02x05 - n*zi k*ll Zone

[bunniefuu]

November 1944.

Southwestern Holland.

Canadian troops must distract n*zi forces

to allow British Commandos

to land an amphibious as*ault

against a German fortress.

When German counter attacks

threaten the mission,

one soldier defies the odds.

He kind of goes crazy.

I mean, I don't know

how else you can put it.

He'll fire at anything.

He'll take on larger

numbers of enemy troops.

It's almost like he has

lost his sense of mortality.

But will it be enough?

On June 6th, 1944, Allied

forces finally land troops

in Normandy to open

the western front.

But n*zi fanatics and diehards

continue to fight ruthlessly

for survival.

D-Day was a battle.

The Allies still

need to win the w*r.

October 1944.

Holland.

Major Ross Ellis,

and his r*fle company

of the Calgary Highlanders

from Canada,

trudge warily through the

waterlogged countryside.

There was very little

hard ground in the fall of 1944

because it was a

very rainy period of time,

and the Germans were using

the polder land to stop

the movement of our vehicles.

Retreating German

forces have blown d*kes

to flood the Dutch

fields, called polders,

to slow the Allied advance.

DAVID

Sometimes you had to go

down into these polders

without the armored vehicles

and the trucks and you had

to immerse yourself in

water, you had to fight

in water for days

and sometimes even

weeks at a time.

The d*kes provide

some protection from enemy fire,

but it comes at a cost.

The reality is that

you can't get at the enemy

by sitting behind a d*ke.

Knowing how

much faster

they could advance

up on the d*kes,

the Canadians

use a risky strategy

to target the enemy.

MAN

Get up there soldier.

They position one man as

bait to draw German fire,

while others advance

below as spotters.

DAVID When

he hears enemy fire,

whether it's sn*per

fire, machine g*n fire,

then they basically know

which polder the enemy is in,

how far away he is and then

they begin to lay plans

to try to eliminate him.

30 yards.

The Canadians call

in the German positions,

and order a*tillery or an

infantry as*ault against them.

It is a suicidal tactic which

relies on quick reflexes,

and a lot of luck.

DAVID Took me

a long time to understand that.

Uh, you're just going to pretend

that the next ten or 12 meters

are going to be okay and

you're going to survive that.

And I guess if you

don't survive it,

you're never going to know it.

The Canadians

repeat it over and over

as they make their way

through Holland.

Ellis, and the men of

the Calgary Highlanders,

have been fighting in

this terrain for weeks,

to clear access to

the Port of Antwerp,

captured in early September.

The Allies manage

to capture Antwerp intact

to the astonishment,

in fact, of the British

but also to the horror of Hitler

and Wehrmacht Headquarters.

Uh, they did not imagine

that the British were

advancing so quickly.

So when the 11th Armor Division

actually sees the port intact

with the help of the

Belgian resistance,

uh, it was an

extraordinary coup.

Antwerp can

solve a major problem

for the Allies.

ANTHONY

Antwerp was absolutely vital

because it was the only

deep-water port, which

was close to the German border

and for the advance

into Germany.

Because the distance all the

way from Normandy bringing

supplies, fuel,

ammunition by lorry with

the Red Wall Express

was simply not

feasible or not viable

for much longer.

But before

the navy can open the port,

the army needs to clear the

surrounding Scheldt Estuary,

which remains firmly

under n*zi control.

But clearing and

securing ports,

is not considered a

glamorous objective,

when there is a w*r to be won.

ANTHONY

The trouble was that

Montgomery was so excited

about the possibility of

getting across the Rhine

before the Americans

that he felt that in

the case of Antwerp,

uh, that could

be sorted out later.

British General

Bernard Montgomery convinces

Supreme Commander General

Dwight D. Eisenhower

to back his plan

to cross the Rhine.

He assigns the British

Thirty Corps to pursue

Operation Market Garden,

leaving a meager force

to deal with clearing

access to Antwerp.

It will be considered among

Montgomery's greatest

mistakes as a general.

He fails to allocate

the resources to solve

the Allies critical

supply problem, and.

Montgomery's

decision to divert XXX

Corps to the Arnhem,

means that the

Germans have got time

to bring 82,000 men,

4,000 lorries, and over

500 a*tillery pieces

to the north bank

of the river Scheldt.

