gates but ended with him and his men taking the gates. Despite tenacious German opposition, inspired at least in part by Eberding's policy of executing soldiers who retreated without orders, the Canadians pushed the Germans back steadily. In the last days of the battle, German morale declined and the number of executions of "deserters" increased as many German soldiers wished to surrender rather than die in what was clearly a lost battle. The Régiment de la Chaudière, which could ill-afford the losses, seized a bridgehead on the Afleidingskanaal van de Lije (Derivation Canal of the Lys), over which the engineers built a bridge. On 1 November, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders stormed a pillbox and captured Eberding, who, despite his own orders to fight to the death for the Führer, surrendered without firing a shot. After being taken prisoner, Eberding met Spry and accused him of not being aggressive enough in taking advantage of "opportunities", saying any German general would have moved far more swiftly. Spry responded that having lost about 700 men killed in two "aggressive" operations within five days, he preferred a methodical advance that preserved the lives of his men. Eberding replied that this showed "weakness" on the side of the Canadians, noting that Wehrmacht generals were only concerned with winning and never let concern with casualties interfere with the pursuit of victory. Operation Switchback ended on 3 November, when the Canadian 1st Army liberated the Belgian towns of Knokke and Zeebrugge, officially closing the Breskens Pocket and eliminating all German forces south of the Scheldt. Operation Vitality On the afternoon of 22 October, Major-General Foulkes, as acting commander of the 2nd Canadian Corps told the 2nd Canadian Division that the start of Operation Vitality, the operation to take the South Beveland peninsula, had been pushed forward by two days by the "express orders from Field Marshal Montgomery who had placed this operation at first priority for the British and Canadian forces in this area". Major Ross Ellis of The Calgary Highlanders told Foulkes that the men were tired after the hard fighting earlier in October, only to be informed that the operation would go through. Morale in the 2nd Division was poor, with only the Royal Regiment of Canada, the Essex Scottish Regiment, the Cameron Highland Regiment and the Calgary Highlanders being able to assemble anything close to four rifle companies. The attack was to be