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April 17: Canadian army repels desperate Germans at Otterlo

Broadcast Date: April 17, 1945

April 17, 1945: OTTERLO, Netherlands — "Victory is in the air," says CBC war correspondent Matthew Halton. The war is winding down. But even as Canadian forces continue their sweep through enemy-occupied Holland, the Germans aren't giving up without a fight. In a bid to get back into western Holland, 1,000 German soldiers launch an attack at Otterlo, tossing grenades and firing on the Canadians. Reuters war reporter Charles Lynch tells the story for CBC.

Canadian gunners fire back at the Germans before digging slit trenches and using Sten submachine-guns, rifles and pistols to repel the attackers. But once the Germans get past the gun lines there's only one way to stop them. The Canadians roll four flamethrowers into position, sending flames into advancing columns of Germans. When it's all over Canadian casualties are light, but 400 Germans have been killed and 250 taken prisoner.

April 17: Canadian army repels desperate Germans at Otterlo

• Otterlo (sometimes spelled Otterloo) is in east-central Holland between the cities of Arnhem and Apeldoorn.
• The 5th Canadian Armed Division under Major-General Bert Hoffmeister reached the town while supporting Operation Anger. This operation was the British 49th Division's push to take Arnhem, and it was successful enough that Hoffmeister continued with the objective of reaching Apeldoorn.

• When they reached Otterlo, the Canadians decided to stop overnight to plan their next objective, the town of Barneveld.
• During the night of April 16-17, 1945, several loosely organized groups of Germans attacked from the north, south and east.
• After the Germans made it past Canadian gun positions they stormed the division's headquarters. The Canadians fought back in hand-to-hand combat, and one sergeant-major throttled a German with his bare hands after his Sten gun jammed.

• According to an army report the Germans retreated "with the appearance of Churchill tanks in the morning."
• The Sten gun was a 9-mm British-made submachine-gun first used by Canadians at Dieppe in 1942. Lightweight and easily dismantled, it could accommodate captured German 9-mm ammunition. However, it also jammed easily and sometimes discharged when dropped.

• The Churchill tank was a 39-ton tank used to cross trenches and uneven ground and break through barbed wire. Models in use by 1945 were usually armed with a 75-mm gun, but some were retrofitted to carry flamethrowers instead.

• In a 1951 report by the Historical Section of the Canadian Army, some figures are lower than the numbers given in this radio clip. The army report says between 500 and 600 Germans took part in the Otterlo attack, 150 were taken prisoner and between 75 and 100 were killed. An unknown number was wounded.
• German prisoners questioned after the attack admitted they were unaware there was a divisional headquarters in the town.

April 17: Canadian army repels desperate Germans at Otterlo

Medium: Radio

Program: War Dispatches

Broadcast Date: April 17, 1945

Guest(s):

Reporter: Matthew Halton, Charles Lynch

Duration: 3:59

Photo: National Archives of Canada / PA-166369

Last updated:
March 11, 2008