User:CommissarDoggo/Delfzijl Pocket
The Delfzijl Pocket was the name given to the encirclement of German troops by Allied forces around Delfzijl in the north-eastern Netherlands. Closing the pocket was the responsibility of the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division between 23 April and 2 May 1945, its final action and one of the last Canadian actions of World War II.
Background
Delfzijl
Prior to the war, Delfzijl had a population of approximately 10,000 and is one of the largest secondary ports in the Netherlands. The area surrounding the port was incredibly flat, had little cover and had a network of ditches and canals which made cross-country travel difficult; what made it impossible for vehicles was the frequent flooding which the area experienced, restricting vehicles to the road.[1]
The German garrison consisted of approximately 1,500 soldiers comprised of a battalion of marines (essentially an amalgam of ship's crew and personnel from various bases and depots), various battlegroups and an unknown quantity of maintenance staff. The defences consisted of batteries and concrete emplacements in and around the port, an outer perimeter of wire and trenches which surrounded it and naval guns near Emden and on Borkum which could provide defensive fire.[2]
The road to Delfzijl
The 3rd Canadian Division under the 2nd Canadian Corps relieved elements of the 3rd Polish Armoured Brigade west of the Ems on 21 April. Elements of the 3rd Canadian Division received opposition on their approach to Delfzijl from the south, with the Canadian Scottish Regiment and elements of the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment attempting to capture the village of Wagenborgen on 21 April; the company-sized attack was repulsed by the Germans, though the village was captured the following morning with a larger operation. A counter-attack by the Germans followed, with Canadian forces taking 64 casualties over the course of the attack and subsequent defence of the village.[3]
Following the Liberation of Arnhem, the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division's commander, Major General Bert Hoffmeister, received orders from Brigadier Charles Foulkes to push north to the IJsselmeer. Called Operation Cleanser, Hoffmeister decided that the best route to the IJsselmeer was to; travel along the road through Arnhem to capture the high ground north of the city; push through Otterloo and Barneveld; cross the main road between Apeldoorn and Amersfoort, cutting off the Apeldoorn garrison's escape route; and push further to Nijkerk before pushing north-west to the coast.[4]
The responsibility for this effort fell to the 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade Group under Brigadier Ian Hugh Cumberland, which was supported by the 3rd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery of the 8th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery and specialist units of the 79th Armoured Division, with the 11th Infantry Brigade being held in reserve. The first armoured units crossed the IJssel early on 14 April, with all units reaching their assembly area on the northern outskirts of Arnhem early the following morning. The operation began at 0630 that morning and, despite resistance to include the Battle of Otterlo, achieved their objective of reaching the IJsselmeer on 18 April; the 5th Armoured Regiment (8th Princess Louise's (New Brunswick) Hussars) and The Westminster Regiment (Motor), with the support of the Dutch resistance, pushed to the centre of Putten, while their reconnaissance troops reached the IJsselmeer at 1035. In all, they took 76 casualties and captured 34 German officers and 1,755 enlisted. The 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division handed control of this sector to the 1st Canadian Infantry Division on 19 April in preparation for their transfer to the Delfzijl Pocket,[5] which they began on 21 April, coming under the command of the 2nd Canadian Corps later that day.[6]
The assault on Delfzijl
Tasking and units involved
The 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division relieved the 3rd Canadian Division, which it had all but completed by 24 April. Hoffmeister was given operations control over Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe and north-Overijssel and tasked with mopping up the German defenders that remained west of the Dutch-German border and the Ems estuary, to capture the Frisian Islands, to prevent any attempted landings by German troops along the coast and to form battle groups to garrison his area of responsibility. Eight Netherlands Independent Companies and anti-aircraft guns were provided to Hoffmeister to undertake his responsibilities.[7]
