The battle of Geel was a major fight between British and German troops during the Second World War. It occurred between 8-23 september 1944 in and around the Flemish city of Geel

Geel

Geel is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp which acquired the status of a city in the 1980s.It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns : Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum...

and was one of the heaviest and bloodiest fights during the liberation of Belgium.

The battle can be roughly split up in two parts. The first phase of the fighting took place at the Albert canal and in the centre of Geel. These lasted from september 8th-12th. At the night of september 13th, the Germans pulled back behind the Maas-scheldt Canal in the village of Ten Aard. On that same day, the 50th Northumbrian Division was replaced by the 15th Scottish Division. Their goal was to form a bridgehead in order to give the Royal Engineers the chance to create a pontoon bridge and to ferry heavy material. Heavy fighting took place till the definite withdrawal at 23 september.

Aftermath

It's not known exactly how many people died during the batlle of Geel. At least 130 civilians were killed, mostly due to allied and german artillery fire. The total number of deads is probably between 1000 en 1100, and the number of wounded even a lot more.
Gheel