Operation Infatuate: The Invasion of Walcheren Island, 1944

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The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

6 ай бұрын

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In November, 1944, a multinational allied force accomplished a little-remembered, but vital amphibious operation intended to secure the use of the port of Antwerp. Facing a determined and dug in enemy, ground, naval and air forces conducted an operation that historian Patrick Delaforce described as “as difficult as Operation Overlord, but in miniature.”
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Пікірлер: 276

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

@jwenting 6 ай бұрын

yes, warthunder deserves to be remembered as an example of how horrendously bad games can be.

@Johnpalmer-eq7yq 6 ай бұрын

Blocked run my fone about trees please

@Johnpalmer-eq7yq 6 ай бұрын

Rei back packs. Helps prepare see if they'll fund you. You need. A fishing shop. Add. Seriously. Army knows so do you. Not all x box. Hook it up x box.

@flashwashington2735 6 ай бұрын

Be careful about diluting your brand with a game that may be remembered for History Guy's decline. Because a game is not equal to history. Let alone history that deserves to be remembered. A history of war veteran's sacrifices.

@majcorbin 5 ай бұрын

7 DAVENPORT IOWA DAD JOKE of the day [Q] what are,the most mentally deranged, INSECTS,known to mankind? [A] why, the LUNAR-TICK's,of course

@mrdasboot45 6 ай бұрын

Just to give a bit more information on the battle of Walcheren , it was a 3 pronged attack. One attack from the east over the Sloe causeway, one landing from West Kapelle and one landing from the south at Vlissingen (my hometown). The landing at Uncle beach is just a short walk from my home and it is really sobering to read the names (and the ages) of the fallen on the wall next to the landing site , it is a sagrifice that should not be forgotten. By the way did you know William Golding (lord of the flies) took part in the landings in West Kapelle ,he commanded a landing craft.

@ChiefWaller 6 ай бұрын

As usual the Canadians came through. They have awesome, bad ass soldiers! Great story, I had never heard this one before.

@nickjung7394 6 ай бұрын

My Uncle, Herman Jung, was awarded the Dutch Bronze Cross for what he did during this operation. We only found out about this a few years ago! He was serving with the Commandos but was badged The Essex regiment.

@garywagner2466 6 ай бұрын

My grandfather was wounded in Normandy, evacuated to England, and recovered just in time for the Scheldt campaign. His unit was coming from the other direction, through Bergen-Op-Zoom. Anyone who has been to that part of the world knows how flat and open it is. No cover anywhere. The battle has not been forgotten here. We also know how to pronounce Scheldt and Walcheren. Odd pronunciation is sometimes endearing, Lance, but not in this case. Too many people died there. The Dutch still remember their liberation, and hold no grudges for the flooding, as the Germans had also deliberately flooded parts of the estuary and had seized all of the food. A nasty, miserable campaign.

@saltyroe3179 6 ай бұрын

My dad brought one of the breakwater ships to Normandy and then delivered jeeps to beach head. Later he was in the 1st convoy up the Scheldt. He said that he clearly see our troops trying to take the NAZI positions because they were launching V2 rockets at London, which he saw going up. When in London he close calls with V1s and V2s. Dad said he could not understand how our troops could survive the withering fire in the open on those islands. Thanks to people like your dad, the NAZIs were too busy to shoot at my dad's convoy. Dad said it was very unreal sailing by the battle. BTW just visited my Dad who is now 98. He didn't think he was going to get 20. He got torpedoed and straffed and turned 20 after VE day. His ship was sent to Chile to pick up copper when Japan surrendered. With the war over and so many Liberty ships he was discharged in his home port of NYC. He had chosen to ship out of his home city of NY so he could see his parents when there, a privilege most of the armed forces did not get.

@RetiredSailor60 6 ай бұрын

Good Monday morning History Guy and everyone watching. Have a good week. Take time to say Thank You to a veteran no matter how young or how old they may be. Our military, whether US, Canadian, French, etc deserve our gratitude for their service and sacrifice. OS1(SW/AW) USN Retired...

@baalzeebub4230 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for your service. OSSN CVN-71 1988-89 USN

@Habs2802 6 ай бұрын

My mother was a 6y girl living in Vlissingen when the liberation-attack happened. She still rememberd the flooding and the evacuation. History lives.

@donalddodson7365 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for highlighting this little known action. My brother's father-in-law served in the Canadian Army, but don't know which unit(s). He only spoke of the food: his family had survived the Great Depression by raising and eating turkeys. He grew to hate the taste. The food in training was great. Food on the ship was ok, never turkey. But once they got to Europe, all they had were tins of canned turkey. He said he lost all the weight he gained in training. Like many in his generation, he never spoke about the killing. He always sent me great care packages when I served in the US Army in Vietnam, including real Cuban cigars!

