Operation Anger (sometimes mistakenly referred to as Operation Quick Anger) was a military operation to seize the city of Arnhem in April 1945, during the closing stages of the Second World War. It is also known as the Second Battle of Arnhem or the Liberation of Arnhem. The operation was part of the liberation of the Netherlands by the First Canadian Army and was led by the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, supported by armour of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, Royal Air Force air strikes and boats of the Royal Navy.
The Western Allies fought the first Battle of Arnhem in September 1944 during Operation Market Garden. Poor planning, the unexpected presence of German armoured units and a delayed advance by ground forces resulted in the British 1st Airborne Division being defeated and a new front being formed south of the city. Planning to take Arnhem began in the new year as the First Canadian Army sought ways to link up its units advancing into the Netherlands. It was not until April that the liberation of the city became possible. After the II Canadian Corps secured the eastern bank of the IJssel river and advanced north, the I Canadian Corps prepared to assault Arnhem.
The operation began on 12 April 1945 and proceeded to plan, as the three infantry brigades of the 49th Division leapfrogged each other through the city. Within four days Arnhem was under Allied control, allowing the Canadians to advance further into the Netherlands. Less than two weeks after the battle a general truce brought most hostilities in the country to an end and on 5 May the German commander in chief in the Netherlands surrendered to the Canadian Army. Three days later Germany unconditionally surrendered, bringing the war in Europe to a close.
Background
The first battle of Arnhem
In September 1944 the Allies began Operation Market Garden to advance north around the Siegfried Line and open a route to the Ruhr. The British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem and fought for nine days in the city and surrounding towns and countryside, but the British Second Army failed to reach them and they were nearly annihilated. After withdrawing south of the Nederrijn the front line stabilised on the "Island" (the polder between Nijmegen and Arnhem) over the winter.
The residents of Arnhem and Oosterbeek (over 450 of whom had been killed in the battle) were evicted from their homes by the German army and were then systematically looted of anything of value to aid refugees in Germany. The shattered settlements were turned into defensive positions. The Arnhem road bridge that the British had fought so hard for was bombed by the Allies in October 1944 to deny its use to the Germans. Arnhem itself was extensively shelled by the Allies over the winter and was even hit by short-falling German-fired V-2 rockets. In retaliation for a Dutch railway workers strike supposed to aid the Allies' September advance, the Germans banned all inland freight movement. Food being grown in the north was prevented from reaching the south and west of the country and caused thousands of deaths amongst the Dutch population in the Dutch famine of 1944 (the Hongerwinter).
Allied crossing of the Lower Rhine
In February 1945 the Allies launched Operations Veritable and Grenade, striking east from land captured during Market Garden directly into Germany. These paved the way for Operations Plunder and Varsity, crossing the River Rhine further upstream from Arnhem. The 21st Army Group advanced rapidly into north-west Germany. Whilst the Second Army advanced east, the First Canadian Army (General Henry Crerar) was given the task of liberating the Netherlands.
The Canadian Army had been instructed to plan advances across the Lower Rhine when it first assumed responsibility for the Nijmegen salient in November but operations were delayed by the winter and the allocation of resources for Operation Veritable. After Operation Veritable, Crerar saw advantages to seizing Arnhem and opening a route to Emmerich during the coming crossing of the Rhine. The first draft of the plan to take the city – known as Operation Anger – was compiled in February as a subsidiary operation to Plunder but Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, commander of the recently arrived I Canadian Corps, thought it safer to wait until the Rhine had been crossed before attacking Arnhem and Anger was shelved.
After Plunder, the II Canadian Corps (Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds) struck west and seized Emmerich, approaching the IJssel from the east. Crerar saw an opportunity to take Arnhem and open a route between the city and Zutphen to the north, and ordered his two corps commanders to co-ordinate their advances. He was wary of trying to seize Arnhem before the IJssel had been bridged further north.
In March the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, that had been on the Nijmegen Island since November, came under the command of I Canadian Corps. On 2 April the division, supported by Canadian units, led Operation Destroyer to clear the Island, carefully timing the initial attack to coincide with II Corps' clearance of the east bank of the IJssel. On 3 April, elements of I Canadian Corps crossed the Nederrijn east of the IJssel and met units from the II Canadian Corps in the town of Westervoort opposite Arnhem. The rest of the Island was cleared within another day and the Allies occupied the southern bank of the Nederrijn in preparation for the assault on Arnhem.
The original (February) plan for Operation Anger had called for an immediate crossing of the Nederrijn near Oosterbeek as soon as the river was reached, if the situation allowed it (Operation Quick Anger). If the German defenses were considered too strong, a better prepared crossing downstream at Renkum could be made (Operation Anger). Crerar had ruled that operations could not be made against Arnhem until the II Canadian Corps had crossed the IJssel and advanced on Apeldoorn, and so Anger had to wait. Reconnaissance patrols on 3 and 4 April determined that German observation posts and positions on the Westerbouwing Heights overlooking the river would make crossing the Nederrijn dangerous. Attempts were made to create smokescreens obscuring the southern bank of the Nederrijn from the Germans, a technique that had proved successful in the buildup to Operation Plunder. The screen stretched from the town of Randwijk, 16 kilometres (10 miles) west of Arnhem, along the south bank of the river to Huissen, south of Arnhem, but strong winds and a lack of appropriate generators reduced its effectiveness. Additionally the ground on the Island was deteriorating and on 7 April, after considering various alternatives, Foulkes decided Arnhem must be attacked from the east, across the IJssel.
