British XII Corps The attack began on the night of 22 October – the Royal Artillery of XII Corps opened fire on known German positions in the village of
Nuland. The Corps advanced soon after but the weather conditions were so poor that they prevented air support. Later in the day visibility improved and all calls for immediate air support were met by elements of RAF
2nd Tactical Air Force. With a strong force of medium bombers as well as
Hawker Typhoon and
Supermarine Spitfire fighter-bombers they attacked the Maas/Hollands Diep bridges at
Hedel and
Moerdijk. Their biggest success was the destruction of the 15th Army's headquarters at
Dordrecht; two generals and seventy other staff officers were killed in the attack. The 53rd Welsh, consisting of the 71st and 160th Brigades with the 158th held in reserve near
Oss launched their attack together with the 7th Armoured on Nuland. The 71st Brigade began pushing up from the Vinkel-Papendijk line in the south and the 160th from the Loonschestraat line just west of
Geffen. Nuland was cleared by 0745 with two German battalions on the run, later in the day a counterattack was then held off by machine gun fire. 152nd brigade attacked the woods east of the River Dommel and the area opposite Boxtel and the Schijndel dyke. Against hardened paratroopers the Scots took their objectives albeit with some loss. Eventually they reached Vught and liberated the
Herzogenbusch concentration camp – a
Konzentrationslager (
concentration camp) built on Dutch soil. The position in the town was confusing as 7th Black Watch were subjected to heavy shelling and mortaring from the area of Fort Isabella, but by 1500 this too was also overcome. Meanwhile, 7th Armoured Brigade had been halted by German guns at
Loon op Zand – 153rd Brigade were sent to assist and together they took the town before moving north having reached
Sprang on 30 October. 154th Brigade then exploited north west towards
Raamsdonk which they reached by end of the day. Germans desperate not to be enveloped tried to keep the route open for as long as possible but the British crossed the
Donge after having found an intact bridge and subsequently took the city of
Geertruidenberg without any resistance. After this successful phase there remained two German pockets south of the river Meuse of which the largest was around 's-Hertogenbosch.
Operation Alan – Battle of 's-Hertogenbosch In the early hours of 24 October the 1/5th Battalion,
Welch Regiment and the 1st Battalion,
East Lancashire Regiment began their night march along the railway under
Artificial moonlight. Whilst in 's-Hertogenbosch the 53rd as a whole faced the veteran
712th Wehrmacht Infantry Division. By 04:30 am the leading elements had reached the north eastern edge of the city. They moved with speed against the Germans near the bridges over the small canals surrounding the city. They bridged the network of waterways many of which were still intact which intersected the old citadel. The troops moved in with Churchill tanks in support, in addition C Squadron of
79th Armoured Division with
Churchill Crocodile flame thrower tanks were also in support. As a result, the
44th Lowland Infantry Brigade leading the way into Tilburg encountered only minor resistance and liberated the town on 27 October after the Germans withdrew. The 15th Division and later the 6th Guards Tank Brigade were ordered to rejoin VIII Corps with all haste on the eastern flank, where a German counterattack had started on the Peel marshes just south-east of Eindhoven.
