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Razing of Friesoythe

Coordinates: 53°01′14″N 07°51′31″E / 53.02056°N 7.85861°E / 53.02056; 7.85861
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Friesoythe
Friesoythe is located in Lower Saxony
Friesoythe
Friesoythe
Friesoythe within Lower Saxony, Germany
Coordinates: 53°01′14″N 07°51′31″E / 53.02056°N 7.85861°E / 53.02056; 7.85861

On 14 April 1945 the town of Friesoythe in north-west Germany was deliberately destroyed by the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division acting on the orders of its commander, Major General Christopher Vokes. The destruction was ordered in retaliation for the killing of a Canadian battalion commander. Vokes may have believed at the time that this killing had been carried out by German civilians. The rubble of the town was used to fill craters in the local roads.

Context

Major General Christopher Vokes (right) with Brigadier Robert Moncel at Sogel on 10 April 1945

In early April 1945 the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, part of 2nd Canadian Corps, moved out of eastern Holland and fought its way into Germany. On 4 April the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, part of 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, made an assault crossing of the River Ems and captured the town of Meppen, suffering only one casualty. German prisoners included several 17-year-old youths with less than eight weeks military experience.[1] The division advanced a further 25 kilometres (16 mi) to Sögel, which the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor) captured on 10 April. It then fought off several German counter-attacks before the town was declared cleared.[2] Some German civilians joined the fighting and were believed to have killed several Canadian soldiers. Major General Christopher Vokes, the divisional commander, believing the civilians needed to be taught a lesson, ordered the destruction of several houses in the town.[3] The Canadian Army official history states:

Investigation established that German civilians had taken part in this fighting and had been responsible for the loss of Canadian lives. Accordingly, as a reprisal and a warning, a number of houses in the centre of Sogel were ordered destroyed by the engineers to provide rubble.[4]

Battle for Friesoythe

The Canadians continued to advance, reaching the outskirts of Friesoythe by 13 April. Most of the town's population of 4,000 had moved out to the surrounding countryside on 11–12 April.[Note 1] The town was defended by some 200 paratroopers of Battalion Raabe from the 7th German Parachute Division.[5] These paratroopers repelled the first attack by the Lake Superior Regiment, which suffered two dead and nineteen wounded. German casualties are not known.[6]

Vokes ordered the resumption of the attack by The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, commanded by Colonel Frederick E. Wigle. The Argylls conducted an outflanking night march and launched a dawn attack on 14 April. The attack went well, with the Argylls securing the town by 10:30 a.m.[6][7] While this attack was taking place, a small number of German soldiers caught Wigle's tactical headquarters by surprise at around 8:30 a.m. A firefight broke out, resulting in the death of Wigle and several other soldiers.[8][9][Note 2][7]

Destruction of Friesoythe

Personnel of the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor) with a German flag at Friesoythe on 16 April 1945

Vokes was furious when he heard of Wigle's death. "A first-rate officer of mine, for whom I had a special regard and affection, and in whom I had a particular professional interest because of his talent for command, was killed. Not merely killed, it was reported to me, but sniped in the back".[Note 3] Vokes then announced his decision. "I summoned my GSO1... 'Mac,' I roared at him, 'I'm going to raze that goddam town. Tell 'em we're going to level the fucking place. Get the people the hell out of their houses first.'"[10][11]

Individual units and soldiers of the Argylls had spontaneously begun the arson of Friesoythe by way of revenge for the death of their colonel,[12] but after Vokes issued his direct order the town was systematically set on fire with flamethrowers mounted on Wasp Carriers. As a result, Friesoythe was almost totally destroyed or, as G.L. Cassidy put it, "[t]he raging Highlanders cleared the remainder of that town as no town has been cleared for centuries, we venture to say."[13] The resulting rubble was used to reinforce the local roads for the division's tanks[14] which had been unable to move up.[Note 4]

The Canadian Army official history, published in 1960, states: "It appears that a false report gained currency that Colonel Wigle had been killed by a civilian sniper; as a result, the town of Friesoythe, or a great part of it, was set on fire in a mistaken reprisal. There is no record of how this came about."[4] The author, Colonel C.P. Stacey, references this to a personal visit to Friesoythe on 15 April.

Civilian casualties and damage

During the fighting around Friesoythe and in the immediate aftermath 20 civilians were killed – 10 from the town itself and another 10 from the surrounding villages.[15]

According to one German assessment, 85 to 90 per cent of the town was destroyed in the course of this reprisal, making it one of the most-devastated towns in all of Germany at the time.[16] Another source, the Brockhaus Enzyklopaedie, estimated the destruction to be as high as 90 per cent. The town's website records that of 381 houses in the town proper, 231 were totally destroyed and another 30 badly damaged.[15] A few days later a Canadian nurse wrote home that the convent on the edge of town was the only building left standing.[17] Outlying areas also suffered; in the suburb of Altenoythe 120 houses and 110 other buildings were destroyed.[15]

Aftermath

You should know our soldiers were kind to the children of our enemies, and kind to those in adversity. And they were, on the whole, great ambassadors for Canada.

