Question Sheet: Liberation of the Netherlands Fact Quest

1. By what date did most of Western Europe come under German occupation? On what date did D-Day occur when the Allies returned to liberate “Fortress Europe”?
2. What were some of the challenges that made fighting in the Netherlands so difficult?
3. What Belgian port city did the Allies capture intact? What was the name of the bitter battle to free the estuary that connected the port to the open sea?
4. What was the name of the daring but unsuccessful Allied land and airborne operation in the eastern Netherlands in the fall of 1944 and what was its ultimate objective?
5. What were some of the things that made life so harsh for the Dutch people during the “Hunger Winter” of 1944-1945?
6. How many calories on average were the Dutch people reduced to eating each day by 1945? How did that caloric intake compare to what an average adult needs to keep healthy?
7. Name two cities that the Canadians liberated in the western Netherlands?
8. Why was a truce arranged between the Allies and the Germans in the western Netherlands in late April 1945?
9. On what date did the Germans surrender in the Netherlands? On what date was Victory in Europe (V-E) Day declared?
10. What gift has the Netherlands given to Canada as a gesture of thanks for all that our country did to help during the Second World War?