So, it's perhaps a bit

an exaggeration

but it is a kind

of mini Dunkirk.

Now after much delay,

and fighting through

water for weeks,

the Calgary Highlanders

must complete the clearance

of the Scheldt Peninsula

Walcheren Island, which

controls access to the

Port of Antwerp.

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser

controls the defenses of

Walcheren from a raised city

in the center of the island

called Middelburg.

Hitler has instructed

Daser to hold Walcheren

to the last man.

The Allies plan a coordinated,

air, sea and land as*ault

against Walcheren.

Two amphibious commando attacks

will happen simultaneously

on the southern

and western shores.

The Canadians will target

the eastern side of Walcheren

where a causeway connects

the island to the peninsula.

The idea is that

the Canadians will launch

an as*ault across the causeway,

which will draw the attention

of the Germans away

and therefore, hopefully,

make it easier for

the amphibious landings

that are scheduled

to take place.

The causeway

is less than mile long

and only 100 feet wide.

On either side of the land

bridge is a tidal zone,

with quicksand like

mud at low tide,

and heavy currents

as the tide rushes in.

The causeway is

heavily defended.

DAVID The Germans

had all kinds of mortars

and machine g*ns

aimed at the causeway.

They had an 88 millimeter

anti-tank g*n.

They had just about every

square millimeter of that

causeway covered.

So they clearly, clearly

were worried about

an Allied advance

over that causeway.

Late on October 31st,

the Calgary

Highlanders assemble.

At midnight, they will

cross the causeway.

Ellis chooses B Company,

led by captain Frank Clarke,

to initiate the as*ault.

Clarke, flanked

by his radioman,

Private Frank Holm and

the rest of his men,

arrive at the east

end of the causeway.

They wait in the quiet

for the signal to advance.

The men joke amongst

themselves that it is

Halloween and whether

there would be fireworks.

They had

plenty of fireworks.

Fire!

To capture

the n*zi stronghold of

Walcheren Island,

they must

survive the causeway.

As Halloween turns

into All Saints Day,

the Canadians start

a march into hell.

October 31st, 1944.

Midnight.

Southwest Holland.

Captain Frank Clarke and

B Company of the Canadian

Calgary Highlanders,

begin to cross a causeway

under heavy a*tillery.

The Canadians occupy

the east side.

They now fight to cross and

capture Walcheren Island,

a heavily fortified position

within the n*zi Atlantic Wall.

German defenses here had driven

back another Canadian unit,

the Black Watch,

the day before.

The Highlanders hope

their barrage will

make a difference.

Like a curtain of

fire that is moving along

the causeway towards

the Germans.

Now the Germans of course

know what's going on

and they are firing onto

the causeway to stop

the Canadian infantry.

So, the causeway's being hit

by a*tillery from two sides.

It's an alleyway of absolute

steel coming from shells

and b*ll*ts and

mortars and so on.

Clarke and his men

advance as far as possible,

before being forced

into trenches,

by the German barrage of

a*tillery and small arms fire.

Although the causeway

looks flat and bare,

they discover German

slit trenches dug in

and sometimes occupied.

DAVID They

root the Germans out.

They k*ll them.

The Germans run

away, whatever it is,

and the Canadians are going

down into these slit trenches.

Clarke and his

radio man, Frank Holm,

dive into a trench

to avoid bouncing,

armor-piercing shells.

Ready, go!

Ahead in the

dark, the rest of B Company

scrambles for shelter,

amid the German onslaught.

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser,

directs the defense

of Walcheren from his

command post in Middelburg.

The Germans defending

Walcheren Island are primarily

from the 70th Infantry Division,

nicknamed the Ulcer,

or White Bread, Division.

PETER

70th Division is a

very new division

formed only a couple

of months earlier.

It consists mostly

of Mogen battalions,

so this means

stomach battalions.

Soldiers that had wounds from

the Eastern front and have got

now problems or diseases

with the stomach.

They are called

up, and grouped together,

to accommodate

their dietary needs.

PETER The soldiers

they cannot eat the typical

German rye bread.

They only can eat

noodles and white bread.

