- 6/11/2025
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00:00In 1944, World War II was reaching its dramatic climax.
00:10Rocket ships firing, aircraft flying overhead.
00:14As the Allies waged total war to liberate occupied Europe.
00:19This was a war in which all sides were learning as they went.
00:23From the beaches of Normandy...
00:26The water was full of blood. The water was bright red.
00:30...to the forests of Germany.
00:36Both sides deployed weapons of ever greater power and sophistication.
00:41And this tank suddenly gives the American a real big advantage.
00:45It's a very effective beast.
00:47This is the story of the Western Allies' final campaign.
00:51Told by the men on both sides who were there.
00:55You did what you did. You fire and you maneuver.
01:00He was my brother.
01:10In September 1944, along the Dutch-Belgian border...
01:14...the Allies began a desperate battle to clear well-entrenched German troops...
01:19...from a key strategic waterway.
01:21The Germans have been there for four years.
01:24They knew the areas all there like the back of their head.
01:27In their regards to what you hear...
01:29...they were very formidable.
01:32Possession of the Scheldt estuary was vital for the Allied advance into Germany.
01:38But German forces held both shores...
01:41...and would use every advantage offered by treacherous terrain.
01:45Every time you made an advance...
01:47...the Germans would blow the dikes and flood the land.
01:50It was strewn with mines. Everywhere there was minefield.
01:54The month-long, gruelling campaign for this estuary...
01:58...would be Canada's bloodiest battle of World War II.
02:02This is the story of the Battle of the Scheldt.
02:06By September 1944, Hitler's Germany was staring defeat in the face.
02:18That summer, Stalin's Red Army...
02:21...had smashed through German forces on the Eastern Front...
02:24...and advanced as far as Poland and Romania.
02:27In the west, the Allies had liberated France...
02:31...and were closing in on the River Rhine and the German frontier.
02:35But then an Allied supply crisis...
02:38...brought the advance to a grinding halt.
02:41The Allied industries back home in the United States and Britain...
02:45...were producing enormous amounts of supplies.
02:48Tens of thousands of tanks...
02:50...millions of rounds of ammunition...
02:52...and millions of gallons of fuel.
02:55The challenge was getting all of those supplies...
02:58...to their frontline troops.
03:00The Allies had five armies in the field.
03:03Two and a half million men advancing on a broad front towards the Rhine.
03:09But their supplies still came from their Normandy beachhead...
03:13...300 miles to the rear.
03:17Frontline troops were no longer getting the fuel and ammunition...
03:20...they needed to continue the advance.
03:23Modern warfare needs lots of pets...
03:26...or tanks gobble up pets more than our cars do.
03:30This is where there was this great argument...
03:32...about how the Allied forces should make their next move...
03:38...because they were running out of supplies.
03:40Then, on the 4th of September...
03:44...the British 11th Armored Division...
03:46...captured the Belgian port of Antwerp.
03:49Crucially, with the help of the Belgian resistance...
03:53...the British were able to capture the port intact...
03:56...before the Germans could sabotage it.
03:59At first glance, it seemed as if all the Allied supply issues...
04:03...would soon be at an end.
04:05There are miles and miles and miles of docks there.
04:12Antwerp is the biggest...
04:14...or was then the biggest harbor, really, in Europe.
04:16It was the biggest plum for the British Army.
04:20We had Antwerp, and the harbor was intact...
04:24...still cranes and everything could be used.
04:26And most of the other places, like the other ports we took...
04:30...the Germans had blown up the cranes and stuff...
04:33...couldn't use the ports properly.
04:34But there was one major problem.
04:38Antwerp is connected to the sea...
04:40...by a 45-mile-long estuary of the River Scheldt...
04:44...which was still heavily mined and defended by the Germans.
04:50The Allies couldn't land supplies in Antwerp...
04:53...until the Scheldt had been cleared.
04:58Once the Scheldt estuary was cleared...
05:01...the Allies could turn that into their main supply port...
05:05...which would be sufficient to supply...
05:07...pretty much their entire war effort...
05:09...for the remaining campaign...
05:11...as they drove into Germany.
05:13And, of course, the Germans knew that as well.
05:17The Germans had built heavy coastal gun batteries...
05:21...on Volkeren Island...
05:23...dominating the West Scheldt estuary...
05:25...and making it impossible for Allied ships to reach Antwerp.
05:31The guns along the estuary were protected by thick concrete bunkers...
05:35...almost impervious to air attack.
05:38They could only be taken by ground assault...
05:42...across a landscape of rivers and open mudflats...
05:45...with approaches covered by artillery and anti-tank guns...
05:49...and beaches strewn with barbed wire and minefields.
05:53This hugely challenging assignment...
06:01...was given to the First Canadian Army...
06:03...a multinational force...
06:05...made up of two Canadian...
06:07...and two British infantry divisions...
06:09...with one Canadian...
06:11...and one Polish armoured division.
06:13The army included many Normandy veterans...
06:17...but their hard-won combat experience...
06:20...was now being diluted...
06:22...by the arrival of raw recruits...
06:24...to replace casualties.
06:28Some of them had been in the army...
06:30...less than six months.
06:32They brought them overseas...
06:34...crossed the channel...
06:36...under the trucks and up to the front...
06:38...and dumped them off.
06:40As we were trying to whip everybody into shape...
06:43...they didn't know how to load a rifle...
06:45...they didn't know how to prime a grenade...
06:48...they knew nothing about infantry work.
06:51In command of the army...
06:53...was Lieutenant General Guy Simmons.
06:59Simmons was a born soldier...
07:01...who'd won the Sword of Honour...
07:02...at Canada's Royal Military College.
07:05An expert in the evolving art...
07:07...of mechanised warfare...
07:09...his rise to senior command...
07:11...had been meteoric...
07:12...leading a division in Sicily...
07:14...and a corps in Normandy.
07:16When his boss, Lieutenant General Crerar...
07:19...commanding 1st Canadian Army...
07:21...fell ill...
07:22...Simmons was the obvious replacement...
07:24...and at 41 became the Western Allies...
07:26...youngest army commander...
07:28...by seven years.
07:30A very British Canadian.
07:32He had been born in Britain.
07:34His father had been an officer...
07:36...in the British Army.
07:37His grandfather had been an officer...
07:39...in the army of the East India Company.
07:41Very highly regarded by Montgomery...
07:44...by Eisenhower and by Bradley.
07:46Perhaps in contrast to the actual commander...
07:50...of 1st Canadian Army...
07:52...General Sir Harry Crerar...
07:54...a Canadian who was found to be...
07:56...a little difficult to work with.
07:58The other way of looking at that...
