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Tough battles of the Canadians
Towards the Rhine the forests formed a defensive line. Since the autumn of 1944, the Wehrmacht had used forced laborers to build a defensive position (Schlieffen- position). The Canadians fought from the 28th of February until the 7th of March 1945 along the swathe for the breakthrough through the Hochwald. These were costly battles for the Canadian Army.
The men of the Canadian regiment Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders are full of confidence when they finally enter German soil on a cold, foggy night. The commander orders the bagpiper to play as the regiment crosses the German border on 22 February 1945. Also in the column is 25-year-old first lieutenant Hugh McCutcheon, who leads a platoon of B Company. A week later, his unit is fighting for a passage between the Hochwald and the Tüschenwald. From Uedemerbruch, Canadian tanks try to break through towards Xanten, but the German defenders are well prepared and eliminate the tanks one by one. Operation ‘Blockbuster’ threatens to fail. At dawn on 28 February, the infantry, including McCutcheon's group, are ordered to drive the Germans out of their positions in the woods. When the attack stalls, Captain Len Perry, commander of B Company, calls for help over the radio. ‘Canadians will remember this breakthrough as one of the toughest front areas in Western Europe,’ said a Canadian war journalist.