Hitler's Last Stand (2018) s03e06 Episode Script

1
NARRATOR: April 1945
when a Canadian private
enters a German occupied city
in the Netherlands alone
he tries to convince Nazi forces
they are surrounded by creating mayhem.
(explosions)
If he can locate the Dutch Resistance,
he hopes to protect civilian lives
in the final days of the war.
On June 6th, 1944,
Allied forces
finally land troops in Normandy
to open the Western Front.
SOLDIER: Ten-hut. Fire!
NARRATOR: But Nazi fanatics and die-hards
continue to fight ferociously
for survival.
D-Day was a battle.
They still need to win the war.
June 24th, 1944.
Normandy, France.
Canadian private Léo Major
and three other soldiers
of Le Régiment de la Chaudière
move silently
through the French countryside.
Their patrol scouts the enemy lines
near an airfield
close to the city of Caen.
As Major and fellow private Larry Caissy
survey the approach to Carpiquet
they encounter a group of German soldiers.
The Canadians draw first.
Major shoots
three of the soldiers in succession
while Caissy hits the remaining two.
(Jean Belzil speaking French)
JEAN BELZIL (translation):
One of the Germans is not dead.
Despite his injuries,
he takes a grenade
and throws it towards Léo Major.
NARRATOR: The Chaudière Regiment
fought its way ashore
on D-Day at Juno Beach
in the British army sector.
It is one of four
main French language regiments
in the Canadian army.
DAVID BORYS:
Generally, French Canadian soldiers
are very well accepted
within the English-speaking Canadian Army.
They are brave soldiers,
their officers are excellent,
the regiments fight bravely
in every action.
NARRATOR: For day-to-day operations,
the regiments function
internally in French.
BORYS: The issue comes down to the fact
that the Canadian Army
is an English-speaking institution,
and so are its allies.
So beyond the four regiments,
these soldiers need to speak English
if they're gonna be promoted
to any high rank.
So if you're just a French speaker,
there's a cap on how far up the ranks
you can possibly rise.
NARRATOR: In the weeks since D-Day,
the Canadians and the British struggle
to capture the stoutly held city of Caen,
a key transportation hub
that is critical to the Allied advance
and thwarting German reinforcements.
BORYS: Just short of its main objectives
at the Carpiquet airfield,
they're told to dig in
and prepare for
a massive German counterattack
that the Allied leadership
knew was coming.
NARRATOR: Private Léo Major
emerges as an expert scout and sniper
during their advance.
He and the other Chaudières
reconnoiter the airfield near Carpiquet
on June 24th
when the German grenade explodes.
The blast knocks
over two of the Canadians
and throws burning debris
into Major's face.
- (screaming)
- (indistinct chatter)
(speaking French)
BELZIL: The military trains
for these types of incidents.
The first instinct they have
is to tell their comrades to take cover,
to be careful,
because an exploding grenade is like
getting a sledgehammer to the head.
(screams)
PRIVATE LÉO MAJOR: Okay.
On y vas. On y vas.
(speaking French)
NARRATOR: The other scouts lead Major
back to an aid post for medical care.
(Private Major groaning sharply)
At the hospital,
the doctors work to save Major's vision,
but the damage is extensive.
BELZIL: The doctors do what they can.
They clean his wounds,
put compresses on his eyes,
and after an examination,
they determine that he's lost
about 80% of the sight in his left eye,
but, thankfully, his right eye is saved.
NARRATOR: The doctor's assessment
is unequivocal,
Léo Major's war is over.
They will send him back to England,
so he can return home to Canada.
BELZIL: Doctors are officers,
he doesn't have a choice.
He has to listen to them.
NARRATOR: But around two months later,
Major suddenly reappears
with his regiment,
which has advanced further into France.
(inaudible dialogue)
DIRK STAAT: Léo Major was a soldier,
first and foremost.
I don't know that he was
very bothered by it
because he still had
the use of his good eye.
And he said, he was a sniper
at that time, he said,
"I only need one good eye
to perform my business, to do my job."
NARRATOR: Despite his disability,
his officers decide he can stay.
BELZIL: There is no hiding it.
They have lost a lot of soldiers.
