Operation Infatuate II: Sherman tanks at Westkapelle

[Willem de Braal]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

In November 1944, the British disembarked three D7 Armoured Bulldozers. Two of the four Armoured Dozers fell victim to mines ashore, the fourth did not disembark (LCT Damson and its load were too damaged to land at Westkapelle, and diverted to Ostend, Belgium).

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Only after the war ended in May 1945, enough resources could be freed up to reconstruct the dyke. This was done by combining the techniques of traditional Dutch dyke building and heavy earth moving equipment brought in by the Allies. The dyke at Westkapelle was closed on 12 October.

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Two of those bulldozers were buried under an emergency dyke. When the final dyke was completed, the two dozers were excavated one year later by the contracting company "Nieuwenhuyse and De Braal". They were kept working till 1965.

This photo shows the excavation of a bulldozer in 1946:
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In 2016 Henk Meijer donated a Caterpillar D4 to the Liberation Museum in Nieuwdorp. This is presented as possibly one of the dozers which was buried in the dyke.
Obviously, this dozer is not one of those which landed in November 1944.

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Source: http://westkapelle-beeldbank.nl/, https://www.bevrijdingsmuseumzeeland...caterpillar-d4 and others

Dear Hanno,

Wim de Braal, which recovered in 1946 the two D6A armored dozers was my grandfather.
We bought this week with my brother a D6A with serial nr. 1T3038
Requested information, regarding serial nr. to CAT visitors center in the US. And waiting.
Wondering if you could give us more info?

Best regards,
Willem de Braal