One of the concrete walls at Moerdijk. 

Two Sherman tanks, one being called a Firefly, of the 24th Lanciers at Moerdijk.

A Polish soldier looks at the destroyed bridges at Moerdijk. 

The infantry of the 8th Battalion, the Bloodshirts, enters Moerdijk.

An obstacle During the night of 5 to 6 November 1944, the last large German units crossed the Hollands Diep. Between 04:00 05:00, they blew up the road and railway bridges. The small rearguard in Moerdijk could now only leave the bridgehead by boat. In the meantime, units of the 1st Polish Armoured Division of Major General Stanisław Maczek were approaching the village. The biggest problem for the Polish was not so much the German forces, but the obstacles on the three access roads to Moerdijk. These were concrete walls, two metres high and two metres thick, which were built in such a way that only one vehicle could pass at a time. Attempts the next day to demolish the walls with their artillery failed.Anti-tank grenades On 7 November, the Polish forces decided to try a different approach. Maczek sent the tanks of the reconnaissance section, 10 PSK, forward and they fired their cannons at the walls from close range with armour-piercing grenades. Because the roads were so narrow only two tanks could fire at a time, and the meantime they were also being fired at by German Sturmgeschütze, tracked vehicles with a built-in cannon. Nevertheless, the Polish action continued. A total of 2,500 grenades were fired before the holes in the walls became large enough for the tanks to pass through.Final chord Just after noon on 8 November, the attack on Moerdijk, which was by then ablaze, began. The tanks of the 24th Lancers and the infantry of the 8th Battalion (nicknamed the 'Bloodshirts') needed the whole night to capture or drive out the German occupiers. In the pale morning light, the Polish forces saw how the last German soldiers tried to escape across the remains of the destroyed bridge to the other side. Most of them would not make it.Next phase The capture of Moerdijk was the conclusion of the liberation of West Brabant. In the following winter months, the Canadian and Polish forces had a completely different task: guarding a static front. Although that too was not without risks.

Het slopen van een muur in Moerdijk

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