the field artillery journal - Fort Sill - U.S. Army

In the area of Oostburg (1) Canadian units drove northward toward the
beachhead held by their comrades. Other units crossed the Leopold Canal,
took Watervliet and pushed on (2). Still others from the east (3) moved
northwest around an inlet and joined beachhead contingents southeast of
Biervliet. Although the Canadians' hold on the isthmus linking Zuid
Beveland to the mainland was firm, the Germans forced them out of
Woensdrecht
(4) in strong counterattacks.
Schelde. Terneuzen (on the Schelde) was reached and occupied on 21 Sep.
At the same time operations started north from Antwerp. By the 24th the
line here was substantially the canal from Antwerp to Turnhour. The
Canadians commenced to cross the canal next day.
This movement was slow. It took a week to reach Brecht, only 2 miles
beyond the canal. On 3 Oct the line was 8 miles from Antwerp, which
relieved that city of constant shelling. On the 4th Cappellen was taken. The
right of this movement was able to take advantage of the Dutch salient,
now well established, and to advance. The mission was to reach Tilburg,
and troops were within 3 miles of that city on the 5th.
On 6 Oct. a strong
attack was launched against the enemy's beachhead
south
of the Schelde and west of the Grand Canal. Very strong resistance
was met. At the same time the attack east of Antwerp was continued.
The Leopold Canal is about 140 feet wide. The surrounding country
is flat. Main point of attack was opposite the center of the beachhead
just north of Maldegem. Some 25 flame throwers mounted on tanks
threw sheets of fire across the canal. Infantry then
crossed in assault
boats
on a front of 3½ miles. They were able in places to advance
beyond the canal for 1,000 yards. The enemy was identified as the
64th German Div, estimated as 5,000 strong. The perimeter of the
beachhead was 21 miles and its area 220 square miles. On the 7th
German counterattacks,
and their incessant artillery fire, forced a
partial
withdrawal of the Leopold Canal bridgehead to a depth of but
400 yards.
As the bridgehead made no further progress an amphibious expedition
was sent from Terneuzen down the river, which landed during the night 8/9
Oct southeast of Breskens at the rear of the bridgehead. The landing got on
shore without serious resistance. Immediately afterward it came under
artillery fire from batteries on Walcheren. From this fire there was little
concealment
by day. To protect the troops the enemy batteries were
heavily bombed. As these had been known of in advance, an earlier
attempt to neutralize them had been made. RAF bombers from England
had dropped 6-ton bombs against the dikes around Walcheren. The
Walcheren sea dike is unusually massive, but the air force breached it at
several places. The sea came in and did in fact flood the sites of about 7
enemy batteries.
On 10 Oct the hostile beachhead was attacked from both north and
south. The attack east of Antwerp shifted its main effort to its left and
reached the isthmus to South Beveland, thereby cutting the enemy's only
land line of communications to that area and to Walcheren. Next day the
Germans recaptured it.
Reinforcements were sent to the Canadian beachhead near Breskens. On
the 13th the attack from the south alongside the Grand Canal reached
Biervliet. On the 14th the Canadians enlarged their bridgehead across the
Leopold Canal and retook the entrance to the isthmus to South Beveland.
828 FIELD ARTILLERY JOURNAL—December,
1944
Air photographs showed that 2/3 of Walcheren was under water.
Nevertheless, enemy artillery activity from that island continued.
On 15 Oct continuous all-day attacks by low flying planes were directed
against the German 64th Div, still defending their extensive beachhead.
Allied troops from the south made numerous attacks supported by armor.
Up to include 18 Oct slight advances were made by the Canadians
toward Breskens.
The enemy supported his bridgehead south of the Schelde by water
transportation. His wounded were moved out by Red Cross barges. Due to
the distance of Allied airfields it was impracticable to maintain a 24-hour
air barrage over the Schelde River. Walcheren was supplied by water
transportation from the north side.
THE AACHEN CAMPAIGN
Through Aachen excellent railroads and multi-lane highways extend
from the west, eastward into Germany. To the south is the rough
Ardennes country, with few roads (none first class) and but one minor
railroad in a west-to-east direction until the Moselle valley is reached, 75
air miles away. North from Aachen for another 75 miles there are two
good lines of communication into Germany through Cleves at the north
end, and at Roermond, nearly at the center. To capture either of these
places it would first be necessary to force a crossing of the Mass
(Meuse) River.
The First US Army had crossed the Meuse in its zone of action without
opposition, and its leading elements had arrived at Aachen on 3 Sep. At
that time the enemy occupied it only lightly; part of Aachen was seized.
The enemy reinforced more rapidly than the Americans and recovered all
of the city. In the first half of September, attacks on Aachen having failed,
an operation to turn it from the south had been commenced. When this
account opens this had reached the vicinity of Stolberg, between 8 and 9
miles ESE of Aachen.
On 19 Sep the Americans entered Stolberg. A street and house
battle started. Armor was used in the city and around its flanks. It
advanced 1½ miles beyond the town. The Germans had armor too, and
used it rather lavishly. They counterattacked and infiltrated and had
some flame throwers. It was a bitter all-day fight. A secondary attack
north of Aachen made
minor progress. Next day the Americans were 4
miles east of Stolberg (population about 20,000) but fighting in that
city continued.
On the 21st the American attack on the north was 3 miles from
Geilenkirchen,
a small town 12½ miles from Aachen. The Stolberg street
and house battle continued, while troops entered the Huertgen Forest
southeast of the town. From advanced positions the American artillery
fired upon Dueren, important road and rail junction. The situation
temporarily stabilized, with Stolberg a center of activity until it was finally
cleared of the enemy
on the 24th.
The attempt to capture Aachen by envelopment from the south not
having succeeded the First Army decided to attempt a similar maneuver
from the north. According to German reports of identification of
prisoners, American divisions south of Aachen were shifted to the new
proposed zone of attack. This started on 2 Oct as a rather limited affair
on a front of about 5 miles. The line of departure was east of Heerlen
(just inside the Dutch frontier) and the objective was the line Uebach—
Merkstein—Herzogenrath, three little villages across the frontier. It was
splendid autumn weather. An air preparation was provided by 350
medium bombers followed by over 100 fighter bombers.
Then followed
a 2-hour artillery preparation. At 1130 hrs. the infantry
jumped off. Just
in front of the line of departure and parallel to it was the Wurm River,
which is the boundary between Holland and Germany. Although
designated as a river, it was only waist deep and but 12 feet wide and
was everywhere fordable. A hundred yards beyond was a railroad and
beyond this the enemy's wire, which had been cut by the artillery. Enemy
pillboxes had also been destroyed. It was found that many were
dummies, intended to divert artillery fire from the real targets. With
some difficulty the infantry advanced about a mile.
Next day the enemy forced the American left back across the
frontier. The right made some advance toward Merkstein. During the
night 2/3 Oct the artillery fired a new preparation, and on the
morning of the 3d the Americans recrossed the Wurm River and
stormed on into Uebach. Here there was another hot street and house
battle. This offensive was continued daily and made steady small
gains in very severe fighting. On the 6th Beggendorf, 3 miles