In contrast to the living
conditions experienced by the battalion in Normandy, accommodation in the Lowlands
represented a significant upgrade with buildings replacing slit trenches. The
men of the 11th RSF were spoiled for a time in Roosendaal when they
were billeted within the houses of grateful Dutch families, in homes that were
largely undamaged. Nevertheless, the enduring memory of the Roosendaal area is
of an unpleasant place to be in late October/early November, as Colonel Douglas
recalled ‘a nasty area because to move you had to stay on top of the dyke , if
you got off the dyke you were in flooded fields, if you stayed on top you got
shot, if you went down in the fields you got drowned or hit by the shells and
mortars. Not very funny’. The Germans may have been in retreat at this point,
heading with all speed for their own national border, but the terrain and the
appalling weather conditions made for a demoralising and dangerous place to be.
Polar Bears in the vicinity of Roosendaal Station at the point of liberation
30th October 1944
(The Polar Bear insignia can be seen on the rear of the jeep in the foreground).
The fighting continued. German
units fought rear-guard actions in the northern suburbs of Roosendaal as the
main body of troops were evacuated north of the River Maas. At this time it was
the responsibility of the battalion to harry the retreat. On 4th November, the battalion
concentrated at Oud Gastel, little over four miles north of Roosendaal and was
placed on one hour’s notice to move. That morning the German units were
hastened in their retreat by harassing fire from medium machine gun fire and
salvos of 4.2 inch mortars. At 1030 hours, the battalion moved off in pursuit
with ‘B’ Company advancing on the right and ‘D’ Company on the left. ‘A’ and
‘C’ Companies remained in reserve. Initially, the advance was untroubled,
however, in time ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies, now joined by ‘C’ Company contacted the
enemy and came under fire.
The ability of the engaged
companies to fight was severely hampered by the necessity to restrict all
movement to the top of the dykes. Such restrictions ruled out any tactical
manoeuvres that may have been to the advantage of the advance. These movement
constraints were understood by the enemy, who despite being in retreat, were in
well dug in positions. With no tank support possible, the Germans allowed the
forward British units to advance close to their positions with the knowledge
that such close proximity would prevent the use of artillery. With ‘B’ Company
pinned down in open ground and with the light failing prearranged positions
were consolidated and here the Companies would stay for the night. The enemy
withdrew from their positions overnight. Patrols were able to cover some
distance the next morning (5th November) to the extent that a ‘D’ Company
patrol contacted the Canadians as they advanced from the north and a patrol of
‘B’ Company reached as far as Dinteloord (approximately 11 miles to the north
west of Roosendaal) where they too encountered the Canadians. By mid-morning the
battalion received the order to return to their billets in Roosendaal, all
except ‘A’ Company who were to hold the position until nightfall before
returning to Roosendaal.
In the actions described above a
total of 12 German fatalities and 37 prisoners were accounted for, for 4
killed, 19 wounded and 1 missing of the battalion.
The atrocious conditions have
been mentioned earlier and one specific mention of the hardship endured by the
men on account of the poor weather is recorded in the Summary of Operations:
‘One platoon was immersed to the
waist in water for about 5 hours and it reflects on the good training and
stamina that only one man had to be evacuated the following day as a result of
this long enforced immersion’.
This paragraph struck a chord
with me since one of my Grandfather’s stories told of how he spent a very
unpleasant night perched on a seat of bricks, immersed to the waist in water in
charge of a yardstick to monitor the rate at which the water was rising.
However, when this anecdote was related to William Douglas, he stated that it
was his belief that this would have been a memory of the time spent in
Haalderen rather than Roosendaal.
The remainder of the month of
November was very mobile for the battalion, but the days were spent in rest
rather than in battle. Early in the month, the battalion was transferred from
Roosendaal, eastwards and at the same time they parted from the 1st
Canadian Army to come under the command of XII Corps of the British Second Army.
The battalion concentrated in the town of Soerendonk. Here they engaged in
training exercises mixed with entertainment activities until 23rd November when
they moved eastwards once more to Blerick on the west bank of the River Maas.
From here the intention was to launch an attack on the town of Venlo,
approximately one mile away on the other side of the river. Preparations were
in hand with recces and patrols carried out in order to establish the nature of
the terrain, the strength of the German units to the Brigade front, anything
that would confer an advantage upon the attackers. In the event, the
responsibility for assaulting Venlo was passed over to 15th (Scottish)
Infantry Division. However, Venlo, with its large airfield which served as a
base for Luftwaffe nightfighters, was not finally liberated until 1st March
1945.
The battalion received orders to
move to an area to the north of Nijmegen where they were to relieve the men of 231st
Brigade of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. Reaching a staging post
in the village of Mill (approximately 20 miles distant to the south of
Nijmegen) the relief of the 1st Dorsets of the 231st
Brigade was effected by 1930 hours on the evening of 29th November.
The 11th Battalion RSF
had taken up positions in a notorious area known simply as ‘The Island’, an
area of marshy polder that lay between the River Waal to the north of Nijmegen
and the Neder Rijn (Lower Rhine) to the south of Arnhem. This tract of land was
unpleasant in the extreme by the time the Polar Bears arrived in late November,
low lying and flooded. The bodies of British and German fighters remained where
they had fallen in the vicious fighting of late September/early October, when
the Allies desperately tried to come to the aid of the 1st British
Airborne Division, then confined to the Oosterbeek Perimeter to the western suburbs
of Arnhem.
‘The Island’ framed by the Waal
and Neder Rijn.
The battalion would be associated
with this dreadful place for a period of over five months.
The Nijmegen Bridge viewed in the direction of Arnhem. The area known as 'The Island' can be seen across the River Waal. The church in Lent can be seen in the centre of the photograph.
The area of operation for the 49th
Division was at the eastern end of the Island. The following chapter describes
the actions of the 7th Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and the 11th
Royal Scots Fusiliers to repulse a determined German effort to reach the
Nijmegen Bridge once again.
This was not the first time that
the village of Haalderen had found itself on the frontline. During the ‘Garden’
operation of ‘Market Garden’ the necessity of holding Nijmegen Bridge and the
bridgehead was well understood. The defence of the bridgehead took the fight
into the villages of Bemmel, Baal and Haalderen. In late September, the 6th
and 7th Battalion of the Green Howards (50th
(Northumbrian) Infantry Division) attempted to take Haalderen which was then
fiercely defended by the soldiers of the 10th SS Panzer Division.
Consequently, the village was badly damaged as the Germans withdrew in the
first week of October.
