Hanno, I just have to say what a great thread this is and thanks for the posts and pics.

My pleasure James, I hope to add more information as research progresses. Having lived in the area the effects of WW2 on that heavily contested area has made a lasting impression on me, even though that was 30-40 years after the war.

It was living in the province of Zeeland that sparked my interest in the Canadian Army overseas during WW2, and thus my eventual involvement in this site: http://www.mapleleafup.net/about.html

Hanno

Hanno.

Was Radar Station W 154 repurposed to another use after the war or demolished? The large structure in the photo looks to have sustained some shell damage, but I have seen worse turned into other things post war.

David

David,

Together with with other bunkers along the sea dyke, it must have been demolished. Most of them were heavily damaged by the Allied bombardments anyway. After the dyke was breached in 1944, a lot of work was put in rebuilding and strengthening them. This was vital for the population to be able to reclaim the land and start farming again. Anything on the dykes was demolished to ensure their integrity. The demolished bunkers were repurposed, e.g. the path which runs from Oranjezon in Oostkapelle up to Westkapelle through the dunes has been paved with their rubble.

Bunkers more inland were most often left undisturbed, here is an example. Check that site for more traces of war on Walcheren, there is still plenty left to be seen today.

A number of caissons from the Normandy Mulberry harbours were brought in to close the breach. The picture below show the breach just after it was closed, in the foreground remains of a Bofors gun and LVT 4 can still be seen. Once the gap was closed, the dyke was built up further.

Hanno

Attachment 100449

Gun/LVT
 

The remains of a gun are not a Bofors (40 mm), but a Polsten (20 mm) gun mounted on the LVT, a quite common modification to give LVsT more firepower.

Michel

Michel,

Of course, that’s a 20-mm Polsten like on the attached picture. Should have looked better.

Do you have access to the 1 LBY war diaries?

Thanks,
Hanno

Attachment 100562

74 years ago
 

On this day, 74 years ago, Today, Allied troops landed on the heavily defended Walcheren island in the Netherlands. The island was attacked on two flanks. Infatuate II was the operation from the west targetting Westkapelle. According to the commandos involved the operation was "so tough, that by comparison the Normandy landing was like a tea party". Despite heavy losses, both military and civilian, the battle for the Scheldt opened up the route to the port of Antwerp.

At Westkapelle the Commandos were supported by the Royal Navy and armoured vehicles from the 79th Armoured Division: 10 Sherman Crabs, 2 Sherman gun tanks, 8 Churchill AVREs and 4 Armoured Bulldozers. The losses in armour, plus 15 Buffaloes due to mines, shelling and bogging down would be high, but the few surviving vehicles proved decisive in driving the enemy from their positions.

The video “Commandos Strike at Walcheren” shows some of these AFVs in action, notably the two Sherman gun tanks and two Churchill AVREs. This rare footage is a testament to the braveness of Allied soldiers and the capabilities of their humble tanks.

Commandos Strike at Walcheren

Attachment 103275

A very good source of film is IWM Catalogue number COI 495 "WALCHEREN LANDINGS [Allocated Title]"

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ect/1060021679

It contains a lot of footage of the AFVs landing on the beach, and in action further north towards Domburg and the Black Hut area.

Some stills attached of one of the two AVREs which continued in operation. It was apparently named "MINOTAUR" and was part of the load of "CHERRY LCT 6".

Attachment 103280 Attachment 103277 Attachment 103278 Attachment 103279

Some more stills from the films listed above:

WOLF OF BADENOCH being resupplied at Domburg:
Attachment 104709

WOLF OF BADENOCH driving trough Domburg:
Attachment 104710 Attachment 104712

Last two stills show Sherman V, T-147976, "COCK O'THE NORTH", Turret No. 11, of "A" Sqn HQ,
and WOLF OF BADENOCH, Turret No.10, in action in the dunes around Domburg:
Attachment 104713 Attachment 104711

Wolf of Badenoch name
 

This may be getting too much off subject - but as an anorak regarding British steam railway locomotives (as well as green vehicles!) the names on several of the tanks in this thread rang a bell with me. They are the names on some of the then latest express engines of the London & North Eastern Railway that served eastern Scotland from Kings Cross, London pre-war. Wolf of Badenoch and Cock O' The North were the latest P2 streamliners (see photo). Dandy Dinmont was a famous engine too. I'll bet the guys serving in the regiment were ex-railway staff - or maybe had just been keen trainspotters like so many Brit kids.