08:00...is that they regarded Simmons...
08:02...as a good officer...
08:04...because he thought much the same way...
08:06...that they did.
08:07That Montgomery found Simmons...
08:08...easier to cooperate with...
08:10...and so did many others.
08:11Simmons' job was made more difficult...
08:15...by fierce disagreements...
08:17...about Allied strategy that autumn.
08:19The Supreme Allied Commander...
08:22...General Eisenhower...
08:24...favoured an advance against Germany...
08:26...on a broad front.
08:27But British Field Marshal...
08:30...Bernard Montgomery...
08:31...believed that a single thrust...
08:33...across the Rhine River...
08:35...would get the Allies to Berlin...
08:37...and end the war by Christmas.
08:39Such a move...
08:41...if successful...
08:42...would make German defences...
08:44...along the Scheldt...
08:45...irrelevant.
08:46So that September...
08:48...Simmons' advance...
08:49...on the Scheldt...
08:50...was put on pause...
08:51...while Montgomery...
08:52...launched his ambitious...
08:53...airborne operation...
08:55...codenamed Market Garden.
09:01But Market Garden...
09:02...ended...
09:03...in disaster.
09:04The paratroopers...
09:05...took the bridges...
09:06...and held them...
09:07...until we got there.
09:08The paratroopers...
09:09...took the bridges...
09:10...and held them...
09:11...until we got there.
09:12We took over...
09:13...from the American...
09:14...paratroopers...
09:15...at Nijmegen...
09:16...and the next one...
09:17...after that...
09:18...was Arnhem...
09:19...and that's the one...
09:20...they couldn't get.
09:21And that's where...
09:22...our paratroopers...
09:23...and of course...
09:26...they had Market Garden...
09:27...the airborne...
09:28...which too far...
09:29...they had that...
09:30...and that failed...
09:32...so they said...
09:33...well...
09:34...we've got to get...
09:35...Antwerp open.
09:36The failure of...
09:38...Operation Market Garden...
09:39...not only cost...
09:40...lives and resources...
09:42...by delaying...
09:43...the Canadian attack...
09:44...on the Scheldt...
09:45...the task had been...
09:46...made significantly harder.
09:48The Germans...
09:51...made good use...
09:52...of their four weeks...
09:53...breathing space...
09:54...moving thousands...
09:55...of reinforcements...
09:56...into position...
09:57...along the estuary.
09:58By the time...
10:01...Montgomery...
10:02...accepted...
10:03...that clearing...
10:04...the Scheldt estuary...
10:05...must be the new priority...
10:06...German defences...
10:07...were more formidable...
10:09...than ever.
10:12That October...
10:13...the Western Allies...
10:14...were relying on...
10:15...First Canadian Army...
10:16...to get the job done.
10:17It was up to them...
10:19...to clear...
10:20...German defenders...
10:21...from the Scheldt estuary...
10:23...so that urgently...
10:24...needed supplies...
10:25...and reinforcements...
10:26...could make it through...
10:27...to the port of Antwerp.
10:31Until now...
10:32...First Canadian Army's...
10:33...efforts...
10:34...had been overshadowed...
10:35...by events elsewhere...
10:36...but no longer.
10:42The Canadian plan...
10:43...involved four phases.
10:45Phase 1...
10:47...Second Canadian Infantry Division...
10:49...supported by...
10:50...Fourth Canadian Armoured...
10:51...would push north...
10:53...from Antwerp...
10:54...to secure...
10:55...Wunstrecht...
10:56...and Berchen-up-Zum...
10:57...at the neck...
10:58...of the South Bavaland Peninsula.
11:00Phase 2...
11:01...Third Canadian Infantry Division...
11:03...and First Polish Armoured...
11:05...would eliminate...
11:07...German forces...
11:08...along the south bank...
11:09...of the Scheldt.
11:10Phase 3...
11:12...Canadian troops...
11:13...would advance...
11:14...up the narrow...
11:15...South Bavaland Peninsula...
11:16...before Simmonds...
11:18...launched Phase 4...
11:19...an attack...
11:20...on Volkeren Island...
11:21...by land and sea.
11:27One of the biggest challenges...
11:29...facing the troops...
11:30...would be the treacherous landscape.
11:32The terrain was wet and boggy...
11:35...with open country...
11:36...crossed by dykes and waterways.
11:39The land around the Scheldt...
11:41...was Polder territory.
11:42This meant that it had been...
11:44...reclaimed from the sea.
11:45The land was divided up by dykes...
11:48...and between them...
11:49...it had been flooded by the Germans.
11:51They had flooded the land...
11:53...and you're in water all the time.
11:55The only protection you get is...
11:57...if you try to get too high...
11:58...on the...
11:59...what do you call...
12:00...the dykes?
12:01Then you're a target.
12:05The dykes themselves...
12:06...were steep embankments...
12:07...like ramparts...
12:09...about 14 feet high...
12:11...and made ideal defensive positions...
12:13...for the Germans.
12:14With hardly any usable roads...
12:17...for tanks...
12:18...the struggle for the Scheldt...
12:20...would be overwhelmingly...
12:21...an infantry battle.
12:24Why didn't the Air Force...
12:25...just go and flatten the place?
12:27Just flatten the place.
12:28They got all kinds of ammunition.
12:30No.
12:31Send the infantry in there.
12:36Terrible, terrible.
12:39More than ever...
12:40...Canadian soldiers...
12:41...would rely on the weapons...
12:42...and equipment...
12:43...they could haul forwards...
12:44...themselves...
12:45...over the flooded plains...
12:47...and steep embankments.
12:50The Canadian army in 1944...
12:52...were equipped and armed...
12:53...almost identically...
12:55...to the British army...
12:56...and that went for the tactics...
12:57...and training too.
12:58Every platoon...
12:59...most men were armed...
13:01...with the No. 4 Lee-Enfield rifle...
13:03...the section commanders...
13:04...were all armed...
13:05...with Sten submachine guns.
13:06But unlike the Germans...
13:08...which was...
13:09...very, very beautifully made...
13:10...high precision engineering...
13:11...these were cheap.
13:12The whole thing made for 15 shillings...
13:14...there were only two pieces...
13:15...which were machines...
13:16...the barrel...
13:17...and the breech block...
13:18...the rest of it...
13:19...just made out of stamped steel...
13:20...welded together.
13:21But actually...
13:22...they weren't that reliable.
13:23The main infantry support weapon...
13:26...was the Bren-like machine gun.
13:28The Bren was an incredibly accurate...
13:30...beautifully designed weapon...
13:31...completely reliable...
13:33...and was quite capable...
13:34...of putting two bullets...
13:35...through the same hole...
