Corporal Preston Duncan Campbell
Into the Fray
Belgium & The Netherlands
On the morning of 8th September 1944, the Algonquin Regiment were bivouaced in a town called St. Ricquiers having just crossed the border from France the night before. Following several weeks of rapid advance towards Germany, the canals of the low countries would now start to impede their progress.
Simultaneously, the advance had left the Allied armies in a dangerously precarious position, reliant on extended supply lines all the way back to Normandy. Further progress depended on the ability of the 1st Canadian Army to quickly liberate a substantial port to provide the necessary seaborne access near the front to allow the rapid supply of the fighting forces. There were several candidates.
Le Havre had been liberated by the 1st British Corps (fighting under General Crerar's 1st Cdn Army) but the harbour facilities had been destroyed by the Germans and would not be repaired and ready for use until early October. The Channel Ports of Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk had been designated as 'Fortresses' by Hitler on the 4th of September and had reinforced their defences considerably in that time. Antwerp, the largest port in the lowlands had been captured by the rapid advance of the 2nd British Army under Dempsey on the 4th of September, but the mouth of the Scheldt river that leads to Antwerp was still under the control of the German 15th Army and thus the port was as yet inaccessible to the Allies.
Field Marshall Montgomery now urged General Crerar (1st Canadian Army) and Lt. General Simonds (II Canadian Corps) to liberate for use the Channel Ports as well as Antwerp, while Montgomery organised British and American forces to capture the next series of bridgeheads over the river valleys between Antwerp and the Rhineland: this endeavour would become known as Operation Market-Garden.
On the morning of 8th September, at 0800, the Algonquins left St. Ricquiers and commenced their mission to seize the critical ground of the Scheldt estuary, as a means of opening the port of Antwerp.
The Battle of Moerbrugge
8-12 September, 1944
After crossing into Belgium it was clear that the medieval town of Bruges was being held in some strength, but Allied intelligence assessed that this was a mere delaying action while the bulk of the German defence in this part of Belgium was being set up along the Leopold Canal. The canal ran in a southeasterly direction and provided an effective obstacle for Allied forces trying to clear the Scheldt estuary and in so doing open the port of Antwerp for Allied use.
The decision was made that 4th Armoured Division would bypass the town of Bruges to the Southeast, and meant the Division would have to cross a small canal that ran between Bruges and Brussels. On the 8th, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders made a crossing and established a bridgehead for the other battalions to follow, but it was under enormous pressure from German counterfire. The Lincoln and Welland regiment went next and attempted to support and expand the bridgehead but this was still only barely holding.
The Algonquins then attempted to create a diversion by attempting a separate crossing further along the canal, hoping to pull German defenders away from the main assault. But their scouts were discovered and attacked by the Germans ruining any chance at surprise. As a result, no second crossing was able to be made. The Algonquins then were told they would cross at the same point as the other two battalions and started this movement on the evening of the 9th. Over the next three days, the Algonquins would commit their forces a company at a time to cross the canal and support the expansion of the bridgehead where needed.
By the afternoon of the 11th, the tanks had started to be able to get across the canal, and by noon on the 12th, it was evident the Germans had withdrawn from Bruges and the surrounding area and were retreating to the next line of defence; the Leopold canal. The Division moved up as quickly as possible, the Algonquins ordered to march about 5 miles on foot to a town called Sysseele.
The next obstacle, the Leopold Canaal, would prove a much greater challenge and of the defining battles of the war from the Algonquins.
The Battle of Leopold Canal
13-14 September 1944
Recce patrols sent out on the 12th and 13th of September to the village of Moerkerke, about 3 miles to the north of Sysseele near the Leopold Canal, came upon little opposition. It was assessed that any Germans in the area were disorganised, demoralised and lacking supplies. The Algonquins took confidence from these assessments and were assigned the task of being the first battalion to cross the Leopold canal on that same night - September 13th, 1944.
In his book "Warpath"; G.L. Cassidy (who was in command of 'A' company at the time of these events) notes that more reinforcements arrived that afternoon bringing the strength of each company up to about 90.
