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Inundation Of Walcheren
The Inundation of Walcheren was the intentional, but ''uncontrolled'' military inundation, effected by bombing the sea dikes of the former island of Walcheren in Zeeland by the Allies on and after 3 October 1944 in the context of Operation Infatuate during the Battle of the Scheldt after the Allied Invasion of Normandy during World War II. Though the inundation was justified by military necessity, it is controversial whether it was Proportionality (law)#International humanitarian law, proportional in view of the predictable devastating effects for the civilian population, and the ecology of the island. The fact that the breaches in the sea dikes of the island remained open for a very long time (until October 1945), subjecting the island to the full impact of the twice-daily tides, caused severe damage to agricultural land and infrastructure, and severe hardship for the civilian population. Leaving the breaches open for such a long time, which was unavoidable due to the war-time lac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Liberation Of Belgium
The Liberation of Belgium from German occupation began on 2 September 1944 when Allied forces entered the province of Hainaut and was completed on 4 February 1945 with the liberation of the village of Krewinkel. The liberation came after four years of German-occupied rule. The Belgian government was returned to power on 8 September 1944 after Allied forces had captured Brussels four days earlier. Operation begins The liberation began with 21st Army Group heading eastwards from the breakout from Falaise. Units of XXX Corps, including the 2nd Canadian Division entered Belgium on 2 September. , located on the French border, was the first settlement to be liberated, although also claims that honor. On the evening of 2 September Brian Horrocks briefed officers of the Guards Armoured Division in Douai that their objective for the following day would be Brussels, 110km further east. The announcement was greeted with "delighted astonishment". The Division suffered casualties ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Military Glider
Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops ( glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, e.g., C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, or bombers relegated to secondary activities, e.g., Short Stirling. Most military gliders do not soar, although there were attempts to build military sailplanes as well, such as the DFS 228. Once released from the tow craft near the front, they were to land on any convenient open terrain close to the target, hopefully with as little damage to the cargo and crew as possible, as most landing zones (LZ) were far from ideal. The one-way nature of the missions meant that they were treated as semi-expendable leading to construction from common and inexpensive materials such as wood. Most nations seriously attempted to recover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became Area bombing directive, less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites and the civilian manpower base essential for German war production. In total 501,536 operational sorties were flown, of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command crews also suffered a high casualty rate: 55,573 were killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, a 44.4% death rate. A further 8,403 men were wounded in action, and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Bomber Command stood at the peak of its post-war Armed forces, military power in the 1960s, the V bombers holding the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent and a supplemental force of English Electric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Amphibious Warfare
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted using ship's boats as the primary method of delivering troops to shore. Since the Gallipoli Campaign, specialised watercraft were increasingly designed for landing troops, material and vehicles, including by landing craft and for insertion of commandos, by fast patrol boats, zodiacs (rigid inflatable boats) and from mini-submersibles. The term ''amphibious'' first emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1930s with introduction of vehicles such as Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank or the Landing Vehicle Tracked.The first LVT prototypes were named '' Alligator'' and '' Crocodile'', though neither species is actual amphibian Amphibious warfare includes operations defined by their type, purpose, sca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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] [Amazon] |
Airborne Forces
Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers. The main advantage of airborne forces is their ability to be deployed into combat zones without a land passage, as long as the airspace is accessible. Formations of airborne forces are limited only by the number and size of their transport aircraft; a sizeable force can appear "out of the sky" behind enemy lines in merely hours if not minutes, an action known as ''vertical envelopment''. Airborne forces typically lack enough supplies for prolonged combat and so they are used for establishing an airhead to bring in larger forces before carrying out other combat objectives. Some infantry fighting vehicles have also been modified for paradropping with infantry to provide heavier firepower. Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions protects parachutis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Sloedam
The Sloedam is a 1 km long dam, that was constructed in 1871, as a necessary part of the Roosendaal–Vlissingen railway, Roosendaal-Vlissingen Railway, the so-called ''Zeeuwse Lijn'' (Zealandic Line). Additionally this dam connected the island of Walcheren with Zuid-Beveland across the Sloe waterway, and therefore with the mainland of North Brabant, Brabant. The dam The Sloe was a waterway between the islands of Walcheren near the town of Arnemuiden, and Zuid-Beveland. In 1871 the construction of the dam started. Already on 14 June, the dam could be walked over during low tide. In December 1871 the construction was complete. On the first of March 1872 the railway track over the dam was opened for trains. Not long after, a newly constructed road for regular transport was opened. After World War II, the silted up areas south of the dam were poldered with a second and a third Sloedam. When the Veerse Gat estuary was closed off by the Veerse Gatdam in 1961, the Sloedam lost it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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] [Amazon] |
Guy Simonds
Lieutenant-general (Canada), Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Max Hastings, Sir Max Hastings and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Sir Bernard Montgomery, as one of the best Canadian generals of the war, Simonds, after serving the first few years of the Second World War mainly as a Staff (military), staff officer, commanded the 1st Canadian Division, 1st Canadian Infantry Division with distinction in Allied invasion of Sicily, Sicily and Allied invasion of Italy, Italy from July 1943 until January 1944, and later II Canadian Corps during the Operation Overlord, Battle of Normandy from June−August 1944 and throughout the subsequent Western Front (World War II), campaign in Western Europe from 1944, towards the end of which he temporarily commanded the First Canadian Army during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
First Canadian Army
The First Canadian Army () was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 until May 1945. It was Canada's first and, so far, only field army. The army was formed in early 1942, replacing the existing unnumbered Canadian Corps, as the growing contribution of Canadian forces to serve with the British Army in the United Kingdom necessitated an expansion to two corps. By the end of 1943 Canadian formations consisted of three infantry divisions, two armoured divisions and two independent armoured brigades. The first commander was Lieutenant-General A. G. L. "Andy" McNaughton, who was replaced in 1944 by General H. D. G. "Harry" Crerar. Both had been senior Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery officers in the Canadian Corps in World War I. Allied formations of other nationalities were added to the First Canadian Army to keep it at full st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