13:36...with a well-trained gunner.
13:39These weapons...
13:40...and tactics...
13:41...which had been honed...
13:42...in the fighting since Normandy...
13:43...suddenly meant nothing...
13:44...in the fighting in the Schelt...
13:45...because the land was flooded...
13:47...there wasn't the opportunity...
13:48...for manoeuvre...
13:49...and the troops were funnelled...
13:51...through drainage ditches...
13:52...through dikes...
13:53...and across causeways...
13:54...so they were having to advance...
13:56...on an incredibly narrow front...
13:57...and on the other side...
13:59...the Germans knew exactly...
14:00...where they would be coming from.
14:01Those German defenders...
14:03...were being exhorted...
14:04...to ever greater levels of sacrifice...
14:06...by their Fuhrer...
14:08...who had implemented...
14:09...a new strategy...
14:10...the Festung...
14:11...or fortress city.
14:14Hitler designated certain areas...
14:16...as fortress zones...
14:17...or fortress cities...
14:18...and his goal was really...
14:20...to invigorate the defenders...
14:22...of those cities...
14:23...to make them fight...
14:24...to the last man...
14:25...to not surrender...
14:27...to sell themselves...
14:29...as dearly as possible...
14:30...and really to destroy...
14:32...the usefulness of those areas...
14:33...in the process.
14:34He did this with a number...
14:37...of port cities...
14:38...he did this with the estuary...
14:40...outside of Antwerp...
14:41...um...
14:42...and the goal was really...
14:43...to slow the allies down...
14:45...as much as possible.
14:46But that summer...
14:48...the German army...
14:49...had suffered disastrous losses...
14:51...in men and equipment...
14:52...both in France...
14:53...and on the Eastern Front.
14:55It was now relying increasingly...
14:57...on teenagers...
14:58...and second-rate conscripts.
15:00The ragtag mix of divisions...
15:03...holding the Scheldt...
15:04...typified the Wehrmacht's...
15:06...diminished strength.
15:0764th Division...
15:09...defending the south bank...
15:11...of the Scheldt...
15:12...was the strongest...
15:13...with 11,000 men...
15:15...and a large number...
15:16...of heavy weapons.
15:17The three divisions...
15:19...of 67 Corps...
15:20...holding the area...
15:21...north of Antwerp...
15:22...were at half strength...
15:24...and most were poorly trained.
15:26While 70th Division...
15:29...holding Volkeren Island...
15:30...was made up of men...
15:32...who until recently...
15:33...had been classed as...
15:34...medically unfit...
15:35...for service.
15:40Previous fighting...
15:41...and huge casualties...
15:42...had inflicted so many losses...
15:44...on the German army...
15:45...that they were simply...
15:46...not able to find...
15:47...enough recruits...
15:48...to...
15:49...to refill their ranks.
15:50So what they did...
15:51...at that particular...
15:52...particular time...
15:53...is that it would go...
15:54...into hospitals...
15:55...to military hospitals...
15:57...and also...
15:58...draft people...
15:59...who up to that point...
16:00...had seen...
16:01...have been medically unfit...
16:03...and would draft them...
16:04...into specific units.
16:05You see what are called...
16:07...stomach battalions...
16:08...of men who are otherwise fit...
16:10...but who need a special diet.
16:11Ear battalions...
16:13...of men who...
16:14...have ear damage...
16:16...or hearing damage...
16:17...and need special doctors...
16:18...or foot battalions...
16:20...all of these...
16:21...are simply being put...
16:22...back into the line...
16:23...not as first-class infantry...
16:25...but as men...
16:26...who can still fight.
16:27On the 2nd of October...
16:30...the Canadians...
16:31...2nd Infantry Division...
16:33...opened the Battle...
16:34...of the Scheldt...
16:35...with an attack...
16:36...north...
16:37...from Antwerp.
16:38Their objective...
16:39...was to secure access...
16:40...to the South Beverland Peninsula...
16:42...isolating German forces...
16:44...from the Dutch mainland.
16:46But they would need...
16:47...to fight their way...
16:48...through the villages...
16:49...of Hugerheide...
16:50...and Wundstrecht.
16:52At first...
16:54...the Canadians...
16:55...made steady progress...
16:56...overcoming sporadic...
16:58...German resistance...
16:59...and liberating...
17:00...several small villages...
17:02...on the Dutch-Belgian border.
17:04But as they neared...
17:05...their objective...
17:06...they ran into...
17:07...a strong defensive network...
17:09...of roadblocks...
17:10...anti-tank ditches...
17:12...and assault guns.
17:14It was typical...
17:16...of the well-planned...
17:17...German defences...
17:18...the Allies encountered...
17:19...throughout the battle.
17:21The Germans had lost...
17:22...the time to...
17:23...prepare for us coming.
17:25I can remember...
17:26...they even had numbers...
17:27...on top of the roofs...
17:28...264 or something.
17:30And that was the...
17:32...the infantry would see...
17:33...that number...
17:34...and call back...
17:35...for artillery fire.
17:36And they'd be able to...
17:38...very quickly...
17:39...be able to know...
17:40...exactly where that was.
17:41And so they...
17:42...used to shell us...
17:43...but they had...
17:45...they had lots of time...
17:46...to prepare.
17:48On the 7th of October...
17:50...bitter fighting...
17:51...erupted around...
17:52...Hugerheide...
17:53...and Wundstrecht...
17:54...with the Germans...
17:55...determined...
17:56...to keep control...
17:57...over the crucial access...
17:58...to South Beverland.
18:00The town of...
18:02...Hugerheide...
18:03...which...
18:04...over...
18:05...overlooked...
18:06...er...
18:07...Wundstrecht...
18:08...and...
18:10...they had...
18:11...heavy artillery...
18:12...mortars...
18:14...at a very...
18:16...very...
18:17...short distance.
18:18You could see the...
18:19...almost...
18:20...you could see the people...
18:21...operating...
18:22...the weapons...
18:23...on that hill.
18:24The German 15th Army...
18:28...had clear orders...
18:29...from its commander.
18:30The people...
18:31...and Führer...
18:32...of Germany...
18:33...were watching...
18:34...they were told.
18:35The Scheldt defences...
18:36...must be held...
18:37...to the end.
18:38That commander...
18:40...was General...
18:41...Gustaf Adolf von Sangen.
18:43An experienced officer...
18:45...who'd led a division...
18:46...on the Eastern Front...
18:47...he'd been given...
18:48...command...
18:49...the 15th Army...
18:50...in the Calais region...
18:51...of France...
18:52...six weeks earlier.
18:53Despite heavy...
18:55...allied attacks...
18:56...he'd successfully...
