Often aided by information provided by Dutch resistance fighters, Canadian troops advanced rapidly, recapturing communities, canals and farmland as they relentlessly pushed forward. Liberation of the Netherlands and Capitulation of Germany. The First Canadian Army's role in this period was to open up the supply route to the north through Arnhem, in the Netherlands, and then to clear the northeastern part of the country, the coastal belt of Germany eastward to the Elbe River, and western Holland. The Winter by the Maas, November 8th, 1944 – February 7th, 1945. This time the First Canadian Army was more completely Canadian than ever before. For three months, between November 8th, 1944, and February 8th, 1945, Canadians were not involved in … the Canadian Army 2nd Canadian Corps was responsible for Northeast Holland while 1st Canadian Corps, just arrived from Italy, was to advance to the west. In early April 1945, the First Canadian Army began to clear the Germans from the northeast portions of the Netherlands.

After the Battle of the Scheldt the First Canadian Army prepared to winter. Britain’s 49th (West Riding) Division, which had been preparing for the river crossing at Arnhem, continued to serve with First Canadian Army …