@gordmarsden 6 ай бұрын

my grandfather was there , his commanding officer was obliterated by a shell in front of his eyes . he also came up Juno beach on DDay , a truck driver supplying the fuel for tanks. it was his second war . he was also at Ypres as Brit. in the first world war

@51WCDodge 6 ай бұрын

Having visited Walcheren, it is a large flat area. Visit Westkappele and you stand on the dike , looking down. A number of cassions from the Mullberry harbours were towed up to act as as fillers. Middleburg, is a choclate box. Sitting surrounded by canals, with a large hill , with windmills on the outskirts. Following the war the town was rebuilt as far as possible to the pre war design, however a lot of the archives had been lost. It is still a beautiful, and ironically peaceful palce.

@MrEwoud342 6 ай бұрын

Im from from Middelburg and was wondering what hill you are talking about ?😅

@51WCDodge 6 ай бұрын

@@MrEwoud342 🤣 Well you can't really say 'The hump with the windmills on' can you ? Used to stop there overnight on Sundays waiting for the Vissingen Dartford ferry. Loved the market in the square

@michaeldowson6988 6 ай бұрын

The Canadian Corp in Italy was international as well, with New Zealanders, Poles & Greeks included. The Canadian military hadn't expected the level of casualties in Normandy, so were short of manpower. Add to that the fact Operation Market Garden took up a lot of the available fuel and munitions needed by the forces liberating the coastline. Montgomery tended to demand the Canadian army make frontal assaults instead of manoeuvring and managed to piss off the Canadian Corp commanders on both fronts, and numerous soldiers as well. After all the effort put into making Antwerp accessible, the collection of Allied bigwigs holding a celebration at the harbour for the first ship arriving, excluded the Canadian military completely, so the only Canadian representation was the freight ship that showed up first.

@marklittle8805 6 ай бұрын

Why does this not shock me? As a Canadian, I have seen Hollywood and lot of historians outside of Canada give Canadian efforts a short shrift . Knowing the actual allies ignored the fact the Canadian military shed blood for that harbour opening and no Canadians at the ceremony is just proof it was from day one. Thank you History Guy for bringing this often forgotten slug fest to light

@michaeldowson6988 6 ай бұрын

We don't make war films, just war documentaries that don't get viewed outside of Canada,.@@marklittle8805

@angusclark8330 6 ай бұрын

Ouch. From all I' ve watched and read, and from my Dad's reminiscences, the Canadians were handed the wrong end of every stick and managed to win through - Dieppe excepted, which can't be held against them.

@marklittle8805 6 ай бұрын

@@angusclark8330 Dieppe and Hong Kong were the only two times the Canadian Army was put in a no win situation in WW2. They served solidly in every theatre and we lost a lot who won't come back to win freedoms for us and the lands we helped liberate. I know in the Netherlands Canadian soldiers are honoured every year and that for me as a Canadian makes me feel a lot of pride

@joegordon5117 6 ай бұрын

Many years ago I stayed with friends near Westkapelle, and we cycled along the coast to Vlissingen (still a busy shipping route), and took the ferry over to keep cycling to the Belgian border. More than a few farmer's fields still had pock-marked pill-boxes left over from the war, gouges from bullets and other projectiles quite clear. It was hard to think this landscape of towns, farms and small villages along the coast, so peaceful and civilised, had been a quagmire for a ferocious battle.

@michael5265 6 ай бұрын

From the war of the Spanish succession to WW1 the Scheldt estuary had always held the key to Antwerp. Strange that nobody thought of that, all they thought of was the glory of first to enter Germany and cross the Rhine.

@none941 6 ай бұрын

Montgomery only saw and wanted the glory of capturing Antwerp. Completing the job with the hard job of securing the Scheldt was characteristically not his concern.

@romad357 6 ай бұрын

@@none941 Monty only cared about Monty. Eisenhower should have fired him.

@RebeccaCampbell1969 6 ай бұрын

@@romad357Ike was corrupt as well, not as much... it was political to keep “Monty” and gave his army notoriety

@isidroramos1073 6 ай бұрын

The are was of vital importance long before that. Spain controlled Antwerp from 1585 on, while the Dutch Republic controlled the Scheldt estuary and tried to keep the city blockaded in war and peace, which made for 200 interesting years.

@patbaker399 6 ай бұрын

Also the British were getting suffeceint supplies from the Normandy ports. The Americans were not.

@bobelliott2748 6 ай бұрын

My father fought there with the Canadian Army. He (obviously) survived but didn't like to talk about it.

