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Operation Infatuate
Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special Service Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. Meanwhile, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would force a crossing of the Walcheren Causeway.
The city of Antwerp and its port was captured by British 2nd Army in early September 1944. While 21st Army Group's priority was then Operation Market Garden, no sense of urgency was placed in securing the approaches to the port facilities there. Walcheren Island, at the western end of the Beveland Peninsula, overlooked the Scheldt Estuary, and was strongly garrisoned by the German 15th Army who had emplaced strong concrete fortifications and large calibre guns which made it impossible to transit the waterway into Antwerp. Because of this delay, the remnants of the 15th Army "had been given the time to escape and reinforce the island of Walcheren and the South Beveland Peninsula".
The First Canadian Army was tasked by 21st Army Group to open the Antwerp area but in the meantime had also been detailed by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to capture the Channel ports of Boulogne, Dunkirk and Calais to ease the logistical concerns associated with drawing supplies from the Normandy beaches. The German tenacity in the Channel ports meant that the Allied supply lines would continue to extend the further away the front line advanced. The Channel ports were eventually "masked" when Montgomery changed his priorities to clearing the Scheldt after the failure of Operation Market Garden and the Canadians turned their attention to the Battle of the Scheldt. The First Canadian Army advanced north-west from the bridgehead in Antwerp and, after heavy fighting in early and mid-October, broke out onto the narrow isthmus which connected South Beveland to the mainland.
On 9 October 1944, Montgomery issued a directive directing the Canadian Army to give absolute priority to the clearing of the Scheldt over any other offensive operations. and ten days later the Canadians began their approach to Walcheren Island along the isthmus. To the south of the Scheldt, the Germans had been cornered in Zeebrugge, surrendering the Breskens Pocket on November 2. Both Zuid (South) and Noord-Beveland (North Beveland) had been virtually cleared and the time was right for the assault of Walcheren itself. The Allies' failure to take Middelburg after the Battle of Walcheren Causeway was a disappointing prelude to Operation Infatuate.
A three-pronged assault was planned with British Commandos and part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division landing at Westkapelle in the west of the island and at Flushing in the south. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was to cross by a water channel close to the causeway in the east. However, in the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, it soon became clear that the tidal flats around the water channel were virtually impassable leaving the Canadians with the hazardous option of a direct assault along the well-defended causeway — an exposed stretch 40 yards (37 m) wide and 1,500 yards (1,400 m) long. The Canadians established a bridgehead on the island through which the British 52nd Lowland Division attempted to pass. Against much scepticism and opposition, the plan of Lieutenant General Guy Simonds (acting commander of First Canadian Army) to breach the island's dykes, and flood the interior, was adopted.
The plan to flood the island by bombing breaches in the dykes at Westkapelle, Flushing, and Veere, was controversial from the start. Simonds, the main protagonist, thought that it would enable the attackers to approach the German positions from both the sea and the inundated-inland sides with landing craft. But the Canadian engineer, Brigadier G. Walsh, who advised upon the matter pointed out that the breach would be too shallow for landing craft to pass through. The plan was apparently not discussed with the Dutch government-in-exile. When Prime Minister Gerbrandy got wind of the plan, he immediately demanded to see Winston Churchill, but Churchill denied any knowledge of the plan. When general Dwight D. Eisenhower approved of the bombing on 1 October, he appears not to have consulted the Dutch either. The military advantages of flooding the interior of the island were questionable, as it hampered both attackers and defenders. The German defenses were concentrated on the high-lying rim of the island; apart from the land-facing front in Flushing, there were no defensible positions inside the flooded area. The civilians living on the island were warned with leaflets dropped from planes to leave the area, but they had nowhere to go.
The bombing of Walcheren in October by RAF Bomber Command had deliberately breached the dykes around the island and had turned it into a massive lagoon, rimmed by broken dykes. The Germans had installed defences on the dykes to virtually turn them into a continuous fortification bristling with guns of every calibre. The British Marines placed great reliance on Weasel and Buffalo amphibious landing craft. The Royal Marine Commandos were to seize the shoulders of the gap in the dyke and then to fan out north and south to roll up the remainder of the German defences by linking up with the southern thrust. The RAF provided air support and the 79th Armoured Division provided specialist vehicles in support of the ground assault, naval gunfire support was from warships and landing craft equipped with artillery (e.g. Landing Craft (Gun)) and Land Mattress multiple-rocket launch systems.
No.4 Special Service (Commando) Brigade and Royal Naval Beach Commandos. The Brigade comprised the following units: No.4 Special Service (Commando) Brigade HQ; No.4 (Army) Commando temporarily assigned to 155 Brigade; No.41 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines; No.47 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines; No.48 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines. Elements from 1 RM Engineer Commando; Elements from No.10 (Inter Allied) Commando.
