Battle for the Kapelsche Veer 1945
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 26 January 1945 – 31 January 1945 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1945 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Netherlands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Western Front, World War II | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 51.7080, 4.9290 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle for the Kapelsche Veer, also known as Operation Elephant took place between 26–31 January 1945. It was fought between the German Wehrmacht and allied troops at the Kapelsche Veer – a ferry crossing of the River Meuse near the village of Capelle in the province North Brabant of the Netherlands. The Wehrmacht had occupied the Netherlands since May 1940, having conquered the country during the Battle of France. As a result of the battle, both countries had casualties of over 1,000 men (dead, missing, wounded, or in war captivity).
Commander of the First British Corps, General John Crocker, intended for this German bridgehead to be overwhelmed at any cost. The last part of the battle was "Operation Elephant", the code-name of an Allied operation against paratroopers holding a ferry crossing on the Maas river at Kapelsche Veer. Allied regiments in Operation Elephant were the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, and the South Alberta Regiment tanks (elements of the Fourth Canadian Armored Division). The small ferry slip was defended heavily and the allies suffered 300 casualties before winning.
The 'Official Summary of the Canadian Army' writes (p. 244f.):
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle for the Kapelsche Veer (revision 1370430695), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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