There were many important campaigns fought in Western Europe against the Germans during WWII. Many of them are well known to even the most casual WWII history buff. Operation Cobra, the failed Operation Market Garden, the crossing of the Rhine and others.

However, an operation in November of 1944 was critical to the ability of the Allies to receive supplies to keep their armies operating against the Germans. This was even more so after the losses during the Battle of the Bulge.

It was obvious that the destroyed French ports were not able to be used for resupply and all efforts were still through the Normandy beaches. However, winter storms were not going to be kind to the temporary ports built on the Channel coast. The British had taken Antwerp, which still had a great harbor, but thanks to the Germans maintaining control of the islands on the north coast of the Scheldt, it was impossible to get shipping through as the gauntlet of German long range guns on the island of Walcheren was too much. The island had to be taken.

Convincing Montgomery of the importance of Walcheren was tough going as he was far too focused on Market Garden. Eventually, the proper pressure was put on him and he reluctantly had his staff start planning for taking Walcheren. This was going to be an amphibious operation as there was really no other way to reach it, aside from a long, highly exposed causeway from a neighboring area.

This was going to require the RAF, Royal Marines and others to get this job done. There would be no reserves. Like most of the area in that part of the world, much of what was land was only so thanks to dikes that held the sea at bay. The RAF started a bombing campaign to breach those dikes and soon most of Walcheren, aside from the area around the ring of the island and a few other high places was under sea water.

As the weather in that area was often poor with choppy seas, the invasion fleet had to go when the weather allowed. Several invasion beaches were chosen to land troops and equipment . Wide use of LVTs and 'Weasels' were made as the beaches were soft sand or mud. The landings did reach their objective, but did not go well, thanks to the accuracy of Kriegsmarine gun batteries. The battles were ferocious with many landing ships and craft being sunk or badly damaged. Fighting in the flooded areas also put a strain on soldiers  who had to brave the November weather as well to accomplish their task.

While the eventual end was achieved, it was one of the more difficult campaigns of the war and one which has been rarely written about except as a side note.

Author Richard Brooks does a superlative job of telling both the origins of the campaign as well as the events of the days that followed. A detailed look at the leaders involved, their plans and the men they had available to them are covered. All of this is superbly illustrated by Graham Turner who brings some of the more important events to life. This is further enhanced by period photos and superb maps and diagrams. This is followed by an aftermath section that tells of the importance of the campaign and there is a section on visiting the battlefield today.

I have to say that I found this to be a fascinating read that I can highly recommend to you.

August 2011

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