18:57...withdrawn his units...
18:58...to Holland...
18:59...and established...
19:00...a formidable...
19:01...defensive line...
19:02...around the Scheldt.
19:03He was a very driven...
19:07...commander...
19:08...and he made clear...
19:09...to his troops...
19:10...that the fighting...
19:11...in the Scheldt estuary...
19:12...was of the...
19:13...the utmost importance...
19:14...for the future...
19:15...conduct of war...
19:16...and the future of Germany.
19:17Contrary to the impression...
19:19...given by newsreel propaganda...
19:21...by autumn 1944...
19:23...German tanks...
19:24...were in short supply.
19:26The very few armoured units...
19:29...at von Sangen's disposal...
19:31...would instead rely...
19:32...on simpler...
19:33...but highly effective...
19:34...mobile assault guns.
19:37At the beginning of World War II...
19:39...the Germans have developed...
19:40...a vehicle...
19:41...called an assault gun...
19:42...or Sturmgeschütz.
19:43And the idea is really...
19:44...you get a tank chassis...
19:46...you put...
19:47...a support haritzer in it...
19:49...with a superstructure on the top...
19:50...and that helps the infantry...
19:52...to attack prepared positions.
19:56After the invasion of Russia...
19:58...in June of 1941...
20:00...Hitler makes a suggestion...
20:03...that the 7.5 centimetre...
20:05...anti-tank gun...
20:06...is added...
20:07...to the Sturmgeschütz chassis.
20:09And that changes the vehicle...
20:11...into a great tank-killing weapon.
20:13One of the issues...
20:14...with the Sturmgeschütz...
20:15...is low in profile...
20:17...because it doesn't have that turret.
20:19And that means...
20:20...it's an effective weapon...
20:21...to be able to hide...
20:22...and it's also...
20:23...because it's smaller...
20:24...a harder weapon to hit.
20:27As the war progresses...
20:29...the Germans are trying...
20:30...to thicken the armour...
20:31...but they're losing...
20:32...some of their production facilities.
20:34So if you actually look...
20:35...on this example...
20:36...of a Sturmgeschütz...
20:37...this extra armour...
20:38...that's been placed on the front...
20:40...is actually concrete...
20:42...just to thicken...
20:43...the levels of protection...
20:44...for the crew inside.
20:46The problem of course...
20:48...is this...
20:49...cannot be turned...
20:50...on like a 360 turret.
20:52So it's great in the defensive role...
20:55...but less good in the attack.
20:57The assault guns...
20:59...that stalled the Canadian advance...
21:01...at Högerheide...
21:02...belong to a German Kampfgrupper...
21:04...or battle group.
21:05The near complete destruction...
21:08...of the larger organisation...
21:10...of the German army in the West...
21:12...meant that there were a lot of units...
21:14...that were...
21:15...not with who they had started out with...
21:17...were not organised...
21:18...had suffered heavy casualties...
21:20...and the Germans found...
21:22...that the best way to use them...
21:23...were simply to put them together...
21:25...into an informal group...
21:26...a Kampfgrupper...
21:27...and send them back out...
21:29...to fight together.
21:30This particular Kampfgrupper...
21:32...is a very good example of it.
21:33Kampfgrupper...
21:34...or battle group...
21:35...Chill...
21:36...were named...
21:38...after their commanding officer...
21:40...General-Leutnant...
21:41...Left-Hand-General...
21:42...Chill...
21:45...the Canadian Intelligence Report...
21:47...class him as a very skilled...
21:48...and very driven military commander...
21:50...they assembled...
21:52...a battle group...
21:53...a Kampfgruppe...
21:54...of about 3,000 men...
21:56...consisting of remnants...
21:57...of three infantry divisions...
21:59...in particular...
22:00...the 85th Infantry Division...
22:01...together with...
22:02...a number of paratroopers...
22:04...and these 3,000 men...
22:06...became as the Germans...
22:07...called the fire brigade...
22:08...of the...
22:09...the Scheld estuary.
22:10They were one of the most...
22:11...powerful...
22:12...and experienced...
22:13...combat formations...
22:14...that Germans had...
22:15...and whenever...
22:16...there was heavy fighting...
22:18...these particular...
22:19...this particular unit...
22:20...would be sent.
22:21Kampfgruppe Hill...
22:23...put up fierce resistance...
22:24...and launched fast-moving...
22:26...hard-hitting counter-attacks...
22:28...whenever possible.
22:29The Canadians...
22:31...suddenly found themselves...
22:32...in the hardest fighting...
22:33...they'd seen since Normandy.
22:35The intensity of combat...
22:37...threatened to overwhelm...
22:39...some units...
22:40...and for one regiment...
22:41...would lead to complete disaster.
22:43The Canadian Black Watch...
22:46...had a reputation...
22:47...as an unlucky regiment.
22:49In Normandy...
22:50...in one disastrous attack...
22:52...its two senior officers...
22:54...had been killed...
22:55...and the regiment...
22:56...cut to pieces.
22:57On Friday the 13th of October...
23:00...the same regiment...
23:02...was ordered to lead an attack...
23:03...on a railway embankment...
23:05...held by paratroopers...
23:06...of Kampfgruppe Hill.
23:08It would go down...
23:10...in Canadian military history...
23:12...as Black Friday.
23:15They held the high ground...
23:17...on the right...
23:18...and we were in the...
23:19...down in the...
23:20...down on the flatlands...
23:23...with two or three polders...
23:26...as our protection.
23:27The Germans had...
23:29...the last polder.
23:31They had the very last polder.
23:33And as soon as you put your head up...
23:35...there'd be a grenade come at you.
23:37And there was the railway tracks...
23:40...on the left...
23:42...with high ground there...
23:43...which...
23:44...they also occupied.
23:46Our purpose...
23:47...was to...
23:48...advance...
23:49...pass those...
23:50...those polders...
23:52...advance...
23:53...pass those polders...
23:55...get to the railway station...
23:57...and cut off...
23:59...the enemies' movements...
24:01...on the road...
24:03...and the railway.
24:05We couldn't do it.
24:06We lost all those men...
24:08...Black Friday the 13th.
24:10The four attacking companies...
24:13...of the Black Watch...
24:14...lost 150 men killed.
24:16And the embankment...
24:18...remained in German hands.
24:20One of the main problems...
24:21...that the Canadians are facing...
24:23...which lead to the...
24:24...which lead to these very high...
24:25...casualty rates...
24:26...is the fact that...
24:28...communications are very poor.
24:30When Sea Company starts its attack...
24:32...the preliminary artillery bombardment...
24:34...comes in too early...
24:35...and...
24:36...so it comes in 30 minutes...
