All language subtitles for 74746746j

NARRATOR: November 1944.

Southwestern Holland.

Canadian troops must distract Nazi forces

to allow British Commandos
to land an amphibious assault

against a German fortress.

When German counter attacks
threaten the mission,

one soldier defies the odds.

(explosion)

DAVID: He kind of goes crazy.

I mean, I don't know
how else you can put it.

He'll fire at anything.

He'll take on larger
numbers of enemy troops.

It's almost like he has
lost his sense of mortality.

NARRATOR: But
will it be enough?

(explosion)

On June 6th, 1944, Allied
forces finally land troops

in Normandy to open
the western front.

(speaking in German)

But Nazi fanatics and diehards
continue to fight ruthlessly

for survival.

D-Day was a battle.

The Allies still
need to win the war.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: October 1944.

Holland.

Major Ross Ellis,
and his rifle company

of the Calgary Highlanders
from Canada,

trudge warily through the
waterlogged countryside.

DAVID: There was very little
hard ground in the fall of 1944

because it was a
very rainy period of time,

and the Germans were using
the polder land to stop

the movement of our vehicles.

NARRATOR: Retreating German
forces have blown dykes

to flood the Dutch
fields, called polders,

to slow the Allied advance.

DAVID (off-screen):
Sometimes you had to go
down into these polders

without the armored vehicles
and the trucks and you had

to immerse yourself in
water, you had to fight
in water for days

and sometimes even
weeks at a time.

NARRATOR: The dykes provide
some protection from enemy fire,

but it comes at a cost.

DAVID: The reality is that
you can't get at the enemy

by sitting behind a dyke.

NARRATOR: Knowing how
much faster

they could advance
up on the dykes,

the Canadians
use a risky strategy

to target the enemy.

MAN (off- screen):
Get up there soldier.

They position one man as
bait to draw German fire,

while others advance
below as spotters.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(gun shot)

DAVID (off-screen): When
he hears enemy fire,

whether it's sniper
fire, machine gun fire,

then they basically know
which polder the enemy is in,

how far away he is and then
they begin to lay plans

to try to eliminate him.

MAN: 30 yards.

NARRATOR: The Canadians call
in the German positions,

and order artillery or an
infantry assault against them.

(explosion)

It is a suicidal tactic which
relies on quick reflexes,

and a lot of luck.

DAVID (off-screen): Took me
a long time to understand that.

Uh, you're just going to pretend
that the next ten or 12 meters

are going to be okay and
you're going to survive that.

And I guess if you
don't survive it,

you're never going to know it.

NARRATOR: The Canadians
repeat it over and over

as they make their way
through Holland.

Ellis, and the men of
the Calgary Highlanders,

have been fighting in
this terrain for weeks,

to clear access to
the Port of Antwerp,

captured in early September.

ANTHONY: The Allies manage
to capture Antwerp intact

to the astonishment,
in fact, of the British

but also to the horror of Hitler
and Wehrmacht Headquarters.

Uh, they did not imagine
that the British were
advancing so quickly.

So when the 11th Armor Division
actually sees the port intact

with the help of the
Belgian resistance,

uh, it was an
extraordinary coup.

NARRATOR: Antwerp can
solve a major problem
for the Allies.

ANTHONY (off-screen):
Antwerp was absolutely vital

because it was the only
deep-water port, which
was close to the German border

and for the advance
into Germany.

Because the distance all the
way from Normandy bringing

supplies, fuel,
ammunition by lorry with
the Red Wall Express

was simply not
feasible or not viable

for much longer.

NARRATOR: But before
the navy can open the port,

the army needs to clear the
surrounding Scheldt Estuary,

which remains firmly
under Nazi control.

But clearing and
securing ports,

is not considered a
glamorous objective,

when there is a war to be won.

(gun fire)

ANTHONY (off-screen):
The trouble was that
Montgomery was so excited

about the possibility of
getting across the Rhine

before the Americans
that he felt that in
the case of Antwerp,

uh, that could
be sorted out later.

