On to Victory: The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 May 5, 1945

by Mark Zuehlke

The eighth Canadian Battle Series volume is the little-told story of the tense final days of World War II, remembered in the Netherlands as “the sweetest of springs,” which saw the country’s liberation from German occupation.

The Liberation Campaign, a series of fierce, desperate battles during the last three months of the war, was bittersweet. A nation’s freedom was won and the war concluded, but these final hostilities cost Canada 6,298 casualties, including 1,482 dead.

With his trademark “you are there” style that draws upon official records, veteran memories, and a keen understanding of the combat experience, Mark Zuehlke brings to life this concluding chapter in the story of Canada in World War II.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Audiobook, War, Canada

552 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

On January 1, 1981, Mark Zuehlke walked away from a journalism career to pursue magazine and book writing fulltime. He has never looked back. In 1992, Mark published his first book—Magazine Writing From the Boonies (co-authored with Louise Donnelly)—and now concentrates almost exclusively on writing of books.

Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.

Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.

When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.

Reviews

[Singleton Mosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Zuehlke's book is a very well written history of Canadian operations. I took up this one since it describes the battles fought in the area I live in. Not much can be found about these fights in either Dutch or English. Even though operation Plunder was quite a substantial undertaking and much more fighting has been going on over this part of the Netherlands then I was aware of.

Being part of the local history organisation I read on his book about skirmishes in the surrounding villages I had not know about. I will investigate these a little more on the future.

One note on the name and distinction of localities though. Many place-names are misspelled, villages called towns and small cities called villages. The later might not be so strange because the distinction in Europe because these can be quite different and often has nothing to do with the size. For example: Bronkhorst is a city with a population of only a few hundred whilst the population of The Hague is many hundred of thousands but it technically being only a village since it has no city rights. But all is forgiven, as how can this be known from the other side of the big pond.
If the author ever wants some help with correcting these mistakes I would gladly do so.

I conclude for now by saying these books are hard to get here in Holland. Which is strange since they detail the liberation of our country. They should be translated in Dutch.

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giving this a very solid 4 stars. What I really liked was the authors ability to explain the campaign from a very high level but also intimate perspective. Using regimental war diaries to showcase individual platoon and soldier stories. It was an exciting and thoughtful book that was very easy to read.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars; 4 for style 6 for historical value;

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last, chronologically, of Zuehlke's 11-book WW2 Canadian Battle series, this one covers the final weeks of army operations in Europe. The liberation of Holland (including the humanitarian Operation Manna to deliver food to the starving Dutch) and battles in north-western Germany are the focus.
While I had quibbles about text-to-map coordination throughout the series, Zuehlke has done Canada a great service with this series. Many Canadian Italian and northern European battles that are generally either just names or unknown altogether are given their highly detailed due. His method of tracking down aging veterans to add their stories to official records adds immeasurably to these books, and provides a great record from a fast-disappearing generation. This makes the incredible sacrifices of these tens of thousands of brave young Canadians abundantly clear, beyond reciting mere statistics of deaths and wounded.
The Canadian Battle series is a remarkable effort and achievement.

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

The right thing to do

What the author succeeded in doing was giving me a sense of a citizens army that went out to war from schoolrooms, law offices, church pulpits, carpentry and welding and roofing businesses and fought a hardcore professional army raised by the fanatical vision of the Third Reich. And in the case of the Netherlands, they fought where dykes had been opened and fields flooded and mud swallowed up their boots and bodies as they marched and battled and fell.

Millions of Dutch were on the brink of starvation in May 1945. It’s extraordinary to read that negotiations between the Germans and the Allies permitted tons of food to be air dropped, brought into port, and trucked to the Dutch civilians before the war was even over. Kindness in the midst of the brutality of armed conflict.

What was particularly striking was to read about the drive to save ports from destruction by the German troops so the ports could be used to bring food and medicine in to save the lives of Dutch civilians. The Canadian units involved were asked if they still wanted to fight to save these ports when the war would be over in 2-3 weeks anyways. Did they want to risk their lives so close to the end?

