Operation Infatuate II: Sherman tanks at Westkapelle

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Great to see this subject being researched in-depth. I hope to free up time sometime soon to add more to the discussion.

Lest we forget:

Yesterday 76 years ago, the Allies landed on Walcheren island in an effort to free up the Scheldt estuary. Free access to the Scheldt was needed to enable the use of the port of Antwerp to supply the Allied armies. After a series of harsh battles the German Army was rooted out.

Major Wilfed Sendall was one of the soldiers landing at Westkapelle. His words give an insight into how fierce the German response to the landing was: "Most of the Marines landed early in the assault on Normandy and all of them thought that this little D-Day was far more terrifying than the big one".

Today, all that remains is one Sherman tank as a memorial to this small but hard-fought battle. This thread, the Sherman Register FB album, and Jakko's book show most if not all known pictures of the Sherman tanks which landed during Operation Infatuate II.

See this short video about the commemoration in Westkapelle this year:
https://youtu.be/gW5KGVKcxcQ