NARRATOR: British General
Bernard Montgomery convinces

Supreme Commander General
Dwight D. Eisenhower

to back his plan
to cross the Rhine.

He assigns the British
Thirty Corps to pursue

Operation Market Garden,
leaving a meager force

to deal with clearing
access to Antwerp.

It will be considered among
Montgomery's greatest
mistakes as a general.

He fails to allocate
the resources to solve

the Allies critical
supply problem, and.

PETER: Montgomery's
decision to divert XXX
Corps to the Arnhem,

means that the
Germans have got time
to bring 82,000 men,

4,000 lorries, and over
500 artillery pieces

to the north bank
of the river Scheldt.

So, it's perhaps a bit
an exaggeration

but it is a kind
of mini Dunkirk.

NARRATOR: Now
after much delay,

and fighting through
water for weeks,

the Calgary Highlanders
must complete the clearance
of the Scheldt Peninsula

and the final German stronghold:

Walcheren Island, which
controls access to the
Port of Antwerp.

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser
controls the defenses of

Walcheren from a raised city
in the center of the island

called Middelburg.

Hitler has instructed
Daser to hold Walcheren
to the last man.

The Allies plan a coordinated,
air, sea and land assault

against Walcheren.

Two amphibious commando attacks
will happen simultaneously

on the southern
and western shores.

The Canadians will target
the eastern side of Walcheren

where a causeway connects
the island to the peninsula.

JEFF: The idea is that
the Canadians will launch

an assault across the causeway,
which will draw the attention

of the Germans away
and therefore, hopefully,

make it easier for
the amphibious landings

that are scheduled
to take place.

NARRATOR: The causeway
is less than mile long

and only 100 feet wide.

On either side of the land
bridge is a tidal zone,

with quicksand like
mud at low tide,

and heavy currents
as the tide rushes in.

The causeway is
heavily defended.

DAVID (off-screen): The Germans
had all kinds of mortars

and machine guns
aimed at the causeway.

They had an 88 millimeter
anti-tank gun.

They had just about every
square millimeter of that
causeway covered.

So they clearly, clearly
were worried about

an Allied advance
over that causeway.

NARRATOR: Late
on October 31st,

the Calgary
Highlanders assemble.

At midnight, they will
cross the causeway.

Ellis chooses B Company,
led by captain Frank Clarke,

to initiate the assault.

Clarke, flanked
by his radioman,

Private Frank Holm and
the rest of his men,

arrive at the east
end of the causeway.

They wait in the quiet
for the signal to advance.

The men joke amongst
themselves that it is

Halloween and whether
there would be fireworks.

DAVID: They had
plenty of fireworks.

(gun fire)

(explosion)

MAN: Fire!

(tank fire)

(machine gun fire)

(machine gun fire)

(speaking in German)

(gun fire)

NARRATOR: To capture
the Nazi stronghold of
Walcheren Island,

they must
survive the causeway.

As Halloween turns
into All Saints Day,

(gun fire)

the Canadians start
a march into hell.

(tank fire)

NARRATOR: October 31st, 1944.

Midnight.

Southwest Holland.

Captain Frank Clarke and
B Company of the Canadian
Calgary Highlanders,

begin to cross a causeway
under heavy artillery.

The Canadians occupy
the east side.

They now fight to cross and
capture Walcheren Island,

a heavily fortified position
within the Nazi Atlantic Wall.

German defenses here had driven
back another Canadian unit,

the Black Watch,
the day before.

The Highlanders hope
their barrage will
make a difference.

DAVID: Like a curtain of
fire that is moving along

the causeway towards
the Germans.

(gun fire)

Now the Germans of course
know what's going on

and they are firing onto
the causeway to stop
the Canadian infantry.

So, the causeway's being hit
by artillery from two sides.

(gun fire)

It's an alleyway of absolute
steel coming from shells

and bullets and
mortars and so on.

NARRATOR: Clarke and his men
advance as far as possible,

before being forced
into trenches,

by the German barrage of
artillery and small arms fire.

Although the causeway
looks flat and bare,

they discover German
slit trenches dug in
and sometimes occupied.

