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Operation Infatuate
Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special Service Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. Meanwhile, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would force a crossing of the Walcheren Causeway. Background The city of Antwerp and its port was captured by British 2nd Army in early September 1944. While 21st Army Group's priority was then Operation Market Garden, no sense of urgency was placed in securing the approaches to the port facilities there. Walcheren Island, at the western end of the Beveland Peninsula, overlooked the Scheldt Estuary, and was strongly garrisoned by the German 15th Army who had emplaced strong concrete fortifications and large calibre guns which made it impossible to transit the waterw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations to open up the Scheldt river between Antwerp and the North Sea for shipping, so that Antwerp's port could be used to supply the Allies in north-west Europe. The operations were carried out by the First Canadian Army, with assistance from Polish and British units which had been attached. The action was under the acting command of the First Canadian's Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in the vicinity of the Scheldt river in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands from 2 October to 8 November 1944. The Canadians had been delayed, and the need to clear the Scheldt had not yet been addressed, due to Allied decisions up to that point to focus instead on Arnhem ( Operation Market Garden), Boulogne ( Operation Wellhit), Calais ( Operation Undergo) and Dunkirk. By the time the Canadians were sent into the Battle of the Scheldt, the Wehrmacht defenders had been reinforced. The Germa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British 2nd Army
The British Second Army was a Field Army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army was the main British contribution to the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 and advance across Europe. First World War The Second Army was part of the British Army formed on 26 December 1914, when the British Expeditionary Force was split in two due to becoming too big to control its subordinate formations. The army controlled both III Corps and IV Corps. Second Army spent most of the war positioned around the Ypres salient, but was redeployed to Italy as part of the Italian Expeditionary Force between November 1917 and March 1918. In 1919 it was reconstituted as the British Army of the Rhine.Edmonds (1987) Commanders * 1914–1915 General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien * 1915–1917 General Sir Herbert Plumer * 1917–1918 General Sir Henry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (born Pieter Gerbrandij; 13 April 1885 – 7 September 1961) was a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 3 September 1940 until 25 June 1945. He oversaw the government-in-exile based in London under Queen Wilhelmina during the German occupation of the Netherlands. He was a member of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). Early life Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy was born on 13 April 1885 in the village of Goënga, near Sneek, in the province of Friesland. He was an ethnic Frisian, and his name is styled in the traditional Frisian way: first name ("Pieter"), patronymic ("Sjoerds", meaning "son of Sjoerd"), family name (Gerbrandy). Incidentally, the name Gerbrandy is also a patronymic since his great-great-grandfather Jouke Gerbrens (1769–1840) took "Gerbrandy" as a family name on 30 December 1811. Pieter applied to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in June 1904 and majored in law. He would obtain a doctorate in law in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1315. In the 17th century the roadstead of Vlissingen was a main harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is also known as the birthplace of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. Vlissingen is mainly noted for the yards on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy (''Koninklijke Marine'') are built. Geography The municipality of Vlissingen consists of the following places: * City: Vlissingen * Villages: Oost-Souburg, Ritthem, and West-Souburg * Hamlet: Groot-Abeele History The fishermen's hamlet that came into existence at the estuary of the Schelde around AD 620 has grown over its 1,400-year history into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westkapelle (Netherlands)
Westkapelle (zeelandic: ''Weskappel'', locally: ''Wasschappell'') is a small city in the municipality of Veere on the island Walcheren, in the province Zeeland of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2021, it had a population of 2,632. Westkapelle is on the westernmost tip of Walcheren and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. Westkapelle was a separate municipality from 1816 until 1997, when it was merged with Veere. Second World War On 3 October 1944, the dyke to the south of town was destroyed by British bombersan event still known in Westkapelle simply as "'t Bombardement" ("the Bombardment")to flood the German occupation troops in Walcheren and so make liberation easier. 180 inhabitants were killed in the bombing and the village was all but wiped off the face of the earth by the bombs and the incoming sea. On 1 November 1944, during the Battle of the Scheldt British and Norwegian commandos performed an amphibious landing on the northern and southern edges of the gap made in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Commandos
The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially drawn from within the British Army from soldiers who volunteered for the Special Service Brigade, the Commandos' ranks were eventually filled by members of all branches of the British Armed Forces and a number of foreign volunteers from German-occupied countries. By the end of the war 25,000 men had passed through the Commando course at Commando Basic Training Centre (United Kingdom), Achnacarry. This total includes not only the British volunteers, but volunteers from Sacred Band (World War II), Greece, 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, France, 5th Special Air Service, Belgium, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando, Netherlands, Canada, Norway and Poland. The United States Army Rangers and Marine Raiders, US Marine Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Walcheren Causeway
