Although the Alllies captured Antwerp in September 1944, the port itself could not be opened due to the continued German presence on the island of Walcheren, which guarded the port entrance. In November, the Allies launched an assault on the island, using a number of Commando units. Supported by warships and assault vehicles, the Allies fought their way ashore and engaged in deadly streets battles with the Germans.The capture of Walcheren by amphibious assault would ensure that the Allies had sufficient logistic arrangements in place to hold off the German assault in the Ardennes.About the AuthorRichard Brooks is a freelance military historian with a BA in Modern History from Oxford University and an MSc in International Relations from Southampton University. With numerous published books and articles, his recent work includes Cassell’s Battlefields of Britain and Ireland (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2005), The Royal Marines: 1664 to the Present (Constable & Robinson, 2002) and Campaign 207 Solferino 1859 (Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2009). Graham Turner is a leading historical artist, specializing in the medieval period. He has illustrated numerous titles for Osprey, covering a wide variety of subjects from the dress of the 10th-century armies of the Caliphates, through the action of bloody medieval battles, to the daily life of the British Redcoat of the late 18th century. The son of the illustrator Michael Turner, Graham lives and works in Buckinghamshire, UK.Book InformationISBN 9781849082372Author Richard BrooksFormat PaperbackPage Count 96Imprint Osprey PublishingPublisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLCWeight(grams) 315gDimensions(mm) 248mm * 184mm * 8mm