24:38...before the infantry...
24:39...actually starts its attack...
24:41...which of course...
24:42...gives the Germans enough time...
24:43...to get back into their positions...
24:44...and prepare their weapons...
24:46...for the advancing Canadians.
24:52The Canadians attacked again...
24:53...three days later.
24:55Finally...
24:56...through tenacity...
24:57...and sheer weight of fire...
24:59...they fought their way...
25:00...into what remained...
25:01...of the Dutch village...
25:02...of Wundstrecht.
25:05At high cost...
25:07...the Canadians had cut off...
25:09...the South Beverland Peninsula...
25:11...and the 15,000 Germans...
25:13...defending it.
25:15Meanwhile...
25:16...Simmons had launched...
25:17...the second phase...
25:18...of the battle...
25:19...on the southwest bank...
25:20...of the Scheldt...
25:21...dubbed...
25:22...the Bresken's Pocket.
25:24The Canadians' first obstacle...
25:26...was the Leopold Canal.
25:29General Simmons believed the attack...
25:31...to clear the Bresken's Pocket...
25:33...codenamed Operation Switchback...
25:35...would take four days.
25:37It began on the 6th of October...
25:39...with an assault...
25:40...across the Leopold Canal.
25:42For some companies...
25:43...the crossing was carried out...
25:45...in eerie silence.
25:47We were under orders...
25:48...not to shoot...
25:49...unless we were...
25:50...attacked.
25:51And we suddenly realized...
25:53...Germans must be under...
25:55...the same order too...
25:56...because they see us...
25:57...but they're not...
25:58...shooting anything either.
25:59So it was a kind of a...
26:01...silence on the canal.
26:03A few Canadian companies...
26:05...got across the canal...
26:06...without coming under fire...
26:08...but others were not so lucky...
26:11...and ran into fierce opposition...
26:13...taking heavy losses.
26:15Allied intelligence...
26:18...it later emerged...
26:20...had seriously underestimated...
26:22...the strength of German forces...
26:24...in the Bresken's pocket.
26:25Slowly...
26:28...the Canadians carved out...
26:30...a bridgehead...
26:31...on the far bank of the canal.
26:33Walter Balfour...
26:35...a machine gunner...
26:36...with the 4th Canadian Armored Division...
26:38...spotted a German artillery observer...
26:40...guiding fire onto his unit.
26:43So I opened up on them...
26:45...with a Bren gun.
26:46I had rolled down...
26:47...off the top of the dight...
26:48...because they...
26:49...opened up a machine gun...
26:50...right away...
26:51...on trying to cut...
26:52...the top of the dight.
26:53But...
26:54...later on...
26:55...the other troops...
26:56...father up said...
26:57...they saw two stretcher bearers...
26:59...German stretcher bearers...
27:00...come out...
27:01...very cautiously...
27:02...wondering whether they might...
27:04...you know...
27:05...whether they were gonna be shot...
27:06...or what...
27:07...you know...
27:08...they didn't bottle at them...
27:09...they said they went up...
27:10...to where this brush pile was...
27:11...and...
27:12...loaded a guy on the stretcher...
27:14...and took him out.
27:15But that solved the problem...
27:16...for these guys...
27:17...were on the...
27:18...bottom of the...
27:19...at the canal bank...
27:21...at the...
27:22...because...
27:23...he was creating a lot of havoc...
27:24...a lot of rough times for them.
27:26As the attack across the canal...
27:29...ran out of momentum...
27:30...Simmons launched...
27:31...the Canadian Highland Brigade...
27:33...in a daring amphibious...
27:35...flanking attack...
27:36...on hoofdplaat.
27:38The attack would be made...
27:39...with the help of an extraordinary...
27:41...new amphibious vehicle...
27:43...originally designed...
27:45...for a somewhat sunnier climate.
27:49This vehicle is what's called a buffalo...
27:52...and it was developed from a design...
27:54...to pick up people in the Florida Everglades.
27:58The idea being that it can float...
28:00...but it's also got tracks.
28:02The tracks were developed in a way...
28:04...that they've got these scoops on...
28:06...so as they turn...
28:07...they could propel a vehicle...
28:09...through water.
28:11Now the American military...
28:12...like the idea...
28:14...and the British and Canadian forces...
28:16...use them as well.
28:17So to clear the Scheldt estuary...
28:19...and the island of Walsherin...
28:20...at the end of it...
28:21...a number of operations took place.
28:23And that's when the buffalo...
28:25...with its amphibious capability...
28:27...its ability to take men...
28:29...across boggy ground...
28:30...crossing rivers, dykes...
28:32...even the open sea.
28:33It came into its own.
28:35But the Canadians had had...
28:37...almost no time to train...
28:38...with the new amphibious vehicles...
28:40...forcing the operation...
28:42...to be postponed by 24 hours.
28:45When the attack went ahead...
28:47...it was a complete success.
28:49Canadian infantry landing...
28:51...behind the German lines...
28:52...virtually unopposed.
28:55The Germans immediately concentrated...
28:57...every available gun...
28:59...against this dangerous new bridgehead.
29:03Doug Vidler was a mortar man...
29:05...with the Canadian Highland Brigade.
29:07It was a bad night.
29:09We'd been up all night.
29:11We didn't get to bed till...
29:13...8 o'clock or something in the morning.
29:15But around 11 o'clock...
29:17...a shell hit the top of our barn...
29:20...and the shrapnel and dust...
29:22...and everything all came down.
29:24And Bob was laying beside me.
29:26And we were laying under a...
29:28...um...
29:30...a manger kind of thing.
29:32The word went out...
29:33...anybody hit?
29:34Blackie said he was hit.
29:36He got hit in the knee.
29:38So with that I shook Bob...
29:40...and said, Bob, Blackie's hit.
29:42And with that Bob rolled over...
29:44...he had one little piece of shrapnel in his head.
29:46Just one little piece.
29:48The Harley bled it off.
29:50And he was gone.
29:56For three days...
29:57...Doug Vidler and his comrades...
29:59...held on to their fragile bridgehead.
30:01Finally, tank destroyers...
30:03...and infantry of 4th Canadian Armored Division...
30:06...broke through to relieve them.
30:08The German position in the Breskin's pocket...
30:11...was now hopeless.
30:13But the German commander...
30:15...ordered his men to fight on.
30:17Even though many frontline units...
30:19...had lost two thirds of their men.
30:21And most of the survivors...
30:23...were ready to give up.
30:26Canadian 3rd Division...
30:28...began a relentless, methodical advance...
30:30...across the pocket.
30:31Smashing any point of German resistance...
30:34...with concentrated artillery fire...