They need men like him.
(inaudible dialogue)
We shouldn't forget that Léo
is one of the best snipers
of the Canadian Army.
They need him.
NARRATOR: By the end of October,
the Chaudière Regiment
has advanced from France,
through Belgium,
and into the southern edge of Holland.
They prepare to capture Oostburg,
a Dutch town still occupied
by German forces,
which must be cleared
to secure access to the port of Antwerp.
Private Léo Major meets
with his commanding officer,
Major Gustave Taschereau.
BELZIL: Léo Major once said
that the only officer in the Canadian Army
who respected him was Taschereau.
It should be said that Léo
had a small problem with authority.
A relationship of trust
developed between the two men,
which allowed him to stay
in the Régiment de la Chaudière.
NARRATOR: In the fighting near Oostburg,
they have lost contact
with a platoon of soldiers.
According to the account,
Taschereau tells Major
to find the 50 zombies."
STAAT: At first, I doubted the story
because as we cannot find anything
in the, in the war diaries.
But then, when we dug deeper,
we found that it might have been
a patrol on 22nd of October.
Because everything he describes,
being near a destroyed bridge,
being near a body of water,
that all fits in that patrol
on the 22nd of October.
NARRATOR: Major moves silently
through the streets,
in search of the lost men.
He climbs
to the second floor of a building,
hoping the height will help him
locate his fellow Canadians.
From this vantage point,
he sees a group of Germans
sleeping in slit trenches below,
guarded only by sentries.
In a flash, Léo Major makes a decision.
BORYS: If a scout was to see
a large body of enemy troops,
generally speaking, that scout
needs to return to headquarters
and inform their commanding officer.
In this case,
it seems like Major was willing
to take matters into his own hands.
NARRATOR: Major inches toward
one of the Germans on guard duty.
Before the sentry can make a sound,
the Canadian private makes him a prisoner.
Major then uses his captive to lure in,
and then capture the second sentry.
With both guards disarmed,
Major demands they take him
to their commander.
The small troop moves in
on the German officer,
who surrenders under the barrel
of Major's Sten gun.
BELZIL: It should be said
that they were soldiers
from the regular German Army,
and not the SS.
NARRATOR: It is at this point
that Major moves to capture the lot.
He figures if he controls the head,
the rest of the body will follow.
So he has the officer rouse his men
and order them to surrender.
(speaking German)
It seems to work.
The German soldiers remain motionless,
until one ignores the order
and goes for his gun.
GERMAN COMMANDER: Nein!
NARRATOR: October 1944,
near Oostburg in the Netherlands.
Canadian Private Léo Major
uses a captured German officer
to force his men to surrender.
Major's plan appears to work
until one enemy soldier
reaches for his gun.
GERMAN COMMANDER: Nein!
BELZIL: Major has the qualities
to be one of the best shooters
in the Canadian Army.
He kills the German without hesitation.
PRIVATE MAJOR: Hände hoch!
BELZIL: It sends a clear message
to the others.
NARRATOR: When he shouts
and gestures at the rest,
they raise their hands
over their heads and move out.
PRIVATE MAJOR: Go!
STAAT: When you check out
very specifically
the circumstances of this action,
it all falls into place.
He was there, he made prisoners,
uh, but not on his own,
because it was a patrol together
with the Queen's Own Rifles
and-and his other buddies
from the Regiment de la Chaudière,
but he made
a couple of prisoners that day,
and he behaved himself
quite well, I think.
NARRATOR: With the bitter fighting,
the German line collapses,
and the Canadians push further
into the Netherlands.
The Dutch people are grateful,
but many are suffering.
STAAT: The Netherlands are occupied
from May 1940,
but from 1942 onwards
when the Germans start losing,
life became bad,
and especially in the latter part,
like '44 and '45,
life was really bad
in the western part of the Netherlands.
There was no food.
There was a lot of terror
from the German occupation.
People lived in fear and in hunger.
NARRATOR: As Allied soldiers,
the Canadians are joyously welcomed
by the local population.
STAAT: The Canadian soldiers
are liberators.
So as a rule, I think,
the Dutch are elated to see them,
quite happy, because they bring freedom.