So that's why this division

was also nicknamed

the Weiss Brot division,

so the White Bread Division.

Their health

concerns limit their

combat capacity.

PETER You couldn't

expect from 70th Division

to make large movements.

They're mostly capable of only

fighting in fortified positions

and with almost no capabilities

to maneuver.

Prior to the attack,

Allied bombing had flooded

nine German g*n

emplacements on the island.

But Daser still controls

heavy g*n batteries to disrupt

Allied assaults before

they reach shore.

He doesn't think they will

be crazy enough to attack

the well defended coastline.

PETER Daser

expects the Allies to come

from the land side.

So he stations the majority

of his troops on the east side

of Walcheren Island.

7,000 men

defend the causeway,

a little over two miles

from his headquarters

at Middelburg.

This focus is exactly

what the Allies want.

They plan two amphibious

attacks on the outer sides

of the island.

But the concentration of

German soldiers and a*tillery

on the land approach also

means it will be difficult for

the Calgary Highlanders

to survive long enough,

to be a worthwhile

distraction.

Pinned down in the slit

trenches on the causeway,

Clarke must act.

Despite the heavy fire

that has taken out several

of his men already,

Clarke jumps out of his trench

and presses forward.

He sees his men

are not advancing.

He needs to investigate

and do something about it.

His radio man, Holm, remains

behind in the trench.

DAVID

You wouldn't want to be

Frank Holm because the enemy,

they're going to try to

destroy the radio set.

They're going to

try to k*ll you.

They're going to try to cut

off communications between you

and your battalion

headquarters.

But even Holm's

trench is not safe.

An a*tillery barrage

hits near his foxhole,

drops a wheelbarrow

out of the darkness,

but he is unharmed.

Meanwhile, Clarke continues

to move forward and finds that

a giant crater blocks

B Company's progress.

The Germans blew the

crater before the battle,

to prevent Allied vehicles

from crossing the causeway.

It now provides safety

for Clarke's men,

who are reluctant

to leave its protection.

Clarke peaks over

to assess enemy positions.

When he determines where

the German g*ns are located,

he makes his way back

to his radioman, Holm,

to notify headquarters.

Despite the earlier blast,

Holm and the radio

remain in working order.

The Calgary Highlanders

carry a Number 18 wireless

set as a backpack.

One man carries the radio

and another man operates.

The radios transmit

up to 15 miles,

but battle noise severely

limits the range.

As Clarke starts

calling in coordinates,

the radio starts screeching.

The Germans have

jammed their signal.

A lot of effort goes

into jamming the enemy's

radio communications.

One of the most effective is

essentially to find out what

frequencies they're operating

on and then broadcast enough

noise to make it essentially

impossible for anyone

to understand the

messages being sent.

The best

way to counter this,

is to change frequencies.

You figure out in advance

if the first frequency's jammed,

you fall back to

a second frequency

and then perhaps to

a third frequency.

It can take

time to get everyone on

the same frequency.

After some effort, they

find a clear channel,

and reconnect with Commanding

Officer, Major Ross Ellis.

a*tillery opens up on

the German positions

Clarke identifies.

The Canadian a*tillery

allows B Company to

creep forward again,

toward the German

end of the causeway.

But soon the Germans

attack with renewed vigor.

sn*pers in the

mudflats open up.

And Allied a*tillery

has failed to take out

a German 88-millimeter g*n.

Normally a weapon

used against tanks,

the 88 targets its

armor-piercing rounds,

down the road.

JEFF The 88

has a fearsome reputation.

It is a multipurpose weapon.

It's used against tanks.

It's used against aircraft.

It's used against

soldiers in the open.

And the

Germans have adapted its

use to the causeway.

DAVID

They would just fire

and the shell

would just skip

down the roadway.

I guess like a bowling ball

and if you were caught by it

then you were just shredded.

MAN Take cover!

The heavy German

fire proves devastating.

With his company

unable to move forward,

Clarke radios asking for

permission to retreat.

I think he was smart

enough to see that despite

noble efforts of his men that

they could just not continue.

They had to try to

pull back and regroup.

Pull out! Retreat!

The Canadians cede

the causeway once again

to Daser's men.