(explosion)

DAVID (off-screen): They
root the Germans out.

They kill them.

The Germans run
away, whatever it is,

and the Canadians are going
down into these slit trenches.

NARRATOR: Clarke and his
radio man, Frank Holm,

dive into a trench
to avoid bouncing,
armor-piercing shells.

(explosion)

MAN: Ready, go!

NARRATOR: Ahead in the
dark, the rest of B Company

scrambles for shelter,
amid the German onslaught.

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser,
directs the defense

of Walcheren from his
command post in Middelburg.

The Germans defending
Walcheren Island are primarily

from the 70th Infantry Division,
nicknamed the Ulcer,

or White Bread, Division.

PETER (off-screen):
70th Division is a
very new division

formed only a couple
of months earlier.

It consists mostly
of Mogen battalions,

so this means
stomach battalions.

Soldiers that had wounds from
the Eastern front and have got

now problems or diseases
with the stomach.

NARRATOR: They are called
up, and grouped together,

to accommodate
their dietary needs.

PETER (off-screen): The soldiers
they cannot eat the typical

German rye bread.

They only can eat
noodles and white bread.

So that's why this division
was also nicknamed

the Weiss Brot division,
so the White Bread Division.

NARRATOR: Their health
concerns limit their
combat capacity.

PETER (off-screen): You couldn't
expect from 70th Division

to make large movements.

They're mostly capable of only
fighting in fortified positions

and with almost no capabilities
to maneuver.

NARRATOR: Prior to the attack,
Allied bombing had flooded

nine German gun
emplacements on the island.

But Daser still controls
heavy gun batteries to disrupt

Allied assaults before
they reach shore.

He doesn't think they will
be crazy enough to attack

the well defended coastline.

PETER (off-screen): Daser
expects the Allies to come
from the land side.

So he stations the majority
of his troops on the east side

of Walcheren Island.

NARRATOR: 7,000 men
defend the causeway,

a little over two miles
from his headquarters
at Middelburg.

This focus is exactly
what the Allies want.

They plan two amphibious
attacks on the outer sides

of the island.

But the concentration of
German soldiers and artillery

on the land approach also
means it will be difficult for

the Calgary Highlanders
to survive long enough,

to be a worthwhile
distraction.

Pinned down in the slit
trenches on the causeway,

Clarke must act.

(gun fire)

Despite the heavy fire
that has taken out several
of his men already,

Clarke jumps out of his trench
and presses forward.

He sees his men
are not advancing.

He needs to investigate
and do something about it.

His radio man, Holm, remains
behind in the trench.

DAVID (off-screen):
You wouldn't want to be
Frank Holm because the enemy,

they're going to try to
destroy the radio set.

They're going to
try to kill you.

They're going to try to cut
off communications between you

and your battalion
headquarters.

NARRATOR: But even Holm's
trench is not safe.

An artillery barrage
hits near his foxhole,

(explosion)

drops a wheelbarrow
out of the darkness,

but he is unharmed.

Meanwhile, Clarke continues
to move forward and finds that

a giant crater blocks
B Company's progress.

The Germans blew the
crater before the battle,

to prevent Allied vehicles
from crossing the causeway.

It now provides safety
for Clarke's men,

who are reluctant
to leave its protection.

(explosion)

Clarke peaks over
to assess enemy positions.

When he determines where
the German guns are located,

he makes his way back
to his radioman, Holm,

to notify headquarters.

Despite the earlier blast,
Holm and the radio

remain in working order.

The Calgary Highlanders
carry a Number 18 wireless
set as a backpack.

One man carries the radio
and another man operates.

The radios transmit
up to 15 miles,

but battle noise severely
limits the range.

As Clarke starts
calling in coordinates,

the radio starts screeching.

(radio screeching)

The Germans have
jammed their signal.

JEFF: A lot of effort goes
into jamming the enemy's
radio communications.

One of the most effective is
essentially to find out what

frequencies they're operating
on and then broadcast enough

noise to make it essentially
impossible for anyone

to understand the
messages being sent.

