After The Battle #107 (Broekhuizen, Normandy, Wetteren)

After The Battle, Issue 107

This issue commences with a “From The Editor” feature .  Being published in 2000 this article starts with some of the commemorations that took place the previous year, 60^th anniversary of the outbreak of war, 55^th anniversary of major battles like D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Normandy etc.  Updates are also covered on previous stories that include Colditz, Beach defences in the UK and N. Ireland, V2 rockets etc.  The selling of a number of sites connected with the war is also covered including an underground aircraft factory at Henley-on-Thames and The Royal Gunpowder Factory at Waltham Abbey.  The recent de-commissioning of two of the USA’s most famous battleships; USS Missouri and USS New Jersey is touched upon with other associated stories related to the war in the Pacific.

The following article, The Battle Of Broekhuizen, looks at the attempts to take this village strongpoint.  Broekhuizen is a small village in south-west Holland on the west bank of the river Maas where the Germans maintained a bridgehead designed to obstruct Allied attempts to cross the river and at the same time to serve as a springboard for possible future offensives.  This is a detailed account of the ensuing battle, well illustrated with period photographs combined with more recent illustrations displaying the well known “Then and Now” to its best.

The following four-page article Isaac Bridge is a fascinating story of the Normandy invasion not mentioned in any of the guide books to the Normandy battlefield.

The Battle For Wetteren Bridge is a detailed 18 page article again employing the typical “Then and Now” format to excellent effect.  Between September 4^th –6^th ,1944, a battle took place at the small town of Wetteren in Belgium for possession of a bridge across the Schelde (Scheldt) river.  This little-known action is interesting for several reasons.  Firstly because so many different formations were involved: within a span of 24 hours, advance units of three different British divisions entered Wetteren , each on its own mission and unaware of the others presence, yet each contributed to the capture of the bridge.  Secondly, once captured, the bridge constituted the only crossing point of the Schelde for the 7^th Armoured Division, and thus was vital to its continued advance northwards.  Thirdly, the subsequent stand by a gallant band of Royal Engineers against repeated German counter-attacks provides a prime example of a small unit in defence.

The final short (4 page) article, The German Skagerrak Batteries, looks at the two powerful four-gun 38cm batteries built by the Germans at either end of the Skagerrak straits – one at Kristiansand in Norway and the other at Hanstholm in Denmark – the idea being to close off this strategic passage to the Baltic Sea at its narrowest point.

In all 56 pages of fascinating World War II history following the respected “Then and Now” theme.