The 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade Group was given responsibility for the area north of Groningen aside from the Delfzijl Pocket and the 11th Infantry Brigade was given responsibility for a large portion of Friesland and north-western Overijssel. Hoffmeister later determined that destroying the pocket was the responsibility of the infantry, thus transferring the 11th Infantry Brigade to the right in preparation for an assault on Delfzijl while the 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade Group shifted to the left.[1]
2nd Canadian Corps coordinated the 3rd Canadian Division's assault on Emden with the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division's assault on Delfzijl, the latter of which assaults fell under command of Brigadier Ian Johnston. In addition to the 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division, Johnston had command of; the Westminster Regiment (Motor); the 9th Armoured Regiment (The British Columbia Dragoons); a squadron, which would later be joined by another, of the New Brunswick Hussars; the 11th Independent Machine Gun Company (The Princess Louise Fusiliers); the 88th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery Royal Canadian Artillery; and the 16th and 82nd Anti-Tank Batteries Royal Canadian Artillery. The division's field artillery also took part, while in the latter stages of the operation the British 31st Anti-Aircraft Brigade and the 3rd Battery of the 1st Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery, which primarily performed counter-battery duties.[8]
The assault
The German defences were pushed steadily from 25 April, with the Westminster Regiment (Motor) and the Irish Regiment of Canada attacking from the south, the 9th Armoured Regiment (The British Columbia Dragoons) from the west and the Perth Regiment from the north-west. The attack from the south found difficulty, with the Westminster Regiment (Motor) coming under heavy artillery fire and having difficulties travelling during the day, though it did achieve its goals (aside from a spit where the Germans had a defensive battery, which was only evacuated by sea following the capture of the port) by the end of April. The Irish Regiment of Canada steadily pushed from Wagenborgen to Oterdum (formerly between Delfzijl and Termunten) and Heveskes south-east-east of Delfzijl, reaching their objectives by 30 April.[8]
By the end of April, Canadian troops had pushed through the outer ring of defences around the Delfzijl Pocket. Canadian troops were relieved by the Cape Breton Highlanders on April 28; they captured the German coastal battery at Nansum, east of Holwierde, the following day, then Uitwierde on 1 May. They then planned the final attack on Delfzijl, aiming to deal with the Delfzijl battery before clearing the eastern side of the city.[9]
B company of the Irish Regiment of Canada, supported by tanks and led by Major LaPrairie, attacked Weiwerd, the main stronghold to the east of Delfzijl on the night of 1–2 May 1945; the attack surprised the Germans, and LaPrairie, knowing that the bridge across the Weiwerdermaar to the north-west was their only avenue of escape, encouraged his troops to push quickly. They did so, capturing the bridge intact, after which they organised defences around it. German forces attempted two counter-attacks against them, though both were prevented and 30 Germans were killed. The 300 German troops that remained trapped within Delfzijl surrendered and, due to the bridge being captured intact, tanks were able to cross it, allowing them to take part in the fighting within Delfzijl itself.[10]
C Company of the Cape Breton Highlanders was able to capture the Delfzijl batter and disable its guns after fierce fighting, with Delfzijl station being captured with the support of the tanks not long after. Several hundred German troops were taken prisoner, with Korvettenkapitän Wolter officially surrendering to the Irish Regiment of Canada in Farmsum the following day, ending the battle for Delfzijl.[9]
LaPrairie was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his conduct at Weiward in July 1945.[10]
References
- Citations
- ^ a b Stacey, p. 592
- ^ Stacey, p. 592–593
- ^ Stacey, p. 561–562
- ^ Stacey, p. 576
- ^ Stacey, p. 576–577 and 579–580
- ^ Stacey, p. 591
- ^ Stacey, p. 591–592
- ^ a b Stacey, p. 563
- ^ a b "A war dance for the attack on Delfzijl". Liberation Route Europe. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
- ^ a b "The last battle on Dutch soil". Liberation Route Europe (in French). Retrieved 16 September 2025.
- Bibliography
- Stacey, Colonel Charles Perry (1960). Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War (PDF). Vol. III. The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe 1944–1945. The Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery Ottawa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2012.