@sva3897 6 ай бұрын

I live in the city of Antwerp. The river Schelde has a special place in our hearts and history. The sacrifices that were made at the end of WW2 to liberate our city and it's harbor from occupation deserve to be remembered.

@keessturm2804 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for this video. I live in Walcheren. The operation consisted of 2 amphibious operations. One at Flushing (Vlissingen) and the one you described at Westkapelle. The landing at Flushing was successful and far less KIA as the landing in Westkapelle.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

Yes, I focused on the landing more than the battle of the causeway. I might talk about that in a future episode.

@ghowell13 6 ай бұрын

I have well more moreover than a passing knowledge of the European Theater of Conflict (or I thought I did). The older I get, the more I realize the less I know about the Second Word War. As for the commentor above lamenting the perceived cheap shot taken at dear old Monty, rest assured, he did as much to earn his reputation for gloryhounding as Patton did. Operation Market Garden was a disaster. He refused to listen to anyones council on the matter, and that's well documented. Both of them had their shortcomings, as well as their strengths. And the world remembers them both with all the honor they deserve and maybe a tinge of rosiness from the glasses we all seem to wear when looking back.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

The differing opinions of Montgomery and Patton across the pond are interesting. I think that both were brilliant in their way and flawed in their way. In this case, although you can’t solely blame him, I don’t think that Montgomery can avoid fair criticism for not destroying the 15th Army, when he could, as it was his sector of responsibility. It was certainly a blunder, or at least misjudgment, with a price paid in blood.

@ghowell13 6 ай бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I can't disagree with you on any of your arguments you present. My grandfather served under Patton. He had a very neutral opinion of him, as he did Montgomery. He felt both were men. Men that faced incredible decisions. Some they made, some made for them. Men that sometimes believed what was said about them, or that they felt about themselves, for good or ill. But at the end of the day, were men. But men that deserved the utmost respect, always. He didn't speak much of his time in the 100th Infantry Division, but when he did, he was always proud of the men he served with, and under. God bless The Sons Of Bitchè, and all the rest ❤️

@nickjung7394 6 ай бұрын

You really should do a little more research about Montgomery's role in Market Garden, particularly the actions of Gavin and Brereton's disastrous air plan. Model, of course, had a set of the allied battle plans that had been removed from the body of a US officer so he knew exactly where to deploy his forces.

@michaelmanning5379 6 ай бұрын

If the effort and resources spent on Market Garden had, instead, been focused on clearing the Scheldt Estuary, I expect that the war really would have been shortened . . . as opposed to the Hail Mary seizure of a Rhine bridge. Hindsight may be 20:20 but logistical supply wins out over daring-do. Monty appeared to understand this in every previous battle.

@danstotland6386 6 ай бұрын

Montgomery was a selfish, ingrate and pompous clown, who cared only about himself.

@martinsto8190 6 ай бұрын

there doesn't need to be a wwII movie on d-day (the longest day: can not be bested) but the invasion of corsica or walcheren would have a amazing international aspect for a film, when those who participated came from a basket of nations.

@Rhubba 6 ай бұрын

There is a movie about Walcheren. It's a Dutch movie called "The Forgotten Battle". It's alright, not amazing but I'll give it a 7/10.

@culvern 6 ай бұрын

@@Rhubba AND it's on Netflix Featured!!!

@martijnb5887 6 ай бұрын

My grandparents and aunt and uncle lived in Middelburg, the main city in the centre of Walcheren. As young boy a regular walked from one to the other, a few hundred meters through a living neighbourhood and a park. On this short walk we encountered three of four bunkers. The density of fortifications on Walcheren is incredible.

@captiannemo1587 6 ай бұрын

I see the one vehicle that was noted as making it possible the Terrapin, wasn't even shown. It went where the DUKWs were bogged down in mud and where it was impossible to send in the LVTs due to hard roads. An odd vehicle, a unique vehicle. But it was key to staging supplies that made everything else possible.

@-jeff- 6 ай бұрын

It is a battle worthy of remembering for its failures and successes.

@TrickiVicBB71 6 ай бұрын

Great video. I think Indy Neidell will hopefully cover this operation on Saturday in the weekly-by-weekly episode

@Guitfiddlejase 6 ай бұрын

Learn something new about The War every day

@harcovanhees394 6 ай бұрын

There is a very good war movie about this battle that I can recommend: The Forgotten Battle ! Very realistic

@ronalddevine9587 6 ай бұрын

As always, most informative. Nice to see the kitty again 😊

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

Whether he is included is entirely up to him…

@ronalddevine9587 6 ай бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Typical kitty cat! We have two, brother and sister. Very loved and loveable.

@hughbarton5743 6 ай бұрын

As always, a fascinating glimpse of forgotten history. Thank you!! PS: nice cat!!!!!

