Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War


Volume III
The Victory Campaign
The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944-1945

By

Colonel C.P. Stacey,
O.B.E., C.D., A.M., PH.D., LL.D., F.R.S.C.

Director, Historical Section, General Staff

Maps drawn by
Major C.C.J. Bond

Published by Authority of the Minister of National Defence


Roger Duhamel, F.R.S.C., Ottawa, 1966
Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery
©Crown Copyrights reserved


 

NOTE

In the writing of this volume the author has been given full access to relevant official documents in possession of the Department of National Defence; but the inferences drawn and the opinions expressed are those of the author himself, and the Department is in no way responsible for his reading or presentation of the facts as stated.

 


Watercolour: In the Falaise Gap, August 1944
In the Falaise Gap, August 1944
From a watercolour by Major W.A. Ogilvie, M.B.E.
Men of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade moving forward through the debris of the German armies.
In the centre is a 7.62-cm. self-propelled gun. Painted on the spot near Ecorches.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter   Page
I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN FOR INVADING NORTH-WEST EUROPE, 1940-1944  
    The Beginnings of "OVERLORD" 3
    Allied Uncertainty, January-July 1942 5
    The Tactics of Assault 6
    Testing the Assault Tactics 12
    Allied Strategic Planning, 1942-43 13
    The COSSAC Plan for "OVERLORD" 16
    The COSSAC Plan is Altered 21
    Operations Before D Day 22
    The Anglo-American Debate 26
II. THE CANADIAN ARMY AND THE INVASION PROJECT  
    The Strategic Background, 1939-43 28
    First Canadian Army in Transition 30
    The Canadian Assault Force 34
    First Canadian Army Prepares for Action 38
    The Responsibilities of the Canadian Army Commander 41
    The Eve of D Day 46
III. THE GERMANS IN FRANCE, 1940-1944  
    The Creation of the Atlantic Wall 48
    German Forces in the West 50
    The Advent of Rommel 54
    A Confusion of Commands 56
    German Knowledge of Allied Plans 59
    The Final German Preparations 61
    The Defences of the Normandy Coast 64
IV. THE PLAN OF ATTACK  
    The Overall Plan 71
    The Joint Fire Plan 74
    The Role of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division 76
    The Supporting Arms 80
    Operations After "Neptune" 82
    The Administrative Plan 84
    The Decision to Launch the Operation 87
V. THE LANDINGS IN NORMANDY, 6 JUNE 1944  
    Forth to Normandy 90
    Operation "NEPTUNE" Begins 91
    Bombardment by Air and Sea 93
    "Drenching" the Beach Defences 96
    The Assault on the Beaches 100
    The 7th Brigade's Beach Battle 102
    The 8th Brigade Beaches 107
    The Reserve Brigade Lands 110
    The Situation at the End of D Day 113
VI. NORMANDY: THE BRIDGEHEAD BATTLE, 7-30 JUNE 1944  
    The German Reaction to the Assault 121
    The 7th Brigade Advances to the Final Objectives 125
    The 9th Brigade Thrown Back 126
    The 8th Brigade on 7 June 134
    The Attacks on the 7th Brigade: Putot-en-Bessin and Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse 135
    The Failure at Le Mesnil-Patry 139
    General Montgomery Directs the Battle 141
    The Battle of the Odon 147
    The Situation at the End of June 150
VII. NORMANDY: THE BATTLES OF CAEN AND BOURGUEBUS BRIDGE, 1-23 JULY 1944  
    A Momentary Pause 152
    The Capture of Carpiquet 153
    Theatre Strategy and the Use of Heavy Bombers 155
    The Action of the Orne: The Capture of Caen 157
    The Situation After the Capture of Caen 164
    Operation "GOODWOOD": The Battle of Bourguébus Ridge 166
    Operation "ATLANTIC": The Capture of Colombelles and Vaucelles 170
    Canadian Operations on 19 July 173
    The Last Phase of "ATLANTIC" 174
    The Results of "GOODWOOD" and "ATLANTIC" 176
VIII. NORMANDY: THE BREAKOUT BEGINS, 24-31 JULY 1944  
    Montgomery's Orders for the Breakout 181
    Operation "SPRING": The Action of Verrières Ridge-Tilly-la-Campagne 186
    Operation "SPRING": The 3rd Division Front 189
    Operation "SPRING": The 2nd Division Front 190
    The Operation Is Suspended 192
    First Canadian Army in the Line 196
    Strategic Policy in the Last Days of July 198
IX. NORMANDY: THE FALAISE ROAD, 1-12 AUGUST 1944  
    The Situation at 1 August 203
    "Prodding" South of Caen 204
    Planning the Breakout Attack 207
    Air Support for "TOTALIZE" 211
    The Führer Intervenes 213
    The First Phase of "TOTALIZE" 216
    The Second Phase of "TOTALIZE" 222
X. NORMANDY: VICTORY AT FALAISE, 12-23 AUGUST 1944  
    The German Counter-Offensive and the Allied Change of Plan 232
    Preparations for Operation "TRACTABLE" 236
    The Action of the Laison 238
    The Drive Continues Towards Falaise 245
    The Action of Chambois: The Closing of the Gap 256
    The 1st British Corps Drives Eastward 265
    Plans for the Advance to the Seine 266
    The Landings in Southern France 268
XI. NORMANDY: THE BALANCE SHEET  
    The German Losses and Our Own 270
    The Rival Strategies 271
    On the Battlefield in Normandy 274
    The Significance of Normandy 277
XII. THE PURSUIT ACROSS THE SEINE, 23-30 AUGUST 1944  
    Advancing Towards the Seine 279
    The Infantry Reinforcement Problem Appears 284
    The Forêt de la Londe 287
XIII. ANTWERP, ARNHEM AND SOME CONTROVERSIES, AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1944  
    The Pursuit to the Somme and Antwerp 296
    The Germans Lose Antwerp but Save an Army 301
    A Difficulty with the C.in-C. 303
    The Debate on Strategy 306
    The Failure at Arnhem 310
XIV. CLEARING THE COASTAL BELT AND THE PORTS, SEPTEMBER 1944  
    The Advance Beyond the Somme 323
    The Need for the Channel Ports 329
    Operation "ASTONIA": The Capture of Le Havre 331
    Operation "WELLHIT": The Capture of Boulogne 336
    Operation "UNDERGO": The Capture of Calais 344
    The Cape Gris Nez Batteries 352
    Clearing the Flying-Bomb Sites 354
XV. THE BATTLE OF THE SCHELDT, SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 1944
PART I: PLANNING, AND OPERATIONS NORTH OF ANTWERP
 
