97 2 OCTOBER – 8 NOVEMBER The Battle of the Scheldt. The First Canadian Army conducts a series of operations, with Canadian, Polish and British units attached, to open the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Allies in north-west Europe. Under acting command of Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, the operation took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands. After five weeks of difficult fighting and 12,873 First Canadian Army casualties, half of which are Canadian, the Scheldt is cleared. LIBERATION TIMELINE 1944 4 SEPTEMBER After a rapid five day advance the British 2nd Army liberates Antwerp. Unfortunately, the 80 km Scheldt estuary, the water way that links the port to the sea, is in German control. 17-25 SEPTEMBER Operation Market Garden. Field Marshall Montgomery’s bold plan was devised to secure the key bridges over the major rivers in the Netherlands - the Maas, the Waal and the Rhine - to outflank the heavy German defenses of the Siegfried Line. The operation involved British, Polish and US airborne assaults - “Operation Market” - designed to secure the bridges over the rivers followed by and a ground operation conducted by British XXX Corps called “Garden” that aimed at securing the bridges captured by the airborne forces. In the end, Market Garden was not successful, and casualties were high with more than 17,000 Allied casualties including almost 8,000 killed. 5 SEPTEMBER British and US forces reach southern Dutch border
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