C. Spraggree became worried that the Regina Rifles might be destroyed by the Germans' ferocious defence, leading him to order his reserve, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, to cross over the Canadian Scottish Regiment's bridgehead and link up with the Regina Rifles. The polderland, which limited avenues of advance, proved to be a major difficulty as the Germans concentrated their fire along the few raised roads. At the same time, the Regina Rifles came under heavy counterattacks and were barely hanging on. Canadian losses were so heavy that a squadron of tankmen from the 17th Hussars Regiment were given rifles and sent to fight as infantrymen. The Canadian historians Terry Copp and Robert Vogel wrote the fighting "...was at close quarter and of such ferocity that veterans insist that it was worse than the blackest days of Normandy". The war diary of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles reported: "Heavy casualties were suffered by both sides and the ground was littered with both German and Royal Winnipeg Rifle dead". The war diary of the Canadian Scottish regiment sardonically noted: "The grim fighting was such that PIATs and bazookas were used to blow down walls of houses where resistance was worst. These anti-tank weapons are quite handy little house-breakers!" By 9 October, the gap between the bridgeheads was closed, and by early morning on October 12 a position had been gained across the Aardenburg road. The days of 10-12 October were ones of intense struggle while the men of the 7th Brigade with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles took, lost and then retook a group of houses known as Graaf Jan and the Regina Rifles found themselves pinned down by a group of well dug-in pillboxes that seemed to be resilient to artillery. The Germans had ample artillery, together with an immense number of artillery shells, and brought down heavy fire on any Canadian advance. Making the fighting even more difficult was the heavy rain that started the day after the crossing of the Leopold canal, with a post-operation report on Operation Switchback stating: "In places the bridgehead was little bigger than the northern canal bank. Even protection was slight: slit trenches rapidly filled with water and had to be dug out many times a day". The Canadians could not advance beyond their bridgehead on the Leopold canal, but Eberding, not content with stopping the Canadians, decided to "annihilate" the 7th Brigade by launching a