evicted from their homes which were then systematically looted of anything of value to aid refugees in Germany. The shattered settlements were then turned into strong defensive positions to resist future Allied advances. The Arnhem road bridge that the British had fought so hard for was bombed by the Allies in October 1944 to deny its use to the Germans. Arnhem itself was extensively shelled by the Allies over the winter and was even hit by short-falling German-fired V-2 rockets. In retaliation for a Dutch railway workers strike supposed to aid the Allies' September advance, the Germans banned all inland freight movement. This prevented food being grown in the north from reaching the south and west of the country and caused thousands of deaths amongst the Dutch population in the Hongerwinter. Allied crossing of the Lower Rhine In February 1945 the Allies launched Operations Veritable and Grenade, striking east from land captured during Market Garden directly into Germany. These paved the way for Operations Plunder and Varsity, crossing the River Rhine further upstream from Arnhem. 21st Army Group then advanced rapidly into north-west Germany. Whilst the British 2nd Army advanced west, General Henry Crerar's First Canadian Army was given the task of liberating the Netherlands. The Canadian Army had been instructed to plan advances across the Lower Rhine when it first assumed responsibility for the Nijmegen salient in November, but any plans were delayed by the winter and the subsequent allocation of resources for Operation Veritable. However, after Operation Veritable Crerar saw advantages to seizing Arnhem and opening a route to Emmerich during the coming crossing of the Rhine. The first draft of the plan to take the city – known as Operation Anger – was compiled in February as a subsidiary operation to Plunder, but Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, commander of the recently arrived I Canadian Corps, thought it safer to wait until the Rhine had been crossed before launching an action on Arnhem, and Anger was shelved. After Plunder the II Canadian Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, struck west and seized Emmerich, approaching the IJssel from the east. Crerar saw an opportunity to take Arnhem and open a route between the city and Zutphen to the north, and ordered his two Corps commanders to co-ordinate their advances accordingly. However, he was wary of trying to seize Arnhem before the IJssel had been bridged further north. In March the