30:36...and airstrikes.
30:38Achille Stewart, a D-Day veteran...
30:42...entered what he took to be...
30:44...a recently liberated Dutch village.
30:47Everything was deathly silence...
30:50...as I got into the town.
30:52Not a soul...
30:53...not a sound.
30:54And just behind me...
30:56...out of the windmill...
30:57...came the Burgermeister...
30:58...with about 20 of his town people.
31:00And so I went over to them...
31:02...and they hugged me...
31:03...and kissed me...
31:04...and I said...
31:05...did you not get all this...
31:07...hugging and kissing...
31:08...out of your system...
31:09...when the infantry...
31:10...came through yesterday?
31:11Oh...
31:13...you're the first one.
31:15The infantry were repulsed...
31:17...by the Germans.
31:18They're back a mile or so.
31:19You're the first one.
31:21On the 3rd of November...
31:24...the pocket finally fell...
31:26...with the surrender...
31:27...of the German divisional commander...
31:29...and the rest of his troops.
31:31The Canadians were slowly...
31:33...tightening their grip...
31:34...on the estuary...
31:35...though at a heavy price.
31:37Now it was time...
31:39...to launch their final assault...
31:41...on Volkren Island...
31:43...and the coastal guns...
31:44...that dominated the Scheldt.
31:48For both sides...
31:49...autumn on the Dutch coast...
31:51...promised to be wet...
31:52...and freezing cold.
31:54There wasn't a guy...
31:56...whose main objective...
31:59...was to find a warm...
32:01...dry place...
32:03...where he could have a good sleep.
32:05Never mind the German.
32:07Where can we find a warm...
32:10...dry place...
32:11...to have a good sleep?
32:13We were all half conscious.
32:14It was cold.
32:15There was ice forming...
32:17...on the edge of the canal.
32:18The green grass...
32:20...had covered in white frost.
32:22Soldiers fought a daily battle...
32:24...to get warm...
32:25...stay dry...
32:27...and find hot food.
32:28The Scheldt was freezing cold.
32:31The Canadians find themselves...
32:32...having to fight in greatcoats...
32:33...in the thick woolen greatcoats...
32:34...they're wearing balaclavas...
32:36...they have leather jerkins on...
32:38...anything to keep warm...
32:39...and to try and keep the water out.
32:41The Canadian and British rations...
32:43...weren't very imaginative.
32:45In fact, nowhere near as exciting...
32:46...as the menus that the American army often had.
32:48Amongst the things that they got...
32:50...in their 24-hour ration packs...
32:51...were ten of these biscuits...
32:53...which was basically a bread substitute...
32:55...and these could be broken up...
32:56...and used for making breadcrumbs...
32:58...and other things.
32:59There would be meat extract...
33:00...blocks of meat...
33:01...oatmeal blocks...
33:02...there were two bars of chocolate...
33:04...boiled sweets, chewing gum, salt...
33:06...so all sorts of things...
33:07...to make very, very simple food.
33:09And you would cook these...
33:10...on a little hexamine stove...
33:12...which you carried in your pack...
33:13...which opened out like this.
33:15You'd have a hexamine block...
33:16...which is the fuel...
33:17...which would sit in the space underneath...
33:19...and once you'd lit it...
33:21...you could then put your food into the mess tin...
33:23...put it on top of the stove...
33:24...and cook it off.
33:25Another innovation at the time...
33:27...was self-heating tins of food...
33:29...like this tin of mock turtle soup.
33:31And the idea here...
33:32...was that you would take your army jackknife...
33:34...you would punch two holes...
33:35...in the side of the lid...
33:37...lever off the cap...
33:38...and then light the fuse inside...
33:40...leave it for five minutes...
33:41...and when you cut it open...
33:42...it would be steaming hot...
33:44...soup ready to eat.
33:46Added to the general discomfort of Canadian troops...
33:50...was a growing crisis of combat fatigue.
33:53The Canadian 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions...
33:57...had been in almost constant combat since Normandy...
34:00...and because of a Canadian law governing overseas service...
34:04...they weren't getting enough replacements from home.
34:07The Canadian army was starting to experience...
34:09...substantial manpower issues late in 1944.
34:13In addition to the casualties they had experienced...
34:15...during the earlier fighting...
34:17...the Canadian army in Europe...
34:18...was built out of people who had actually volunteered...
34:21...to leave Canada and fight in Europe.
34:24Not everybody did that...
34:26...and that meant that the Canadians were facing...
34:28...a shortage of people who were willing to fight...
34:31...in Western Europe.
34:33In addition to the shortage itself...
34:35...the Canadian troops who were actually in Europe...
34:37...were beginning to get a little worn down...
34:39...and there was no relief in sight.
34:41More and more Canadian soldiers...
34:43...began to break down under the strain...
34:45...whether physically wounded...
34:47...physically ill...
34:48...or battlefield exhaustion.
34:50In the First World War...
34:52...they called the guy shell shock.
34:54We called it battle fatigue.
34:57Guys got battle fatigue...
34:59...a couple of weeks after we got into action.
35:02And they were no good anymore...
35:04...most of them.
35:05They sent them back to what they called...
35:07...we called anyway...
35:08...a sleep camp.
35:10And they'd give a guy a needle...
35:11...and put him to sleep...
35:13...for a day or two days...
35:15...and give him a chance to rest up.
35:18Keep him there for three or four days...
35:21...and send him back up.
35:23Well, the theory was...
35:25...two trips to the sleep camp...
35:27...and you went into a labor battalion.
35:29But we were so short of men...
35:32...we had no labor battalions...
35:34...that I ever heard of...
35:35...so they kept sending them back.
35:37And...
35:39...you know, it was a damn disgrace.
35:42Some of the guys deserted.
35:44I had a guy who was a very close friend of mine...
35:47...and a tip-top soldier.
35:50But once the mortar shells started coming in...
35:53...he'd get up and start running around in circles.
35:56And I'd have to jump on them...
35:58...and put them down...
35:59...and sometimes punch them out...
36:01...to keep them quiet.
36:03Despite the growing crisis of manpower...
36:07...Second Canadian Infantry...
36:09...were now given another vital role to play...
36:12...in the third phase of the Battle of the Scheldt.
36:17General Simmons wanted them to attack west...
36:20...along the narrow peninsula...
36:22...as part of Operation Vitality...
36:24...ahead of the final assault...
36:26...on the coastal batteries...
36:28...of Volcran Island.
36:32So the weary Canadians prepared for another attack...
36:36...across the broken dikes and flooded fields.
36:40They would be facing soldiers...
36:42...of the German 6th Parachute Regiment.
36:45Many were as exhausted...
