As a result, the liberation of Sprang-Capelle and Waalwijk proceeded smoothly, although again there were many civilian casualties due to preliminary Allied shelling. Only when the forward Scottish units in Waspik hit the outer ring of the German bridgehead did the battle erupt in all its intensity. Heavy fighting continued the next day, October 31, and a mini tank battle even took place. But here too the German resistance was finally broken and that same evening Operation Colin could be successfully concluded. Unfortunately, from that day until the end of the war, the liberated towns lay rather close to the new front line, the Bergsche Maas, with tragic consequences for the civilian population.

The Netherlands

Soldiers on the Raadhuisplein in Waalwijk. 

Colin Pretlove receives a medal from Montgomery. 

Baardwijk Railwaybridge

Scottish Highlanders route in Waalwijk

Opposite Café van Heumen (now Café Landzicht), a location beacon is erected by the German air force, presumably as early as 1941. It is intended to help German aircraft, especially in bad weather and at night. The mast is surrounded by barbed wire and off limits to civilians. It is highly visible, though, as it stands opposite Café Van Heumen, a well-known tavern just outside Waalwijk. For a long time, things remain quiet in the immediate area. That changes at the end of September 1944. By now part of North Brabant has been liberated in the course of Operation Market-Garden. More and more German troops arrive in the part still occupied, including units with anti-aircraft guns, the so-called Flak. This is also the case near the beacon.A total of fourteen guns of Flak-Abteilung 665 take up poitions along the Winter Dike from Westeinde in Besoijen to Labbegat in Capelle in late September. This unit spent most of the occupation in the Rotterdam area and even shot down some Allied bombers. Because of the rapid Allied advance through France and Belgium in early September, the unit was sent south. That is why they now find themselves in North Brabant. But the soldiers have very little desire to be so close to the front. By the weekend of 1 October, they are drunk as a lord. They walk across the dyke bellowing ‘Wir ergeben uns bald (we will surrender soon)’. Many a citizen hearing this thinks ‘if only that were true’. Unfortunately, it will take until 30 October for the enemy to leave here for good.

Drunk Germans in the polder

Capelle's former town hall, which has not served as a town hall since its amalgamation with Sprang and Vrijhoeve in 1923, is used for a variety of other things. During the Second World War, it was used by the resistance group Andre, among others. Resistance fighters Hans Hoekstra and Jan de Rooij collect valuable intelligence about German troop movements on the other side of the Maas at the end of 1944 and transmit these to the town hall, where two Delft students, Dick Flemming and Ad Schoorl, from the resistance group Andre further distribute the messages to the Allies. Every night, one of the students decodes the messages received and transmits them. This information allows Allied forces to plan vital countermeasures. But disaster lurks. In December 1944, a German V-1 flying bomb strikes the town hall with deadly force. The building is completely destroyed. Dick Flemming narrowly survives the disaster and a new location must be found.

A dramatic day 

David Williams voluntarily joined the British Royal Marines as a 17-year-old. He was wounded three times, during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, during D-Day in Normandy and during the liberation of Walcheren. But he survived. In 1945, things take a turning for the worse. In early February 1945, David, serving in the British 41 Royal Marine Commando, is reported missing, possibly as a result of a boating accident, drowning in the icy river Maas. In 2010, during a major explosives detection project in the Overdiepse Polder on the banks of the Oude Maasje, the body of an allied soldier is found. After a long investigation, it turns out to be the mortal remains of David Williams.It appears that he was found in February 1945 after all and given a field grave because a crucifix is found in his folded hands. On 8 June 2016, David Williams is given an honourable burial amid huge public interest. He is interred in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission grave at the Protestant cemetery in Waspik by a detachment of the Royal Marines, the same place where his comrades A. Brookes and C. Brandon are also buried.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Reburied

