Battle of the Kapelsche Veer
| date | November 1944 to January 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | Village of Capelle , Noord-Brabant , Netherlands |
| output | Withdrawal of the Wehrmacht |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| losses | |
|
about 600 |
approx. 600 dead, wounded and prisoners of war |
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In the winter of 1944/45 there was a battle at Kapelsche Veer in Noord-Brabant near the village of Capelle an der Maas between the German Wehrmacht , which had been occupying the Netherlands since the western campaign in May 1940, and advancing Allied troops. The battle lasted about five weeks and took place in extreme winter conditions. Both sides lost a total of around 1200 men (death, missing, wounding, captivity).
The battle is also considered a 'prestige duel' between the two generals involved.
The German paratroopers-General Kurt Student decided the German bridgehead not to evacuate. He wanted to tie as many Allied troops as possible to the Meuse and also wanted inexperienced German troops to be able to gain combat experience there under realistic circumstances.
The British general Sir John Crocker wanted to take the German bridgehead at all costs.
Kapel's Veer
After the Allies had 'cleared' Noord-Brabant from the south of Wehrmacht troops on November 9, 1944, the Meuse was the front line. On the night of November 8th to 9th, German patrols were active on the island 'Kapelsches Veer'. They came from the north from the village of Sprang Capelle and from the south from the village of Dussen. Noticing that the Allies had not permanently occupied the island and the surrounding polders , they formed a bridgehead. They occupied the houses there and began to build defensive positions. The terrain offered them natural cover. In November and until mid-December they sent patrols into the area. As the date of the start of the Battle of the Bulge - December 16 - approached, the Kapelsches Veer bridgehead was included in the planning and the positions were reinforced.
Case brown
Around 125,000 German soldiers were still stationed in the occupied Netherlands at that time.
attack
On the night of January 6th to 7th, 1945, the Poles launched a second attack. The Poles lost 134 men, 34 of them dead. In the meantime it had become clear that the German Ardennes offensive had failed. An elite British unit, the 47th Royal Marine Commando , attacked on the night of January 13-14, also unsuccessfully ("Operation Horse"). They lost 49 men, including 9 Norwegians.
An attack by the 4th Panzer Division was now being prepared. It made a major attack during the daytime on January 26th. 60 men in canoes paddled down the Bergsche Maas to fall in the back of the bridgehead. The fighting lasted five days. In the early morning of January 31, the Germans withdrew from the bridgehead. The Canadians lost 240 men in the operation, 76 of them dead.