@philwoodfordjjj8928 6 ай бұрын

My father served with combined operations in landing craft, and was at Walcheren His landing craft hit an underwater obstruction, on a falling tide capsizing he scrambled ashore. The vessle lay on its side and at low tide the Canadian went out on the mud to recover the weapons it carried.

@budje 6 ай бұрын

Being from Walcheren I found this very informative, thanks! We here have surely not forgotten this, there are still German bunkers everywhere

@sandwich5344 6 ай бұрын

The tank at... uh, domburg? I forgot where they placed that ol Sherman, or the Vrijheidsmuseum As a little kid i always went with gramps to maintain these old bunkers "de stichting" had been maintaining all this time. Its certainly a part of my childhood to learn about the local WWII history of our little (no longer) island :) Groetjes uut Vlissingen en Goes!

@budje 6 ай бұрын

@@sandwich5344 the Sherman is at Westkapelle, and was restored/replaced a few years back (I don't know which one, but it looks a lot better now then in the seventies when I was a kid) I'm messaging from Vlissingen (born in Middelburg) 👍

@sandwich5344 6 ай бұрын

@@budje a quick google revealed West-Kapelle indeed, whoopsie my bad I was born in Vlissingen but now i spend my time in and around Bergen op Zoom... Blame it on fokker haha I want to revisit the the dijk again, it's been a decent time since i've last been there too

@stabbrzmcgee825 6 ай бұрын

should be pronounced valkeran (roughly) though, right? That is how Indy over on WWII said it this morning. I wouldn't have known otherwise, of course. I would have said it like Mr HG in this video if asked before this morning.

@janhengst4648 6 ай бұрын

@@stabbrzmcgee825 Pronounciation is more or less as spelled. A proper w, and the ch as in Loch Ness. Valkeran is how a German speaker would say it.

@jwv6985 6 ай бұрын

I pray to the almighty God that we will never have to endure something like this again. God bless these men. 😢

@grumpyboomer61 6 ай бұрын

Considering that by this point in the war, fighting on the Eastern Front had provided ample evidence of just how quickly the Germans could recover from a serious beating and dig in to form a defense, this sort of oversight borders on the absurd.

@somebloke3869 6 ай бұрын

Hindsight. I doubt much intelligence from the Eastern Front was available to the Allies.

@ramirosauce8764 6 ай бұрын

The Allies grossly underestimated the more than tenacious fight the German soldiers would put up, considering the war's end was just 5 months away, they were short of manpower, munitions, rations, winter clothing, etc....Yet they fought like devils to the very end when they ran out of shells and supplies. Respect for the brave.

@louisavondart9178 6 ай бұрын

It's just typical of Montgomery's mismanagement.

@kfandrey9 6 ай бұрын

It is so little remembered because it was lead by the First Canadian Army, not Patton's Third American Army

@fatboyrowing 6 ай бұрын

An American here (son of a U.S. Navy WW2 veteran)… we very much appreciate the substantial contributions of Canadians during WW2.

@fergusmallon1337 6 ай бұрын

I am Canadian and 2 of my unclesfought through Holland. We are very proud of our achievement. I also know that what we did is greatly respected by all those that know or hear about it. It's just that we Canadians , as a whole have a bit ot an inferiority complex and also a much smaller voice than our friends to the south. But it is too bad that our achievement is rather overlooked@@fatboyrowing

@abidingdude13 6 ай бұрын

We're not the country that denies others' contributions. Americans have to remember Patton because otherwise the British historians who dominate every conversation on military history would run free with their narrative that the US did nothing during the war, and in fact hindered the Brits' ability to win the war completely on their own. And why shouldn't we celebrate our own heroes, as your countries celebrate theirs?

@nickjung7394 6 ай бұрын

@@abidingdude13I think you are being a little unkind towards the British. Don't forget that the British Empire joined the war in September 1939, the US joined only after Hitler declared war on the US and the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1941. They were in the war far longer than the US!

@Lightning613 6 ай бұрын

@@abidingdude13Sounds like “Monty’s” fan club would have changed history ? ? ? ? ? and don’t forget, this entire battle HAD to occur because good-‘ole Montgomery was off trying to enshroud himself with glory rather than taking care of the ‘business at hand’ as a stable leader would have.

@Chiller11 6 ай бұрын

Many believe the Scheldt Estuary should have been secured instead of Operation Market/Garden. In September of 1944 the area was relatively lightly defended and its capture would have opened the port of Antwerp and improved the Allies logistical capabilities months earlier.

@user-og1ux8nr3i 6 ай бұрын

The Scheldt was heavily defended.

