for a full advance and pursuit by the Canadians was issued on 23 August. It is a measure of the German disintegration that the 1st Polish Armoured Division were in Ypres on 6 September and Canadian units were at Dunkirk on 7 September, just fifteen days after Falaise, despite their reduced effectiveness after their Normandy battles. There was significant resistance, however, in the Canadian sector. Adolf Hitler had ordered that most of the Channel ports be established as "fortresses" and prepared for extended sieges. Since the allies needed the port facilities to supply their advance, they could not be sealed off and left in the rear. The Germans had established artillery positions capable of shelling Dover and threatening allied shipping. In addition, there were launch sites for V-1 flying bombs that were bombarding London. These, too, needed to be removed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clearing the Channel Coast」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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