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The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations by the Canadian First Army - consisting of Canadian, British and Polish formations - to open up the port of Antwerp so that it could be used to supply the Allies in north-west Europe. Led by Guy Simonds, the battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from October 2 to November 8, 1944. By September 1944, it had become urgent for the Allies to clear both banks of the Scheldt estuary in order to open the port of Antwerp to Allied shipping, thus easing logistical burdens in their supply lines stretching hundreds of miles from Normandy eastward to the Siegfried Line. Since the Allied forces had landed in Normandy (France) on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the British Second Army had pushed forward into the Low Countries and captured Brussels (3–4 September) and Antwerp, the latter with its ports still intact. But the advance halted with the British in possession of Antwerp, while the Germans still controlled the Scheldt Estuary. Little was done about the blocked port of Antwerp during September because most of the strained Allied resources were allocated to Operation Market Garden, a bold plan for a single thrust into Germany that began on September 17. In the meantime, German forces in the Scheldt were able to deploy defensively and prepare for the expected advance. The first attacks occurred on September 13.〔 In early October, after operation Market Garden had failed with heavy losses, Allied forces led by the Canadian First Army set out to bring the port of Antwerp under control. But the well-established Wehrmacht defenders staged an effective delaying action, during which the Germans flooded the Scheldt Estuary, slowing the Allied advance. Complicated by the waterlogged terrain, the Battle of the Scheldt proved to be a challenging campaign in which the losses suffered by the Canadians〔(''At the end of the five-week offensive, the victorious First Canadian Army had taken 41,043 prisoners, but suffered 12,873 casualties (killed, wounded, or missing), 6,367 of whom were Canadians.'' )〕 exacerbated another conscription crisis. After five weeks of difficult fighting, the Canadian First Army — bolstered by attached troops from several other countries (the vast majority from the United Kingdom) — was successful in clearing the Scheldt after numerous amphibious assaults, obstacle crossings, and costly assaults over open ground. Both land and water were mined, and the Germans defended their line of retreat with artillery and snipers. The Allies finally cleared the port areas on November 8 at a cost of 12,873 Allied casualties (killed, wounded, or missing), half of them Canadians.〔Montgomery also bestowed the nickname "Water Rats" on the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, a play on the Desert Rats title the 7th Armoured Division had earned in the Western Desert. General Harry Crerar reportedly hated the term, though it was meant as a tribute to their success in amphibious operations in Normandy and the Scheldt. (Granatstein, Jack. ''The Generals: Canadian Senior Commanders in the Second World War''.)〕 Once the German defenders were no longer a threat, it was a further three weeks before the first convoy carrying Allied supplies was able to unload in Antwerp (on November 29, 1944) due to the necessity of de-mining the harbours. ==Plan== On September 12 and 13, 1944, the Canadian First Army — under temporary command of Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds — was given the task of clearing the Scheldt once it had completed the clearing of the Channel ports particularly Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk. Montgomery then decided that the importance of Antwerp was such that the actual capture of Dunkirk could be delayed.〔Official History p331, 336〕 Under command at that time was Canadian II Corps, with the Polish 1st Armoured Division, 49th and 52nd Divisions attached, and the British I Corps. Montgomery promised the support of Bomber Command in attacking the German fortifications and that of the USAAF 8th Air Force "On the day concerned"〔Official History p358〕 The 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was to give up its transport to enable the movement of forces into position for the battle. Abandoning the capture of Dunkirk freed the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. The plan for opening the Scheldt estuary involved four main operations conducted over daunting geography. * The first task was to clear the area north of Antwerp and secure access to South Beveland. * Second was to clear the Breskens pocket north of the Leopold Canal ("Operation Switchback"). * Third, dubbed "Operation Vitality", was the capture of South Beveland. * The final phase would be the capture of Walcheren Island ("Operation Infatuate"), which had been fortified into a powerful German stronghold. As part of the Atlantic Wall, Walcheren Island was considered to be the "strongest concentration of defences the Nazis had ever constructed." On September 21, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division moved north roughly along the line of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, given the task of clearing an area on the south shore of the Scheldt around the Dutch town of Breskens called the "Breskens pocket". The Polish 1st Armoured Division headed for the Dutch-Belgian border further east and the crucial area north of Antwerp. The Canadian 4th Armoured advanced from a hard-won bridgehead over the Ghent Canal at Moerbrugge to find themselves the first Allied troops facing the formidable obstacle of the double line of the Leopold and Schipdonk Canals. An attack was mounted in the vicinity of Moerkerke, crossing the canals and establishing a bridgehead before counter-attacks forced a withdrawal with heavy casualties. The 1st Polish Armoured Division enjoyed greater success to the east as it advanced northeast from Ghent. In country unsuitable for armour, and against stiffening resistance, the Division advanced to the coast by September 20, occupying Terneuzen and clearing the south bank of the Scheldt east toward Antwerp. It became apparent to Simonds that any further gains in the Scheldt would come at heavy cost, as the Breskens pocket, extending from Zeebrugge to the Braakman Inlet and inland to the Leopold Canal, was strongly held by the enemy. 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「Battle of the Scheldt」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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