I British corps The I British Corps launched their attack on October 23, in order to drive from the
South Beveland isthmus towards the important
Hollands Diep waterway, hoping to squeeze the Germans into a smaller space. The Corps comprised the
4th Canadian Division,
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade,
1st Polish Armoured Division, the newly arrived US
104th Timberwolves infantry division and the British
49th Polar Bears Division supported by the
34th Armoured Brigade. Operation Suitcase commenced at the same time as
Pheasant and the Belgian town of
Esschen was taken two days later by the
Algonquin Regiment. The advance was hindered by mines and road blocks but actual combat had been scarce so far. This changed dramatically after crossing the Dutch border when
Wouwse Plantage was taken after some casualties. On October 26, 1944, Field Marshal von Rundstedt ordered to in recently liberated Bergen op Zoom, 29 October 1944
Bergen-op-Zoom On October 27 the Canadian 4th Armoured Division were on the outskirts of
Bergen-op-Zoom, two infantry companies from the
Lincoln and Welland Regiment had moved ahead on tanks to a roadway just south and east of the city. The Canadian advance towards Bergen op Zoom forced Von Rundstedt to redeploy the elite
6th Parachute Regiment, which until then had been blocking the 2nd Canadian Division on the
Beveland isthmus to the defence of Bergen op Zoom. After some confusion as to who was defending the city, mostly the
711th Infantry Division, the
South Alberta Regiment and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment advanced on the town the following day and entered the Grote Market. They then liberated most of the city, in which they reported "the reception of the people of Bergen Op Zoom was as enthusiastic and wild as any yet seen". After taking Breda the Polish 1st Armoured Division along with the Canadian
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade drove through towards
Moerdijk and its all-important bridges across the Hollands Diep. They soon reached the line of the Mark river and its Canal. There followed hard fighting, but they were unable to establish a bridgehead across the canal before the end of October. With the Canadian Army already in Esschen and Bergen Op Zoom, the formations of the German LXVII Corps in the area of
Korteven were in danger of encirclement and Otto Sponheimer's LXVII corps had already been authorised to start a general withdrawal. The Canadians were thus able to take Korteven and the area between it and the sea were cleared which meant that they were able to turn their attention to the Scheldt battle in which they conducted
Operation Vitality. There the Division was divided into two battle-groups to start the liberation of Breda. A southern battle-group advanced from Gilze through Bavel to the southern outskirts of Breda. The northern battle-group attacked via the villages of
Molenschot and
Dorst, to later encircle the northern outskirts of the town.
US drive to Mark River The American
104th Timberwolves infantry division had travelled from its staging points in France to join 21st Army group and help assist in the operations there. They were positioned on the left flank of the British 49th Infantry Division and the Polish 1st Armoured Division on the right. They joined in offensive operations from October 20. On 30 October, after five days of continuous operations the division had pushed about fifteen miles to within sight of the Mark river and had liberated the town of
Zundert after a hard fight. Soon after they had gained control of the Breda-Roosendaal Road, and had overrun the Vaart Canal defenses. The fight for this point took most of the remaining afternoon, but the bridge was seized before it could be completely demolished, and Clarkeforce pushed across it and into Wuustwezel from the rear taking about 500 prisoners during the day. The tanks then pushed on in the darkness until halted by German made roadblocks. of the 4th
Hallamshires, 49th Division, guarding the road to Willemstad The division then advanced towards
Nieuwmoer. The spearhead of Clarkeforce was halted by German held woods, until it was pounded by artillery and the advance continued. On 22 October, Esschen, was reached and taken after clearing scattered German pockets.
56th Infantry Brigade prepared the way by advancing from Esschen to
Nispen during the night of 25/26 October. Clarkeforce made for its push towards Brembosch the following morning against strong German rearguards. Many obstacles were encountered as well as German resistance – a massive anti-tank ditch had to be crossed which they achieved. Soon the 49th Division would face a German counterattack. The 49th felt the full brunt of
245th Infantry Division's counterattack which had been instructed to retake
Wuestwezel with the support of their parent LXVII Corps’ artillery. The counterattack fell heavily on the
Leicestershire Regiment when two platoons of its A Company were overrun – and six German tanks then broke through. Nevertheless, the rest of the Leicester's fought back and accompanied by Churchill tanks, four German tanks were knocked out. The Germans continued the attack until the evening when they had withdrawn having suffered heavy losses in men as well as having thirteen tanks and Self propelled guns knocked out in total. By 31 October, Clarkeforce had moved through Wouw and reached
Roosendaal. A requested set-piece artillery and armour supported assault on the city was ordered as they were expecting heavy resistance. A patrol under cover of a mist discovered however that the Germans had in fact pulled out, which saved the city and its populace from further destruction.
German withdrawal Von Rundstedt realised the danger of this offensive and intended to divert British manpower. On 26 October two German mechanized divisions struck Dempsey's thinly held positions in the Peel marches much further South. With the complete failure of the counterattack von Rundstedt, in an effort to ensure that the 15th Army was not destroyed, authorised a withdrawal to the line of the Mark river and the Mark Canal. This ended the offensive altogether. ==Aftermath==