The Strategic Objective of the Scheldt Crossing (1/10)
The 6th and 7th Cameronians disembarked at Ostend in the first half of October 1944, from where they were moved to a concentration area near Ghent, Belgium.
On 20th October it was announced that the 156th Brigade was to carry out an amphibious operation at South Beveland and later assist other troops to capture the Island of Walcheren.
For some days before, Canadian troops had been advancing West up the narrow isthmus that joined South Beveland to the mainland. Owing to the very narrow front and the marshy ground on either side of the road progress had been slow.
The object of the 156th Brigade’s assault was to speed up operations by drawing enemy troops from the Canadians, and to occupy South Beveland. This, combined with successful assaults on the west of Walcheren, would open up the port of Antwerp to allied shipping – a strategically important matter in view of the then very long overland lines of communication.
The supply problem was a crucial one. The huge Allied forces which were burning a million gallons of petrol a day were still being provisioned, ammunitioned and fuelled by motor transport though Belgium, over broken roads and innumerable temporary bridges. If the Rhine were to be crossed and Germany defeated, the captured port of Antwerp – which had been taken with is magnificent dock facilities virtually intact had to be brought into operation.