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The Forgotten Battle
The Forgotten Battle
By: Elijah L.
Imagine you’re a veteran of the Battle of Scheldt but you gain no recognition for fighting, participating, witnessing all the horrors you saw out on the battlefield yet no one seems to even know about the battle. Such a major event is forgotten.
The Battle of Scheldt took place during WWII, in Belgium, Zeeland, October 2, 1944 - November 8, 1944. Countries that participated in this battle were Canada, Britain, France, Norway, Germany, Poland, United States, Belgium, and Netherlands.
A map of Scheldt provided with Allied divisions’ directions and distance.
So, what was the main purpose of the Battle of Scheldt? Well, the purpose of the battle was to open a shipping route to Antwerp so that the port could be used to supply the Allies in North-Western region of Europe.
Canada
Canada’s role in the Battle of Scheldt played a significant role during the battle of Scheldt, clearing German defensive forces and opening important supply lines via the port of Antwerp. Canadian units that participated in this battle were the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 3rd, 7th, 8th, 10th, and the 9th Infantry Division along with the 4th Armored Division and Brigade.
U.S
The U.S’ role in this battle was that the U.S’ USAAF 8th Air Force had been in the battle of Scheldt to support ground forces and assist them when the Allies were pinned down by heavy fire from the Axis. The USAAF 8th Air Force had only served in WWII and was later disbanded on September 18, 1946.
UK
The UK had mostly assisted on the ground with the Canadian and Polish divisions. Divisions and units involved were the 49th, 52nd, 51st Infantry Division, and the British I Corps. The British had helped with gunfire, transportation, and supplying their allies in the frontlines of the battlefields.
Poland
The Polish 1st Armored Division assisted in tanks and armored vehicles that were lent by the Allies, or tanks they had already owned and used in the battlefield against the enemies.
Fort Cataraqui, a Canadian vessel unloads oil at the port of Antwerp as Belgian citizens watch.
Although the Battle of Scheldt was victorious for the Allies with 135,000 Allied soldiers taking part, it came at a very great cost. The Allies lost 12,873 soldiers with half of them Canadian, but the Axis had 90,000 German soldiers. The Axis lost 10,000-12,000 soldiers and 41,043 had decided to surrender. When Antwerp was taken by the Allies.
German high ranking military officials along with the leader of Germany, decided to launch the Ardennes Offensive with its objective to retake Antwerp and split the Allies when they were heading directly through Germany, which had failed and caused a very great amount of losses for the German army.
The overall plan for the opening of the Scheldt estuary involved 4 operations. Which were:
Clearing the area North of Antwerp and securing access to the South Beveland peninsula.
Operation Switchback, clearing the Breskens Pocket North of the Leopold canal and South of the Western Scheldt.
Operation Vitality, the capture of South Beveland peninsula, North of the Scheldt and East of Walcheren peninsula.
Operation Infatuate, the goal to capture the island of Walcheren.
In 2020, a film called “The Forgotten Battle” was released, gaining millions of viewers with ratings of 7.1/10 and a 4/5. and soon enough, the battle finally gained recognition after almost 77 years when the battle happened. In fact, I never knew about this battle until I watched the film and decided to Google the battle. I actually found this an interesting battle and topic I never heard of before and wanted to find out more about this battle.
Because of this battle’s importance, British First Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery had to delay the capture of Dunkirk. Especially after the film was released, people still don’t seem to still recognize the importance of the battle that occurred almost 77 years ago.
The reason why I chose this topic is because of the importance of this battle and how this is unrecognized by people and how much soldiers have sacrificed their lives in this battle. This was a major success for the Allies since it offered the Allies a chance to solve their supply problems and how it helped the Allies’ push to Germany a lot.
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