But weren’t intact ports needed for supplies to save Dutch lives, ports the Germans were going to blow up if the ports weren’t captured first? Then let’s fight on and wrest these ports from German and Nazi hands. Some of us will die so close to the end and so close to home. But it’s the right thing to do.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zuehlke's Canadian Battle Series--which now comprises eight or nine volumes--is highly recomended for readers interested in the tactical (as opposed to a strategic overview) day-to-day operations of the Canadian army in the Eruopean theatre during the Second World War.
Zuehlke covers campagins, battles and skirmishes mostly unknown to Canadians....The detail, however, slows the reading somewhat, but offers an appreciation of what Canadian soliers did collectively and as individuals in the struggle against German National Socialism and Italian fascism at great cost...
"On to Victory" deals primarily with the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny and oppreesion to the delight of the Dutch people. One of the "sub-plots" of the book is tthe race to free western Holland (Amsterdam and Rotterdam) and its citizens from starvation; a reprisal by occupying Nazis for a general strike on the Dutch railroad as the Allies moved closer to winning the war....
(There is also a "cameo" appearance by Canadian author Farley Mowat, who at the time, was an intelligence officer with the Canadian army, having served in Italy previously...)

[Troy Kaspers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read like a mashup of the Canadian WW2 battalions' unit historian's recollections. We were presented with major battles, the groups and individuals who participated in them, and the progress of the various units through the Netherlands during this period of WW2. I enjoyed reading the facts and civilian observances but I needed to take breaks from the book to process and stay focused.
As a Canadian who was raised by a Dutch family that survived this war and the Canadian Liberation, I was able to better understand my grandparents struggle and their later immigration to Canada in 1953. A great book that observes and describes Canadian courage and determination. We are a strong caring people who are willing to risk it all to help others. Makes me proud to be a Canadian.
Cheers to the author.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I love history, and I particularly love Canadian history (as rare as that seems to be), so I tried. But, 150 pages in and it was still a slog, so I just gave up.

This book is a valuable work for cataloging the contribution of Canada to the war, but it seems to be just that: a catalogue. For those interested in the nitty gritty of battle tactics, I'm sure this would be a good read. But, there are no...people in this book. There are brief anecdotes that allow glimpses of the people involved, but the scope of the work means that you never really get to know anybody. This has the unfortunate effect of dehumanizing the battles, which is ironically the exact opposite intention of the author.

In sum-it is an incredibly boring, dry book.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a profoundly moving book where you feel that you are moving alongside the troops. Being privy to the planning and the execution of the attacks by the Canadian troops. My father, in the RCAF was involved in both the French and Netherlands liberation shared little of his experiences. This audible edition helped one to more fully appreciate what both the troops and the citizens experienced and overcame.

[Rick B.H. Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Canadian series by this great author Mark Zuehlke is a history of the Canadians from the beginning to the end and extra miles they went after the war to help the Dutch. A must read, to this day the Dutch have a great admiration for Canadians for their liberation and help. The Dutch found it hard to believe that, the lives and goodwill was given by soliders who were all volunteers.

[Saara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely learned a lot, but I also found myself losing interest quite often - probably because I'm not a soldier,and haven't spent much time studying this subject before. A lot of it went over my head (battle maneuvers, for instance). Still, though, it helped me understand and picture what the men in my family tree were seeing, and doing at that time.

[Tim Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark is the best writer I have read in a long time that captures our Canadian WW2 experience in amazing detail, right down to unit actions. His whole series is a must read for all Canadians.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again a solid account from Zuehlke

[Kyle Bustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been desperately wanting more books on the Canadian perspective in ww2. It does a great job of illustrating the importance Canada played in liberating the Netherlands

[Dave Munroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another worthy installment in Zuehlke's battlefield series. Of particular interest is the backroom dealings in advance of the surrender, which are laid out at the book's conclusion.

[Darcy]

One of my favourite topics - excited to get more into it!