Liberation of Belgium

{{See also|Chronology of the liberation of Belgian cities and towns during World War II}}

The liberation began with 21st Army Group heading eastwards from the breakout from Falaise. Units of XXX Corps, including the 2nd Canadian Division entered Belgium on 2 September. {{Illm|Forge-Philippe|fr}}, located on the French border, was the first settlement to be liberated,{{harvnb|Belgian Government Information Center|1946|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TxxPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA31 31]}} although {{Illm|La Glanerie|fr}} also claims that honor.{{Cite web |author=S. L. |title=La Glanerie commémore la libération du 2 septembre 1944 |publisher=notélé |url=https://www.notele.be/it7-media59838-la-glanerie-commemore-la-liberation-du-2-septembre-1944.html |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=www.notele.be |date=16 March 2020 |language=fr}}

On the evening of 2 September Brian Horrocks briefed officers of the Guards Armoured Division in Douai that their objective for the following day would be Brussels, 110km further east.{{Cite web|title=Liberation of Brussels |publisher=Europe Remembers |url=https://www.europeremembers.com/pois/392/liberation-of-brussels |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004225512/https://www.europeremembers.com/pois/392/liberation-of-brussels |archive-date=4 October 2023 |url-status=live}} The announcement was greeted with "delighted astonishment". The Division suffered casualties on their drive into Belgium but with the Germans still in disarray after their defeat at Falaise, the Household Cavalry on the British left and the Grenadier Guards on the right led the way with the Welsh and Irish Guards following close behind.

People in the Belgian capital had not expected to be liberated that soon, and huge crowds greeted and slowed the liberators. As Brussels was being liberated, an attempt by the Germans to deport 1,600 political prisoners and Allied prisoners of war from Brussels to concentration camps in Germany via the Nazi ghost train was thwarted by Belgian railway workers and the Belgian resistance.{{cite book |last1=Clutton-Brock |first1=Oliver |title=RAF Evaders |date=2009 |publisher=Grub Street |location=London` |isbn=9781906502171 |pages=313-315}}

The Welsh Guards advanced from Douai on 3 September crossing into Belgium with minimal resistance until they met some at Halle, but they pressed on that day to Brussels.{{cite web|title=2nd Battalion Welsh Guards history |url=http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/2nd_Battalion_Welsh_Guards_history.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427111357/http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/2nd_Battalion_Welsh_Guards_history.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 April 2014|access-date=27 April 2014}} The British Second Army captured Antwerp, the port city on the river Scheldt in northern Belgium, close to the Netherlands, on 4 September. In the following days and weeks, the Battle of the Scheldt claimed many lives, as the port of Antwerp could not be operated effectively without control of the Scheldt estuary.{{Cite book|last=Beale |first=Peter |year=2004 |title=Great Mistake: The Battle for Antwerp and the Beveland Peninsula, September 1944 |location= |publisher=The History Press |page=passim |isbn=978-0-7524-9504-0 }} Antwerp was the first port to be captured by the Allies in near perfect condition, making it very valuable, especially with its deep water facilities. On 6 September, the 4th Canadian Armoured Division crossed the border with Belgium and took areas around Ypres and Passchendaele.{{Cite web|title=Engagements fought by the 4th Armoured Brigade in 1944 |website=www.desertrats.org.uk |url=http://www.desertrats.org.uk/bde/4thAB1944.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110110011/http://www.desertrats.org.uk/bde/4thAB1944.htm |archive-date=10 January 2018 }}

After the capture of Brussels the Germans formed a defensive line in the municipality of Hechtel.{{Cite book|last=Paterson |first=Lawrence |year=2021 |title=Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 'Hermann Göring': A History of the Luftwaffe's Only Armoured Division, 1933-1945 |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England |publisher=Greenhill Books |pages=194–195 |isbn=978-1-78438-611-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vrVmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT194 }} There they held against the Welsh Guards, in what is known as the Battle of Hechtel,{{Cite web |title=Memorial The Battle Of Hechtel |publisher=Traces of war |url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/129667/Memorial-The-Battle-Of-Hechtel.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125194704/https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/129667/Memorial-The-Battle-Of-Hechtel.htm |archive-date=25 November 2020 |url-status=live }} until 12 September, when the Irish Guards made a flanking maneuver, capturing Bridge number 9 (Joe's Bridge), and isolating the Germans.{{Cite book|last=Hendriks |first=Tim |year= |title=Market Garden: In the footsteps of the 75th |url=https://marketgardenveterans.nl/download/MarketGarden75thfootsteps.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525160028/https://marketgardenveterans.nl/download/MarketGarden75thfootsteps.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-status=live }}

Between 9 and 11 September, the 1st Polish Armoured Division attempted to capture control of the Ghent Canal, which resulted in heavy losses for the Poles after they had run into fierce resistance over difficult terrain. Further up the river, {{Convert|3|miles|0|abbr = off}} south of Bruges, the 4th Canadian Armoured Division launched an offensive on 8 September and broke through two days later, after coming under heavy mortar fire. A narrow river crossing was opened and extended slowly due to heavy enemy resistance.{{Citation needed|date = February 2015}}

The First United States Army, under General Courtney Hodges, captured areas south of Brussels in early September 1944. The U.S. units were spread very thinly from south of Liège, through the Ardennes and into Luxembourg, leaving their defensive line lightly reinforced. Between September and 16 December, the Ardennes Forest was the "quiet sector"—the Americans used this area to rest tired units.{{Citation needed|date = February 2015}}

Adolf Hitler launched Germany's last offensive of the Western Front on 16 December, known as the Battle of the Bulge. He intended to push through the Ardennes Forest with the 6th Panzer Division advancing and capturing the coastal town of Antwerp.{{cite web|url=http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_bulge.htm|title=The Battle of the Bulge - History Learning Site|access-date=2015-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904045000/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_bulge.htm|archive-date=2007-09-04|url-status=dead}} The Fifth Panzer Army, under German general Hasso von Manteuffel,{{cite web|url=http://www.specialcamp11.co.uk/General_der_Panzertruppe_Hasso_von_Manteuffel.htm|title=General der Panzertruppe Hasso von Manteuffel|website=www.specialcamp11.co.uk}} was to attack the U.S. forces in the region, and the 7th German Army was to attack to the south to cut off supplies and create a buffer zone.{{Citation needed|date = February 2015}}

On the morning of the 16 December, a two-hour German artillery bombardment startled the Allies. When the German forces attacked, it was foggy, and the Allies could not use their air superiority to resupply ground units. On 18 December, after advancing {{Convert|60|miles|abbr = off}} in two days, the Germans reached a point of stalemate. By the 22nd, the weather had cleared, allowing the Allies to be resupplied. Vicious fighting followed and ended in mid-January, when the German tank units began to run out of fuel.{{cite web|url=http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge|title=Battle of The Bulge - HistoryNet|website=www.historynet.com}}

The battle ended with the Germans in full retreat. 600,000 U.S. troops were involved in the battle, which made it the largest ground battle that the U.S. Army has ever fought: 81,000 U.S. troops were killed or wounded. Estimates of German casualties range from 67,675 to 125,000 killed, wounded and missing.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book|author=Belgian Government Information Center |title=The Liberation of Belgium |year=1946 |publisher=Belgian Government Information Center |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxxPAQAAIAAJ |oclc=4251364}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVK7bGU-7g Entry into Brussels], newsreel on British Pathé YouTube Channel
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNnYyJ4dc00 Antwerp (1944)], newsreel on British Pathé YouTube Channel

Category:Belgium in World War II

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Category:1944 in Belgium

Category:1945 in Belgium