Preparations
Allied forces
The attack was necessarily delayed whilst the 49th Division moved to Westervoort and II Canadian Corps prepared to cross the IJssel further north. The move caused serious logistical problems as the roads around the Island and Westervoort became jammed with traffic. This delay caused concern that the enemy would have time to prepare for the assault, but in the event it appeared they had neither the troops or equipment to improve their situation.
The attack was planned to proceed in three phases. The initial assault would be carried out by the 56th British Infantry Brigade who would cross the IJssel at night in amphibious Buffalo IVs of The Ontario Regiment before clearing the eastern and southern districts of the city. In phase two, the 146th British Infantry Brigade would move forward and attack the high ground north of Arnhem. In the third phase, the 147th British Infantry Brigade would advance through 56th's positions and secure the high ground and north bank of the Nederrijn west of the city. With the heights around Arnhem secure the 5th Canadian Armoured Division would advance through the city and I Corps would resume its advance west. The British took several Canadian units under command along with Churchill Crocodile tanks of the 79th British Armoured Division. Most of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and 5th Canadian Armoured Division were placed in support, and a composite group known as Murphyforce provided a diversion south of the Nederrijn.
The river crossing would be assisted by landing craft of the Royal Navy, including the 509th LCA Flotilla and 660, 661 and 662 LCM Flotillas, a total of 45 craft. The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) would run DUKWs across the river during the operation. I Corps' Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE), would build four Bailey pontoon ferries as soon as locations on the enemy bank were captured (two across the IJssel and two across the Nederrijn). The RCE would also deploy a prefabricated Bailey bridge as soon as the situation allowed it. The bridge was built in advance further upstream at Doornenburg and floated nearer to the IJssel just prior to the attack. As soon as the situation allowed it this bridge would be floated into position between Westervoort and Arnhem, hopefully allowing armour to cross the river much faster than the enemy would expect. Canadian pioneers would lay a heavy artillery smokescreen over Arnhem during the attack and in the buildup to the battle they maintained the smoke screen along the Nederrijn, in the hope it would deceive the Germans as to the true direction of the crossing.
Allied order of battle
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division GOC Major-General Stuart Rawlins
- 56th Infantry Brigade, CO Brigadier R.H. Senior
- 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers
- 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment
- 146th Infantry Brigade, CO Brigadier D.S. Gordon
- 4th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
- 1/4th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
- Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
- 147th Infantry Brigade, CO Brigadier H. Wood
- 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment
- 1/7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment
- 11th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
Attached
Units of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division
- 11th Armoured Regiment (The Ontario Regiment)
- 12th Independent Machine Gun Company, Princess Louise Fusiliers
Units of the 79th British Armoured Division
- 617th Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers
German forces
The German forces in the Netherlands (under Oberbefehlshaber Niederlande commander-in-chief Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz) had recently been re-designated Fortress Holland (German: Festung Holland), although this name change had little effect on the units on the ground. The rout of forces the previous year, the formation of ad hoc Kampfgruppe (Battle Groups) and cannibalising of units made it difficult for Allied intelligence to determine German strength north of the Rhine, and it was to remain difficult to ascertain their true strength for several years after the war. Approximately 10,000 troops of the 30th Army Corps were believed to be in the Arnhem–Apeldoorn area, under the command of General der Kavallerie Philipp Kleffel. There were believed to be up to 1,000 men of the 346th Infantry Division, the 858th Grenadier Regiment and other miscellaneous units occupying the Arnhem area, including a divisional battle school, paratroopers and Dutch SS. As well as the natural defence provided by the rivers and the high ground north and west of the city, Arnhem itself had been turned into a strong defensive position after the battle the previous year. On the very day of the opening assault on Arnhem, Heinrich Himmler issued a decree that all cities should be defended at any price, failure to do so being punishable by death.
Battle
On 11 April, II Corps launched Operation Cannonshot – the crossing of the IJssel further north at Deventer – prior to striking west toward Apeldoorn. On the morning of 12 April Foulkes was informed that the operation was well underway, whereupon he ordered the 49th Division to commence their attack that evening. The whole day was spent bombarding the enemy in Arnhem using artillery and ground attack aircraft. The RAF laid on 36 Spitfire and 83 rocket firing Typhoon sorties to soften up the German positions and the attack was preceded by one of the heaviest artillery barrages ever fired by I Canadian Corps. One field gun battery of eight guns fired 640 rounds in ten minutes (an average rate of eight rounds per gun, per minute), and the Pioneer Corps fired 30,000 smoke shells over the course of the battle. A diversionary barrage from south of the Nederrijn provoked a strong German response suggesting they had probably prepared for an attack to be made from the south rather than the east.