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…We were then taken out of the front for regrouping; getting
new reinforcements and our whole 4th division was moved back
to the City of Best in Holland. Here we received new
equipment and fresh reinforcements bringing us up to
strength again. After about 2 weeks, we were once again
ready to cross the Rhine River at Wessel, into the fighting
areas of East Holland and Germany. While we were in Best,
Holland, we were in the corridor where the German VIs were
coming over to bomb England and the coastal areas. We saw
our Air Force knock a few out of the sky especially around
Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven in Holland. We traveled in our
transport vehicles for some time and crossed back into
Holland as our first objective was to reach Delden on a
large barge canal and the German Army was using the area of
the Twenthe as a headquarters. |
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Our Canadian forces were not
sure of the resistance we would face crossing in assault
boats as A-C Companies were leading the attack. I was with
‘A’ company and we made our crossing okay, with just small
arms fire, but ‘C’ company apparently hit the center of
their strength and the fighting was very heavy. On "A"
company area we took the bridge area that had been destroyed
and allowed our engineers to get a bailey bridge across for
our tanks. The Canadian troops were of top-notch soldiers
made up of Herman Goering Panzer Grenadiers, Para troopers,
and Marine Battalions. Corporal Challice of "C" company won
the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for almost
single-handedly keeping the counter attacking enemy back
from the Canadian position along the canal with his Bren
gun. Our casualties were 37 of which 11 were killed. We were
successful in sending the enemy into retreat and were not a
factor in this area. One of my friends was killed in the
battle along the Canal and he came from Wharton, Ontario and
is in the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, Holland…
Courtesy the Dominion Institute, Toronto
www.thememoryproject.com |
