Eighty years ago the Germans were again on the offensive in the Ardennes. It would be their last major offensive in western Europe. Much less known is the other surprise attack that was planned. While fighting took place in the snowy Belgian and Luxembourgish forests, the enemy also threatened West Brabant. With major consequences.
Brabant was liberated in the autumn of 1944. Largely then. The river area – the ‘Meuse Front’ – formed the border between free and occupied Netherlands. The current Land of Altena, between Dussen and Werkendam, was still occupied.
The Second World War was far from over. The Allies fought on the German border. But the liberation was difficult. In mid-December the mood changed dramatically.
‘German tanks enter Belgium. Heaviest counterattacks since June.’ That was the headline in Helmonds Dagblad. All the newspapers had that worrying news.
Snow
The Germans came back. With tanks, guns, paratroopers and even more planes than in Normandy. In one of the harshest winters of the century, with snow, cold and mud, the Germans broke through in Belgium and Luxembourg.
From the air came the German paratroop commander August Freiherr Von der Heydte. He fought against the liberators along Hells Highway and Hoogerheide and now again in the Ardennes.
Airborne
The Fallschirmjäger commander faced old acquaintances: the 101st Airborne Division, the liberators of Veghel and Son. With their General McAuliffe.
They met again and again, ever since Normandy.
Attack waves
For the Germans, an attack on Antwerp from the Ardennes was quite a task. So logically a German counterattack was prepared closer to Antwerp, as support.
From occupied territory in the Netherlands, the German advance had to pass through West Brabant. This allowed them to enclose the Allies in West Brabant with a pincer movement.
It had to be done in two ‘attack waves’. Via a river crossing at Kapelsche Veer, above Sprang-Capelle, over Oosterhout and Breda, but also at Tholen via Steenbergen, to Antwerp.
‘Fall Braun’
What exactly did the Germans have in mind? A kind of reverse German version of Market Garden. “Airborne landings, occupying strategic places in Brabant and then allowing the Sturmgeschütze – the mobile guns – and ground troops to advance.” This is what military historian Johan Van Doorn (Heijningen, 1963) says
The plan of attack was called Fall Braun. Two German infantry divisions were gathered in the Land of Heusden and Altena. Regional residents saw the troop build-up happening before their eyes.
Mussolini
Ferries full of soldiers crossed the Merwede to Werkendam. They were billeted in farms in. Almkerk and Dussen. Until the order for the attack came.
The soldiers had to flow into Brabant and capture strategic points, up to Tilburg.
Paratroopers had to eliminate the Allied command structure. One of the paratroopers was an experienced officer who had taken part in the spectacular liberation operation of the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini a year earlier.
Villas
From an air base in Friesland, he and his men now had to fly to Tilburg and land there with parachutes on the Ringbaan Zuid. The Allied army leadership of Brabant was there.
“They wanted to occupy the Canadian headquarters in Tilburg. It was on the corner of Ringbaan-Zuid and Oude Goirleseweg. Other villas in the area and the Willem II barracks – the later prison – were also full of Canadian officers.”
During December the first signals of a troop build-up came. But an overall picture was missing.
Barbed wire
The Canadians already took measures in Tilburg. Barbed wire was rolled out and machine guns and anti-tank weapons were installed at all intersections.
“On December 19, a few days after the start of the Ardennes offensive, the guards received new instructions. They had to take an attack into account, but also keep an eye out for strangers because they could be saboteurs and spies. Only people with passes and a special stamp were allowed onto the site,” says Van Doorn.
‘Alte Katze’
Altena was not alone ‘hotspot’. They also saw more soldiers arriving on the South Holland islands. “The division that was here was closely watched by the resistance of Group Albrecht. They had to cross from Schouwen and Goeree to Tholen, take Sint Philipsland and enter Steenbergen with Sturmgeschütze ‘Stugs’, to Antwerp.”
Code name here was Unternehmen Alte Katze.
It was clear in all plans: the Werhmacht could not handle this alone. Help from the Kriegsmarine was necessary. “Lingering boats were also needed, from Norway. But they did not arrive on time,” says Van Doorn. That caused problems in the planning. But that was invisible to the outside world.
The Allied intelligence services in liberated Brabant received plenty of tips in the week before Christmas. And as they put all the pieces of the puzzle together, it slowly dawned on them that things were wrong.
This could indicate a major attack was imminent, perhaps before Christmas.
Omroep Brabant reflects extensively on the liberation of eighty years ago. Check out articles from Brabant Bevrijd our special website. Documentaries are on Brabant+