    The Task is Assigned 358
    Fighting on the Scheldt Outworks 361
    Polish Operations South of the Scheldt 364
    The 2nd Division in the Antwerp Sector 365
    Planning the Scheldt Battle 369
    Special Problems of Planning 373
    The Final Plan for the Scheldt Battle 378
    Fighting North from Antwerp 381
    The Shortage of Trained Infantrymen 385
    Strategic Discussion and a New Priority 386
XVI. THE BATTLE OF THE SCHELDT, SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 1944
PART II: BRESKENS, SOUTH BEVELAND, WALCHEREN
 
    Operation "SWITCHBACK": Clearing the Breskens Pocket 392
    The Attack Across the Leopold Canal 393
    The Assault Across the Braakman 395
    Operation "VITALITY": The Clearing of South Beveland 401
    The Fight for the Walcheren Causeway 403
    Preparations for the Landings on Walcheren 406
    The Final Plan and the Decision to Assault 412
    The Assault on Flushing 414
    The Assault at Westkapelle 416
    The End of the Battle 421
XVII. WINTER ON THE MAAS, 9 NOVEMBER 1944-7 FEBRUARY 1945  
    Strategy for the Next Phase 427
    Schouwen and the Salient 430
    Life in the Line 434
    Planning the Rhineland Offensive 436
    The Ardennes Offensive and Its Results 440
    The Other Side of the Maas 444
    The Fighting at Kapelsche Veer 450
    Planning for "VERITABLE" is Resumed 455
    The Administrative Foundation 457
XVIII. THE BATTLE OF THE RHINELAND
PART I: OPERATION "VERITABLE", 8-21 FEBRUARY 1945
 
    The Battle Area 460
    The Enemy's Defences 461
    The Pattern of "VERITABLE" 464
    First Canadian Army Goes Into Germany 467
    The Siegfried Line is Breached 472
    Through the Materborn Gap 474
    Advance Through the Floods 479
    The 2nd Canadian Corps Enters the Battle 481
    Clearing Moyland Wood 482
    The Goch-Calcar Road 486
    The Capture of Goch 489
XIX. THE BATTLE OF THE RHINELAND
PART II: OPERATION "BLOCKBUSTER", 22 FEBRUARY-10 MARCH 1945
 