They will have to find another

way to take and hold it,

if they hope to force

the Nazis defending

Walcheren to surrender.

Pull out! Retreat!

November 1st, 1944.

Western Holland.

A Canadian battalion, the

Calgary Highlanders attacks

the eastern side of

Walcheren Island,

to distract German forces

from Allied commando raids,

later that day.

Forced to retreat off

the Walcheren causeway,

in the middle of the night,

at 6 am, they have

a new plan of attack.

Major Bruce Mackenzie

and D Company arrive at

the east end of the causeway,

ready to jump off.

The Canadian a*tillery

barrage begins again.

Firing!

The concentration of

a*tillery fire on the causeway

is planned to lift

forward 50 yards roughly

every two minutes.

The idea is that the

attacking soldiers behind

will follow the barrage in,

and the a*tillery fire will help

suppress the German defenses.

The barrage

is also widened,

to take out the German sn*pers

firing from the mudflats,

to the side.

Mackenzie's men

are not all veterans,

and the chaos of the

causeway shakes them.

Canadian losses since

D-Day have been staggering.

r*fle companies, such as those

of the Calgary Highlanders,

make up three quarters of

all casualties incurred,

50% higher than projected.

While all armies struggle

to find reinforcements,

the Canadian situation

is slightly different.

JEFF At this

point in the Second World w*r

the Canadian army

is unique among the major

armies fighting in

Western Europe

because it's all volunteer.

Every soldier who's there has

volunteered to serve in the army

and has volunteered

for overseas service.

There are, are attempts

to provide reinforcements

by taking soldiers who are

performing other duties

and putting them into

front line duties.

Sometimes with minimal

or very little training.

The combat

strength of D Company

is around 125 men.

But as they fight

through Holland,

the Highlanders are

undermanned by about 17%.

Major Mackenzie needs to

inspire these green troops.

But he has a challenge.

He must time their advance

with the creeping barrage from

behind them, while avoiding

incoming German fire.

Bruce Mackenzie

recognized that they were in

a pretty tough situation.

He knows that it takes maybe

20 seconds to load a shell

into one of these into

one of these g*ns,

but you know 20 seconds is

20 seconds, so the shell lands,

you get up and then you hit

the ground and you wait for

the next shell to land.

Fire!

Move forward!

D Company

charges onto the causeway

behind the first barrage

of friendly fire.

Forward, men, forward!

The Highlanders advance as

their a*tillery targets

sn*pers in the channel,

and quiets some of

the German g*ns.

Mackenzie's forward platoon,

led by Sergeant Emile Lola

finally gets past the crater.

Incoming!

But as the

barrage ends, enemy fire

forces them into a trench

about 25 yards from

the end of the causeway.

A fortified roadblock

obstructs access to

Walcheren Island.

g*n fire and expl*si*n)

Lola identifies the source

of German machine g*n fire,

then sends his runner

back to Mackenzie

to call in a*tillery.

The man does not make it back.

The German defense

of the causeway is

proving formidable.

PETER But it all

again shows you the importance

of good leadership.

You couldn't expect from

70th Division to make large

movements and fighting

like an elite force.

But if you assign

them to the job,

they are capable of doing,

then the results were

quite satisfactory.

By this time

British Commandos are positioned

and beginning to land

on Walcheren Island.

I think the

Allied operation plan

is extremely clever,

to use the Calgary Highlanders

as a distraction force

on the land side, on the east.

And the main attack comes from

the south and from the west

with an amphibious as*ault.

Because it confuses

the Germans and distracts

their main forces

for the defense.

When he sees his

man go down, Lola knows,

D Company cannot advance with

the German machine g*n fire

spraying the causeway.

So, he leaves his

forward position,

and sprints back to

Mackenzie, himself.

Mackenzie orders

a*tillery support,

this time just ahead

of his position.

He asks for an exactly

two-minute barrage,

and checks his watch.

As shells fall around

him, Mackenzie watches

the clock intently.

He wants his men over the top

as the last shells explode.

The barrage is what we

sometimes call, danger close.

The rough arithmetic of

w*r, when you gotta balance,

I know there's

going to be damage,

people are going

to be wounded,

people are going to be k*lled,

how do I minimize that?

