TheSloedam is a 1 km long dam, that was constructed in 1871, as a necessary part of theRoosendaal-Vlissingen Railway, the so-calledZeeuwse Lijn (Zealandic Line). Additionally this dam connected the island ofWalcheren withZuid-Beveland across the Sloe waterway, and therefore with the mainland ofBrabant.[1]
The Sloe was a waterway between the islands of Walcheren near the town ofArnemuiden, and Zuid-Beveland. In 1871 the construction of the dam started. Already on 14 June, the dam could be walked over during low tide. In December 1871 the construction was complete. On the first of March 1872 the railway track over the dam was opened for trains. Not long after, a newly constructed road for regular transport was opened.
AfterWorld War II, the silted up areas south of the dam werepoldered with a second and a third Sloedam. When theVeerse Gat estuary was closed off by theVeerse Gatdam in 1961, the Sloedam lost it function as a primary defense against the sea.
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During World War II, two battles were fought on and around the Sloedam.
In May 1940, the area was contested during the German invasion of the Low Countries in theBattle of Zeeland. A combined French-Dutch force under brigadier-generalMarcel Deslaurens attempted to stop the German invasion, but was unsuccessful.[2] On 17 May a successful combat crossing of the Sloedam was made bySS Regiment Deutschland.[3]
In 1944–1945, heavy fighting came to the area when the Allies attempted to clear theWestern Scheldt, entrance to the harbor ofAntwerp. After heavy fighting,Zeelandic Flanders (south of the Scheldt) and Zuid-Beveland (to the north) were freed from German control by Canadian forces. However,Walcheren island, north of the river mouth, still contained a large German force that controlled access to theWestern Scheldt. De Sloedam was the only access road to the former island of Walcheren.
The Canadians reached the dam fromZuid-Beveland. The Germans were well prepared, and had established multiple well-prepared mortar sites that allowed them to fire on every point of the dam. The initial Canadian attempts to reach Walcheren failed. The Calgary Highlanders opened a bridgehead on Walcheren Island on the morning of 1 November 1944. The next day, soldiers of the 52nd (Lowland) Division crossed the Sloe to the south and attacked the German positions at the Sloedam from the rear. By this time the Canadians had withdrawn from the area. The attack on the Sloedam as intended as a diversion forOperation Infatuate, the capture of Walcheren by amphibious troops landing on the west and southern parts of the island.[4]