    Plans for a Renewed Offensive 491
    On the Enemy Side 494
    "BLOCKBUSTER" Goes In 496
    The Fighting for Üdem 502
    The Battle for the Hochwald 503
    The Enemy's Plight 509
    The Struggle in the Gap 510
    Eastward from the Hochwald 514
    The Capture of Xanten and Veen 516
    The Rhineland Victory 521
XX. THE RHINE CROSSING AND THE 2nd CORPS' ADVANCE TO THE NORTH SEA, 23 MARCH-22 APRIL 1945  
    Strategy: Malta and Yalta 527
    The 1st Corps Arrives from Italy 529
    Planning Operation "PLUNDER" 530
    The Watch on the Rhine 533
    The Crossing of the Rhine: The Assault 534
    The 9th Brigade Beyond the Rhine 537
    Beginning the Northern Drive: Emmerich and Hoch Elten 539
    Strategy for the Final Phase 543
    The Re-Entry of First Canadian Army 545
    Zutphen and Deventer 548
    Operation "CANNONSHOT": Crossing the Ijssel 551
    On to the North Sea 552
    The Advance to the Küsten Canal 557
    Preparations for the Final Phase 562
XXI. THE 1st CORPS IN THE WESTERN NETHERLANDS, 1-22 APRIL 1945  
    Problems of an Assault Across the Neder Rijn 564
    Operation "DESTROYER": Clearing the "Island" 567
    Intermission: Preparations for Further Operations 568
    The Capture of Arnhem and a Revision of Strategy 570
    The Capture of Apeldoorn 573
    Operation "CLEANSER": The Drive to the Ijsselmeer 576
    Operations on the Left Flank, 15-19 April 580
    The Problem of Dutch Relief 581
    The Halt in the Western Netherlands 587
XXII. THE GERMAN SURRENDER  
    Canadian Tasks for the Final Phase 590
    The Fight for Delfzijl 591
    Across the Ems and the Leda 594
    The Advance into the Emden-Wilhelmshaven Peninsula 597
    The Advance to Oldenburg 601
    The Parachute Battalion Marches to Wismar 603
    Help for the Western Netherlands 606
    The German Surrender 609
XXIII. THE AFTERMATH OF THE GERMAN SURRENDER  
    Implementing the Surrender 613
    Morale and Repatriation 615
    The Canadian Army Occupation Force 619
XXIV. ADMINISTRATION, AND SOME SPECIAL ACTIVITIES AND PROBLEMS  
    Canadian Administration in North-West Europe 623
    The 1st and 2nd Echelons 628
    The Reinforcement Organization 630
    The "Canloan" Scheme 633
    Canadians and the European "Resistance" 635
    Civil Affairs and Military Government Officers 638
    No. 1 Canadian Forestry Group 639
CONCLUSION 641

APPENDICES

"A" Directive to G.O.C.-in-C. First Canadian Army 647
"B" Canadian Army Casualties-Normandy-6 June 1944 650
"C" Approximate Casualties of the Allied Armies by Sectors, Normandy, 6 June 1944 651
"D" General Montgomery's Directive to Generals Bradley and Dempsey, 30 June 1944 653
"E" Field-Marshal Montgomery's Directive, 16 October 1944 655
"F" Canadian Army Units in North-West Europe (8 May 1945) 657
"G" Officers Holding Principal Appointments in the Canadian Army in North-West Europe (6 June 1944-8 May 1945) 663
ABBREVIATIONS 669
REFERENCES (Endnotes are included at the end of each chapter) 675
INDEX  
  General 733
  Formations, Units and Corps 758

MAPS
(in Colour)

  Following page
  First Canadian Army: From Normandy to the Scheldt (front end-paper)
1. German Forces and Defences, 716th Infantry Division Area, 6 June 1944 50
2. Canadian Assaults, D Day 114
3. The Battle of Bourguébus Ridge, 18-21 July 1944 178
4. Operation "TOTALIZE", 7-10 August 1944 226
5. The Closing of the Falaise Gap, 17-21 August 1944 266
6. Forêt de la Londe, 26-29 August 1944 290
7. The Capture of Boulogne, 17-22 September 1944 338
8. The Battle of the Scheldt, October-November 1944 424
9. The Ardennes Crisis, 16-26 December 1944 442
10. The Rhineland: Operation "VERITABLE", 8-21 February 1945 490
11. The Rhineland: Operation "BLOCKBUSTER", 22 February-10 March 1945 518
12. Advance on the Northern Front, 23 March-22 April 1945 560
13. The Western Netherlands: 1st Canadian Corps Operations, 2-25 April 1945 584
14. The Final Phase: 2nd Canadian Corps Front, 23 April-5 May 1945 608
  First Canadian Army: From the Maas to the Weser (back end-paper)


