The Liberation of Viersel

On 9 September 1944, Viersel-dorp had already been liberated. The other side of the Albert Canal was still held by the Germans. Corporal David Thursby (25) and Private Ronald Charles Bird (24) of the 4th Battalion Welsh Regiment were on a reconnaissance mission from Massenhoven to the bridge in Viersel, which had been demolished. Both were to die that day.

According to war veteran Emrys Davies, Thursby and Bird were captured by a German patrol. “Instead of taking them prisoner, the German soldiers shot them on the spot. Members of the underground started hunting for the German patrol. They pursued and ultimately killed them all.”

Some residents of Viersel tell a different story: the Germans crossed the canal in a small boat and threw a hand grenade at the British soldiers. “One of them died immediately, the other was seriously wounded. No one in the village dared to help them for fear of being killed themselves.” 

Anti-aircraft guns 

Viersel was liberated, but the war was not over yet. The Allies maintained air defence units in Viersel from October 1944, for example on the grounds of Hovorst Castle and in the brewery on Vierseldijk. They manned the nearby anti-aircraft guns that formed part of the secret Allied operation Antwerp X, whose objective was to shoot down as many V1 bombs as possible.

At 4.30 in the morning of 27 October, the Americans shot down their first V1 bombs over Vierseldijk. Battery D of the 126th Anti-Aircraft Gun Battalion hit their target and two unmanned German planes exploded in the air.