(radio screeching)

NARRATOR: The best
way to counter this,

is to change frequencies.

JEFF: You figure out in advance
if the first frequency's jammed,

you fall back to
a second frequency

and then perhaps to
a third frequency.

NARRATOR: It can take
time to get everyone on
the same frequency.

After some effort, they
find a clear channel,

and reconnect with Commanding
Officer, Major Ross Ellis.

Artillery opens up on
the German positions
Clarke identifies.

(artillery fire)

The Canadian artillery
allows B Company to
creep forward again,

toward the German
end of the causeway.

(gun fire)

But soon the Germans
attack with renewed vigor.

Snipers in the
mudflats open up.

(gun shot)

And Allied artillery
has failed to take out

a German 88-millimeter gun.

Normally a weapon
used against tanks,

(gun shot)

the 88 targets its
armor-piercing rounds,

down the road.

(shot and explosion)

JEFF (off-screen): The 88
has a fearsome reputation.

It is a multipurpose weapon.

It's used against tanks.

It's used against aircraft.

It's used against
soldiers in the open.

NARRATOR: And the
Germans have adapted its
use to the causeway.

DAVID (off-screen):
They would just fire
and the shell

would just skip
down the roadway.

I guess like a bowling ball
and if you were caught by it

then you were just shredded.

MAN (off-screen): Take cover!

(shots and explosions)

NARRATOR: The heavy German
fire proves devastating.

(gun fire)

With his company
unable to move forward,

Clarke radios asking for
permission to retreat.

DAVID: I think he was smart
enough to see that despite

noble efforts of his men that
they could just not continue.

They had to try to
pull back and regroup.

MAN: Pull out! Retreat!

(gun fire)

NARRATOR: The Canadians cede
the causeway once again

to Daser's men.

They will have to find another
way to take and hold it,

(gun fire)

if they hope to force
the Nazis defending
Walcheren to surrender.

MAN: Pull out! Retreat!

NARRATOR: November 1st, 1944.

Western Holland.

A Canadian battalion, the
Calgary Highlanders attacks

the eastern side of
Walcheren Island,

to distract German forces
from Allied commando raids,

later that day.

Forced to retreat off
the Walcheren causeway,

in the middle of the night,

at 6 am, they have
a new plan of attack.

Major Bruce Mackenzie
and D Company arrive at
the east end of the causeway,

ready to jump off.

The Canadian artillery
barrage begins again.

MAN: Firing!

JEFF: The concentration of
artillery fire on the causeway

is planned to lift
forward 50 yards roughly
every two minutes.

The idea is that the
attacking soldiers behind
will follow the barrage in,

and the artillery fire will help

suppress the German defenses.

NARRATOR: The barrage
is also widened,

to take out the German snipers
firing from the mudflats,

to the side.

(tank fire)

(explosion)

Mackenzie's men
are not all veterans,

and the chaos of the
causeway shakes them.

Canadian losses since
D-Day have been staggering.

Rifle companies, such as those
of the Calgary Highlanders,

make up three quarters of
all casualties incurred,

50% higher than projected.

While all armies struggle
to find reinforcements,

the Canadian situation
is slightly different.

JEFF (off-screen): At this
point in the Second World War
the Canadian army

is unique among the major
armies fighting in
Western Europe

because it's all volunteer.

Every soldier who's there has
volunteered to serve in the army

and has volunteered
for overseas service.

There are, are attempts
to provide reinforcements

by taking soldiers who are
performing other duties

and putting them into
front line duties.

Sometimes with minimal
or very little training.

NARRATOR: The combat
strength of D Company
is around 125 men.

But as they fight
through Holland,

the Highlanders are
undermanned by about 17%.

Major Mackenzie needs to
inspire these green troops.

But he has a challenge.

He must time their advance
with the creeping barrage from

behind them, while avoiding
incoming German fire.

(tank fire)

DAVID: Bruce Mackenzie
recognized that they were in

a pretty tough situation.

