W. Denis Whitaker (1915–2001)

Although incredibly detailed, this is a surprisingly readable account of the Canadian Army's victory in the Battle of the Scheldt. The Allies needed the port of Antwerp in which to bring in desperately needed supplies to complete the final thrust into Germany. With the capture of Antwerp almost completely in tact and the German Army running for safety in Germany, a malaise took over the troops and some commanders because they thought that the War was over. This permitted the Germans to save a large portion of its forces which was trapped and use them to fortify the islands in the Scheldt which then controlled access to Antwerp. Thousands of lives were lost removing those troops and many of them were Canadian because these were the troops assigned to clear out the enemy. For weeks, the Canadians slogged through flood polders and muddy river banks fighting a fierce enemy trying to save its homeland. They were often criticized for taking so long to do it by people who had no idea of the difficulties these men were facing. W. Denis Whitaker was an officer who served in this battle but he relies on interviews with participants on all sides plus memories, diaries. and other sources. The accounts by soldiers and civilians who lived through the Battle give a good picture of the horror that took place in Belgium and Holland in late 1944.… (mehr)