As the final shells

land, D Company, led by Lola.

Charge, go, go, go!

Rushes the German roadblock.

Charge!

November 1st, 1944.

South west Holland.

Major Bruce Mackenzie and his

fellow Calgary Highlanders,

charge a roadblock at the end

of a causeway which obstructs

access to Walcheren Island.

Despite the initial barrage,

the Canadians still meet

intense small arms fire

from the German defenders.

D Company fights

it way forward.

Then overruns the roadblock.

The surviving

Germans surrender.

The rush has worked.

For the first time,

the Canadians have reached

the edge of Walcheren Island.

They have been assigned

a thankless task.

Their job is to distract n*zi

forces as Allied Commandos

land amphibious assaults on

other parts of the island.

DAVID Whether they

realized that they were doing it

to keep the Germans nailed in

position or not, I don't know,

but they were

given the orders,

you've got to

take the Causeway.

D Company

pushes past the roadblock

and takes up

defensive positions.

Mackenzie sends

German prisoners back,

and gives commanding

officer, Major Ross Ellis

the green light to send up

the other companies,

to secure their

toehold on the island.

But advancing up the causeway

will still not be easy.

The other two companies

that are coming up behind

are still subject to German

shellfire, German mortar fire.

The 88 is still there.

They're still very heavily

being fired upon

and they're losing men.

MAN

Keep moving! Keep moving!

Ellis sends Captain

Frank Clarke and B Company

across again this

time with A Company.

Together, the Highlanders

must locate and clear

the 88 millimeter and

other German strong points

past the causeway,

before they can capture

Walcheren Island.

During their advance,

the radioman,

Frank Holm becomes separated

from B Company and Clarke.

Incoming a*tillery

strikes nearby.

Lucky for Holm, the

equipment protects him.

But the radio is

beyond repair.

Holm retreats across

the causeway to find

a replacement.

When A and B companies arrive

at the end of the causeway,

A Company fans

out on the right.

B Company pushes past

D Company's left flank.

Sloped d*kes hold back

the water from the canal.

Captain Frank Clarke

leads B Company along

the edge of the d*ke,

using the slope

to protect against

German g*nf*re.

50 yards inland, a

cluster of buildings

would offer some cover.

But he needs to clear a

pocket of Germans before

advancing his men.

But Clarke has lost

his radio man

and cannot call in

a*tillery support.

He sends runners to find a

radio to communicate with

battalion headquarters.

They are stopped short.

Clarke is frustrated.

He can see a kilometer

away Ellis standing there

with his headquarters, but he

can't get his attention.

There's no way because

the radio is out.

So what is he going to

do wave his arms

and you know, get shot?

Ellis watches B Company from

the opposite shore.

He has set his command post

close to the causeway

to better direct the battle.

But as Ellis looks

across the channel,

he has no way of knowing

why Clarke is pinned down.

Without communication,

Ellis looks on helplessly.

But decides to take action.

He will advance up

the causeway himself

to figure out what's going on.

DAVID He's

wearing his Balmoral.

He's not wearing a helmet.

Whether he implied it, or

he wrote it in the letter,

and he said, look if I'm going

to get a b*llet in the head

I'm going to be no more dead

with a helmet than I'm going

to be with a Balmoral.

Ellis,

flanked by his scout,

and a brigade major, walks

calmly across the causeway.

How we doing?

When suddenly,

a burst of a*tillery

strikes nearby,

Ellis' bravado may

prove too costly.

Midday.

November 1st, 1944.

Walcheren Causeway, Holland.

Canadian Major Ross Ellis,

of the Calgary Highlanders

has lost radio communication

with the company leading

their attack.

Ellis sets out across

the b*ttlefield

to consult with his officers

and gather information.

Alright, keep it up,

keep it up, boys, move out.

DAVID He's going

from slit trench to slit trench.

From hole to hole and he's got

guys down there who are hiding

away from r*fle fire and

he's checking on them.

Alright, good, here we go.

With a blast of a*tillery,

the scout dives for cover.

When he looks up, he

sees Ellis chatting with

his men, unfazed.

Let's go, bud.

Ellis continues

slowly along the causeway,

stopping at each

trench to check in.