He knows that it takes maybe
20 seconds to load a shell

into one of these into
one of these guns,

but you know 20 seconds is
20 seconds, so the shell lands,

you get up and then you hit
the ground and you wait for

the next shell to land.

MAN: Fire!

(tank fire)

ROSS: Move forward!

NARRATOR: D Company
charges onto the causeway

behind the first barrage
of friendly fire.

ROSS: Forward, men, forward!

(gun fire)

NARRATOR: The
Highlanders advance as
their artillery targets

snipers in the channel,

(explosions)

and quiets some of
the German guns.

Mackenzie's forward platoon,
led by Sergeant Emile Lola

finally gets past the crater.

MAN: Incoming!

NARRATOR: But as the
barrage ends, enemy fire
forces them into a trench

about 25 yards from
the end of the causeway.

(gun fire)

A fortified roadblock
obstructs access to
Walcheren Island.

gun fire and explosion)

Lola identifies the source
of German machine gun fire,

then sends his runner
back to Mackenzie

to call in artillery.

The man does not make it back.

The German defense
of the causeway is
proving formidable.

PETER (off-screen): But it all
again shows you the importance
of good leadership.

You couldn't expect from
70th Division to make large

movements and fighting
like an elite force.

But if you assign
them to the job,

they are capable of doing,
then the results were
quite satisfactory.

NARRATOR: By this time
British Commandos are positioned

and beginning to land
on Walcheren Island.

PETER: I think the
Allied operation plan
is extremely clever,

to use the Calgary Highlanders
as a distraction force

on the land side, on the east.

And the main attack comes from
the south and from the west

with an amphibious assault.

Because it confuses
the Germans and distracts

their main forces
for the defense.

NARRATOR: When he sees his
man go down, Lola knows,

D Company cannot advance with
the German machine gun fire

spraying the causeway.

So, he leaves his
forward position,

and sprints back to
Mackenzie, himself.

(gun fire)

(gun fire)

Mackenzie orders
artillery support,

this time just ahead
of his position.

He asks for an exactly
two-minute barrage,

and checks his watch.

(tank fire)

(explosions)

As shells fall around
him, Mackenzie watches
the clock intently.

He wants his men over the top
as the last shells explode.

DAVID: The barrage is what we
sometimes call, danger close.

The rough arithmetic of
war, when you gotta balance,

I know there's
going to be damage,

people are going
to be wounded,

people are going to be killed,
how do I minimize that?

NARRATOR: As the final shells
land, D Company, led by Lola.

EMILE: Charge, go, go, go!

NARRATOR: Rushes
the German roadblock.

EMILE: Charge!

NARRATOR: November 1st, 1944.

South west Holland.

Major Bruce Mackenzie and his
fellow Calgary Highlanders,

charge a roadblock at the end
of a causeway which obstructs

access to Walcheren Island.

(gun fire)

Despite the initial barrage,
the Canadians still meet

intense small arms fire
from the German defenders.

(gun fire)

(gun fiire)

(explosion)

D Company fights
it way forward.

(gun fire)

Then overruns the roadblock.

(gun fire)

The surviving
Germans surrender.

The rush has worked.

For the first time,
the Canadians have reached

the edge of Walcheren Island.

They have been assigned
a thankless task.

Their job is to distract Nazi
forces as Allied Commandos

land amphibious assaults on
other parts of the island.

DAVID (off-screen): Whether they
realized that they were doing it

to keep the Germans nailed in
position or not, I don't know,

but they were
given the orders,

you've got to
take the Causeway.

NARRATOR: D Company
pushes past the roadblock

and takes up
defensive positions.

Mackenzie sends
German prisoners back,

and gives commanding
officer, Major Ross Ellis

the green light to send up
the other companies,

to secure their
toehold on the island.

But advancing up the causeway
will still not be easy.

DAVID: The other two companies
that are coming up behind

are still subject to German
shellfire, German mortar fire.

The 88 is still there.

They're still very heavily
being fired upon

and they're losing men.

MAN (off-screen):
Keep moving! Keep moving!

