Did you know that the Germans had their own Dunkirk?
17/01/2008
I have been fighting a long, lone battle for the recognition of a body of men who fought at the Battle for the Scheldt in 1944. Not being in the public eye, and without the power of the media behind me, there is a danger that these brave soldiers could be ignored and the affair brushed under the carpet.
Please understand that this is not about me - it is about righting a wrong. I am lucky enough to still be here and have the good fortune to be healthy and strong enough at 80 to carry on fighting.
Few people will have heard of the crucial Battle for the Scheldt in 1944, which is not surprising because there is very little mention made of it. Perhaps because it was the scene of much to be ashamed of: mistakes made by prima donna Generals which cost many lives, young men fighting with inadequate weapons, and hundreds dying in the mud of Flander’s Polder fields, flooded by the retreating Germans opening the sluice gates.
Effectively we gave the Germans their own “Dunkirk” - allowing 90,000 enemy troops, complete with 616 Artillery guns as well as small arms, 6000 vehicles, and over 6000 horses to slip away from Breskens to Flushing across the Scheldt Estuary. The Allies were just 20 miles away from this event yet - allegedly - knew nothing about it. The 90,000 Germans then about turned, re-inforcing the other Germans already there, faced our troops, preventing the Allies from advancing and to being on hand to help the Arnhem landing, but read on, that was the cause of so many needless deaths
Correction! The Allied Commanders DID know about this, they had been informed by our code breaking centre at Bletchley Park, and although this escape was taking place between the positions of Canadian and British Armies,they did not close in that short distance to cut the German retreat off.
After the war, from 1946 onward, each year on the anniversary of their Liberation in mid September 1944, the local Belgian Authorities have marked the occasion with Celebrations on the Saturday and a Commemorative Service on the Sunday, The Canadians send serving troops to honour and remember their dead, and High ranking Officers from NATO and SHAPE Brussels, also Canadian Veterans from the Campaign, now fewer and of course frailer each year, they also send the Canadian Ambassador, and families of those who died in battle, or later.
The Polish Armoured Division who also fought in the battle also send their Veterans and families (they have always attended too) and now that Poland is free, they send their Ambassador, and likewise High ranking Polish Officers, The Belgian Royal Family send a representative, usually a Prince, The Belgian Resistance, Dutch Resistance, Belgian Armed Forces Army, Navy and Air Force, and a host of others attend to pay their respects, including local school children. The British, (who had Units attached to the Canadian Army, just as did the Polish) have never sent anyone.
As the British fallen, in this Military Cemetery, amount to one third of the total buried there it made me angry that there was no one to speak for them, so I decided that if no one else would do it then I would take it on. At the last ceremony, (after my getting up the noses of the various Officials) a presence was hastily cobbled together and a British Naval Officer was sent from Brussels, and a representative from the British Legion also attended, both laid Poppy Wreaths, but unlike the other Nations, our Ambassador was not present, the Union Flag was not carried, and neither was our Anthem played, like the Belgian, Dutch, Canadian and Polish. That is why I said it was a partial success.
During the battle in 1944 the task of clearing the Coastal Region was given to the Canadian Army under the command of Gen H. Crerar part of Montgomery’s 21st Army Group, It consisted of largely Canadians, with British Units, Highland Units, and Polish Units. These ultra brave men were ill equipped, Monty admitted later that he had given them too low a priority. It was only when he wheeled his troops around from Antwerp, came back and concentrated the combined force that progress was made.
Two large parallel canals, the Leopold and the Derivation stood between the Allies and the enemy. They acted as massive anti-tank ditches, The Canadians suffered very heavy losses as they tried to cross, first, shot to pieces as they attempted to cross at one point in 50 rubber boats, then the Engineers welded metal platforms under the tanks, between the tank tracks into which ten men crawled to cross the Bailey bridges over the canals. This savage battle held the Allies up for five weeks, It was only when the combined force of the British and Canadian Airforces, the British and Canadian Navies, the British and Canadian and Norwegian Commandos and Marines, the land Armies of Canada, Britain, Poland, and others joined the battle that movement was made, inch by inch, yet few know of this “Cinderella” Battle, the battle for the Scheldt.
The place where this Ceremony is held is at The Adegem (Canadian) Military Cemetery, near the Belgian/ Dutch border. It has the name Canadian although as stated one third of the graves are British, most fell in the same battle as the Canadians, with a few Commonwealth, and about 40 to 50 Polish soldiers. It is chosen as the site for this Ceremony as representative of all the many smaller Cemeteries in the Region because of it’s accessibility and that it has room to cope with this large important event.
Because of the name, people mistakenly think that only Canadians and Poles fought and died there, we British are being airbrushed out, and until now our British dead have lain, forgotten by the Country that sent them. Our Country was central to the stand against Fascist Dictatorship. It is naturally embarrassing when someone like me highlights this shameful omission, but our fallen deserve to be honoured in exactly the same way, and at exactly the same level as our Allies, especially as the people of Britain, whether Armed Forces or Civilian were in the Front Line, alone for 12 months, the only Country still standing against the then victorious Nazis.
I have read many accounts of this Battle and the escape of the German 15th Army. W. Dennis Whitaker and Shelagh Whitaker describe it in their book “The Battle of the Scheldt” which they spent years researching. They write that Eisenhower had certain knowledge that 6 Divisions of the German 15th Army of 100,000 men were retreating to the mouth of the Scheldt and crossing to Walcheren. This escape was organised by the German General Schwalbe. Schwalbe puts his estimate at 86,100 soldiers with equipment - but this does not include the rear guard who were left behind at Breskens. The Canadian soldiers suffered heavy losses and were very much respected by the Germans, just as the British Desert Rats were by Rommel's troops.
Jim Woodward