They chase away the Germans
and they bring liberation with them.
NARRATOR: In November,
Private Léo Major walks point
as he and his regiment march toward
the Dutch city of Nijmegen,
liberated during Operation Market Garden
by American forces.
STAAT: Canadian boys were very popular
because they fought for our freedom,
but also they brought riches with them.
They had nylon stockings,
they had chocolate, they had cigarettes.
So, I think they would be
popular guys to billet in your house.
NARRATOR: It is at this time
that Léo Major meets a Dutch nurse
called Antoinette Sliepenbeek.
STAAT: She was from a Catholic family,
and her father was
a retired Dutch army officer.
So these two things combined, maybe,
being in a military family,
and also a Catholic family,
as Léo also came from
a Catholic background,
maybe that's how they met.
But we're not sure.
NARRATOR: The Canadians spend the winter
in the Netherlands holding the line,
but to end the war, the Allies
must keep moving towards Berlin.
On February 26th, 1945
all four companies
of the Chaudière Regiment
commence a classic set piece action
towards a village called Hollen.
The Canadians and the British
are now east of the Maas, or Meuse River,
and now fight within
the old German border.
It is a region known as the Rhineland.
PETER LIEB: The Germans consider
the Rhineland as a kind of buffer zone.
The Rhine is a big natural barrier
but they want to slow down
the Allied advance as much as possible
already to the west side of the Rhine,
and so that the Germans
can evacuate as many divisions as possible
to the east bank of the Rhine.
NARRATOR: This changes
the nature of the battle.
(gunfire)
LIEB: For years, the Germans
have fought on foreign soil,
now, they are fighting on German soil.
They understand they are
fighting now for their families
and for their home.
NARRATOR: As D Company
of the Chaudière Regiment
passes through B Company,
they advance to within 100 yards
of another German village.
When the heavy
Allied artillery barrage lifts,
enemy soldiers emerge
from behind a building
with what appear to be white flags.
As D Company moves
to accept their surrender
a German machine gun nest opens up,
then enemy tanks appear
from behind a building and also attack.
D Company falls back
and tries to dig in
but they become pinned down
by German mortar fire.
The enemy counterattack
forces D Company to retreat.
B Company returns
to action later that evening
to secure the same German village
which thwarted D Company
earlier in the day.
(explosion)
SOLDIER: Hände hoch! Hände hoch!
NARRATOR: With the use of grenades
and their Sten guns,
the Chaudières inch ahead
and clear the remaining objectives
to capture the village of Hollen.
In the final action,
twenty-five more German prisoners
of war are rounded up.
SOLDIER: Hands up! Schnell.
NARRATOR: The Chaudières' success
allows other regiments
to continue their attack.
By the end of Operation Blockbuster,
the Canadians and other Allied forces
will move nearly 20 miles into Germany
but February 26th alone,
proves costly all along the Allied line.
BORYS: The first day
of Operation Blockbuster
is one of the deadliest days
of the entire war for the Canadian Army.
(explosion)
This is as deadly as any of
the fighting back in Normandy,
and this is remarkable
considering how little people know
about this important battle.
NARRATOR: The next day, Private Léo Major
and members
of the Régiment de la Chaudière
work with the regimental padre,
Joseph Archibald Dalcourt.
BORYS: One of the most important roles
for chaplains is dealing with death,
performing the last rites,
ensuring that bodies
are treated with dignity.
This is really important
for soldiers' morale,
knowing that they're gonna be
treated well if they die.
NARRATOR: Major and the others
collect the bodies
of Canadian and German soldiers
killed in the battle
and load them for transport.
BELZIL: Léo gets in the back
of the carrier among the corpses.
He grabs a cigarette and lights it.
He tries to mask the stench of the bodies.
NARRATOR: But as the vehicle pulls away,
there is a massive explosion.
February 27th, 1945.
After fighting inside the German border
near the village of Hollen,
Canadian Private Léo Major
of the Régiment de la Chaudière
is thrown from his vehicle
after it hits a mine.
He lands on the road unconscious.
When he comes to,
a doctor treats his injuries.
He has fractured both ankles,
several ribs
and three vertebrae in his back.
