Walcheren, Bevland Peninsula -15th May 2015

My Grandfather did not drive the German Army out of Holland single handedly, oh no! Others were there too. As part of our field trip to visit Polar Bear positions we took the time to travel onto the Beveland Peninsula and specifically onto Walcheren Island at its western end.

It was here that Owen’s wife’s uncle, a gentleman by the name of Able Seaman George McAuliffe, participated in a commando landing in November 1944.

Whilst the city and port of Antwerp was retaken by the British 2nd Army in early September, Allied utilisation of the port was prevented by the presence of the German 15th Army on Walcheren and South Beveland. Their heavily fortified positions made the approach of shipping along the Scheldt Estuary impossible.

In early October, Montgomery ordered that priority should be given to the clearing of the Scheldt Estuary in order to render the port of Antwerp usable to Allied shipping since the strains of supply were ever mounting as the advance continued towards Germany. A coordinated plan of action, under the name ‘Operation Infatuate’ was drawn up.

The Operation consisted of two assault landings, one at Flushing in the south by No. 4 Commando and 155 Bridage of the 52nd (Lowland) Division (Operation Infatuate I) and the other at Westkapelle to the west by the 4th Special Service Brigade (Operation Infatuate II). At the same time, the Brigades of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division were to fight their way across the Walcheren causeway to gain access to the Island.

The dykes of Walcheren were deliberately breached by the RAF, thereby flooding the interior of the Island and forcing the defenders onto the dykes, which were heavily fortified. The units of 4th Special Service Brigade were to take control of the shoulders of the blown dyke at Westkapelle from where they would move to the north east and south east. To the south at Flushing, No.4 Commando and 155 Brigade would fight their way to the south west and north to connect with 4th Special Service Brigade and units of 2nd Canadian Division respectively.

Low-level vertical aerial photograph taken shortly after the daylight attack on the sea-wall of Walcheren Island, Holland, showing a breach in the wall at the most westerly tip of the island, caused by the extremely accurate bombing, being widened by the incoming high tide and inundating the village of Westkapelle (top right) © IWM (C 4668).
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205023407

George McAuliffe, landed at Westkapelle, with Royal Naval Beach Commando L of the 4^th Special Service Brigade on 1^st November.

Bitter fighting ensued over the eight days of the operation with heavy casualties recorded among defenders and attackers alike. The toll of casualties was also high among the civilian population of Walcheren. On the morning of 8^th November the Allies took the surrender of some 40,000 German troops on the Island after which the Royal Navy cleared the Scheldt Estuary of mines in order to make the port accessible to Allied shipping by the end of November.

Memorial of commemoration of the Commando landings of 1^st November 1944

George was indeed a courageous man. Prior to the landing at Westkapelle he had been a beachmaster on Juno. Now in his nineties, he lives in Australia.

Travelling across the peninsula I was struck how remote this area is. Vast expanses of the North Sea provide the dominant view in each direction. On the Island, now given over to holiday parks and outdoor pursuit centres, cars seemed to be greatly outnumbered by bikes ridden by healthy, tanned Amazonian matriarchs leading their healthy, tanned tribes over the polder. A stark contrast to we two travelers in all of the above mentioned attributes!

Another thing notable about Westkapelle in particular was the absence of war graves. The local cemetery near to the lighthouse carried the familiar white bordered, green sign of a Commonwealth Wargrave Commission Military Cemetery, however our search only revealed the headstones of civilian casualties of the fighting. A cross check with the CWGC website shows that the graveyard  in the town has the plot of one unknown soldier. The cemetery at Flushing contains the remains of 200 Commonwealth servicemen, but the vast majority of these are airmen. Where do the fallen of the November ’44 fighting lie?

Detail from the monument commemorating the landing of No. 4 Commando on 1st November 1944