Here some historical footage from 1944 of the allied forces attacking the peninsula I live on named Walcheren.
Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. To free access to the port of Antwerp they also had to conquer the land on the north shore of the river the Schelde. Else their ships on their way to Antwerpen would have been blown out of the water by the torpedo battery located at the entrance of the Schelde from the sea. They also had other weapons stationed along the river mouth.
The operation was part of the wider Battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special Service Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. At the same time the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would force a crossing of the Walcheren causeway.
A three-pronged assault was planned with British Commandos and part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division landing at Westkapelle in the west of the island and at Flushing in the south. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was to cross by a water channel close to the causeway in the east. However, in the Battle of Walcheren Causeway, it soon became clear that the tidal flats around the water channel were virtually impassable leaving the Canadians with the hazardous option of a direct assault along the well-defended causeway — an exposed stretch 40 yards wide and 1500 yards long. The Canadians established a bridgehead on the island through which the British 52nd Lowland Division attempted to pass. Against much scepticism and opposition, the plan of Lieut.-Gen. Guy Simonds (acting commander of First Canadian Army) to breach the island's dykes, and flood the interior, was adopted.
The bombing of Walcheren in October by RAF Bomber Command had deliberately breached the dykes around the island and had turned it into a massive lagoon, rimmed by broken dykes. The Germans had installed defences on the dykes to virtually turn them into a continuous fortification bristling with guns of every caliber. The British Marines placed great reliance on Weasel and Buffalo amphibious landing craft. The Royal Marine Commandos were to seize the shoulders of the gap in the dyke and then to fan out north and south to roll up the remainder of the German defences by linking up with the southern thrust. The RAF provided air support and the 79th Armoured Division provided specialist vehicles in support of the ground assault, naval gunfire support was from warships and landing craft equipped with artillery (e.g. Landing Craft Tank (Gun)) and Land Mattress multiple-rocket launch systems.
Landing at Westkapelle
Operation Infatuate II
The battle for Walcheren Island: An aerial photograph of bombs exploding on the Walcheren dyke, the Netherlands during RAF Bomber Command's raid on the island.
Brigadier Leicester's plan for the attack on Westkapelle called for three troops of No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando, under Lt-Colonel E C E Palmer RM, to land on the north shoulder of the gap blown in the dyke with the objective of clearing the area between there and the village of Westkapelle. The remainder of the Commando, along with the two No. 10 (IA) Commando troops, would then come ashore in M29 Weasels and Buffaloes launched from Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs). Their mission would be to clear Westkapelle and then move north. No. 48 (Royal Marine) Commando, under Lt-Colonel J. L. Moulton DSO, would use the same methods, but come ashore south of the gap. From there they would advance on Zoutelande some 3 miles (5 km) to the southeast. Finally No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando, under Lt-Colonel C.F. Phillips, landed behind 48 Commando and drove on to meet up with 4 Commando near Flushing.
The force sailed from Ostend at 03:15 hours and by 09:30 hours they were off the objective. The ships bombarded the German defences with everything at their disposal including the 15-inch (380 mm) guns of HMS Warspite, Erebus and Roberts, the Landing Craft (Gun)s, the rockets of LCT(R)s. The first German fire at 8:09 was followed by the other batteries. Most of the German fire was concentrated on the support landing craft rather than those carrying the troops. Several landing craft were hit including a rocket LCT which received a direct hit. The RAF was able to provide a squadron (No. 183 Squadron) of explosive rocket-firing Typhoon fighter-bombers just at the point the LCTs were due to land.
Part of the naval Support Squadron of 27 small craft, under Commanders Sellar and Leefe, closed to engage the eleven still-operational German shore-based batteries, on the direction of Captain A.F. Pugsley, R.N., DSO, the naval commander of the amphibious landings. This they did with conspicuous gallantry, but with very heavy casualties. By 12.30pm, nine of the Support Squadron's craft had been sunk, eleven put out of action, and a high percentage of their crews killed or wounded. Ultimately the Support Squadron was recalled as so many of the craft had been damaged or destroyed, but their aim, of drawing the fire of the defending batteries from the landing craft making the primary assault, had succeeded.
info sourced from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Infatuate