Major asks about the others.
BELZIL: The Bren carrier
hits a German anti-tank mine.
The explosion's so powerful
that it instantly kills the driver
and the regimental padre, Father Dalcourt.
NARRATOR: Major is lucky to be alive.
BELZIL: Once again, the doctor tells him
that his war is over,
that he's going to go home.
Léo refuses.
He wants to continue fighting.
(groans weakly)
NARRATOR: About a week later,
Major discovers that the doctors believe
he is strong enough
for transport to England.
Determined to return to his regiment,
he steals an overcoat
to conceal his bulky casts
and sneaks away.
Léo Major hitches a ride to Nijmegen.
BORYS: Leaving the hospital
without permission
is the same as deserting your unit.
You're AWOL, away without leave,
and this means that you can
be found guilty of desertion
in front of a courts martial.
NARRATOR: But Major is committed
to staying in Europe
and continuing the fight.
He does not want to be sent home.
He approaches the door
of a Dutch house and knocks.
Major finds his way back
to the Dutch nurse,
Antoinette Sliepenbeek,
he had met earlier.
Her family permits him to stay,
and Major recovers from his injuries
under Antoinette's care.
STAAT: I think that Léo gets
tuned into Dutch society
much more than
a soldier or military person
that has never been billeted
with any civilians ever.
So, he stays there
for a longer period of time,
and I think that's, this-this forms him.
(inaudible dialogue)
BELZIL: Shortly after arriving
at Antoinette's,
he asks her father for a saw.
He takes it and cuts off his casts.
Léo really is a tough guy.
(inaudible dialogue)
NARRATOR: Within a month, Léo Major
recovers enough to rejoin his regiment.
(inaudible dialogue)
STAAT: The legend says that when he, uh,
says goodbye to Antoinette,
he says, "I'm gonna liberate
a city for you, especially for you."
So, uh, I think they had
really warm bonds.
NARRATOR: Once again, the private manages
to talk himself out of big trouble.
(inaudible dialogue)
STAAT: I think he went
to his commander and said,
"Well, I know this family, I stayed
with them before. Can I recuperate there?"
I think that's plausible.
NARRATOR: Nijmegen, the base
where the Canadians
had spent much of the winter,
had fallen to the Allies in September 1944
during Operation Market Garden.
Supply routes from the south
remain open to move munitions,
and to provide food and medical supplies
to Allied soldiers
and the liberated population
of the Netherlands.
But for the parts of Holland
that remain under Nazi occupation,
the situation is dire.
STAAT: There was a railway strike
that the Germans had,
a kind of vengeance feeling
since Market Garden,
so they wouldn't let through too much fuel
and food into the west,
which is the most populated area
of the Netherlands.
And it was a harsh winter, '44, '45,
so there was road transport,
and especially river transport
was very difficult.
So, this all combined
led to, well, this situation,
that there were no foodstuffs
coming into the large cities,
like Rotterdam, Amsterdam, the Hague,
and people started starving.
So, they call it the "Hunger Winter,"
the Hungerwinter in Dutch.
NARRATOR: Experts estimate
that many survived
on fewer than 500 calories per day.
About 20,000 people died
during the Hunger Winter.
Part of the plan to restore
secure supply lines
includes liberating the city of Zutphen.
Allied planners hope that the Germans,
sensing defeat, will withdraw.
(rapid gunfire)
However, it becomes immediately clear
to the Canadian forces
that the Germans
have not abandoned Zutphen.
(gunfire continues)
As they move in,
they encounter resistance
from machine gun nests
anti-tank weapons
and snipers.
(gunshot)
They have to clear the city
block by block, house by house.
Private Léo Major decides
he needs a better vantage point
and enters a nearby structure.
BELZIL: Once inside the building,
Léo Major finds four German soldiers
on whom he opens fire.
Then he goes upstairs
where two other German soldiers are.
He kills them immediately.
NARRATOR: With the house secure,
Major moves to the attic
to pinpoint the enemy shooters
who target the Canadian soldiers
in the streets.
Careful not to attract enemy attention,
he watches for any sign of movement
in nearby windows.
When he spots a muzzle flash,
he takes aim and fires.
