Battle of Groningen

Canadian troops in action at Groningen.

Date	April 14–18, 1945
Location	Groningen, Netherlands
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

Canada

Germany

Commanders and leaders

Bruce Matthews

Karl Böttcher

Units involved

2nd Canadian Infantry Division

Dutch Resistance

408th Infantry Division (elements)

34th SS Panzergrenadier Division Landstorm Nederland (elements)

Sicherheitsdienst, and scattered Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and Hitler Youth

Strength

+14.000

~7.500

Casualties and losses

43 dead
166 wounded

130 dead
5,212 captured

The Battle of Groningen took place during the final month of Second World War, from April 13 to 16, 1945, in the city of Groningen between a mixture of German soldiers, Dutch and Belgian SS troops numbering 7,000 against the entire 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, though the whole division was never in combat at any given time. There were also substantial amounts of Luftwaffe units manning flak guns in the area. Groningen was also the site of the headquarters for the Sicherheitsdienst in the North of the Netherlands. The German command structure was poor and the defenders had never exercised together.

The Canadian division, consisting of nine infantry battalions, a machine gun battalion, and a reconnaissance battalion, was battle experienced with a proportion of partially trained reinforcements. Armour from the 10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse) and the 9th Armoured Regiment (The British Columbia Dragoons) was used in support.

German soldiers in the city were determined to keep enemy forces from German soil while their Dutch SS colleagues had reason to fear for their lives if forced to surrender. German troops also needed to control the city to cover the withdrawal of forces from Friesland to Germany and defending the Ems entrance into Germany, important because German surface vessels and U-Boats still used Emden as a port.

Wary of advancing into the western Netherlands and incurring heavy casualties (as well as losses to the densely packed civilian population) at a late stage of the war (fighting in Langstraat and Betuwe showed the soldiers very favourable to the defence), the First Canadian Army instead moved northeast, supporting the flank of the British 2nd Army as they entered Germany proper.

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Wikipedia