The plan Tuesday, 31 October, is the last day of Operation Colin. After taking Raamsdonk that morning, the final objective is in sight. It is now only three kilometres to the bridge at Keizersveer. There are two possible routes. As a result of the heavy losses during the fight in Raamsdonk, the Highlanders decide to try the shortest route. It starts in the Raadhuisstraat and passes by Saint Lambertus Church. Lieutenant Colonel Cathcart's 7th Battalion of the Black Watch is assigned the job. The battalion will be supported by a number of Sherman tanks from the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. Cathcart orders his men to shoot at anything that moves in order to reach Raamsdonksveer as quickly as possible. The church is code-named ‘Terrier’. The first group, a platoon of the Black Watch (about 20 men) is transported in two Kangaroos, tanks without turrets. In front and behind them are two Sherman tanks each. At 4pm, the six vehicles set off.The fight Cathcart, however, has miscalculated, because it is &nbsp;right here, around the church, that a substantial German rearguard is lined up. No fewer than five haltracks with 2 cm guns and three tracked vehicles (including two so-called Sturmgeschütze) have taken up concealed positions. Two are behind farms next to the narrow lane, the other one is &nbsp;near the church. The British vehicles have barely left when all hell breaks loose. The front British tank spots the two German tracked vehicles and takes them out at lightning speed. Then things go dramatically wrong for the attackers. Because of the dense smoke and narrow road, the first three British vehicles end up in a ditch. The following tank blasts the halftracks to pieces. The rear British tank also ends up in the ditch and the second Kangaroo is fired upon by the last German tracked vehicle. Despite being in the ditch, one of the British tanks manages to knock it out. As the smoke and fumes lift, 13 wrecks remain on the battlefield, eight German and five Allied. Seven Hghlanders and two Englishmen are killed, as are 23 Germans. The miniature battle enters the annals of the units involved as the ‘Terrier Battle’. Raamsdonksveer is eventually liberated via the second, longer route. At 10 pm the bridge at Keizersveer goes up. Operation Colin is over. &nbsp;

Terrier Battle

After their comrades of&nbsp; the Black Watch have liberated Waspik Boven during the morning of 30 October, the 7th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders moves through their lines on their way to Raamsdonk. It is three o'clock in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the enemy has set up a new line of defence in this village to prevent the Allies from quickly taking the important bridge at Keizersveer. Scottish infantrymen supported by four tanks of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry notice this as soon as they enter the village. Things go wrong almost immediately.In short order, the leading two Sherman tanks are knocked out by Germans with a so-called Panzerfaust, a hand-held anti-tank weapon. The remaining tanks open fire on suspected positions while Scottish infantrymen try to sneak their way forward. Unfortunately, many farms also fall victim to the tanks' exuberant firing. Soon most are ablaze. Civilians try to find safe refuge by crawling through the ditches. The Luiten Ambachtstraat is one huge Hieronymus Bosch-like scene of smoke, fire and explosions. By the end of the day, the British battle group has not got much further than the edge of the village. By then, twelve soldiers have been killed. Eight civilians have also been killed in the fighting. The attack is broken off at dusk. When calm has somewhat returned that night, an unbearable tension hangs in the village. What will the next day bring?As usual, retreating German troops blow up all high points. This is also their intention in Raamsdonk. Father Leon van Herpt of St Bavo's church (1889) sees about five German soldiers entering the vicarage. Hearing that they want to blow up his tower, he tries to talk them out of it. When he discovers that they are from the Alsace, he appeals to their French pride. This works and a small miracle happens. The soldiers give in to his arguments and leave. The next morning the battle for Raamsdonk resumes and it takes until the afternoon before this last barrier before the bridge of Keizersveer is taken.

Death and destruction

It is 28 October 1944 around 2.30 pm when two aircraft from 175 Squadron make an attack on Ruijtenberg's shipyard. At that moment, two German tracked vehicles, so-called Sturmgeschütze, are standing in Benedenkerkstraat. The first vehicle is towing the second one whose track is damaged. The first vehicle is under a plane tree near Dr Wijffels' house, the second under the lime trees near the Timmers family's former farm. The two fighters also spot the enemy vehicles and launch an attack from the south. At that moment, the Wijffels family flees with some others into the basement. The entrance to the cellar is closed with a wooden hatch topped by an iron plate. Via a pulley, everything can be opened from the inside.When the attack is over, the people inside hear pounding on the hatch and a German shouts, ‘Raus kommen, das Haus an die Überseite brennt. ’ (‘Come out. The house across the road is burning.’)There is indeed a fire but it involves a wood store and also one of the tracked vehicles. The men begin extinguishing the wood store. The German soldier, however, insists that the fire of his tracked vehicle be extinguished first because, he explains, the vehicle is full of ammunition in the form of shells. ‘Wenn das los geht finden Sie keine Hauser zurück, nur ein riesigen Loch’. (‘When that explodes you instead of your houses you will find just one huge crater.’) With everybody helping out the fire in the tracked vehicle was extinguished and a tragedy is avoided. The vehicles then leave for the Lambertus Church in Raamsdonk to reinforce ‘Brückenkopf Keizersveer’.The drag trail of the blocked drive wheel of the faulty vehicle can still be seen in surface of Benedenkerkstraat for years to come.

