On 4 September 1944, Antwerp was liberated by the Allies. The Belgian port of Antwerp was one of the largest ports in Europe and very important to the Allies, but their ships were unable to reach the port at that point, for the Germans still controlled the Western Scheldt. This is the wide river between Zeeland Flanders and the island of Walcheren, connecting the port to the North Sea.
On 11 September, the Allies went into battle. It took them almost two months of heavy fighting to conquer Zeeland Flanders. On 1 November, Canadian and British armies used landing craft to cross the Scheldt from Zeeland Flanders and drive the Germans off the island of Walcheren. They had bombed the dikes of the island in advance, flooding the land. The Germans surrendered on 8 November. Only after the naval mines had been cleared, the Scheldt was finally opened up to Allied ships on 28 November.
