Historia

Caught off guard

Holandia

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The bridge over the Linthorst-Homan Canal had been blown up, so the Canadian liberators had to take a different way on that Thursday, 12 April 1945. The bridge along Beilervaart / Brunsting was still intact, through which Beilen could be reached. But it was not an easy task.

The peculiarity of the Germans' elimination at Beilen was that they were caught off guard, so to speak. The German positions were under fire from the south by Major Bob Lucy's battery 'Fox' of the 6th Field regiment R.C.A. This forced the Canadian soldiers of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal to run against their own fire. The fire support provided by the 'Fox' battery therefore required a lot of precision work. According to the author of 'Maple leaf up', it was probably the first occasion that this happened at Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. Normally, ground troops move forward with artillery behind them. 

An unknown number of Germans were killed in the fighting in Beilen in addition to the two Canadians. Furthermore, a woman from Beilen was injured and a nurse from Beileroord was killed. 

When Beilen was taken, a temporary bridge was constructed across the Linthorst Homan canal in the Spier-Beilen road so that the Allied troops no longer had to make a diversion, even with large equipment.