Canaris, Wilhelm Franz (1887–1945) Like other minor Allies—and like American forces in World War I—there was growing domestic political pressure to have Canadian troops fight under their own general officers That led to formation of Canadian 1st Army, which fought on the left wing of the British advance through the Netherlands and northwest Germany Unfortunately, while some Canadian officers such as Lieutenant General Guy Simonds were top drawer, the main commander was not: General Henry Crerar proved a failure as a battlefield commander Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery held him in especially low regard and might have sacked him but for the political pressure not to embarrass Canada The reputation of Canadian troops was mixed The Canadian Army was responsible for taking JUNO beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944), from whence its men reached farther inland than any landing force Canadians fought hard and sometimes without mercy against Waffen-SS and other German Panzer and infantry divisions at Caen, and again at the Falaise pocket during the Normandy campaign Following the breakout and during the pursuit of the Wehrmacht out of northern France, Canadian 1st Army took Dieppe and Calais before advancing into Belgium After the failure of MARKET GARDEN in September, it was 1st Army that slogged through the Scheldt Estuary campaign in November, then slowly liberated the Netherlands from February to April, 1945 As with other western and especially British troops during the last months of the war in Europe, there was a growing reluctance in Canadian ranks to take risks or press attacks hard Despite his poor reputation with Montgomery, Crerar commanded 13 Allied divisions in northwest Germany comprising Canadian 1st Army, including several divisions of Americans and other non-Canadian troops Lieutenant General Charles Foulkes, commander of Canadian 2nd Division, accepted surrender of all German forces in the Netherlands in early May 1945 See also prisoners of war; Red Devils; TRACTABLE; zombies CANARIS, WILHELM FRANZ (1887–1945) German admiral He enlisted in the Imperial Navy in 1905 As a young officer he was aboard DKM Dresden, one of four German cruisers sunk or scuttled during the Battle of the Falklands in 1914 He spent part of the Great War organizing secret naval supplies from South America His Latin successes drew him into intelligence work, which he pursued after the war In 1934 he assumed command of the Abwehr, or German military intelligence From the beginning of the Nazi period he rejected Adolf Hitler and most of the core ideas of Nazism, although he shared Hitler’s anti-Bolshevism Canaris was aghast at the prospect of war with the Western Allies in 1938 Therefore, he took part in the first of several Abwehr-organized plots to kill Hitler Canaris is widely remembered for using his position and Abwehr contacts to protect antiNazis, especially among the Junker class, and for involvement in plots to assassinate Hitler There are many myths that go much further, asserting that Canaris supposedly passed intelligence directly to the Allies and warned Francisco Franco to keep Spain out of the war There is little to no evidence to support most of the claims Less widely remarked is his active participation in odious and even crimi- 210