bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Germany > ETO > Arnhem & Antwerp > Antwerp, updated by RAC 4 Oct 2020.
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Antwerp, the largest port in Europe at the time, is located in Flanders in northwest Belgium at the upper end of the 49-mile Scheldt estuary.
The British Second Army captured Antwerp on 4 September. The clearing of the Scheldt Estuary of German forces was done by the Canadian First Army, beginning on 2 October and ending on 25 November. Once cleared of Germans, a shipping channel devoid of mines neaded to be marked. The first convoy of Allied ships arrived in Antwerp harbor on 29 November. |
The Scheldt Estuary
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The opening of the port of Antwerp did much to resolve the supply shortages that had plagued the ETO since early September. Antwerp was much closer to the front lines that the major ports previously used, such as the artificial Mulberry Harbor on the Normandy invasion beaches, Cherbourg at the tip of the Normandy peninsula, and Marseille on the Mediterranean in southern France.
Antwerp was a major target of the German V-2 rockets, which were first used on London on 8 September 1944. Over half of V-2 rockets were directed at Antwerp.
Antwerp was a major target of the German V-2 rockets, which were first used on London on 8 September 1944. Over half of V-2 rockets were directed at Antwerp.
Sources for the Antwerp webpage:
Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Antwerp
- The Scheldt Estuary map is taken from the Canadian publication The clearing of the Scheldt Estuary and the liberation of Walcheren.
Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Antwerp
- Taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea.
- Most military Antwerp-area deaths were among Canadian Army personnel who liberated the Scheldt estuary.
- However, between October 1944 and March 1945, over 700 Allied military personnel and 3,400 Belgian civilians died in Antwerp and the immediate surrounding area from German V-1 and V-2 attacks.
- George Jorgensen Junior, who spent his childhood in Hazel Dell Township, died late in WW II off of Ostend, Belgium. Delbert Brazzle of Omaha died when a plane carrying pathfinders for Operation Margaret Garden was shot down just east of Antwerp. These men are listed on different webpages. I know of no other Pottawattamie County men who died in the Antwerp area.