36:47...physically and psychologically...
36:49...as the Canadians.
36:51But even though the struggle to hold the Scheldt...
36:53...looked increasingly doomed...
36:55...the Germans continued to fight doggedly.
36:58They had at least been safe from Allied air attacks...
37:01...for the last few weeks...
37:03...thanks to heavy cloud and bad weather.
37:06But whenever the skies cleared...
37:08...Hawker Typhoons and Supermarine Spitfires...
37:12...armed with rockets and cannon...
37:14...swarmed in to strafe German positions.
37:17John Thompson was the Canadian pilot...
37:20...of a rocket-firing typhoon.
37:24Anybody on the ground...
37:26...it sounded like an express train coming.
37:31Particularly a salvo.
37:33And the Germans...
37:35...they were very leery about...
37:37...when they got attacked by typhoons.
37:39They didn't like the noise...
37:41...that several of the German prisoners...
37:44...would say, well...
37:45...the noise of those rockets is pretty terrifying.
37:48In late October...
37:52...the Allies used radio intercepts...
37:54...to pinpoint General von Sangen's headquarters...
37:57...and sent four squadrons of typhoons...
38:00...to wipe it out.
38:02The attack killed 74 German officers...
38:05...and left 15th Army headquarters in chaos...
38:08...for days.
38:10The Canadians hoped to take advantage...
38:13...with a fresh attack along the peninsula.
38:15They had learned the lesson of Black Friday.
38:18This time, German defences were blasted...
38:21...by a massive artillery barrage...
38:24...before the infantry went in...
38:26...under cover of darkness.
38:28We moved in there about 2 o'clock in the morning...
38:32...and laid in the ditch...
38:34...on one side of the road...
38:37...until about 6...
38:39...when we were told to charge.
38:41The charge was across about 1,000 yards...
38:47...of beet fields...
38:49...flat as a pancake...
38:51...nothing there but beets...
38:53...and to take a dike on the far side...
38:57...being held by the Germans.
38:59We hardly got across the road...
39:02...when we had to retreat back into the ditch...
39:05...because of the machine gun...
39:07...and the fire was so heavy...
39:09...you couldn't move.
39:10Somehow or other...
39:12...we worked our way across that beet field...
39:15...to the dike at the end.
39:17There was very few of us left.
39:20When we got there we couldn't do much...
39:22...but we spent the rest of the day...
39:25...throwing grenades back and forth...
39:27...the Germans on one side...
39:28...and us on the other side...
39:30...and they were just murder.
39:33The wounded were laying out in the field...
39:35...hollering and yelling.
39:37The Canadian infantry struggled forward...
39:40...and by the end of the first day...
39:42...they'd breached the first line of German defences...
39:45...and taken 120 prisoners.
39:48But the next obstacle was even more formidable...
39:51...the South Beverland Canal.
39:54The German defence in the South Beverland sector...
39:58...is centred around this particular canal.
40:02The canal is a big obstacle to the Allied forces...
40:06...and it makes it very difficult for them...
40:08...to cross this under fire.
40:10And the Germans therefore include this...
40:12...as an integral part into their defence of plan.
40:15Rather than tackle the canal head-on...
40:19...General Simmons ordered an out-flanking attack...
40:22...by the 52nd Lowland Division...
40:25...using buffaloes to land at Hood and Kenskerker.
40:30At a stroke, this bold amphibious operation...
40:33...bypassed the canal...
40:35...and made it worthless as a defensive position.
40:38The German troops hurriedly pulled back to Volkeren Island itself...
40:44...where they would make their last stand...
40:46...protected by concrete fortifications...
40:48...and coastal batteries.
40:50Four weeks into the battle for the Scheldt...
40:54...the Allies were closing in on their goal...
40:57...the naval guns of Volkeren Island.
41:00Blocking the end of the Scheldt estuary...
41:03...was the island of Volkeren.
41:05Volkeren was heavily defended by the Germans.
41:08It was basically very flat and low-lying...
41:10...and surrounded by a dike.
41:13And the Germans had built concrete pillboxes...
41:16...and guns emplaced around the top of that dike.
41:19Until Volkeren Island was taken...
41:22...and its heavy guns neutralized...
41:24...no Allied ships could sail up the Scheldt to Antwerp...
41:28...and the advance on Germany remained stalled...
41:31...through lack of supplies.
41:35By now, General Dasser...
41:37...commanding what Hitler optimistically termed...
41:40...Scheldt Fortress North...
41:42...could call only on the remnants of 70th Infantry Division...
41:46...the 89th Fortress Regiment...
41:48...and two battalions of naval gunners.
41:51Their orders from the Führer remained clear...
41:55...fight to the last man.
41:57Meanwhile, Canadian Commander Guy Simmons...
42:01...was devising another bold amphibious operation...
42:04...for the final assault on Volkeren Island.
42:07First, the RAF would bomb West Capella...
42:11...destroying the island's outer dike...
42:14...and allowing the sea to rush in and flood the interior.
42:17Then he would launch two amphibious assaults...
42:21...by Scottish Infantry and Royal Marine Commandos...
42:24...landing at Vlissingen and West Capella...
42:27...while 2nd Canadian Infantry attacked from the east...
42:30...across the narrow channel...
42:32...separating Volkeren from the mainland.
42:34Montgomery built up a massive assault force...
42:38...to take the Volkeren Fortress.
42:41Lots of landing crafts...
42:43...lots of buffalo amphibious vehicles...
42:46...and thousands of men.
42:48And the plan was essentially a replica of what had happened...
42:52...at Normandy on June 6, 1944.
42:55A massive initial bombardment...
42:57...followed by waves of landing craft and amphibious vehicles...
43:01...taking the soldiers ashore to capture the fortress...
43:04...and finally open up Antwerp to Allied supply ships.
43:08The Canadians began their attack on the 31st of October...
43:12...but reaching the channel...
43:14...they soon found it was too deep to cross on foot...
43:17...and too muddy for assault boats.
43:19The only option was to advance up the Volkeren Causeway...
43:24...a single narrow road a mile long...
43:26...connecting the island to the mainland.
43:29Company after company was sent up the causeway...
43:32...only to get pinned down by heavy German fire.
43:36So they lined the guys up in rows...
43:39...and sent them across this damn thing...
43:42...and you couldn't move them.
43:44The juries were sitting at the far end...
43:47...machine gun fire...
43:49...they had old French 75mm cannons...
43:53...shooting them like machine guns down the middle.
43:56And they kept sending more and more guys...
43:59...and we were given covering fire.
44:02I smoked the can of 100 cigarettes in about three hours...
44:06...believe it or not.
44:08Just lighting one off the other.
