Replica Battle Honours Map of the Liberation of Apeldoorn

A 9.5 inch by 5.5 inch hand drawn battle honour map depicting the Liberation of Apeldoorn. The maps were drawn by Brigadier Eric Haldenby for the 48th Highlanders’ Second War history Dileas by Kim Beattie.

Liberation of Apeldoorn

The liberation of the Netherlands, from September 1944 to April 1945, played a key role in the culmination of the Second World War, as the Allied forces closed in on Germany from all sides. The First Canadian Army played a major role in the liberation of the Dutch people who had suffered terrible hunger and hardship under the increasingly desperate German occupiers. In March 1945 the 1st Division of the Canadian Army transferred from Italy, ending their campaigns that began in Sicily on 13 June 1943 and concluded between the Lamone River and Senio River in northern Italy. The 48th as part of the 1st Brigade launched Operation Cannonshot on 12 April 1945 with the crossing of the Ijssel River at the town of Wilp and penetration to Twello. After a short couple of days rest they advanced on Apeldoorn which fell on 17 April. On 25 April the 48th, and the 1st Division, went out of battle in a truce with the Germans under Colonel-General Blaskowitz who had stated that if the Canadians stopped their attacks and encirclement of the German forces he would allow the British to pass through the German lines to bring food to the starving Dutch population.

The First Canadian Army also played a leading role in opening Belgium and the Netherlands’ Scheldt estuary (tidal river), gateway to the port of Antwerp. Access to this port was essential to maintain supply lines to the Allied armies as they continued their push toward Germany to defeat Adolf Hitler’s forces and free Western Europe from four years of Nazi occupation which had begun in April 1940.

Associated place
Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Associated event
Liberation of Apeldoorn
Associated name(s)
NA
Era
1939 – 1945 (WW 2)
Location of artifact
Case 24/25 WWII
Classification
Art

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