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From D-Day to V-Day

November 1944

November 1, 1944 - D-Day + 148

It was the beginning of November, 1944. For the fifth year now, Europe was paralyzed by war. Hitler’s armies were being pushed from the east and the west, the Third Reich was being decimated by air raids day and night, shortages of fuel as well as basic human needs started to intensify in Germany. But peace still remained illusive. The Allies had plowed through France and penetrated into the Netherlands and Belgium. They went through the Siegfried Line and were slowly making their way into the German interior. By this time they had been through several harsh battles. The victories they had achieved came at a high cost, though. Too many young men from the American armed forces and from the Commonwealth states had perished just to defeat evil. The Anglo-American-Canadian forces were skillfully assisted by the French, Belgians, Poles and many other nations, including the Czechs and the Slovaks. It was in October of 1944 when General Liška’s Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade made its first major battle debut, occupying the perimeter at the French port of Dunkirk in the effort to push the enemy out of the positions it had gained in 1940.

In the course of the day, the First Canadian Army’s II Corps launched a main attack against enemy positions on the island of Walcheren. This was preceded by repeated bombing that had turned Walcheren to ruins. Although Bomber Command’s assaults literally flattened the island, the German garrison managed to hold out and did not capitulate. The fate of the Allied troops here was certainly less than enviable. The assault by the Corps units continued to the dike from South Beveland, where the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division gained a few hundred yards of territory but was soon forced to withdraw. The British 4th Special Service Brigade’s 4th Canadian Commando headed out of Breskens, and was followed by the 155th Brigade. The commando crossed the mouth of the Schelde River and landed on the southern shore near Vlissingen, and practically immediately started to mop up the city. The men from the British 4th Special Service Brigade’s No. 41, 47 and 48 Commands and a Dutch special forces commando boarded ships and embarked from Ostende, soon landing in and occupying Westkapelle. Part of the group rotated to the northeast along the coast, and the others advanced to the southeast towards Vlissingen. In the meantime, reconnaissance had been sent out to North Beveland. Due to poor weather, planned aerial support was cancelled. Warships and support vessels provided artillery support to the troops from as short a distance as possible, but suffered heavy losses caused by the enemy’s response fire and mines. In the course of the day, the British I Corps prepared a coordinated attack aimed at crossing the Mark River.

The British XII Corps from the British Second Army finished mopping up the southern sector at the Meuse River, except a small area between the river and the Afwaterins Canal. The British 53rd Infantry Division from the British VIII Corps advanced along the Wessem Canal on the corps’ right flank in the area southeast of Nederweert. In the course of the day, the British 4th Independent Armoured Brigade was assigned to the 1st Belgian Brigade. The US 7th Armored Division prepared for an offensive that aimed to secure the northwest banks of Canal du Nord.

With support from tanks and self-propelled cannons, the 112th Infantry Regiment from the US First Army’s 28th Infantry Division attacked Vossenack during the day. A battalion of combat engineers were assigned to the armored units slowly making their way along the poorly navigable forest paths in the ravines of the Kall River, to secure crossing the river. The 2nd Engineers worked with the 28th Infantry Division’s 110th Infantry Regiment in the forest south of Germeter while the 3rd Engineers opened up the paths in the forest west of there. In the meantime, the 294th Engineer Combat Battalion removed barricades in the forest along the Weisser Weh Creek. The division sent out reconnaissance patrols inside the forest, and the units from the 4th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) held positions along the Monschau Corridor.

The US Third Army was also preparing for another attack, with Patton himself working with the staff and corps and division commanders to plan out the Third Army’s offensive. The XX Corps’ 5th Infantry Division once again occupied the bridgehead at Arnaville in the zone south of Metz, where it was soon replaced by units from the 95th Infantry Division. The 319th Infantry Regiment under Col Orion L. Davidson from the XII Corps’ 80th Infantry Division mopped up the banks of the river in the Létricourt – Abaucourt zone and later swiftly occupied both cities.

After completely occupying Baccarat, the French 2nd Armored Division from the Seventh Army’s XV Corps advanced to Herbéviller and Mignéville on the Blette River. At the same time, the VI Corps’ 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron helped occupy Bertrichamps. The 100th Infantry Division was assigned to the VI Corps, replacing the 45th Infantry Division on the northern flank. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 15th Infantry Regiment occupied La Bourgonce in the valley northwest of St Dié.

The first day of November was another day at work for the Czechoslovak No. 312 Squadron. As part of Operation Ramrod 1356, it joined the No. 310 and 313 Squadrons (a total of 36 Spitfires) in escorting a formation of 226 four-engine Lancasters and two Mosquitoes from the No. 5 Group and 14 Mosquitoes from the No. 8 Group over Homberg, Germany and the refineries in Meerbeck. As the marking of the targets was scattered, only 159 Lancasters dropped bombs over the target. The flight lasted 2 hours 40 minutes and passed without any major incidents. It was as if the Luftwaffe had run out of steam, so the only significant dangers for the fighter aircraft were heavy flak or sudden engine failure. One Lancaster was lost in the raid.

The No. 311 Squadron RAF operating out of Tain, Scotland as part of Costal Command, was also involved in fighting that day. An incredibly difficult tour of duty awaited them here, and it was made worse by the winter weather. “The squadron, whose mission was to seek out German U-boats in the area from the coast of Norway all the way over to Iceland, sent their crews out on flights that often lasted 14 to 16 hours. They returned from the missions absolutely exhausted. The vast differences between the crew’s condition before their flight and after they returned were incredible,” one of the squadron’s physicians stated in regards to service under the Coastal Command.

The command of the 2nd Tank Battalion, which was responsible for the eastern sector of the Dunkirk perimeter, started work that day on preparations for a new assault against the enemy positions located between Dunkirk and Ghyvelde. This was to be a repeat of the October 28 attack. It seemed as though this time as well, fortune would smile on the Czechoslovaks in the form of a valuable victory over Vice Admiral Frisius. In reality, things would turn out differently.