NARRATOR: Ellis sends Captain
Frank Clarke and B Company

across again this
time with A Company.

Together, the Highlanders
must locate and clear

the 88 millimeter and
other German strong points
past the causeway,

before they can capture
Walcheren Island.

(gun fire)

During their advance,
the radioman,

Frank Holm becomes separated
from B Company and Clarke.

(explosion)

Incoming artillery
strikes nearby.

Lucky for Holm, the
equipment protects him.

But the radio is
beyond repair.

Holm retreats across
the causeway to find
a replacement.

When A and B companies arrive
at the end of the causeway,

A Company fans
out on the right.

B Company pushes past
D Company's left flank.

Sloped dykes hold back
the water from the canal.

Captain Frank Clarke
leads B Company along
the edge of the dyke,

using the slope
to protect against
German gunfire.

50 yards inland, a
cluster of buildings
would offer some cover.

But he needs to clear a
pocket of Germans before
advancing his men.

But Clarke has lost
his radio man

and cannot call in
artillery support.

He sends runners to find a
radio to communicate with
battalion headquarters.

(gun shot)

(explosion)

They are stopped short.

Clarke is frustrated.

DAVID: He can see a kilometer
away Ellis standing there

with his headquarters, but he
can't get his attention.

There's no way because
the radio is out.

So what is he going to
do wave his arms

and you know, get shot?

NARRATOR: Ellis
watches B Company from
the opposite shore.

He has set his command post
close to the causeway

to better direct the battle.

But as Ellis looks
across the channel,

he has no way of knowing
why Clarke is pinned down.

Without communication,
Ellis looks on helplessly.

But decides to take action.

He will advance up
the causeway himself

to figure out what's going on.

DAVID (off-screen): He's
wearing his Balmoral.

He's not wearing a helmet.

Whether he implied it, or
he wrote it in the letter,

and he said, look if I'm going
to get a bullet in the head

I'm going to be no more dead
with a helmet than I'm going

to be with a Balmoral.

NARRATOR: Ellis,
flanked by his scout,

and a brigade major, walks
calmly across the causeway.

ROSS: How we doing?

NARRATOR: When suddenly,
a burst of artillery
strikes nearby,

Ellis' bravado may
prove too costly.

NARRATOR: Midday.

November 1st, 1944.

Walcheren Causeway, Holland.

Canadian Major Ross Ellis,
of the Calgary Highlanders

has lost radio communication
with the company leading
their attack.

(gun fire)

Ellis sets out across
the battlefield

to consult with his officers
and gather information.

ROSS: Alright, keep it up,
keep it up, boys, move out.

DAVID (off-screen): He's going
from slit trench to slit trench.

From hole to hole and he's got
guys down there who are hiding

away from rifle fire and
he's checking on them.

ROSS: Alright, good, here we go.

NARRATOR: With
a blast of artillery,

the scout dives for cover.

When he looks up, he
sees Ellis chatting with
his men, unfazed.

ROSS: Let's go, bud.

NARRATOR: Ellis continues
slowly along the causeway,

stopping at each
trench to check in.

(gun fire)

When he reaches the crater,
Ellis sizes it up and orders

in an armored bulldozer.

To bring tank support
across the causeway later,

the crater must be filled.

While he works, a runner
arrives with news

that A Company is leaderless.

Their officers have
been wounded or killed.

The brigade major,
George Hees,
crossing with Ellis,

volunteers to take
over A Company.

DAVID: George Hees,
up till that point in time
had never seen combat

but they gave him a rifle
and they sort of sent

him out on the causeway
and he did the best he could.

NARRATOR: Hees and
an Artillery Captain
with STEN guns,

head to a company
as the Germans continue
their barrage.

The 88 millimeter still
bounces armor piercing rounds

down the causeway.

DAVID: The idea was that you
were going to stop the troops

coming up the causeway.

That shell is moving so fast
that they're just going to make

mincemeat out of you if
you get caught by that shell.

NARRATOR: As Ellis finally
returns to his headquarters,

he calls in a more targeted
strike to deal with the 88,

this time using air power.