This is almost certainly when Private P.D. Campbell joined the Algonquin Regiment for the first time even though his service papers indicate he was taken on strength on the 14th, the following day. As we will see, the reinforcements arriving late on the afternoon of the 13th were rushed into join their companies in time to take part in the nighttime crossing of the Leopold Canal. From all evidence, P.D. Campbell joined 'C' company, under the command of Major A.K.J. Stirling.
The Algonquins at Moerkerke
Private P.D. Campbell's First Action
Prior to the attack, Algonquin Regiment Scouts conducted a more thorough reconnaissance and set up Observation Points, but were cautious not to prematurely indicate their attack intentions as they had in Moerbrugge on the 9th so didn't risk venturing too close to enemy positions. As a result, their level of understanding of the strength and disposition of the enemy was not as good as it could have been.
With poor estimates of enemy strength and poor reconnaissance, the Algonquins were starting off on a bad foot. On top of that, they were employing new assault boats to cross the canal. A hastily organised crash-course in how to assemble and operate these boats had only been provided that afternoon. Furthermore, the attack was set to commence at night with many new reinforcements freshly joined. My uncle Preston was one of these new reinforcements. Cassidy noted, “The promised reinforcements arrived late, and it was barely possible to take down their names, assign them to companies, give them the briefest of briefings, and show them what an assault boat looked like, and then it was time to move off.” Under such circumstances would Preston be introduced to combat.
In retrospect, it is easy to see the pitfalls and inherent risk in this mission. Contrasted, however, with the pressing requirement to take control of the Scheldt estuary and open the Port of Antwerp, thereby enabling the continued Allied drive to Germany, it is important for those studying this battle, and the many battles to come in the autumn and winter of 1944-45, not to overlook the enormous political and military strategic pressure from above that these battalions would have been subjected to. Nobody at the orders group from Division HQ that evening, from the Division Commander all the way down to Company level briefings, raised any objection to the mission.
Catastrophe on the Canal
The rifle companies of the regiment spent the rest of their available time preparing for the assault and at the alloted time, guides were used to take the companies to their starting points, where they would pick up their boats, head to the water’s edge and then cross. But there was a last minute change of plans to the orders, the guides weren’t overly familiar with their routes and by the time they arrived at the water and were ready to cross, they had missed their planned start time. The carefully organised supporting artillery bombardment, under the cover of which their crossing of the canal was to be protected, had already ceased…they would have to cross without the cover of the guns.
Soldiers from their sister regiment, The Lincoln and Wellands, had been assigned to row the Algonquins to the other side, but in their haste to get across while the Germans were still recovering from the bombardment, the Algonquins opted not to wait for them. This decision had enormous ramifications. The main reason for the assigned rowers was to bring the boats back so the other supporting battalions from 10th Brigade could also cross and provide support to the bridgehead. The failure to send the boats back meant that no reinforcements could cross the canal to support them.
The assault boats themselves were large, heavy awkward boats and this caused significant trouble to the men trying to manhandle them down the steep muddy banks and then up and over the island that split the canal in two, so that in fact two separate canals had to be crossed. All this had to be carried out in the dark, in unfamiliar territory, against a determined and nearly trapped German Army.
The first company to cross, 'A' Company did not have a flooded area on their left as they assumed they would have which meant they had to thin their line out more than anticipated. Next across, 'B' Company got badly shot up losing the equivalent of a full platoon in their crossing and then rather than take up their assigned position, joined in with 'A' Company and sent only one platoon forward to control a key road intersection on the town’s north side. 'C' Company went well off track to the west of their intended position and 'D' Company went off track to the east. When all was said and done, the four rifle companies all got across but they had not started on time, missed their overhead artillery umbrella window, made a fatal decision not to send back the assault boats so that other reinforcements could support them, and now there were gaping holes in their perimeter defence that German infiltration attacks exploited all night long. Now more or less dug in around their small bridgehead, heavy German sniper fire and artillery kept them busy the rest of the night.
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