When he reaches the crater,

Ellis sizes it up and orders

in an armored bulldozer.

To bring tank support

across the causeway later,

the crater must be filled.

While he works, a runner

arrives with news

that A Company is leaderless.

Their officers have

been wounded or k*lled.

The brigade major,

George Hees,

crossing with Ellis,

volunteers to take

over A Company.

George Hees,

up till that point in time

had never seen combat

but they gave him a r*fle

and they sort of sent

him out on the causeway

and he did the best he could.

Hees and

an a*tillery Captain

with STEN g*ns,

head to a company

as the Germans continue

their barrage.

The 88 millimeter still

bounces armor piercing rounds

down the causeway.

The idea was that you

were going to stop the troops

coming up the causeway.

That shell is moving so fast

that they're just going to make

mincemeat out of you if

you get caught by that shell.

As Ellis finally

returns to his headquarters,

he calls in a more targeted

strike to deal with the 88,

this time using air power.

The Hawker Typhoon

was originally designed

as an interceptor,

but soon found

a sweet spot in low

altitude missions.

With speeds over

400 miles per hour,

it was used to attack

U-boats and to soften up

German positions on the

coast before D-Day.

Capable of firing

eight, RP3 rockets,

at low altitudes

and high speeds,

the typhoon has a debilitating

effect on enemy morale.

The typhoons fly dozens of

missions on November 1st,

in support of the Canadians

and the Allied Commandos,

attacking the south and west

parts of Walcheren Island.

Get back, switch over!

Ellis remains

in triage mode.

He handles critical problems

the 88. replacement officers

for A Company,

but he never gets far

enough to find out

what is holding up B Company.

Keep firing boys!

Keep firing!

Meanwhile on

the edge of Walcheren Island,

B Company has been forced

to dig in against the d*ke

to hold the left flank.

They're down to about 25 men.

As dusk falls, the Germans

launch a heavy

counter-attack against them.

The platoon holding

to their far left,

is wiped out by flame

throwers and small arms fire.

It is a first for the

Calgary Highlanders.

They have never encountered

enemy flame throwers before.

It's a psychological

weapon in many ways

as much as it's a

physical weapon.

It terrifies through

this primal fear of fire.

In response,

Clarke uses mortars to hold off

the Germans advancing

to the left.

Back at headquarters,

learning of the heavy

German counter attacks,

Ellis orders his commanders

to retreat to the

causeway roadblock.

DAVID The

hardest thing to do in

battle is a fighting retreat.

To move back in such a way

that you're able to continue

to keep fire on the enemy

while you're moving back.

But only Companies

A and D receive the order.

Clarke and Company B

have no radio,

and do not receive

the message to retreat.

As Companies A and D withdraw,

B Company's position is now

incredibly exposed.

And is moments away from

being cut off and overrun.

November 1st, 1944.

Three companies of

the Calgary Highlanders

are under heavy counter-attack

from the n*zi stronghold

of Walcheren Island,

off the Dutch coast.

Seeing a gap open between

his company and neighboring

D Company,

Captain Frank Clarke

must act quickly,

or they will be wiped out.

Lance Corporal, Richard Wolfe

volunteers to stay

and hold off the Germans.

DAVID What he did

was to provide covering fire

with his mortar to try to stop

the Germans from following

the Canadian troops back.

It was a heroic move

and he was taken prisoner

as a result of delaying

his own withdrawal.

Meanwhile, Major

Bruce Mackenzie and D Company

are also under heavy attack.

Mackenzie realizes too late that

B Company has not followed,

and the gap leaves

his company exposed, too.

One of Mackenzie's

newest platoon leaders,

Emile Lola, steps in.

Lola is an

experienced soldier.

He joined the army in 1939

and saw action in North Africa

with the Lancashire Regiment.

He trained newly arrived

recruits in England,

until being shipped out on

June 7th, just after D-Day.

Lola was assigned to

the Calgary Highlanders,

just nine days before

the battle at Walcheren.

As German grenades

rain down on D Company,

Sergeant Lola begins

picking them up

and throwing the grenades back.

Our grenades

were a little different,

but you know the idea

was the same,

you pulled the charge,

and you waited, you counted

and when it got to about seven

you threw the grenade and you

hoped that in three seconds

it was going to explode

at the other guy.