@John-pn4rt 6 ай бұрын

The allied commanders (principally British) were told repeatedly that capturing Antwerp was pointless unless you controlled both sides of the Scheldt estuary and as happened many times in the war they didn't listen.

@kenoliver8913 6 ай бұрын

But they never dreamt that they would capture Antwerp with the port still intact, so had no plans ready to exploit it. The opportunity to improvise and take the estuary on the march only existed for a day or two, which means it would have required the corps commander to disobey his standing orders and advance north rather than west. Browning - that corps commander - later wrote "A Napoleon or a Caesar would instantly have grasped the importance of the Scheldt as soon as Antwerp fell. But unfortunately XV Corps only had Browning."

@thomascornell7562 6 ай бұрын

I've noticed that when something really deadly had to be done British high command seems to have sent in the Canadians...... with them on the northern border, I'm glad they're friends

@Del_S 6 ай бұрын

The Geneva Convention was based on three sources: Things Canada had done, things we feared Canada would do, and everyone else.

@jethro1963 6 ай бұрын

When THG is talking about Harry Crerar, the General reviewing the troops is Guy Simonds, a Canadian who was born in Britain (came to Canada at age eight) and was one of the few "colonials" who was a favourite of Monty. Arguably Canada's best General, he also had a brother who was a test pilot who was killed in 1937 and a sister who died in a V1 attack in England in 1944.

@jethro1963 6 ай бұрын

Because of pre war planning and later rapid expansion, Canada would have several Generals under the age of 40 during the war. Simonds who headed the Scheldt operation was 41, Bruce Matthews was 35 during the Scheldt operation. Post Scheldt heading to Germany Dan Spry was 31. Bert Hoffmeister, who may have eclipsed Simonds as Canada's best fighting General, commanded the 5th Armored Division at 37 and incredibly Robert Moncel was the youngest general officer in the Canadian Army when promoted to Brigadier on 27 August 1944, at the age of 27. He was the commanding officer of the 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade until the end of the war in 1945.

@markshrimpton3138 6 ай бұрын

For part of the 1980s I lived and worked in Zeeland, of which Walcheren is a constituent part. I knew a fair number of people who’d been alive at the time. Tragically more Dutch were killed in that operation than during the whole of the war before that point. I did pull a wry smile at the description of West Kapelle as a “city”, when even today the village hasn’t a population much above two and a half thousand inhabitants I think.

@NaomiClareNL 6 ай бұрын

Westkapelle actually got city rights in 1223 but was left out of the States of Zeeland when that political body was formed in the late 15th century. It was known as a smalstad, literally small city. It had no more political influence than the surrounding countryside.

@BA-gn3qb 6 ай бұрын

Monte was supposed to take Caen on D-Day, or shortly after. Took Antwerp without the estuary. Then Market Garden. 🤨

@kenoliver8913 6 ай бұрын

Market Garden is a fair cop, but he had good excuses for the other two. The whole purpose of attacking Caen was to draw the panzer divisions onto himself to enable the big American flanking attack on the left - it succeeded fully in that. Whether the city fell was secondary. As for the Scheldt, no-one dreamed that Browning could capture it with the port intact so no one had planned for its exploitation. Possibly a Patton would have ignored his previous orders, risking defeat by if there were intact formations ahead, but Browning did not (he learned the wrong lesson from Market Garden) and by the time word got back to SHAEF and SHAEF could estimate there were no such intact formations it was too late.

@nickjung7394 6 ай бұрын

@@kenoliver8913Tedder, who had never commanded land forces in action was busy undermining everything Montgomery was trying to do. He even supported Brereton's disastrous air plan (over which Montgomery had no control) for Market Garden!

@user-yt8gu1cl5x 6 ай бұрын

On a visit to Walcheren half a century ago with the Dutch sea history society which included the British ambassador we were told that the inundation of the island hindered the allies more than the Germans.

@semigoth299 6 ай бұрын

Just think that my dad could have been a part of that he didn’t talk much about the war, and General Sherman said it best war is hell

@mattgeorge90 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing! ❤

@timmeinschein9007 6 ай бұрын

The Special Services Brigade (aka The Devil's Brigade) was basically a Canadian & US equivalent of the SAS!!! And forerunner of the Green Berets!

@Rhubba 6 ай бұрын

That's a different Special Service Brigade which was a joint US/Canadian unit that fought in Italy and Southern France and had disbanded in December 1944 . The Special Service brigade at Walcheren was a British unit made up of commando troops and were renamed Commando Brigades in December 1944. The Canadians who were part of the Devil's Brigade went on to form part of the 1st Canadian Parachute Brigade and fought in Operation Varsity and the Rhine Crossing.

