Terrible Victory
First Canadian Army and the Scheldt Estuary Campaign, September 13–November 6, 1944
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Narrated by:
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James Conlan
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By:
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Mark Zuehlke
About this listen
On September 4, 1944, Antwerp, Europe’s largest port, fell to the Second British Army and it seemed the war would soon be won. But Antwerp was of little value unless the West Scheldt Estuary linking it to the North Sea was also in Allied hands. In his greatest blunder of the war, Field Marshal Montgomery turned his back on the port, leaving the First Canadian Army to fight its way up the long coastal flank. By the time the Canadians and others serving with them reached the area, it had been transformed into a fortress manned by troops ordered to fight to the death. Crushing the Nazi defenders required all of the Canadians’ courage, endurance and skill. The battle that raged until November was Canada’s bloodiest of World War II, costing more than 6,000 casualties.
©2007 Mark Zuehlke (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Editor reviews
Between September and November 1944, Canadian troops fought for control of the Scheldt Estuary, which would give Allied troops throughout Europe access to much-needed supplies. Military historian Mark Zuehlke’s Terrible Victory pays tribute to these soldiers who fought this bloody campaign that proved crucial to the allied campaign.
Mixing first-person accounts with military records, Zuehlke offers a detailed account that not only sheds light onto the strategic importance of this lengthy battle but the extraordinary physical demands placed on Canadian soldiers.
James Conlan brings a crisp intensity to the book’s battle sequences and pronounces the many German and French words with pleasing fluency.
All books of this kind can fall into the trap of simply listing events one after the other in order to achieve enough detail. This book managed to provide sufficient detail about unique names designations and army formations stop. The narrative moves forward at a good pace and there is a nice mixture of strategic information and personal experience to provide a good read. The inclusion of names of the particular participants especially those that lost their lives is especially important. I highly recommend this book about a subject little disgust from the allies side. One side of the story becomes very clear is that Montgomery was hugely at fault for leaving the battle to clear Antwerp as a usable port and caused huge suffering for troops and civilians which was unnecessary. I highly recommend this interesting and fulfilling book.
Excellent book and well read
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An in depth look at a forgotten campaign during WW2
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But the books by Mark dispell this, he uses the war diaries of the units involved with veteran accounts.
People fawn over the generals - they should pay more attention to the men in waterlogged slit trenches who fought for our today.
Worth your time
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