World War II · Film · 2020
The Forgotten Battle
De Slag om de Schelde
A Dutch office clerk, a British glider pilot and a Dutch volunteer in the SS see their paths converge in the flooded polders of Zeeland, where the Allies must clear the Scheldt to open the port of Antwerp.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: Occupied Zeeland (South Beveland)
Teuntje works in a collaborationist mayor's office until her brother's arrest pushes her toward the Resistance, while a crashed glider crew wades through the flooded polders.
Stop 2: Walcheren Causeway
Key location
The three stories converge at the narrow causeway to Walcheren, where Allied troops must attack along a strip of land swept by German fire.
What really happened
The Allies captured Antwerp almost intact on 4 September 1944, but the German 15th Army still held both banks of the Scheldt estuary, so no ship could reach the port. While Operation Market Garden drew attention further east, the First Canadian Army, with British and Polish units, fought through October across flooded polders on South Beveland and around the Breskens pocket.
The battle ended with the assault on Walcheren island, including the bloody fight for the narrow Walcheren Causeway from 31 October. The Battle of the Scheldt cost the Allies about 12,800 casualties, half of them Canadian, and the first convoy reached Antwerp on 28 November. The film's three main characters are fictional composites set against these real events.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- De Slag om de Schelde
- Directed by
- Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
- Countries
- Netherlands, Belgium, Lithuania
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German
- Released
- 2020
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Combat
- Resistance
