Five Brothers and a War

Canadian Advance to the North

One of the major concerns for those living in Western Holland dealt with the delay in the Allies moving from the south of the country to the west. There were a number of reasons, but from a military viewpoint, it was determined that an Allied attack on the Germans in the west would likely result in the complete destruction of the cities within that area, and the flooding of farmland as the Germans destroyed dykes. British Field Marshal Montgomery, who was often wrong, also thought the Germans would likely abandon the area to retreat back to Germany prior to being cut off by Allied troops in the eastern part of Holland. Further, it was the goal of the Allies to first defeat the Germans, ahead of liberating western Holland, as they felt that the hunger problems could be resolved most quickly by getting the Germans to surrender, rather than to fight so many Wehrmacht soldiers in the west of the country. General Crerar took notes of a meeting with Montgomery: “The C.-in-C. [Commander-in-Chief] went on to say that recent intelligence indicated that the enemy might be intending to evacuate the western Netherlands, a likelihood which would be increased as the 2nd Canadian Corps pursued its northward advance. On the other hand, if the enemy did not withdraw and for high political reasons it became necessary to carry out military operations against him in that part of the country, these would require to be conducted under my direction. Field Marshal Montgomery hoped, and was inclined to believe, however, that such a diversion of forces would not be necessary as it would tend to detract from the effort to achieve the main object ⎯ which was the complete defeat of the main German armies in North West Europe.“

Canadian Army film

the war

(Dutch Narration)

Five Brothers and a War

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