Maple Leaf Route: Scheldt

Lance K. LeRay was editor, BAR Magazine, Toronto.

This book (nine inches by twelve, fourth in a series, and with a silver dust jacket) follows the Canadian land forces in their continuing campaign against Hitler’s Fortress Europe. This particular volume deals with the Battle of the Scheldt River Estuary. The time frame is the last quarter of 1944, and one highlight is the unexpected recovery of the German army on what was called, even in World War II, the Western Front — despite the fact that in France the Allied Army was headed in an easterly direction. At the beginning of this Maple Leaf series volume, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, confident if careful, assigns the First Canadian Army the task of clearing the Scheldt Estuary, as a priority operation. The Canadians are promised help from U.S. airborne and the RAF’s Bomber Command. American assistance is not forthcoming and, while the RAF co-operates in the early stages, in mid-October 1944 there are changes at the top in Bomber Command and from then on, on laughable grounds, support is denied the Canadian forces. While the authors suggest that the work is directed at academics and veterans, its very lucidity and careful documentation of Canadians “going it alone” makes for interesting reading that engrosses even more than the average cliffhanger. As the material is seen from the strategist’s viewpoint, there are also military lessons to be learned (or re-learned), and vague historical points are limned into sharp focus, along with corrections of some misconceptions. It may be unfair to suggest that Scheldtis the best of the four books, but this volume surely holds its own, riveting reader interest on every page.