page_title: Operation Pheasant
section_title: Breda & Mark Canal bridgehead
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Pheasant / Operation Pheasant / I British corps / Breda & Mark Canal bridgehead
caption_attribution_description: English: The Polish Army in the North-west Europe Campaign, 1944-1945 Dutch farmer with his household goods on a farm wagon looking down on a line of German POWs interrogated by a Lieutenant of the 1st Polish Armoured Division. The photograph was taken after Polish troops captured the Dutch towns of Alphen and Gilza on 27th October 1944 after the Battle of Tilburg and were moving on to Breda.
context_page_description: Operation Pheasant also known as the Liberation of North Brabant was a major operation to clear German troops from the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. This offensive was conceived as a result of the failure of Operation Market Garden and the allied effort to capture the important port of Antwerp. It was conducted by the allied 21st Army Group between 20 October to 4 November 1944.
  After overcoming some German resistance, this operation liberated the cities of Tilburg, s-Hertogenbosch, Roosendaal, Bergen Op Zoom, Willemstad and Breda. As a result the offensive cleared much of Brabant; the German positions which had defended the region along its canals and rivers were broken.
context_section_description: The I British Corps had continued to fight its way to the north in the coastal area and by the end of 27 October Stanisław Maczek’s Polish 1st Armoured Division, close to the inter-army boundary (First Canadian and Second British), had embarked on a flanking attack on the city of Breda after cutting the road from Tilburg.
  There the Division was divided into two battle-groups to start the liberation of Breda. A southern battle-group advanced from Gilze through Bavel to the southern outskirts of Breda. The northern battle-group attacked via the villages of Molenschot and Dorst, to later encircle the northern outskirts of the town.
  In the early hours of October 29 both battle-groups started the attack on the town of Breda. Gilze was soon in Polish hands followed by the villages of Molenschot and Dorst. The advance on Breda though was hampered by German artillery and a German counter-attack near Dorst which, although repelled, delayed the liberation of the town. The Germans retreated to the North and in the course of the next day the whole of the town was liberated. Wild celebrations took hold as the Poles were greeted but in the fighting 42 Polish soldiers were killed (along with two Canadians) and double that number wounded but civilian casualties were light as was damage to the city.
  In order to seize the bridges of the River Meuse the Mark Canal had to be crossed which would broaden the allied line. On October 31 the town of Moerdijk was captured by the Poles who were supported by the Royal Artillery 4 miles (6.4 km) away near Zevenbergen. They noted the steady increase in range called for by the FOOs as the Poles advanced rapidly. The Poles then managed to cross the canal but as reinforcements were brought up however the Poles were hit by a number of heavy German counterattacks. The Poles managed to beat off the attack but the following day the Germans reacted in more strength; throughout the day and into the evening the Poles desperately held on to the bridgehead. Only when artillery was brought down on their own position was when the momentum of the German attack stopped.
caption: German POWs interrogated by a Lieutenant of the 1st Polish Armoured Division during the campaign to take Breda which they liberated on 29 October 1944
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