Unwilling firefighters

Lieutenant Colonel J.A. Hopwood's battalion, the 1st Black Watch, sets off early on Monday 30 October. The previous night in the hamlet of Zandschel was particularly unsettling, as the Scots were shelled from all sides by retreating German troops. Their objective for the day is Waspik Boven, the part of Waspik south of the railway line. Initially the advance is very smooth. The Germans seem to have disappeared and by 09.40 the forward unit, B Company has advanced as far as the road junction. On the right the road enters the village, on the left it runs to the Hooge Brug (bridge) over the ‘s Gravenmoerse Vaart. This has been partially destroyed upon the approach of the Black Watch. But it will still have to be captured. Then all hell breaks loose.Well-positioned German soldiers open fire and a fierce battle erupts in Waspik Boven. It is clear that the opposition is too great for one company and soon the other three also move forward and the whole battalion is engaged in battle. Guns fire, machine guns crackle and mortar shells explode. Eventually every single house must be taken and it is not until 2 pm that Waspik Boven is in Scottish hands. A total of twenty Highlanders have become casualties. It is now up to the next battalion to take the rest of Waspik.At the Hooge Brug the fight is equally fierce. And there are displays of heroism, one of which results in an award. Corporal Leslie Pretlove is nominated by Hopwood for the Military Medal, the highest award for Other Ranks. The platoon in which Pretlove serves (37 men) is ordered to capture the bridge. While attacking across open terrain, the commanding officer is badly wounded. As bullets whistle around his ears, Pretlove makes sure the officer is brought to safety. After this, he and his section (seven men) capture the bridge under sustained German fire. Pretlove does not allow himself to be distracted by German fire. For this achievement he receives the decoration. It was awarded in 1945 by Field Marshal Montgomery himself.

A bridge and an award

On 6 November 1944, at 4.05pm, a Spitfire LF.IX (registration number NH339) of 308 (Polish) Squadron crashed in the De Dullaert nature reserve in Sprang-Capelle. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Kazimierz Budzik, took off from St Denis Westrem airfield near Ghent for a mission to attack train transports near Zwolle. It is already the third mission of the day. At an altitude of 13,000 feet, his aircraft is hit by German anti-aircraft fire, damaging the engine. Despite the damage, Budzik decides to make an emergency landing in liberated territory. He still has enough altitude and the controls are functioning normally. He manages to land the plane safely in a meadow near the drainage canal in Capelle.After landing, he is picked up by a British armoured car and taken back to his base in Ghent. However, the plane has been damaged beyond repair and is a complete write-off. Budzik must have had an angel on his shoulder in the autumn of 1944, because a week earlier, on 29 October 1944, he was also shot down, this time near a bridge between Breda and Dordrecht (possibly the Moerdijk bridge). The area was still in German hands at the time, Breda only just having been liberated by his countrymen. With the help of some Dutchmen, he quickly reached the Allied lines and resumed his missions on 2 November. Only to be shot down again.

Shot down twice 

Resistance In early December, two members of the André resistance group (Jos van Wijlen) from Sprang-Capelle voluntarily leave for occupied territory to spy and pass on information about German positions and troops. Hans Hoekstra and Jan de Rooij have each received a transmitter from the Canadians for this purpose. Eventually, Jan de Rooij ends up with the Koekoek family in Dussen, where he is able to pose as a simple farmhand. He promises the family, now at great risk, that he will take the blame if things go wrong.Espionage From then on, Hans Hoekstra and Jan de Rooij sent daily messages to liberated territory clearly showing that there is a growing number of German troops in the Land of Heusden and Altena. This is because of an unrealistic German plan to support the recenty launched Ardennes offensive with an attack towards Breda. Nothing ultimately comes of this hairbrained idea. But neither the resistance fighters nor the Allies can know that at the time. On 21 December, Jan de Rooij sends his last message. The enemy has managed to plot his transmitter and the next day the device is found in farmer Koekoek's barn. Jan de Rooij lives up to his promise and voluntarily surrenders to the German authorities. The family is released. Jan is taken to Amsterdam and severely beaten during interrogations. He remains silent about everything he knows about the crossings, the resistance work, the helpers and persons of the resistance organisation in the Land of Heusden and Altena. He never mentions a name and so saves many lives. Jan, 21, is eventually summarily executed on 6 January 1945 in Amsterdam.Hero Reports found in the archives show how extensive the network used by the two men is and also that they know very well what kind of information is of interest to the Allied forces. Of course, it takes incredible courage to volunteer, as a spy, to gather intelligence in enemy territory. Thanks to their fearlessness, the various Allied staffs in liberated territory gain and keep a good picture of the German military presence in the Land of Heusden and Altena. In addition, as far as Jan de Rooij is concerned, the fact that he voluntarily made the highest sacrifice anyone can give, namely his life, makes him a true hero. In 1954, a monument was unveiled in memory of Jan de Rooij. It was designed by artist Fred Carasso. Every year on 4 May, a commemoration of the dead is held here for the residents of Sprang-Capelle.

A true hero

On Monday 30 October 152 Brigade, one of the three in the 51 Highland Division, prepares to liberate the town of Waalwijk. Operation Colin, which was launched near Schijndel, is exactly one week old. The objective of the division, the Bergsche Maas, is finally in sight. On their way there the three battalions of 152 have to take the same crossroads. The 2nd Seaforth Highlanders is heading for Besoyen (Waalwijk West), the 5th Seaforth Highlanders is to occupy the area south of the railway line and the 5th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders will liberate the town of Waalwijk.Private James Nairne has to show the thousands of men and hundreds of vehicles the way. In his diary he describes what happens: ‘From 1100 until 1400 hours I stood on my crossroads (…) Waalwijk was full of joyous civilians. Cups of coffee and apples were brought out to us. It was kind of these Dutch people who were obviously so short of foodstuffs of all descriptions themselves. Whilst the Commanding Officer was questioning me about the whereabouts of his Intelligence Officer who I knew had gone off to bring up ‘A’ Echelon, a small boy to my embarrassment, placed an apple into each of my hands which I had no alternative but to accept, as I was standing to attention.’Fairly soon after the liberation, René ter Berg, travelling salesman, and his wife, artist, who live on Kloosterweg, have the idea of erecting a Saint Mary’s Chapel in this special location. Eventually it is to be ‘Saint Mary’s Chapel of the four Waalwijk parishes’. On 21 September 1947 the date stone is cemented in place, inside it a document and a text and on Sunday 12 October of the same year the chapel is consecrated.In 1952 Waalwijk artist Wim Klijn designs four stained glass windows. Many years later, on 5 May 1995, Lieutenant-General Sir Derek Lang unveils a monument with the emblems of the three Scottish battalions. Just over fifty years before he was the Commanding Officer of one of these, the 5th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.

A unique location

After the liberation of Loon op Zand, the Highlanders pitch their tents on Saturday night 28 October 1944 at Roestelberg, located south of Waalwijk, in what is now National Park the Loonse and Drunense Dunes. To drive off the last Germans, shells fly over Waalwijk a day later. It was then Sunday 29 October, the day when the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of Christ King.Already during early mass, the Scots are firing away briskly. ‘The church was shaking,’ said an eye witness. ‘Many people no longer dared to stay and went home.’ Across Waalwijk, the parish priests decide to forgo high mass. Meanwhile, the local Red Cross has already picked up the first wounded and the sick and elderly are taken to the various shelters.Around midday, a shell hits St Antoniusstraat. The house of the Berkelmans family at number 95 is hit. The damage is enormous, but miraculously no one is injured, as yet. At number 81 in the same St. Antoniusstraat, mother Marie van der Geld is just then standing in the back garden having a chat with neighbour Koos Pennings. ‘Come Marie, let’s go to the cellar,’ Pennings responds startled. Both quickly run in through the back door of their respective homes to go to the cellar under St Antonius Church, located a little further away, together with their housemates. Then another shell hits. At number 81, at the home of the Van der Geld family. Mother Marie (66) and daughters Stien (25) and Corrie (24) are fatally hit, son Nico and youngest daughter Marie are seriously injured.The same day three more young children are killed, this time in St.&nbsp; Crispijnstraat right behind St. Antoniusstraat: Henk Henkelman (9), Rietje Lommers (7) and Cor Sleenhoff (10). Six-year old Reintje van den Broek, who lives just around the corner on the Tweede Zeine, slips away from his mother’s attention and walks to St. Crispijnstraat to play. He, too, is hit by shrapnel. Initially he does not appear to be wounded too severely but in the end he also succumbs to his wounds. He dies on Christmas Eve. Like many towns and villages in the south, Waalwijks pays a hefty price for its liberation.

Friendly fire?

During 29 October the village of Kaatsheuvel is liberated by the 51st Highland Division. Units have entered the Loonse and Drunense Duinen (dunes). It is clear that the next move will be to attack Waalwijk. This means that, as usual, all bridges are being prepared for demolition. That is the job of a Sprengkommando under Wachtmeister Kuche which has set up a base in the Hertogin van Brabant mill in Drunen. That night at 03.30 hours the last remaining bridges over the Afwateringskanaal are blown up. The Eastern Langstraat is now definitely isolated. This area will be liberated in a separate operation, Guy Fawkes, that is launched at the end of the week and pushes the last German troops across the Maas the following Sunday, 5 November.&nbsp;The moment has come to restore roads and bridges. The Canadian engineers of 8 Field Squadron begin to construct bridges all over the Afwateringskanaal, also at Baardwijk. First the remains of the old road bridge are demolished. It is not until 14 November that the engineers can start on the actual construction.The bridge is finished after three days. Unfortunately it can be observed by the enemy in Drongelen, on the north bank of the Maas. That is why, with some gallows humour, it is named ‘Maybe Beige’. The name turns out to be a fitting one. After just a few days it is hit by German shells and the central pier disappears under the water. A new pier is put in place but that is washed away by the rising water. The bridge begins to buckle in the centre. The Canadian engineers despair when they see the wreckage. A mechanism is fixed to both ramps to jack up the bridge. Once more a new central pier is put in place and finally the bridge is ready once more. This time it will function until long after the end of the war.&nbsp;On the surface the connection with the Eastern Langstraat has now been restored, but that is not the whole story. Because the entire Langstraat is very close to the front line there is still a curfew in force. If someone wishes to visit friends or relatives in the evening he or she needs a permit. This is issued to very few people. Guards check everyone at all the bridges including the one at Baardwijk; Dutchmen, mostly young men from Waalwijk, by day, Allied soldiers after dark. These posts remain in place until just before the end of the war in May 1945.

The Maybe Bridge

On Monday, 30 October 1944, the 5th Battalion of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders marches into the centre of Waalwijk. In the square before the town hall a huge and enthusiastic crowd has assembled to welcome their liberators. ‘The orange balls are flying through the air,’ 19-year-old Bertha Herman writes in her diary.Acting Burgomaster Smolders appears on the steps to address the Scots: ‘Officer, I bid you a warm welcome to this municipality and say a heartfelt thank you both personally and on behalf of the people of Waalwijk for liberating us from the common enemy, under whose heavy and oppressive yoke we have had to groan for over four and a half years. Although it was an extremely pleasant and enjoyable task for me to welcome you to this municipality and to thank you for our liberation, I would have preferred it if this could have been done by the mayor E.C.J. Moonen, who was executed in such a cowardly manner by our common enemy, together with another citizen of this municipality. They fell like heroes, not on the battlefield, but for our Fatherland. They and also those who fell during the liberation of our town we want to remember in all reverence.’ The populace cheers, jumps and dances. Spontaneously, the national anthem and God Save the King are sung.What promises to become a great party is rudely disrupted by German shellfire from across the Bergsche Maas.&nbsp; Everyone hurriedly seeks safe shelter. The Highlanders respond in kind, but at the end of the afternoon the German shelling from the Land of Heusden and Altena flares up again and yet another casualty falls: on his way to a shelter, 33-year-old Kees Loonen is fatally hit.It is beginning to dawn on the people of Waalwijk: they may have been liberated, but the enemy is still too close for comfort. No one can begin to surmise then how much misery and suffering this will cause. Waalwijk will be in the front line until the liberation of the Netherlands in May 1945.