7. A lesser-known but nevertheless vital aspect of the Allied victory in World War Two, the Battle of the Scheldt saw the Belgium port of Antwerp captured to permit easier supply for the advancing armies in France
Following the Allied breakout at the Battle of Normandy in June 1944, as troops progressed deeper inland into France they increasingly drew further away from the initial coastal supply lines, becoming one of the most prominent factors slowing the otherwise rapid Allied advance. Unable to easily capture ports, with the German Army given explicit instructions to hold strategically located harbors to preclude their use for resupply by the Allies, plans to open up shipping routes to Antwerp, Belgium, were drawn up to address the troublesome situation. Initiated on October 2, 1944, the First Canadian Army sought to assault the by-then well-established Wehrmacht lines.
Impeded by the Germans, who had flooded the Scheldt Estuary to slow the Allied attack, the Canadians were forced to engage in several amphibious assaults across the impassable land. Becoming one of the most costly engagements for Canada throughout the entire conflict, more than six thousand – representing in excess of one in ten – were killed, with the same number again wounded. Lasting until November 8, the resolute German garrison was eventually forced to surrender after six weeks of constant fighting, opening up the city’s harbors to the Allies. Re-energizing the Allied advance, in recognition of the importance of the Allied success, Antwerp became the most targeted city by V-2 rockets and a primary objective for the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge.