49 Vehicles from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division negotiate a flooded road near Cleve, Germany, in February 1945. Library and Archives Canada/ Department of National Defence fonds/PA-143946 operation veritable After the Scheldt, The Canadians experienced a static threemonth period in the Nijmegen-Arnhem Salient, the tenuous and vulnerable bridgehead extending into German-occupied Netherlands that resulted from the failure of Market Garden. Holding roughly 200 kilometers of front along the Maas River, the First Canadian Army spent the winter rebuilding their depleted infantry battalions and planning for the spring offensive. The main fighting occurred at Kapelsche Veer, a German fortified bridgehead on an island at the south bank of the river Maas, which Polish troops, supported by British and Norwegian commando’s had failed to capture. On 31 January Canadian troops finally eliminated the German stronghold, at a price of 450 casualties. Apart from this operation, the Canadian army conducted no further offensive actions that winter. For the infantry, the “watch on the Maas” amounted to endless patrolling and sometimes even forays across the river onto the German side. Despite the relatively static nature of the war, First Canadian Army still suffered 400 fatal casualties. By early February, Thomas Big Canoe was in the Netherlands and took on strength with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. Thomas’ arrival was part of the buildup of men and materiel in all the Allied armies for the next big push. By this time, First Canadian Army’s numbers approached 450,000 men and included British and Polish divisions, as well as contingents of Dutch, Belgian, and Czech soldiers. Just under 40 percent of the First Canadian Army was Canadian with nine British divisions under its command. It was, and remains, the largest field army under Canadian command. This accumulation of manpower would be needed for the First CanadianArmy’s part in the upcoming Allied offensive. A pincer movement involving the First Canadian Army and the US Ninth Army was planned to eliminate the Germans in the area between the Maas and Rhine rivers. The aim of that manoeuvre was to secure a foothold on the west bank of the Rhine in preparation for the subsequent crossing of the river into Germany. Breaking out of their winter positions in Nijmegen Salient, the First Canadian Army would provide the northern arm of this pincer in an operation called Veritable. The Americans would provide the southern arm of the pincer and mount Operation Grenade. After months of planning and building up resources, Operation Veritable was set to begin on 8 February 1945. But clearing out a stubborn enemy now fighting on their own homeland would not be easy. As Veritable veteran and historian Denis Whittaker states:
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