@marklittle8805 6 ай бұрын

The Devil's Brigade (First Special Service) would have been an asset but they were disbanded by the US by this time . The fact is this was a harder nut to crack than any Normandy Beach and the Canadian Army with help from the RN got the job done.

@timmeinschein9007 6 ай бұрын

@@Rhubba Thanks

@edwinchapple7224 5 ай бұрын

Not to take anything from the Canadians, but this operation included a very significant number of British Infantry and Commandos.

@rickmoore3730 5 ай бұрын

@@edwinchapple7224 As a Canadian I agree . We shouldn't take away the efforts and sacrifice of the other nationalities involved . It still rubs me wrong that after the battle we were not invited to the victory celebration though . That was a snub I won't forget .

@shawnr771 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for the lesson.

@BasicDrumming 6 ай бұрын

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

@yoinkhaha 6 ай бұрын

Unbelievable. Great episode.

@marvwatkins7029 6 ай бұрын

Lance knows that a lot of his fans are military buffs. Take that Mark Felton!

@marcleader5179 5 ай бұрын

As always like your stuff, well done.

@oweng7987 6 ай бұрын

My Grandad was there. Great to hear more about this.

@edwinsalau150 6 ай бұрын

Well put.

@glenmartin2437 6 ай бұрын

I read the comments first, then watched the video. Thank you. I learned a good deal.

@dgris7944 5 ай бұрын

The Calgary Highlanders, my grandfather's unit, were part of the Canadian forces there. It was rare that my grandfather would talk about the war so I don't have any 2nd hand accounts, however a few years ago I watched a Dutch movie about the Walcheren liberation. It's aptly titled "The Forgotten Battle" (Dutch title "De Slag om de Schelde"), and I highly recommend it for WWII history buffs.

@romanbrough 6 ай бұрын

I read about this in War of the Landing Craft. It stated that the coastal guns concentrated on the LCGuns, and that because of this the troop carrying boats were able to reach the shore.

@BruceK10032 5 ай бұрын

Great job! There's a lot here that I did not know.

@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt 6 ай бұрын

thanks

@Wookie120 6 ай бұрын

Interesting video, and a lovely Tuxedo Kitty!

@user-rn9tq5ns7y 6 ай бұрын

Whiskers, and Buttercup are glad, and happy to see the new history Cat. Are rescue kitties from ten lives club. I prefer world of warships.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

The Cat’s name is Pocky. I play WoW as well.

@normmcrae1140 6 ай бұрын

At least one of my Uncles was injured (Gunshot Wound) in the Battle for the Scheldt. Served with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, Part of the Canadian "Highland Division"

@kenlodge3399 6 ай бұрын

Excellent. WTG, a Big Fat WTG! Fascinating slash wanna hear more. Great stuff. Best yet! Great history, great great history. Your finest work. Such a little known fracas with such vital importance. That it was so badly handled is probably why hear so little about it, but was or had to be one of the most important battles of the war. Having the port of Antwerp was paramount, yet have never heard or have heard very little about the struggle to help the allies.

@russwoodward8251 6 ай бұрын

I already play War Thunder. Great promo though. Thank you for the research and great presentation once again. This is a battle of the war I was totally unfamiliar with.

@roy9294 6 ай бұрын

My Uncle fought at Walcheren with the 5th Battalion Highland Light Infantry - in a letter home he describes "I remember I was loaded up with a Bren gun in one hand and a mortar bomb in the other slipping and sliding about in the mud trying to get into the small assault boat whilst all the time a cameraman was busy “shooting us”. He survived the battle before losing his life in March 45 during the allied advance towards the Rhine.

@roy9294 6 ай бұрын

Uncle Don lies at rest in the allied war cemetery at Mook in the Netherlands.

@louisavondart9178 6 ай бұрын

The docks at Antwerpen were captured intact. But not by the British. It was the Belgian resistance and dockworkers who prevented the Germans from doing any damage. Then Montgomery arrived, took all the credit and proceeded to mess things up. As usual. I give his statue in Brussels the middle finger every time I drive past it.

@Ronaldl2350 6 ай бұрын

History cat!

@geordiedog1749 6 ай бұрын

Great video.

@MakeMeThinkAgain 6 ай бұрын

My favorite detail of this operation was the involvement of the British 52nd Infantry Division... which had been in training since 1940 for mountain warfare. That too is representative of WW2.

@chasc301 6 ай бұрын

My Grandfather Fred served with the 52nd Lowland Division. He took part in this battle and was in a Buffalo tracked amphibious craft. Trained for mountain warfare in Scotland for years then his unit converted to airborne glider troops and finally they fought as amphibious troops. He rarely spoke of it and was a gracious, hardworking family man who played the piano and was a talented ballroom dancer. A great man. I miss him still.