Great photos Hanno !

David

Thanks David!

David, thank you for being a steam locomotive anorak (as well)! Always interesting to learn the source of the names tank crews used on their armoured mounts.

This begs the question: you would not happen to know a possible origin of the name "Argyll Roger", would you?

Thanks,
Hanno

I have to say this is one great thread and study of the action and vehicles. What amazes me is when it was over the tanks where driven to a spot and essentially abandoned.

Hanno: So far no luck with the name Argyll Roger!

Race horse ?

David

Name of No.22 Crab
 

The name of Sherman Crab No.22 appears in a movie of the visit by Queen Wilhelmina:


Attachment 106235


Source: RVD Filmarchiv 5-611 from 06:57


There are some more views of the tanks in Westkapelle town on the same film, starting at 05:51, and at the beginning of this film: Rijksfilmarchiv 5-483


Michel

"Red Tod"
 

Michel,

"Red Tod" - great find! Duly noted, thanks.

Hanno

Trooper 14259421 John Douglas Scott
 

The BBC WW2 People's War website hosts another relevant bit of information.

I have yet to match Trooper Scott to one of the two other Crabs which made it ashore but got swamped later. So it seems John Douglas Scott crewed either Sherman V Crab T-148656 or Sherman V Crab, DANDY DINMONT, Turret No.15.

75 years ago, today
 

Today, 75 years ago, Operation Infatuate II started with the landing at Westkapelle on the island of Walcheren, the Netherlands. The 79th Armoured Division disembarked with armoured support for the Commando units, comprising of two Sherman gun tanks, ten Sherman Crabs, eight Churchill AVREs and four Armoured Dozers. Out of a total of twenty-four armoured vehicles, only seven made it ashore of which three Crabs were disabled by the floods during the first night in Westkapelle.

In the next few days, the remaining two Sherman gun tanks and two Churchill AVREs delivered sterling service to the Commandos to drive the German Army out of the Scheldt area.

The bogged vehicles remained stuck in the mud for many years after the war. After the dyke and town were rebuilt, all bar one Sherman Crab were scrapped. The Sherman V Crab T-148656, which landed from LCT 650 "6 CHERRY", was in the process of being scrapped when it was saved for preservation. By that time its flailing equipment had been torched off.

Today, the Sherman at Westkapelle is in dire need of restoration, and I hope the local authorities do so soon before this battle relic has rusted away beyond repair or recognition, even.


Some pics from the official remembrance today at Westkapelle (source)

"A spontaneous kiss from a bagpipe player for 97-year-old veteran Chuck Harris. 75 years ago, he fought on the beach at Westkapelle with a German submachine gun in his hand. He lost his own weapon when his landing craft sank after a direct hit"
Attachment 109874
© Emile Calon"

Sherman V Crab T-148656 as a backdrop for the remembrance today: "The regimental flags are lowered while the national anthems are played during the commemoration in Westkapelle"
Attachment 109873
© Emile Calon

Amazing, thanks Hanno for posting this and your researching into the action and history of the vehicles involved.

James, my pleasure. I lived in the area during my teenage years where I was immersed in history of the Battle of the Scheldt.

As one can see on the pictures above and by e.g. Jan de Jonge, this period in time still brings back evocative memories.

H.

Attachment 109916

Churchill AVRE T69114/B
 

While my primary quest is to identify the Sherman tanks involved in Infatuate II, I found some more pictures featuring the Churchill tanks.

Attached are pictures of Churchill AVRE T69114/B. It had the marking "A3" on the rear of the turret bin. It was one of two AVREs which took part in the fighting on Walcheren after landing at Westkapelle. It is picture here left abandoned in the Zuidstraat (looking West), Westkapelle, July 1946.

Attachment 110203

This picture shows the Zuidstraat looking East. One the left side of the road Churchill AVRE "A3" can be seen, behind it Sherman V Tank WOLF OF BADENOCH with another Sherman V Crab behind it. On the right side Sherman V Tank COCK O'THE NORTH, with a Sherman V Crab behind it.

Attachment 110206

The other two pictures show it was left close to Sherman V gun tank, T-148829(?) "WOLF OF BADENOCH" Turret No. 10, 1LBY "A" Sqn HQ, carried by LCT "5 BRAMBLE".

Attachment 110204 Attachment 110205

Worthless Weasels
 

During the closure of the gap, an M29C Weasel was dragged out. Many Weasels sank while trying to cross the gap, they were worthless in the fast flowing seawater.

The crawler tractor which is used to drag out the Weasel is most likely each-military as well.

Attachment 110341 Attachment 110342
Source: http://proxy.handle.net/10648/af2323...8-003048976d84


Studying another picture of the gap pictured shortly after the battle show an overturned Weasel trapped under the steel beach defences:

Attachment 110346 Attachment 110345
Source: http://proxy.handle.net/10648/ac053c...8-003048976d84

Misrepresenting history
 

In November 1944, the British disembarked three D7 Armoured Bulldozers. Two of the four Armoured Dozers fell victim to mines ashore, the fourth did not disembark (LCT Damson and its load were too damaged to land at Westkapelle, and diverted to Ostend, Belgium).

Attachment 110350

Only after the war ended in May 1945, enough resources could be freed up to reconstruct the dyke. This was done by combining the techniques of traditional Dutch dyke building and heavy earth moving equipment brought in by the Allies. The dyke at Westkapelle was closed on 12 October.

Attachment 110348

Two of those bulldozers were buried under an emergency dyke. When the final dyke was completed, the two dozers were excavated one year later by the contracting company "Nieuwenhuyse and De Braal". They were kept working till 1965.

This photo shows the excavation of a bulldozer in 1946:
Attachment 110347

In 2016 Henk Meijer donated a Caterpillar D4 to the Liberation Museum in Nieuwdorp. This is presented as possibly one of the dozers which was buried in the dyke.
Obviously, this dozer is not one of those which landed in November 1944.

Attachment 110349

Source: http://westkapelle-beeldbank.nl/, https://www.bevrijdingsmuseumzeeland...caterpillar-d4 and others

Hanno,
Your photo would explain where this weasel came from. This photo is from a collection of photos circulated years ago showing the remains of a weasel being extracted from the sand. Cheers John W.

Attachment 110351

Armoured CAT
 

Hi Hanno,

The armoured Cat in the photo you posted is a D6, not a D7 (the exhaust arrangement is a clue to part them).

Cheers,
Patrice.

Hi Patrice, thanks for pointing that out. I do not know much about Armoured Dozers, can you recommend some good sources?

The picture I attached was taken during the landing on the north end of White Beach. Note it is named "LILIAN".

Of the four Armoured Dozers which embarked, only three disembarked of which two fell victim to mines ashore. Only one Armoured Dozer which reached the town.

The second picture shows one "at work clearing road trough what was apparently once a town". Note this is a different one than "LILIAN".

Other pictures show more than two derelict Armoured Dozers. Would they have brought in more Armoured Dozers after the initial landing on 1 November?

Thanks,
Hanno

Attachment 110431 Attachment 110434

Sources: dezb.nl, 39752 / IWM BU1270, Sgt Crocker 1-3.11.44

I agree. Also, the sidewalls of the "cabin" are straight on a D6, but slightly angled on a D7.

John, do you have any more pics of this weasel and do you know where it went? I wonder if it has any type of mount in the rear for a Vickers K(?)

John, indeed this Weasel was dug up at Westkapelle in 1994. More info to follow later.

Hanno