Why the Liberation of the Netherlands Was a Huge Success

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From 1944 to 1945, there were about 7,600 Canadian servicemen who died while fighting in Holland. Both the Americans and the British attempted to liberate the Netherlands and ended up failing, therefore it was handed over to the Canadian troops. This was indeed one of Canada’s greatest contributions to WWII. Canadian soldiers fought many harsh battles against the Germans and were very successful. During this time the Dutch people were under five years of Nazi control and with as little as 320 calories daily, the Dutch barely avoided starving. As Canadians walked throughout the streets, the Dutch, cheered for them from one town to the next, some even painted “Thank you, Canadians!” on the rooftops of their homes, for the pilots who dropped down food to see. There were some things that Canadians did throughout the liberation of the Netherlands, but overall the liberation of the Netherlands was a huge success, due to the battle of the Scheldt and the Rhineland Campaign. One of the key steps in the liberation and the end of the war was the battle of the Scheldt. After months following D-Day the Allies needed a good seaport so that they could continue to bring in war supplies, which meant that the Canadians had to go to battle. This was indeed the battle of the Scheldt; it was the best waterway for boats to bring in war supplies. The Canadians four main operations to capture it they had to clear the area North of Antwerp and to have an access into South Beveland, they had to wipeout Breskens behind the Leopold Canal, to capture both South Beveland and Walcheren Island. The second Canadian Infantry Division made their way through enemy paratroopers on the eastern end of South Beveland, and on October 16th they had captured Woensdrecht; the entrance to South Beveland. During this, Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery made the opening of the Scheldt estuary the most

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