The Battle of Walcheren Causeway (Operation ''Vitality'') was an engagement of the Battle of the Scheldt between the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, elements of the British 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division and troops of the German 15th Army in 1944. It was the first of many conflicts on and around Walcheren Island during the Scheldt battles. It was also the second major battle fought over a terrain feature known as the Sloedam during the Second World War. Background After the breakout from Normandy by the Allied armies, beginning August 13, 1944, the German forces held on stubbornly to the French and Belgian English Channel ports. This forced the Allies to bring all supplies for their rapidly advancing armies from the artificial harbor they had constructed off the beaches of Normandy, and from Cherbourg. Because of its port capacity Antwerp became the immediate objective of the British 21st Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. While Antwerp fell to Montg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noord-Beveland
Noord-Beveland (; "North Beveland") is a municipality and region in the southwestern Netherlands and a former island, now part of the Walcheren-Zuid-Beveland-Noord-Beveland peninsula. Noord-Beveland is enclosed by the Oosterschelde estuary to the north, and the former straits, now combined lake, of Veerse Meer and Zandkreek to the south. As part of the Delta Works, dams have connected Noord-Beveland to Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland. Population centers There is no village called ''Noord-Beveland'' itself. Topography ''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Noord-Beveland, June 2015'' Ganuenta In Roman times, the town of Ganuenta lay north of where the village of Colijnsplaat is now, a location now covered by the water of the Oosterschelde. It was an important centre for trade. Nearby, there was a temple dedicated to the ancient regional sea goddess Nehalennia. A replica of this temple was officially opened in Colijnsplaat in August 2005.Van der Velde, Koert (August ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach. Location Zeebrugge is located on the coast of the North Sea. Its central location on the Belgian coast, short distance to Great Britain and close vicinity to densely populated industrialised cities make it a crossroads for traffic from all directions. An expressway to Bruges connects Zeebrugge to the European motorway system; one can also get to and from Zeebrugge by train or tram. A 12 km canal links the port to the centre of Bruges. It is Belgium's most important fishing port and the wholesale fish market located there is one of the largest in Europe. Aside from being a passenger terminal with ferries to the United Kingdom, the harbour serves as the central port for Europe's automotive ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zuid-Beveland
Zuid-Beveland (; "South Beveland") is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt. Topography It is a former island, now peninsula, crossed by the Canal through Zuid-Beveland on the west and the Scheldt–Rhine Canal on the east. It consists of four municipalities: * Borsele *Goes * Kapelle * Reimerswaal Goes is Zuid-Beveland's principal urban center. Zuid-Beveland is a former island which was joined (together with Walcheren) to the mainland by a railway embankment in 1903 and to Noord-Beveland by the Delta Works. A shipping canal connecting the Belgian port of Antwerp with the Rhine River traverses Zuid-Beveland. History Third and fourth centuries This was the period during which most of Zeeland appears to have been submerged. The area was and for several centuries would remain almost unpeopled. Middle Ages During the eleventh century the area began to be drained, as little by little polders an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel Ports
The Channel Ports are seaports in southern England and northern France, which allow for short crossings of the English Channel. There is no formal definition, but there is a general understanding of the term. Some ferry companies divide their routes into "short" and "long" crossings. The broadest definition might be from Plymouth east to Kent and from Roscoff to Zeebrugge although a tighter definition would exclude ports west of Newhaven and Dieppe. A historic group of such ports is the Cinque Ports of south-east England, most of which have ceased to be commercial ports. Ports England The ports vary in size and their relative importance has fluctuated during recent history. Dover has established a lead in the cross-Channel ferry routes through its geographic position and development of its facilities and hinterland. This business has been sustained despite competition from the Channel Tunnel. Other minor ports in Kent and Sussex have retained some trade but these tend to be sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Montgomery
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War. Montgomery first saw action in the First World War as a junior officer of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. At Méteren, near the Belgian border at Bailleul, he was shot through the right lung by a sniper, during the First Battle of Ypres. On returning to the Western Front as a general staff officer, he took part in the Battle of Arras in AprilMay 1917. He also took part in the Battle of Passchendaele in late 1917 before finishing the war as chief of staff of the 47th (2nd London) Division. In the inter-war years he commanded the 17th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and, later, the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment before becoming commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade and then general officer comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
