Operation Veritable

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Operation Veritable
Part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany in the Western Front of the European theatre of World War II
Operations Veritable and Blockbuster (yellow) and Grenade (green)
Date 8 February – 11 March 1945 (1 month and 3 days) Location Reichswald Forest (Germany), and adjacent areas 51°42′N 6°06′E / 51.700°N 6.100°E / 51.700; 6.100 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Bernard Montgomery Harry Crerar Brian Horrocks	Alfred Schlemm
Strength
200,000 men[citation needed] 1,400 guns 35,000 vehicles	90,000 men 1,054 guns 700 mortars
Casualties and losses
15,634 casualties[a]	~44,239 casualties[b] (Canadian First Army Estimate)

Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the Second World War. The operation was conducted by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group, primarily consisting of the First Canadian Army under Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar and the British XXX Corps under Lieutenant-general Brian Horrocks.

Veritable was the northern pincer movement and started with XXX Corps advancing through the Reichswald (German: Imperial Forest) while the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, in amphibious vehicles, cleared German positions in the flooded Rhine plain. The Allied advance proceeded more slowly than expected and at greater cost as the American southern pincer, Operation Grenade, was delayed by the deliberate flooding of the Roer River by German forces under Alfred Schlemm, which allowed them to be concentrated against the Commonwealth advance.

On 22 February, once clear of the Reichswald, and with the towns of Kleve and Goch in their control, the offensive was renewed as Operation Blockbuster and linked up with the U.S. Ninth Army near Geldern on 4 March after the execution of Operation Grenade.^[2] Fighting continued as the Germans sought to retain a bridgehead on the west bank of the Rhine at Wesel and evacuate as many men and as much equipment as possible. On 10 March the German withdrawal ended and the last bridges were destroyed.

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