(gunshot)
April 1945.
In the Dutch city of Zutphen,
Nazi snipers keep Canadian troops
pinned down in the streets
while German forces
continue to occupy the city.
The Canadians report
that these soldiers are very young,
but also, unyielding.
LIEB: That late in the war,
some of the most fanatical fighters
are Hitler Youth boys.
Boys that don't know anything
else than the Third Reich,
boys that had been indoctrinated
for years with Nazi ideology.
For them, the only reason to live
is for the Führer and the Reich.
NARRATOR: Canadian snipers
like Private Léo Major
attempt to locate and eliminate
the German sharpshooters.
BORYS: The battle for Zutphen
becomes surprisingly long,
it takes about four days
of grueling street fighting
where the Canadians
have to commit an entire division
to clear the town of their enemy.
NARRATOR: The Canadians finally complete
the liberation of Zutphen
on the 8th of April,
and the casualties are high.
BORYS: The Canadians are moving quickly
to liberate the Netherlands
because the Dutch people are starving.
The Canadians are trying to bring them
desperately needed food,
but at the same time they have to balance
the lives of Canadian soldiers.
NARRATOR: Especially now that everyone
senses the war is coming to an end.
STAAT: But I think it's good to remember
that the Canadian Forces
and the Allied Forces were not there
to relieve the suffering
of the Dutch people,
they were there to kill Germans.
They were there to occupy
Germany and kill Nazism.
NARRATOR: On April 13th,
the Régiment de la Chaudière
approaches the German-held city of Zwolle,
a key transportation center
in the north of the Netherlands.
Gustave Taschereau must strike a balance,
liberate the city, but minimize
losses to the regiment.
STAAT: Taschereau said to himself,
remember this is also a young guy,
very responsible job,
he was a lieutenant colonel,
commander of the regiment, he said,
"We won't have another Zutphen again.
I will have an artillery barrage
in the morning."
NARRATOR: The downside is that Zwolle is
the capital of the province of Overijssel
and home to 50,000 civilians.
An artillery attack will cost
Dutch lives and leave the city in ruins.
Taschereau wants to find a way to reduce
the humanitarian cost of this plan.
He decides to send in two scouts.
STAAT: That's a very humane thing to do,
I think, because Gustave said,
"Check out how many Germans
there are still, where they are.
"Are they dug in? Are they retreating?
"Make contact with the Dutch Resistance,
ask them what's happening,
and come back and report to me."
(inaudible dialogue)
NARRATOR: Taschereau asks for volunteers
to sneak into Zwolle,
but adds there might be little chance
of returning from the assignment.
Not surprisingly, no one volunteers.
Everyone knows
the war is coming to an end.
No one wants to die now,
but the possibility
to save Dutch lives remains.
BELZIL: Léo Major volunteers and his
great friend Willy Arseneault as well,
who has been a partner in his work
as a sniper since the landings.
(inaudible dialogue)
NARRATOR: That night, Major and Arseneault
set out under the cover of darkness.
As the men approach the city,
they locate a German outpost.
They decide to sneak around behind it
to surprise the defenders.
After they open fire with Sten guns,
the friends overwhelm the position,
but two Germans escape
and run toward town.
NARRATOR: After the action,
Léo Major notices
that Willy Arseneault's hands
are visibly trembling.
(inaudible dialogue)
BELZIL: For a while, Léo has noticed
that Willy seems to be suffering
from battle fatigue.
He asks him to stay put but Willy refuses.
(inaudible dialogue)
So they both set out for Zwolle.
NARRATOR: The Canadians know
they will now need to move quickly,
because the fleeing Germans
will surely sound the alarm.
At a crossing,
Major moves ahead of Arseneault,
and crawls into a ditch
to monitor the road.
(grenade pack clangs)
But as Arseneault moves to join him,
he gives away his position.
(clangs)
BELZIL: Silence is obviously essential
during reconnaissance.
Unfortunately for Willy,
as he was crossing the road,
he snags his grenade pack
and it makes a little bit of noise.
(gunfire)
NARRATOR: Then gunfire
shatters the silence.
April 1945.