@elcastorgrande 6 ай бұрын

The British tried landing on Walcheren in 1796. It was also a failure. The Dutch remember; there are memorials to fallen Allied troops.

@kenoliver8913 6 ай бұрын

The British also tried invading through Flushing (on Walcheren) in both the 16th and 17th Centuries, failing each time. So give Montgomery credit - he was the first to do it successfully.

@fredderf3207 6 ай бұрын

I was just noticing the 'Flying Ace' mug, (goblet, stein?) from the movie, '12 O'Clock High' on the shelf behind you! Pretty cool!

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

A gift from a viewer

@J.A.Smith2397 6 ай бұрын

Morning my guy

@Paladin1873 6 ай бұрын

The World War Two channel covered this critical action a few days ago, but you have gone into much greater detail.

@Guangrui 6 ай бұрын

just in time for the Battle of Bulge

@KevinJRogers 6 ай бұрын

Great episode, THG. One of your best. Cute little pookie-head you got there, too. #Meow

@phodough7201 6 ай бұрын

it's not forgotten in Canada at all, but it's not our thing to thump our chests.

@notahotshot 6 ай бұрын

It's an interesting thing, bragging about being humble.

@BingoFrogstrangler 6 ай бұрын

Now that is funny,”we don’t brag”

@gardnep 6 ай бұрын

Australia learnt the hard way about trusting others in Singapore 1942?? when the British surrendered all their army to the Japanese. As a consequence they never give away command to another country, even the US. I hope Canada has that strategy, lives are too precious to throw away for political gain. Great video of an underreported battle. Thanks.

@gusloader123 6 ай бұрын

Thanks "The History Guy"! Never knew about this battle/campaign/landing. Another Y.T. channel hurriedly mentioned Antwerp and the Dutch island, and Germany trying to hold/keep it, but you went into much more detail that was unknown to me. Every year it seems that I learn something new about WW2. Seaborne assaults/invasions are always difficult (such as in the Pacific) but this is northwestern Europe in November,,,,, too cold to be in cold water and being shot at. 🥶🤕 I wonder if any of the Dutch or Belgian people that watched this video know if the military hardware/equipment was crashed/damaged was left there, or was it retrieved and taken back to the U.K., either for repair or for "scrap metal"? There are some Jap tanks / big guns sitting in some remote places that are buckets of rust in the Pacific/Asian theater.

@janhengst4648 6 ай бұрын

When I was young I heard about a man called De Later, who got rich from buying and selling scrap metals after the war. Most of that would have been the damaged equipment. Also, lots of fully functional GMC and Dodge lorries were left behind, those were used in the following reconstruction of the island.

@gusloader123 6 ай бұрын

@@janhengst4648 Thanks for the information.

@gerhardris 6 ай бұрын

THG you arre a great story teller. Which makes important history come alive. Indeed, Market Garden and the Schelde estuary are the most poignant evidence that Monty on the chesplyer part of good generalship fell far short of what at that level was needed. Monty was way too arrogant. Only focussing how he could shine. Even before DDay Monty should have grasped that this would be a logistic nightmare. Key were the ports with Antwerp the biggest prize. The allies needed more harbours if they wanted both Patton in the south as the Canadian, Brits and US forces to both attack. Opening up Antwerp was the best solution. Thaks to the Belgian resistence the Brits bypassed a blocking force. Monty had he studied the map knowing that outflanking any retreating army would be more inland. And, that remenats of the fleeing German forces would most probably hug the coast. Following that they would end up in a bottle neck against the Scheldt. Monty admitted never to have known the need to open up both sides of the estuary. Nor did Monty nor Ike know about the fact that the Zuider sea was no longer a sea but a lake due to the Afsluit dijk. Neiter did Ike. Monty got his priorities wrong. 1 open up antwerp thus the Schelde both sides. Had Monty not been so breathtackingly arrogant. he should have asked Dutch engineers and miliary. 0:25

@marvwatkins7029 6 ай бұрын

Way to go, "Market Garden" Monte. Brilliant!

@theblackhand6485 6 ай бұрын

Ironically the eyland of Walcheren was flooded again due a huge storm back in 1953. Aid came from all over the world to help the citizens of Zeeland* * (-New Zealand is named after this Dutch Province!).

@janhengst4648 6 ай бұрын

Actually, most of the island remained dry in '53, only the area east of the canal was flooded.

@danieltaylor5231 6 ай бұрын

I wonder, does TheHitoryGuy play War Thunder for fun or for the classified leaks?

@merlinbrother1177 6 ай бұрын

Kudos, you spelled the dutch very well. Not always easy for non native speakers.