The Hawker Typhoon
was originally designed
as an interceptor,

but soon found
a sweet spot in low
altitude missions.

With speeds over
400 miles per hour,

it was used to attack
U-boats and to soften up

German positions on the
coast before D-Day.

Capable of firing
eight, RP3 rockets,

at low altitudes
and high speeds,

the typhoon has a debilitating
effect on enemy morale.

The typhoons fly dozens of
missions on November 1st,

in support of the Canadians
and the Allied Commandos,

attacking the south and west
parts of Walcheren Island.

ROSS: Get back, switch over!

NARRATOR: Ellis remains
in triage mode.

He handles critical problems
as they arise:

the 88. replacement officers
for A Company,

but he never gets far
enough to find out

what is holding up B Company.

ROSS: Keep firing boys!
Keep firing!

NARRATOR: Meanwhile on
the edge of Walcheren Island,

B Company has been forced
to dig in against the dyke

to hold the left flank.

They're down to about 25 men.

As dusk falls, the Germans
launch a heavy
counter-attack against them.

(gun fire)

The platoon holding
to their far left,

is wiped out by flame
throwers and small arms fire.

It is a first for the
Calgary Highlanders.

They have never encountered
enemy flame throwers before.

JEFF: It's a psychological
weapon in many ways

as much as it's a
physical weapon.

It terrifies through
this primal fear of fire.

NARRATOR: In response,
Clarke uses mortars to hold off

the Germans advancing
to the left.

Back at headquarters,
learning of the heavy
German counter attacks,

Ellis orders his commanders

to retreat to the
causeway roadblock.

DAVID (off-screen): The
hardest thing to do in
battle is a fighting retreat.

To move back in such a way
that you're able to continue

to keep fire on the enemy
while you're moving back.

NARRATOR: But only Companies
A and D receive the order.

Clarke and Company B
have no radio,

and do not receive
the message to retreat.

As Companies A and D withdraw,
B Company's position is now

incredibly exposed.

(gun fire)

And is moments away from
being cut off and overrun.

NARRATOR: November 1st, 1944.

Three companies of
the Calgary Highlanders

are under heavy counter-attack
from the Nazi stronghold

of Walcheren Island,
off the Dutch coast.

Seeing a gap open between
his company and neighboring
D Company,

Captain Frank Clarke
must act quickly,

or they will be wiped out.

Lance Corporal, Richard Wolfe
volunteers to stay

and hold off the Germans.

DAVID (off-screen): What he did
was to provide covering fire

with his mortar to try to stop
the Germans from following

the Canadian troops back.

(gun fire)

It was a heroic move
and he was taken prisoner

as a result of delaying
his own withdrawal.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, Major
Bruce Mackenzie and D Company

are also under heavy attack.

Mackenzie realizes too late that
B Company has not followed,

and the gap leaves
his company exposed, too.

(gun fire)

One of Mackenzie's
newest platoon leaders,

Emile Lola, steps in.

Lola is an
experienced soldier.

He joined the army in 1939
and saw action in North Africa

with the Lancashire Regiment.

He trained newly arrived
recruits in England,

until being shipped out on
June 7th, just after D-Day.

Lola was assigned to
the Calgary Highlanders,

just nine days before
the battle at Walcheren.

As German grenades
rain down on D Company,

Sergeant Lola begins
picking them up

and throwing the grenades back.

DAVID: Our grenades
were a little different,

but you know the idea
was the same,

you pulled the charge,
and you waited, you counted

and when it got to about seven

you threw the grenade and you
hoped that in three seconds

it was going to explode
at the other guy.

You throw the grenade, I'm
here and I see that grenade

land there and
what's my choice?

I guess I could
jump on the grenade,

definitely kill myself.

Or I can try to pick up
that grenade

and throw it back at you and
hope that I get away with it.

There's no science to it.

It's just a matter
of instinct, I think.

(explosion)

NARRATOR: While
out of his trench,

Lola also sees
the gap opening up

between D and B Company.

The company Bren gun
has been knocked out

and the Germans press in.