-Major General Christopher Vokes in his autobiography[18]

Canadian Army official historian C.P. Stacey commented in his personal memoirs that the only time he saw what could be considered a war crime[Note 5] committed by Canadian soldiers was when "...at Friesoythe, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada of this division lost their popular commanding officer."[19] According to him, Wigle was in fact killed by a German paratrooper at his tactical headquarters located south of Friesoythe:[20]

Apparently a rumour was going round that Colonel Wigle had been killed by a civilian sniper; as a result a great part of the town of Friesoythe was set on fire in a mistaken reprisal. This unfortunate episode only came to my notice and thus got into the pages of history because I was in Friesoythe at the time and saw people being turned out of their houses and the houses burned. How painfully easy it is for the business of "reprisals" to get out of hand!

— C.P. Stacey[21]

40 years after the event Vokes commented in his autobiography that he had "[a] feeling of no great remorse over the elimination of Friesoythe. Be that as it may."[22][11]

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regiment was awarded the battle honour "Friesoythe", as was the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor).[23][24] There was no investigation by Canadian authorities of the civilian damage and casulties.[25]

See also

Sources

Notes

  1. ^ The Friesoythe Amtsgericht, or District Court, was closed on 11 April. If the District Court ceased to function on 11 April 1945, the evacuation of the bulk of the civilian population probably took place between 11 April and 12 April. It was clearly a German and not a Canadian initiative (Cloppenburg 2003, pp. 165, 189) (Brockhaus 1996, p. 730).
  2. ^ The same entry for 14 April 1945, is reprinted in Robert L. Fraser's Black Yesterdays; the Argylls’s War, p. 431, Interview with Alan Earp.
  3. ^ All the published accounts relate that Wigle was shot in the back. However, Dr. Doug Bryce, the Medical Officer of the Argylls, said that he was shot in the head. Dr. Bryce thought very highly of Wigle ("the most wonderful man I have ever met") so his version has to be given credence. (Foster 2000, p. 437)
  4. ^ "Several attempts were made to find passable roads to carry the vehicles, but the main highway between Cloppenburg and Friesoythe was seriously cratered near the latter town, and the small roads would not stand up to the traffic."(Rogers 1989, p. 259)
  5. ^ For example, the 1907 Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV), Article 23, prohibits acts that "destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.""Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land". ihl-databases.icrc.org. Retrieved 26 January 2018.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Stacey 1960, p. 557.
  2. ^ Williams 1988, p. 276.
  3. ^ Morton, Desmond. "Christopher Vokes". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b Stacey 1960, p. 558.
  5. ^ War Diary, General Staff, 4th Canadian Armoured Division, 1 April 1945-30 April 1945. Appendix 38; dated April 14th, 1945. Library and Archives Canada, RG 24, vol. no. 13794. Intelligence report signed: E. Sirluck, Capt.
  6. ^ a b "Friesoythe". www.canadiansoldiers.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Robert "Bob" Appell – Veteran Stories". www.thememoryproject.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  8. ^ Zuehlke 2010, p. 308.
  9. ^ War Diary, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, April 14, 1945, pp. 10–11. Ottawa, ON, Canada. National Archives of Canada, RG 24, v. 15,005.
  10. ^ Vokes 1985, pp. 194–5.
  11. ^ a b Foster 2000, p. 437.
  12. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 435–7.
  13. ^ Cassidy 1948, p. 307.
  14. ^ "Legion Magazine" (PDF). May–June 2010. p. 16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  15. ^ a b c Friesoythe. "Chronik – 1930 bis 1948 | Stadt Friesoythe" (in German). Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  16. ^ Cloppenburg 2003, p. 189.
  17. ^ Hibbert, Joyce (1923–) (1985). Fragments of war : stories from survivors of World War II. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 84. ISBN 9780919670952. OCLC 431569741.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Vokes 1985, p. x.
  19. ^ Stacey 1982, p. 163.
  20. ^ Stacey 1982, pp. 163–4.
  21. ^ Stacey 1982, p. 164.
  22. ^ Morton 2016.
  23. ^ "The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)". regimentalrogue.com. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  24. ^ "The Lake Superior Scottish Regiment". regimentalrogue.com. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  25. ^ "Invasion of Germany: The Western Allies' Final Offensive". warfarehistorynetwork.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.

Bibliography

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