44:10We were just changing barrels on the Bren gun.
44:14Between their guys and ours...
44:16...they finally got a half a dozen guys or so to the far end.
44:21But that was it.
44:23With the Canadians pinned down on the causeway...
44:26...the success of the attack would depend on...
44:29...Simmons amphibious landings.
44:33The RAF bombing raid had been a success...
44:36...blowing giant gaps in the dikes...
44:38...and flooding the island.
44:40The way was clear for allied amphibious vehicles...
44:43...to strike at the heart of the German defensive positions.
44:47When the attack went in...
44:49...amphibious vehicles like this buffalo...
44:51...could go through those gaps...
44:53...and round the rear of the dikes...
44:55...and attack the German defences from behind.
44:58And the buffaloes would be perfect for this...
45:00...because not only could they carry men ashore...
45:02...they were armour plated on the front...
45:04...on this LVT-4 model buffalo...
45:06...and they were given guns.
45:08So it's got a 20mm Polsten cannon...
45:11...and Browning machine guns on it...
45:13...that would help put suppressing fire down...
45:15...on the German positions...
45:17...as they come ashore...
45:18...and release the infantry to finish the attack.
45:21Royal Marine Jim Kelly was part of the buffalo assault wave...
45:25...but things didn't go quite to plan.
45:28They were put into tank landing craft...
45:31...and we got into the buffaloes...
45:33...inside the tank landing craft...
45:35...so that we were loaded into the buffalo...
45:37...but the buffalo was an amphibious box.
45:42We came out to land craft...
45:44...in this thing...
45:46...and right away...
45:48...it was bogged down in the water...
45:50...never got any further...
45:51...we had to get out...
45:52...and wade ashore...
45:53...just the same...
45:54...same old wet landing...
45:56...on a freezing cold day...
45:58...1st of November.
45:59At Vlissingen, the island's main port...
46:03...the Germans were caught off guard...
46:05...and British troops landed almost unscathed.
46:09But resistance intensified...
46:12...as they moved inland.
46:14They were soon engaged in fierce street fighting...
46:16...that would last several days.
46:18Meanwhile, off Vescapella...
46:21...a covering force of landing craft...
46:23...took on the heavy German shore batteries...
46:26...with rockets and cannon.
46:28They were taking on the batteries...
46:30...but they were...
46:31...a bit of a one-sided fight...
46:33...and they lost quite a few...
46:36...but at least they did the job.
46:38They took the fire away from us...
46:41...so we were able to get in...
46:43...and get on top of the batteries.
46:46Under the cover of this barrage...
46:49...the marines got ashore...
46:51...with only light casualties.
46:53On the beaches and dikes...
46:55...they faced no more than sporadic resistance...
46:58...from the Germans.
46:59But occasional mortar shells and mines...
47:02...claimed a steady toll.
47:04German S-mines...
47:06...known as Bouncing Bettys...
47:08...were lethal.
47:09We'd actually go over the top...
47:11...just come over the top of the dunes...
47:13...and then start trotting towards the...
47:15...and take a chance on the mines.
47:17And what we used to do really...
47:19...on the minefields...
47:20...was upskating at them.
47:21Because the faster you ran...
47:23...if you stood on the mine...
47:25...the better the chance you had...
47:26...of getting away with it.
47:28Because it took about four seconds...
47:32...to pop up out of the ground...
47:34...to about six foot high...
47:36...before it exploded...
47:37...in shrapnel balls.
47:39So if you ran fast enough...
47:41...you could get away with it.
47:43Which you did.
47:44It worked.
47:46The fighting on Volkeran Island...
47:49...lasted eight days.
47:51Then on the 8th of November...
47:53...the Germans began to surrender.
47:56The next morning...
47:58...they would come out...
47:59...with all their gear...
48:00...packed...
48:01...the little lava sacks...
48:02...and whatnot...
48:03...and they'd come out...
48:05...and they'd just run in.
48:08With the German coastal batteries neutralized...
48:11...Royal Navy minesweepers went to work...
48:14...making the Scheldt estuary safe...
48:16...for Allied supply ships.
48:18On the 28th of November...
48:20...the first Allied convoy...
48:22...sailed up the Scheldt...
48:24...to unload its precious supplies...
48:26...at Antwerp docks.
48:27The first ship to unload...
48:29...was from Canada.
48:31The opening of Antwerp...
48:33...was a serious blow...
48:35...to the Third Reich.
48:37The significance of the Scheldt and Antwerp...
48:40...is really underlined...
48:41...by the enemy reaction.
48:43More V-2 rockets...
48:45...were aimed at Antwerp...
48:46...than any other place.
48:47During that part of the war.
48:49Antwerp was also highly significant...
48:51...in the terms...
48:53...of Hitler's final offensive in the war.
48:55The Ardennes Offensive.
48:57Because the objective there...
48:59...was to retake Antwerp...
49:00...cut off the supplies...
49:02...and undermine the whole of the Allied war effort...
49:04...on the Western Front.
49:06The battle for the Scheldt...
49:08...was a hard-fought, five-week campaign...
49:11...led by Canadian troops...
49:13...who paid a heavy price for their success.
49:15Around 7,000 of the 12,000 Allied casualties...
49:20...were Canadians.
49:22The battle cost the Germans...
49:24...between 10,000 and 12,000 men...
49:26...and more than 40,000 prisoners.
49:29Victory transformed the situation...
49:32...for the Western Allies...
49:34...and ensured their forces...
49:35...would have the fuel and ammunition...
49:37...they needed...
49:38...for the final push into Germany.
49:40But it was a victory...
49:42...for which many Canadians believed...
49:44...then and now...
49:46...that their country...
49:47...never received proper recognition.
49:49The first ship...
49:51...up to Scheldt...
49:52...was a Canadian destroyer.
49:54A lot of dignitaries...
49:56...from the different regiments...
49:58...somebody said...
49:59...where are the Canadians?
50:01Nobody invited us.
50:02Nobody invited us.
50:06Even though we...
50:07...took...
50:08...did a lot...
50:09...in the Battle of Shelvesbury.
50:10I would love to help them...
50:13...from we all knowy...
50:15...for this ship from war.
50:16Mr.creper is what we're calling on...
50:19..."?
50:20...but we did not forget...
50:21...to be connected.
50:22... snakes replicate.
50:23There was a gem in where this ship, there...
50:24...another bridge.
50:25...and we wanted to die...
50:26...in the reem she was at the sea попад on...
50:28... using the ship to...
50:29...but we had for the air on...
50:31...the ship...
50:32...and we were Shay.
50:34...oh my...
50:35...which we were, of bilating...
50:37...you can save our own while...
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