Canadian Private Léo Major
and Corporal Wilfrid Arseneault
approach the Dutch city of Zwolle
in the spring darkness
but a small noise alerts
the German defenders to their presence.
German gunfire erupts
and strikes Corporal Arseneault.
BELZIL: Major sees him fall.
He knows right away
that his best friend is dead.
He feels guilty about
not telling him to remain to the rear.
NARRATOR: Major pinpoints
the source of the attack
(rapid gunfire)
and kills two.
The others retreat quickly.
Major returns to Arseneault's body.
He retrieves Arseneault's gun,
ammunition and grenades.
BELZIL: Léo is furious and sad
at the same time.
In spite of this,
he decides to go free Zwolle.
He gets up and heads toward the city
with determination.
NARRATOR: As Major
edges into town alone
he launches an attack
on another German outpost.
After he kills the occupants,
he gathers their weapons.
He hopes to have guns
to give to the Dutch Resistance,
if he can find them.
BORYS: In the middle of the night,
Léo Major is likely
only to encounter enemy troops.
Most of the 50,000 civilians in the city
are inside because of curfew,
so it's gonna be very difficult for him
to find Resistance members
out in the open streets.
NARRATOR: As he moves,
Major comes up with a strategy.
BELZIL: His plan is quite simple.
He wants to create chaos inside the city
so the Germans and the local population
think that the Canadian troops
are at the city's gates.
(explosions)
NARRATOR: As Major runs
by a row of deserted houses,
he throws grenades through the windows.
(explosion)
(glass shatters)
(explosion)
The explosions flush out German defenders,
whom he is able to surprise and disarm.
Then Major sends them, arms raised,
out of the city
back toward Canadian lines.
He believes his commander has positioned
Canadian soldiers on the outskirts of town
in case he needs assistance
with prisoners.
BELZIL: There is no way for Léo to know
if the German soldiers
will surrender to the Canadians.
But if he wants to create chaos
and free the city,
he has to relieve himself of these troops.
NARRATOR: The regimental war diary
does not record any POWs captured,
so the enemy soldiers
likely melted away into the darkness.
Through the night,
Léo Major needs safe places
to consult his map and regroup.
(knock on door)
He would later recall
knocking at the doors of Dutch houses.
STAAT: During occupation,
to get a knock on your door
in the middle of the night
was a thing to be dreaded.
I think the Germans did this.
The Sicherheitsdienst and the Gestapo
came to your place and dragged you out.
(knock on door)
(knocking continues)
NARRATOR: When there is no answer,
he forces his way in.
While the residents may have been alarmed
by a heavily armed soldier
wearing an eye patch,
he quickly puts them at ease.
STAAT: People would have instantly
recognized this as a Canadian soldier.
So that was a very smart thing of him,
because nowadays,
people speak many languages,
but in the 1940s,
most Dutch people
would speak only Dutch, maybe German,
but not many people
who spoke French or English.
So, just communicating
with a badge that says "Canada"
would have been hugely effective.
PRIVATE MAJOR: I'm sorry to startle you.
(inaudible dialogue)
NARRATOR: After staying
just a few minutes,
Major returns
to his patrol of the streets.
He has managed
to make his way through the city
without being caught for hours,
but at any moment,
any movement in the dark
could prove lethal.
April 14th, 1945
in the central Netherlands.
Canadian Private Léo Major
of the Régiment de la Chaudière,
prowls the streets of Zwolle.
He must make contact
with the Dutch Resistance
to inform them of an artillery barrage
scheduled for the morning.
His patrol started badly,
his best friend was killed
as they entered the city.
Now, alone in the darkness,
Major spots figures approaching.
BELZIL: Léo Major knows
that there's a curfew in the city.
He knows that the German troops
are normally the only ones to roam around,
but you never know.
When he encounters somebody,
he has to react quickly,
is it a friend or an enemy?
WOMAN (off screen): Hello? Bonjour.
NARRATOR: From the dark,
he hears a woman's voice
speak in English and in French.
PRIVATE MAJOR: Hello.
(speaking French)
NARRATOR: He has located
members of the Dutch Resistance.
PRIVATE MAJOR: Avec la Résistance?
NARRATOR: This is what he really needs.