Lola takes matters
into his own hands.

DAVID (off-screen):
You've got a gun there.

If it fires you
could save your life.

You don't have any tools.

The enemy's coming at you.

What're you going to do?

You're going to kick it.

You're going to bang
it on the ground.

(gun fire)

NARRATOR: It works.

With the Bren gun fire,
Clarke and B Company
close in with D Company.

But suddenly a German
counterattack begins

(gun fire)

and halts the Canadian retreat.

Lola hands off the Bren
gun and picks up a PIAT.

JEFF (off-screen): The PIAT
is the primary infantry carried
anti-tank weapon

used by British
and other commonwealth forces

in the Second World War.

It has idiosyncrasies.

Because of the way it
works there's a very
large powerful spring

that has to be cocked before
it's fired for the first time

and it's difficult to do this
especially while

you're under fire.

NARRATOR: Lola
does not hesitate.

He grabs the gun, cocks,

and fires the PIAT
into the German gunners,

(explosion)

opening up another
chance for B Company

to make it back to the causeway.

Lola fights with
singular purpose.

Using anything at hand,
to defend his men and
kill the enemy.

DAVID: Lola kind
of goes crazy.

I mean I don't know
how else you can put it.

I think it's one of these
situations that you encounter

occasionally where he
just begins to shoot.

He'll fire at anything.

He'll fire at the enemy.

He'll take on larger
numbers of enemy troops.

(gun fire and explosion)

It's almost like he has
lost his sense of mortality.

NARRATOR: With covering
fire from Lola,

Clarke and B Company
break through the gap

and fall in with their fellow
Highlanders.

(gun fire)

Shrapnel from one of
the German grenades

wounds a man near to Clarke.

Clarke fashions a splint from
a rifle, to stabilize his leg.

It is too dangerous
for everyone,

to try and evacuate him.

They lower the
man into a trench,

high enough that he won't
drown when the tide comes in,

to keep him as
safe as possible.

Clarke and Mackenzie pull
their companies back,

past the German roadblock,
and onto the causeway.

MAN: Go, go, go!

NARRATOR: A and C Company,
dig in at the crater,

to repel the German
counterattack together.

(gun fire)

The Calgary Highlanders
hold the causeway all night,

amid pounding artillery
and German counterattacks.

Their position allows
more Canadians to launch

another offensive the next day.

The Maisonneuves use
the Highlanders' position

to leapfrog and continue
the attack on Walcheren,

keeping pressure on the
Germans from the east.

DAVID (off-screen):
Highlanders and the other
battalions of Five Brigade

kept those Germans busy
for about 36 to 48 hours,

which was what was needed to
allow the Commandos to land

on the other side of the island.

NARRATOR: The amphibious
assaults prove successful

and give the Allies
a hold on Walcheren.

After a week of
bitter fighting,

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser
surrenders the 70th division.

PETER (off-screen):
When Hitler learned
about the loss of Walcheren,

he was furious.

But at the same time,
Hitler is also very
much concerned about

Allied offensives
into Germany.

You just had seen the
battle of Aachen going on,

so the first German
city is lost.

NARRATOR: For his
actions on the causeway,

Sergeant Emile Lola
earns the distinguished
conduct medal.

Captain Frank Clarke
and Major Bruce Mackenzie

are both awarded the
distinguished service order.

Major Ross Ellis
is commended for his
leadership on the causeway.

He also earns the DSO
for his efforts in Holland,

before succumbing to battle
exhaustion in December.

They all survive
the war and live out
their lives in Canada.

After the Royal Navy
clears the mines,

from the channel
leading to Antwerp,

the first Allied supply
ships deliver cargo

on November 28th, 1944.

Hitler continues to order
barrages of v1 and v2 rockets

against Antwerp.

PETER (off-screen): Hitler's
also planning his new offensive.

And what is the objective
of the new offensive?

Antwerp.

NARRATOR: In a drive
that will become known as

the Battle of the Bulge.

And the war in Europe would
continue for many more months.

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Media Group.