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Operation Infatuate
Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special Service Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. Meanwhile, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would force a crossing of the Walcheren Causeway.
The city of Antwerp and its port was captured by British 2nd Army in early September 1944. While 21st Army Group's priority was then Operation Market Garden, no sense of urgency was placed in securing the approaches to the port facilities there. Walcheren Island, at the western end of the Beveland Peninsula, overlooked the Scheldt Estuary, and was strongly garrisoned by the German 15th Army who had emplaced strong concrete fortifications and large calibre guns which made it impossible to transit the waterway into Antwerp. Because of this delay, the remnants of the 15th Army "had been given the time to escape and reinforce the island of Walcheren and the South Beveland Peninsula".
The First Canadian Army was tasked by 21st Army Group to open the Antwerp area but in the meantime had also been detailed by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to capture the Channel ports of Boulogne, Dunkirk and Calais to ease the logistical concerns associated with drawing supplies from the Normandy beaches. The German tenacity in the Channel ports meant that the Allied supply lines would continue to extend the further away the front line advanced. The Channel ports were eventually "masked" when Montgomery changed his priorities to clearing the Scheldt after the failure of Operation Market Garden and the Canadians turned their attention to the Battle of the Scheldt. The First Canadian Army advanced north-west from the bridgehead in Antwerp and, after heavy fighting in early and mid-October, broke out onto the narrow isthmus which connected South Beveland to the mainland.
On 9 October 1944, Montgomery issued a directive directing the Canadian Army to give absolute priority to the clearing of the Scheldt over any other offensive operations. and ten days later the Canadians began their approach to Walcheren Island along the isthmus. To the south of the Scheldt, the Germans had been cornered in Zeebrugge, surrendering the Breskens Pocket on November 2. Both Zuid (South) and Noord-Beveland (North Beveland) had been virtually cleared and the time was right for the assault of Walcheren itself. The Allies' failure to take Middelburg after the Battle of Walcheren Causeway was a disappointing prelude to Operation Infatuate.
A three-pronged assault was planned with British Commandos and part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division landing at Westkapelle in the west of the island and at Flushing in the south. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was to cross by a water channel close to the causeway in the east. However, in the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, it soon became clear that the tidal flats around the water channel were virtually impassable leaving the Canadians with the hazardous option of a direct assault along the well-defended causeway — an exposed stretch 40 yards (37 m) wide and 1,500 yards (1,400 m) long. The Canadians established a bridgehead on the island through which the British 52nd Lowland Division attempted to pass. Against much scepticism and opposition, the plan of Lieutenant General Guy Simonds (acting commander of First Canadian Army) to breach the island's dykes, and flood the interior, was adopted.
The plan to flood the island by bombing breaches in the dykes at Westkapelle, Flushing, and Veere, was controversial from the start. Simonds, the main protagonist, thought that it would enable the attackers to approach the German positions from both the sea and the inundated-inland sides with landing craft. But the Canadian engineer, Brigadier G. Walsh, who advised upon the matter pointed out that the breach would be too shallow for landing craft to pass through. The plan was apparently not discussed with the Dutch government-in-exile. When Prime Minister Gerbrandy got wind of the plan, he immediately demanded to see Winston Churchill, but Churchill denied any knowledge of the plan. When general Dwight D. Eisenhower approved of the bombing on 1 October, he appears not to have consulted the Dutch either. The military advantages of flooding the interior of the island were questionable, as it hampered both attackers and defenders. The German defenses were concentrated on the high-lying rim of the island; apart from the land-facing front in Flushing, there were no defensible positions inside the flooded area. The civilians living on the island were warned with leaflets dropped from planes to leave the area, but they had nowhere to go.
The bombing of Walcheren in October by RAF Bomber Command had deliberately breached the dykes around the island and had turned it into a massive lagoon, rimmed by broken dykes. The Germans had installed defences on the dykes to virtually turn them into a continuous fortification bristling with guns of every calibre. The British Marines placed great reliance on Weasel and Buffalo amphibious landing craft. The Royal Marine Commandos were to seize the shoulders of the gap in the dyke and then to fan out north and south to roll up the remainder of the German defences by linking up with the southern thrust. The RAF provided air support and the 79th Armoured Division provided specialist vehicles in support of the ground assault, naval gunfire support was from warships and landing craft equipped with artillery (e.g. Landing Craft (Gun)) and Land Mattress multiple-rocket launch systems.
No.4 Special Service (Commando) Brigade and Royal Naval Beach Commandos. The Brigade comprised the following units: No.4 Special Service (Commando) Brigade HQ; No.4 (Army) Commando temporarily assigned to 155 Brigade; No.41 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines; No.47 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines; No.48 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines. Elements from 1 RM Engineer Commando; Elements from No.10 (Inter Allied) Commando.