Razing of Friesoythe

Razing of Friesoythe.
The Razing of Friesoythe took place on 14 April 1945 towards the end of World War II. The 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, advancing into north-west Germany, attacked the German-held town of Friesoythe. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada captured the town. During the fighting the battalion's commander was killed by a German soldier, but it was reported that he had been killed by a civilian. The division's commander, Major-General Christopher Vokes, ordered that the town be razed in retaliation, and it was substantially destroyed. Twenty German civilians died in Friesoythe during the fighting. The rubble of the town was used to fill craters in local roads to make them passable for the division's tanks and heavy vehicles. Little official notice was taken of the incident and the Canadian Army official history glosses over it. Forty years later, Vokes wrote in his autobiography that he had "no great remorse over the elimination of Friesoythe".