World War II - Canadians in Belgium Following the initial Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and the breakout from the bridgehead which saw the Canadians engaged in bitter fighting at Caen and Falaise, the First Canadian Army was assigned the task of clearing the coastal areas and opening the channel ports for vital supplies. The First Canadian Army was international in character. It comprised two Corps - the 1st British Corps and the 2nd Canadian Corps. The 2nd Canadian Corps included the 1st Polish Armoured Division as well as three Canadian Divisions - the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. Belgian and Dutch contingents also served in the First Canadian Army in the initial advance, but were transferred to the Second British Army as it began operations in Belgium and moved on to the Netherlands. Under the command of General H.D.G. Crerar, the Canadians, on the left flank of the Allied forces, pushed rapidly eastward through France towards Belgium. The operations of the First Canadian Army during September and October 1944 were widely dispersed and must be described in phases rather than by strict chronology. On September 3, while the 2nd Canadian Corps was crossing the Somme, the 1st British Corps was closing in on Le Havre. (The Second British Army meanwhile was speeding through Brussels on its way to Antwerp, which it seized on September 4 with its installations virtually intact -- a matter of considerable significance for later actions of the Canadian Army.) As they crossed the Somme, the troops of the 1st Polish Armoured Division took the lead of the 2nd Canadian Corps and drove northward. On September 5 they occupied St. Omer, and on the 6th crossed the Franco-Belgian frontier and overcame enemy resistance at Ypres and Passchendaele -- names famous to Canada in an earlier war- on the 7th they reached Roulers. On September 9, and again on the night of the 10th-11th, the Poles attempted to force the Ghent Canal in an area roughly halfway between Bruges and Ghent. Difficult terrain and heavy German opposition forced them to abandon the attempt. They then moved north to relieve the 7th British Armoured Division in the Ghent area. In the meantime the 4th Canadian Armoured Division had resumed its advance early on September 6 and pushed forward, directed on the Belgian towns of Bruges and Eecloo. The division advanced rapidly until September 8 when it came up against the Ghent Canal which connected historic Ghent with the beautiful old city of Bruges. Here the bridges were down and the Germans intended to make full use of the position to hold up the Allied advance to the Scheldt. On the evening of the 8th the attack was launched across the canal near Moerbrugge, some five kilometres south of Bruges. Enemy mortar and heavy fire came down, but a narrow bridgehead was established, and by the 10th a bridge had been built to give support. The bridgehead was gradually extended, but the ground and enemy resistance made further progress slow. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, after having received a tumultuous welcome to Dieppe where it had suffered such appalling casualties in 1942, also began its forward move on September 6. Its task was to clear the whole coastal area east of Calais including the heavily fortified port of Dunkirk. On September 7-8 its 5th Brigade captured Bourbourg, south-west of Dunkirk, and was then tasked to contain the Dunkirk garrison, estimated to be some 10,000 strong, which held a wide perimeter of outposts in the villages of Mardick, Loon-Plage, Spyker, Bergues and Bray Dunes. Loon-Plage was occupied on September 9, simultaneously with nearby Coppenaxfort; Mardick fell on September 17. East of Dunkirk, in the area of the Franco-Belgian border, the 6th Brigade occupied Furnes, Nieuport and La Panne. The Canadians received great assistance from the Belgian White Brigade, the national resistance movement, which furnished exact information concerning the enemy's strength, defences and minefields. West of LaPanne, the brigade cleared the area of Bray Dunes as well as the nearby village of Ghyvelde. The 4th Brigade, on September 9, moved north to occupy the Belgian port of Ostend. This port, although fortified, was not defended by the Germans. However, the harbour installations had been partly demolished and delayed its opening. From September 28, pending the opening of Antwerp, stores and bulk petrol flowed through Ostend to alleviate the maintenance problem. The 4th Bridgade then moved to the southern outskirts of Bruges to assist the 4th Armoured Division in that sector. Fortunately, the enemy withdrew without contesting possession of the city, and the Canadians entered the city to an enthusiastic welcome from the people. The brigade now turned south again to Bergues, a key feature of Dunkirk's outer defences, which was finally occupied on September 16. But the enemy showed no sign of relaxing his grip on Dunkirk and the port could only have been taken by a major attack with heavy support. The decision was, therefore, taken to simply contain the port with minimum forces and to concentrate every available resource upon opening Antwerp. This freed the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division to move to the Scheldt area at once. During the month of September the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division was fully occupied in clearing the Channel Ports, Boulogne, and Calais, and eliminating the enemy's cross-channel batteries at Cap Gris Nez. As well, it eliminated the flying-bomb sites from which the enemy had bombarded south-eastern England - London in particular. Unfortunately the Germans had determined to maintain the Channel Ports at all costs. These ports were designated fortresses to be especially protected and defended to the last. LeHavre, Boulogne and Calais were taken only after massive attacks combining air and ground assaults. Further, the port installations were destroyed and although the ports were in Canadian hands they were not yet working. On October 1 the only harbours north of the Seine receiving Allied shipping were Dieppe, its subsidiary Le Tréport, and Ostend. Meanwhile, the British and American troops had pushed forward on a broad front and were engaged in a major struggle in southern Holland. In September, in a bold effort to cut through Holland, the Second British Army mounted an airborne attack to secure river crossings at Grave, Nijmegen ad Arnhem. If successful, this operation would have given the Allies control between the Rhine and Ijsselmeer (Zuiderzee), and would have severed the connection between Holland and Germany. As it fell just short of success, it became apparent that the war would continue through the winter and into the spring of 1945. Canada and the Second World War - Valour Remembered 1939-1945 © Minister of Supply and Services Canada Cat. No. V32-26/1981 ISBN 0-662-51651-6 Used with permission of Veterans' Affairs Canada