SKETCHES
(in Black and White)

  Page
1. Great Britain and Northern France 25
2. German Formations in the West, 23 October 1943 53
3. German Formations in the West, 6 June 1944 65
4. Plan Before D Day 86
5. The Invasion of Normandy, Allied Concentration and Routes, 6 June 1944 92
6. Operations 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, 6 June 1944 118
7. The Canadian Front, 7-8 June 1944 127
8. Le Mesnil-Patry and the Mue Valley, 11 June 1944 139
9. The Normandy Bridgehead, 6-30 June 1944 148
10. The Attack on Carpiquet, 4 July 1944 154
11. The Capture of Caen, 8-9 July 1944 159
12. German Dispositions, British Front, 24-25 July 1944 184
13. Verrières Ridge-Tilly-la-Campagne, 25 July 1944 188
14. Operation "TOTALIZE": The Plan 217
15. Operations 28th Canadian Armoured Regiment, 9 August 1944 226
16. Clair Tizon, 11-14 August 1944 235
17. Operation "TRACTABLE": The Plan 239
18. Operation "TRACTABLE": 14-16 August 1944 242
19. Expansion of the Normandy Bridgehead, July-August 1944 253
20. The Pursuit to the Seine, 22-30 August 1944 281
21. The Seine Crossing, 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions, 26-30 August 1944 293
22. Advance to the Somme and Antwerp, 31 August-4 September 299
23. North-West Europe, The Front, 15 September 1944 311
24. Operation "MARKET-GARDEN", 17-26 September 315
25. The Coastal Belt, 4-12 September 325
26. Le Havre: Operation "ASTONIA", 10-12 September 1944 333
27. The Capture of Calais, 25 September-1 October 1944 347
28. Woensdrecht, 7-16 October 1944 382
29. The Leopold Canal, 6-13 October 394
30. The Walcheren Causeway, 31 October-2 November 1944 403
31. The Capture of Walcheren, 1-8 November 1944 415
32. The Northern Front, 16 October-10 November 1944 423
33. The Nijmegen Island, 2-7 December 1944 432
34. The Threat Across the Maas, Mid-December 1944 445
35. Kapelsche Veer, 26-30 January 1945 451
36. Attack by 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, 8 February 1945 470
37. Moyland Wood and the Goch-Calcar Road,- 16-21 February 1945 485
38. The Hochwald Gap, 27 February-3 March 1945 506
39. Xanten, 8-10 March, 1945 518
40. The Battle of the Rhineland, 8 February-11 March 1945 523
41. Closing to the Rhine, February-March 1945 525
42. Operation "VARSITY", Showing Situation 6th Airborne Division, Afternoon 24 March 1945 536
43. The Battle of the Rhine, The Left Flank, 23 March-1 April 1945 540
44. Zutphen and Deventer, 5-12 April 1945 549
45. The Clearing of Groningen by 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, 13-16 April 1945 555
46. The Küsten Canal Crossing, 17-19 April 1945 560
47. The Advance Across Germany, 23 March-8 May 1945 589
48. The Fight for Delfzijl, 23 April-2 May 1945 592
49. March to Wismar, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, 27 March-2 May 1945 605


ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing Page
In the Falaise Gap, August 1944 (in colour) Frontispiece
Distinguished Observers at Exercise "TROUSERS", 12 April 1944 50
Infantrymen of the Assault Force in Training, 18 April 1944 50
The Royal Canadian Navy Lands the 9th Brigade 51
The Broken Atlantic Wall 51
Courseulles from the Air 82
Congestion on "MIKE RED" Beach, D Day 83
Strongpoint at St. Aubin-sur-Mer 114
The Abbey of Ardenne 114
Divine Service on Board H.M.C.S. Algonquin, 18 June 1944 115
Canadian Convoy in Caen 115
The Steelworks at Colombelles, 19 July 1944 146
Forward to the Laison 146
Clearing Out Snipers in Falaise 147
The Falaise Gap 147
St. Lambert-sur-Dives, August 1944 274a
The Railway "Y" in the Forêt de la Londe 274b
The Forêt de la Londe 275
Lancasters Over Mont Lambert, 17 September 1944 306
German Prisoners at Boulogne 306
A Letter from the C.-in-C. 307
The Leopold Canal, Looking East, 1946 402
Biervliet From the East, 1946 402
Atlantic Wall Defences Near Cadzand 403
The Walcheren Causeway, Looking East Towards South Beveland 403
The Scene of the Westkapelle Landing 434
On the Dyke at Kapelsche Veer, January 1945 434
The Supreme Commander Visits Canadian Troops 435
Commanders in Operation "VERITABLE", February 1945 435
Warfare in the Floods 466
The British Prime Minister Visits First Canadian Army 466
The Algonquins Moving Up 467
The Hochwald Gap 467
"Melville" Bridge Carries Traffic Across the Rhine 498
The Patricias Cross the Ijssel 499
House-Clearing in Groningen, 15 April 1945 499
Conquerors Meet on the Baltic 604
Surrender of the German Twenty-Fifth Army 604
Senior Commanders, First Canadian Army, Hilversum, 20 May 1945 605
Canadians in Berlin 605

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Preface

THIS is the third and final volume of the Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. The first and second volumes, dealing respectively with events in Canada, Britain and the Pacific and with the campaign in Italy, were published in 1955 and 1956. A volume dealing with military policy in the broad sense, and thus extending beyond the Army, is in preparation.

The first stage of the Historical Section's work on the Second World War was represented by the three booklets published in 1945-46 under the series title THE CANADIAN ARMY AT WAR. The second was the Official Historical Summary, The Canadian Army 1939-1945, published in 1948. For a variety of reasons, the completion of the History proper has taken much longer than was at first planned; but it is believed that the period spent in preparation has helped to produce a better book.

A description of the principles which have been followed with respect to documentation, etc., and acknowledgements to some of the many individuals and organizations, in Canada and elsewhere, whose generous assistance has contributed to this book, will be found in the preface to Volume I, Six Years of War. A few remarks should however be made with respect to the present volume in particular. It may be noted that in some quotations from documents abbreviated forms have been written out in full, to assist the reader, without the fact being indicated. In connection with German documents, it should be observed that comparatively few of these have been available to Western military historians on levels below the headquarters of armies. For the final weeks of the campaign, almost no contemporary German documents on any level are to be had. It has therefore frequently been necessary to have recourse to reports of interrogations and to the post-war writings of German officers.

The great campaign dealt with in this volume witnessed innumerable deeds of gallantry, some of which were suitably recognized, while others, as is inevitable in some cases, were not observed or not reported. It is obviously out of the question to speak of all the well-merited awards that were made. A few are mentioned, not necessarily as being the most distinguished, but simply so that they may stand as types and examples of the hundreds of other heroic acts which must necessarily pass unnoticed here.

I am grateful to many members of the Historical Section of the General Staff for help with the volume. Lt.-Col. G. W. L. Nicholson, C.D., the Deputy Director, and Lt.-Col. E. W. Cutbill, D.S.O., E.D., C.D., the Executive Officer, have given constant assistance in too many ways to enumerate. Colonel Nicholson drafted Chapters XVIII and XIX. Lt.-Col. T. M. Hunter, C.D., wrote the first drafts of Chapters I, IV, XIII, XIV, XVII, and XX-XXIII. Captain John Porter drafted Chapter III, and Major D. J. Goodspeed Chapter XXIV. To these

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gentlemen I offer my best thanks. They should not however be held responsible for the content of the chapters as now printed; for all of these have been considerably revised, for better or for worse, by the present writer, who also drafted the remaining eleven chapters. Other members of the Section staff who have made direct and distinguished contributions to the work are Major C. C. J. Bond, under whose most intelligent direction the maps were produced; Mr. A. G. Steiger, whose assistance in connection with the German sources was more valuable than words can express; Captain L. R. Cameron and Captain

A. L. Disher, C.D., who successively gave the author inestimable help as research assistants; Staff-Sergeant R. C. Wellstood, C.D., and Sergeant A. A. Azar, who did sterling work in checking quotations and references and preparing the index; and Q.M.S. (W.O.2) M. R. Lemay, C.D., who typed the successive drafts of this volume with the same cheerful and indefatigable efficiency which is acknowledged in Volume I. Other members of the staff have placed me under less direct but still important obligations. In writing a single volume devoted to so considerable an enterprise as the Canadian Army's participation in the North-West Europe campaign, and addressed primarily to the general reader, it has been necessary to be selective. Much detail which might appropriately have found a place in the story has had to be excluded, and in particular many technical and special matters have had to be left to corps and regimental historians. Those readers who discover errors or important omissions in the volume are asked to communicate with the Director Historical Section, Army Headquarters, Ottawa, Canada.

C. P. Stacey

 

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Transcribed and formatted by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation