Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special Service Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. Meanwhile, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would force a crossing of the Walcheren Causeway.
Background
The city of Antwerp and its port was captured by British 2nd Army in early September 1944. While 21st Army Group's priority was then Operation Market Garden, no sense of urgency was placed in securing the approaches to the port facilities there. Walcheren Island, at the western end of the Beveland Peninsula, overlooked the Scheldt Estuary, and was strongly garrisoned by the German 15th Army who had emplaced strong concrete fortifications and large calibre guns which made it impossible to transit the waterway into Antwerp. Because of this delay, the remnants of the 15th Army "had been given the time to escape and reinforce the island of Walcheren and the South Beveland Peninsula".
The First Canadian Army was tasked by 21st Army Group to open the Antwerp area but in the meantime had also been detailed by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to capture the Channel ports of Boulogne, Dunkirk and Calais to ease the logistical concerns associated with drawing supplies from the Normandy beaches. The German tenacity in the Channel ports meant that the Allied supply lines would continue to extend the further away the front line advanced. The Channel ports were eventually "masked" when Montgomery changed his priorities to clearing the Scheldt after the failure of Operation Market Garden and the Canadians turned their attention to the Battle of the Scheldt. The First Canadian Army advanced north-west from the bridgehead in Antwerp and, after heavy fighting in early and mid-October, broke out onto the narrow isthmus which connected South Beveland to the mainland.
On 9 October 1944, Montgomery issued a directive directing the Canadian Army to give absolute priority to the clearing of the Scheldt over any other offensive operations. and ten days later the Canadians began their approach to Walcheren Island along the isthmus. To the south of the Scheldt, the Germans had been cornered in Zeebrugge, surrendering the Breskens Pocket on November 2. Both Zuid (South) and Noord-Beveland (North Beveland) had been virtually cleared and the time was right for the assault of Walcheren itself. The Allies' failure to take Middelburg after the Battle of Walcheren Causeway was a disappointing prelude to Operation Infatuate.
Prelude
A three-pronged assault was planned with British Commandos and part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division landing at Westkapelle in the west of the island and at Flushing in the south. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was to cross by a water channel close to the causeway in the east. However, in the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, it soon became clear that the tidal flats around the water channel were virtually impassable leaving the Canadians with the hazardous option of a direct assault along the well-defended causeway — an exposed stretch 40 yards (37 m) wide and 1,500 yards (1,400 m) long. The Canadians established a bridgehead on the island through which the British 52nd Lowland Division attempted to pass. Against much scepticism and opposition, the plan of Lieutenant General Guy Simonds (acting commander of First Canadian Army) to breach the island's dykes, and flood the interior, was adopted.
The plan to flood the island by bombing breaches in the dykes at Westkapelle, Flushing, and Veere, was controversial from the start. Simonds, the main protagonist, thought that it would enable the attackers to approach the German positions from both the sea and the inundated-inland sides with landing craft. But the Canadian engineer, Brigadier G. Walsh, who advised upon the matter pointed out that the breach would be too shallow for landing craft to pass through. The plan was apparently not discussed with the Dutch government-in-exile. When Prime Minister Gerbrandy got wind of the plan, he immediately demanded to see Winston Churchill, but Churchill denied any knowledge of the plan. When general Dwight D. Eisenhower approved of the bombing on 1 October, he appears not to have consulted the Dutch either. The military advantages of flooding the interior of the island were questionable, as it hampered both attackers and defenders. The German defenses were concentrated on the high-lying rim of the island; apart from the land-facing front in Flushing, there were no defensible positions inside the flooded area. The civilians living on the island were warned with leaflets dropped from planes to leave the area, but they had nowhere to go.
The bombing of Walcheren in October by RAF Bomber Command had deliberately breached the dykes around the island and had turned it into a massive lagoon, rimmed by broken dykes. The Germans had installed defences on the dykes to virtually turn them into a continuous fortification bristling with guns of every calibre. The British Marines placed great reliance on Weasel and Buffalo amphibious landing craft. The Royal Marine Commandos were to seize the shoulders of the gap in the dyke and then to fan out north and south to roll up the remainder of the German defences by linking up with the southern thrust. The RAF provided air support and the 79th Armoured Division provided specialist vehicles in support of the ground assault, naval gunfire support was from warships and landing craft equipped with artillery (e.g. Landing Craft (Gun)) and Land Mattress multiple-rocket launch systems.
Commando units
No.4 Special Service (Commando) Brigade and Royal Naval Beach Commandos. The Brigade comprised the following units: No.4 Special Service (Commando) Brigade HQ; No.4 (Army) Commando temporarily assigned to 155 Brigade; No.41 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines; No.47 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines; No.48 Royal Marine Commando, Royal Marines. Elements from 1 RM Engineer Commando; Elements from No.10 (Inter Allied) Commando.
No.4 (Army) Commando consisted of four Troops of British Commandos and two Troops from 1 and 8 (French) troops of No.10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. They were temporarily placed under the command of 155 Brigade to return to 4 Brigade as soon as they could be released. They crossed from Breskens and attacked Flushing.
The three RM Commandos along with the No. 4 (Belgian) and No. 5 (Norwegian) troops of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando, commanded by Peter Laycock, landed at Westkapelle on the western side of the island. In support were 155 Infantry Bde. The Brigade had trained for this assault in the Ostend area during October.
No. 2 Dutch Troop of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando moved to Bruges in Belgium on 20 October 1944 and was incorporated into No. 4 Commando Brigade. They split up and were attached to other fighting units where, in the case of some officers and men, their native language skills helped Allied liaison with the local population, while others fought alongside their comrades in arms.
Landings
After some debate over the sea conditions the operation was planned for 1 November. On the day of the assault a heavy mist over Dutch and Belgian airfields limited RAF support for the actual landings, although the skies over Walcheren itself were clear.
Landing at Flushing (operation Infatuate I)
No. 4 Commando landed at 05:45 hours just east of the Oranjemolen, a windmill on the sea dyke at Flushing, with the main part of the troops arriving ashore at 06:30 hours.
No. 4 Commando, under Lt-Colonel Robert W.P. Dawson DSO, had problems finding a suitable place to get ashore. Dawson sent a small reconnaissance party (known as Keepforce) ashore in two LCVPs. They were followed by Nos. 1 and 2 Troop, who secured the beachhead with minimal casualties and soon began to take prisoners. The main body came in at 06:30 hours, but by this time the Germans were alert and opened heavy fire with machine guns and 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon. Nevertheless, the Commandos got ashore with only a few casualties, although the Landing Craft Assaults (LCAs) containing the heavier equipment, including 3-inch mortars, hit a stake and sank some 20 yards (20 m) offshore. The mortars were salvaged.
The Commandos now fought their way through the German strongpoints. They were somewhat encumbered by the need to leave rearguards against infiltration. However, they were aided when the leading battalion of 155 Infantry Brigade began to land at 08:30 hours despite having lost two LCAs to heavy fire from one of the coastal batteries. German prisoners were pressed into service unloading stores and supplies. A good proportion of the defenders of Walcheren were poor-quality troops and many suffered from stomach complaints. The defence positions were well stocked with food and ammunition. By 16:00 hours the Commandos had reached most of their objectives and they decided to consolidate as the day drew to a close.
Landing at Westkapelle (operation Infatuate II)
Brigadier Leicester's plan for the attack on Westkapelle called for three troops of No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando, under Lt-Colonel E C E Palmer RM, to land on the north shoulder of the gap blown in the dyke with the objective of clearing the area between there and the village of Westkapelle. The remainder of the Commando, along with the two No. 10 (IA) Commando troops, would then come ashore in M29 Weasels and Buffaloes launched from Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs). Their mission would be to clear Westkapelle and then move north. No. 48 (Royal Marine) Commando, under Lt-Colonel J. L. Moulton DSO, would use the same methods, but come ashore south of the gap. From there they would advance on Zoutelande some 3 miles (5 km) to the southeast. Finally No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando, under Lt-Colonel C.F. Phillips, landed behind 48 Commando and drove on to meet up with 4 Commando near Flushing.
The force sailed from Ostend at 03:15 hours and by 09:30 hours they were off the objective. The ships bombarded the German defences with everything at their disposal including the 15-inch (380 mm) guns of HMS Warspite, Erebus and Roberts, the Landing Craft (Gun)s, the rockets of LCT(R)s. The first German fire at 8:09 was followed by the other batteries. Most of the German fire was concentrated on the support landing craft rather than those carrying the troops. Several landing craft were hit including a rocket LCT which received a direct hit, causing it to fire rockets at LCT(G)s located closer to the island, hitting five and wounding thirty, while some rockets from the other LCT(R)s fell short, hitting friendly craft. The RAF was able to provide a squadron (No. 183 Squadron) of explosive rocket-firing Typhoon fighter-bombers just at the point the LCTs were due to land.
Part of the naval Support Squadron of 27 small craft, under Commanders Sellar and Leefe, closed to engage the eleven still-operational German shore-based batteries, on the direction of Captain A.F. Pugsley, R.N., DSO, the naval commander of the amphibious landings. This they did with conspicuous gallantry, but with very heavy casualties. By 12.30pm, nine of the Support Squadron's craft had been sunk, eleven put out of action, and a high percentage of their crews killed or wounded. Ultimately the Support Squadron was recalled as so many of the craft had been damaged or destroyed, but their aim, of drawing the fire of the defending batteries from the landing craft making the primary assault, had succeeded.
In a tribute to the bravery of the Support Squadron, General Robert Laycock, Chief of Combined Operations, wrote to Captain A.F. Pugsley with the following words:
"I understand that the success of the landings and the comparatively light casualties sustained by No. 4 Special Service Brigade at Walcheren was due largely to the efforts of the Naval Support Craft who, at great cost to themselves, effectively silenced the coastal defences.
I should like to express the appreciation of all ranks, Special Service Group, and particularly that of General Sturges and Brigadier Leicester and all ranks of No. 4 Special Service Brigade for the self-sacrifice shown by all naval personnel during the landings, which had such splendid results."