@surferdess494 6 ай бұрын

have to say...your maps are a lot better than the ones in the book i read. ))) Graham&Thomas

@1aapmens 6 ай бұрын

It's much fought over ground. Brits landing in 1809 with 39.000 men losing 4000 in a campaign so futile and disastrous that it doesn't even have an Osprey book. Middelburg's centre was burned by German artillery bombardment in may 1940. It only got a bit wet in 1944

@janhengst4648 6 ай бұрын

There is now general consensus there was no German bombardement, more likely French covering their retreat.

@DawnOfTheDead991 6 ай бұрын

Monty as usual screwed up the supplies by not clearing the channels to Antwerp until late fall

@Ice_Karma 6 ай бұрын

Awww, kitty! 😻

@marvwatkins7029 6 ай бұрын

Those flat A's!

@Curmudgeon2 6 ай бұрын

Montgomery was all about the headlines. Ike had to finally give him a DIRECT ORDER to open the way to the sea and thus open the port. The brave Canadians paid the price for Monty's delinquency...and the Royal Navy should have provided several heavy units for continuous shore bombardment. I cannot help but wonder if it had been all British units dying on that island if Monty was have been so loved...

@adventussaxonum448 4 ай бұрын

Plenty of British troops died on Walcheren, if that satisfies you. All of my dad's NCOs, when he joined the Royal Marines Commandos in 1946, had fought there.

@Curmudgeon2 4 ай бұрын

@@adventussaxonum448 Lot of British and Commonwealth troops died. RN did not do nearly enough...it would have helped a lot. When I say RN, am talking about the Admirals, not the sailors. Heavy guns would have been very useful. Canadians primarily tasked with taking it, that does not mean there were not non Canadians there also. Frankly with this and Dieppe, cannot help but wonder if Monty did not like the Canadians.

@bigsarge2085 6 ай бұрын

Learned something new!

@NopiusMaximus 6 ай бұрын

The contribution of Canadian and Australian troops were vital yet little is written about them.

@shooter963 6 ай бұрын

Montgomery was devastatingly over-rated. He deserved none of the confidence the Allies placed in him.

@montieluckett7036 6 ай бұрын

He Didn't deserve the confidence He has in himself.

@01Bouwhuis 6 ай бұрын

@@montieluckett7036as a tactical commander he does, strategic not really.

@kenoliver8913 6 ай бұрын

@@01Bouwhuis Definitely the wrong way around - much better at strategy than tactics. He understood his main duty was to avoid a repeat of France 1940 as so long as he did that the allies must eventually win by weight of numbers. Only when there was no chance of STRATEGIC disaster would he take tactical risks (and he knew it was a risk) like Market Garden. That he was a conceited gloryhound - just like Patton - is beside the point (one of his subordinates described him as "an efficient little shit"). He was undeniably a fine organiser of set piece battles - "amateurs talk tactis, professionals talk logistics" could have been his motto.

@RealSaintB 6 ай бұрын

Don't let the name fool you. West Capella is actually to the North of Acapella.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel 6 ай бұрын

Lol

@Farmer-bh3cg 6 ай бұрын

Montgomery found out, once again, that no army of the time could reconstitute, reform, and reorganize faster that the German Army.

@patrickwentz8413 6 ай бұрын

I see your cat was in search of higher ground during the flooding of Walcheren. Smart Kitty.

@RedcoatsReturn 6 ай бұрын

The mess of war…planning and intelligence is everything to reduce losses..and…nasty surprises 😔 A beautiful cat you have..anyway 😸 A an excellent documentary too 😊 Here’s a medal for being The History Guy 🥇👍👍

@patrickturner2788 5 ай бұрын

"The forgotten battle" is a movie about it on Netflix.

@HM2SGT 6 ай бұрын

17:57 *_Kitty!_* 😻🫶

@RonaldWall-yw3hx 6 ай бұрын

Such a pretty cat.

@davefellhoelter1343 6 ай бұрын

Sorry! Missed your channel for a few weeks, traveling to Cent America, to cheap and cautious to do the Web? CHINA Huawei is running the joint clearly. Had a Gpa in the family pay for his own pilot's Lic, imigrate to Canada joint the RCAF fly and fight in fighters and Transport Combat from 1st days of Battle of Britain through D day. RIP WOODY! He fought for Every Allie and the French! had medals from All!

@KillroyWasHere86 6 ай бұрын

Do a video on Operation Halyard. The rescue of 500 downed airman in Yugoslavia.

@ruairidhmackenzie3 6 ай бұрын

Almost nothing is said about the part played by 52 Scottish Division, a mountain warfare trained division who were relatively new to combat - not being on Normandy etc.