Battle of Walcheren Causeway - Prelude

Prelude

By 31 October 1944, all lands surrounding the Scheldt estuary had been cleared of German control, save for Walcheren Island, whose coastal batteries commanded the approaches to the waterway. These guns made possession of Antwerp irrelevant as far as easing Allied logistical concerns.

The island's dykes had been breached by attacks from RAF Bomber Command: on 3 October at Westkapelle, with severe loss of civilian life; on 7 October at two places, west and east of Vlissingen; and on 11 October at Veere. This flooded the central part of the island, forcing the German defenders onto the high ground around the outside and in the towns.

The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division had marched west down the South Beveland isthmus and by the 31st had cleared all German opposition from South Beveland. Walcheren Island was connected to South Beveland by a narrow causeway, 40 metres wide and 1600 metres long.

Plans to employ assault boats over the Sloe Channel were thwarted by muddy conditions unsuitable for water craft. The Calgary Highlanders had been selected for this amphibious operation, as they had received stormboat training in the UK in anticipation of an opposed water crossing of the Seine River, which invasion planners had predicted would be necessary approximately 90 days after the landings in Normandy. In the event, the ground was too boggy to employ the boats, and the Highlanders were utilized as conventional infantry in a landward attack directly over the causeway.