As an outsider, he does not know the city.
He's been running around shooting,
and blowing things up
to create random chaos.
(indistinct chatter)
Maybe now he can get information
about the location of German troops
to target them more effectively.
Major coordinates
with the Resistance members
and arms them with the guns
he has collected.
(inaudible dialogue)
One of the targets
is the Gestapo Headquarters,
the center of Nazi control
in the city of Zwolle.
STAAT: The whole suppressive
and repressive character of the Nazis
was enforced by the Gestapo
and the Sicherheitsdienst,
but the Gestapo you could say
was more the enforcement agency,
and the Sicherheitsdienst more of
the information gathering part of it.
But the Gestapo was not
a very huge organization,
but very feared, with lots of informants,
and those were the people
who would knock on your door
in the middle of the night
and people would never see you again.
So they were very feared
and loathed in the Netherlands,
and I think rightly so.
(inaudible dialogue)
NARRATOR: During the night
- (glass shatters)
- (explosion)
the building which houses
the security forces goes up in flames.
It is not clear who is responsible.
Some accounts have
Major setting the blaze,
or Dutch Resistance members
at his insistence.
It also fits another pattern.
STAAT: What is the best way
to destroy the evidence
of all the things you've done,
all the wrongdoings of your organization?
The best way is to burn it all down.
Kill the prisoners, burn your office,
and that's what they did,
not only in Zwolle,
but in other cities
in the Netherlands as well.
NARRATOR: It is a clear sign
that the Germans
have lost control of Zwolle.
Léo Major must bring this news
to the commander
of the Chaudière Regiment,
Lieutenant Colonel Gustave Taschereau.
BELZIL: Léo Major is exhausted
but he knows he has to report
to Taschereau as soon as possible
before the Canadian Army attacks the city.
But he does not want to leave
without the body of his friend
Willy Arseneault.
He then asks
the Dutch Resistance for help.
NARRATOR:
Back at the regimental headquarters,
Taschereau prepares to launch
the artillery attack.
He does not know
the city is in Dutch hands.
(inaudible dialogue)
Arseneault and Major have not returned,
and he expects
that they were killed or captured.
Like any military leader
with an objective,
Taschereau will take it by force.
Then in the distance,
a vehicle approaches.
(vehicle approaching)
(inaudible dialogue)
Léo Major returns
with news of the German withdrawal
and Corporal Arseneault's body.
BORYS: The fact that the city
is now in Dutch hands,
not only means
that Canadian lives are spared
but so are Dutch civilians.
Fighting in an urban space
is deadly for both sides,
but it's also deadly for civilians.
NARRATOR: With this information,
the barrage is called off.
The Chaudières move into the city,
to root out any remaining Germans.
Zwolle is cleared without a shot fired.
Later that day, the residents join
the Canadians in the streets
for an impromptu parade.
Léo Major survives the war
and returns to Canada.
For his bravery in Zwolle, he is awarded
the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
The citation reads,
"His personal initiative,
his dauntless courage
"and entire disregard
for his personal safety
was an inspiration to all."
BORYS: The DCM is the second highest award
for gallantry in the Canadian Army,
and it is seldom awarded.
NARRATOR: Corporal Wilfrid Arseneault
would be posthumously awarded
the Dutch Bronze Lion
to honor his role in the capture of Zwolle
without a civilian casualty.
In 1950, when the Korean War breaks out,
Léo Major reenlists.
He earns a second
Distinguished Conduct Medal
for bravery in the face of death.
BORYS: The fact
that Léo Major was presented
with the DCM twice in his life
means that he was one hell of a soldier.
He was brave
almost to the point of reckless,
and he proves this time and again.
STAAT: I think Léo Major is a total hero.
I think he's a boss.
I think we, as Dutch,
owe him a great deal of gratitude
for liberating our country,
not alone, not only Zwolle,
but participating in this huge effort
to get rid of the fascists,
the Nazis that occupied our country.
NARRATOR: But Germany
has not yet surrendered,
and the Chaudière Regiment
returns to combat
to continue the liberation
of the Netherlands.
The war in Europe
will continue for another 24 days.
Captioned by Point.360