You throw the grenade, I'm

here and I see that grenade

land there and

what's my choice?

I guess I could

jump on the grenade,

definitely k*ll myself.

Or I can try to pick up

that grenade

and throw it back at you and

hope that I get away with it.

There's no science to it.

It's just a matter

of instinct, I think.

While out of his trench,

Lola also sees

the gap opening up

between D and B Company.

The company Bren g*n

has been knocked out

and the Germans press in.

Lola takes matters

into his own hands.

DAVID

You've got a g*n there.

If it fires you

could save your life.

You don't have any tools.

The enemy's coming at you.

What're you going to do?

You're going to kick it.

You're going to bang

it on the ground.

It works.

With the Bren g*n fire,

Clarke and B Company

close in with D Company.

But suddenly a German

counterattack begins

and halts the Canadian retreat.

Lola hands off the Bren

g*n and picks up a PIAT.

JEFF The PIA

is the primary infantry carried

anti-tank weapon

used by British

and other commonwealth forces

in the Second World w*r.

It has idiosyncrasies.

Because of the way it

works there's a very

large powerful spring

that has to be c*ck before

it's fired for the first time

and it's difficult to do this

especially while

you're under fire.

Lola does not hesitate.

He grabs the g*n, c*ck,

and fires the PIA

into the German gunners,

opening up another

chance for B Company

to make it back to the causeway.

Lola fights with

singular purpose.

Using anything at hand,

to defend his men and

k*ll the enemy.

Lola kind

of goes crazy.

I mean I don't know

how else you can put it.

I think it's one of these

situations that you encounter

occasionally where he

just begins to sh**t.

He'll fire at anything.

He'll fire at the enemy.

He'll take on larger

numbers of enemy troops.

It's almost like he has

lost his sense of mortality.

With covering

fire from Lola,

Clarke and B Company

break through the gap

and fall in with their fellow

Highlanders.

Shrapnel from one of

the German grenades

wounds a man near to Clarke.

Clarke fashions a splint from

a r*fle, to stabilize his leg.

It is too dangerous

for everyone,

to try and evacuate him.

They lower the

man into a trench,

high enough that he won't

drown when the tide comes in,

to keep him as

safe as possible.

Clarke and Mackenzie pull

their companies back,

past the German roadblock,

and onto the causeway.

Go, go, go!

A and C Company,

dig in at the crater,

to repel the German

counterattack together.

The Calgary Highlanders

hold the causeway all night,

amid pounding a*tillery

and German counterattacks.

Their position allows

more Canadians to launch

another offensive the next day.

The Maisonneuves use

the Highlanders' position

to leapfrog and continue

the attack on Walcheren,

keeping pressure on the

Germans from the east.

DAVID

Highlanders and the other

battalions of Five Brigade

kept those Germans busy

for about 36 to 48 hours,

which was what was needed to

allow the Commandos to land

on the other side of the island.

The amphibious

assaults prove successful

and give the Allies

a hold on Walcheren.

After a week of

bitter fighting,

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser

surrenders the 70th division.

PETER

When Hitler learned

about the loss of Walcheren,

he was furious.

But at the same time,

Hitler is also very

much concerned about

Allied offensives

into Germany.

You just had seen the

battle of Aachen going on,

so the first German

city is lost.

For his

actions on the causeway,

Sergeant Emile Lola

earns the distinguished

conduct medal.

Captain Frank Clarke

and Major Bruce Mackenzie

are both awarded the

distinguished service order.

Major Ross Ellis

is commended for his

leadership on the causeway.

He also earns the DSO

for his efforts in Holland,

before succumbing to battle

exhaustion in December.

They all survive

the w*r and live out

their lives in Canada.

After the Royal Navy

clears the mines,

from the channel

leading to Antwerp,

the first Allied supply

ships deliver cargo

on November 28th, 1944.

Hitler continues to order

barrages of v1 and v2 rockets

against Antwerp.

PETER Hitler's

also planning his new offensive.

And what is the objective

of the new offensive?

Antwerp.

In a drive

that will become known as

the Battle of the Bulge.

And the w*r in Europe would

continue for many more months.