Amphibious vehicle

An amphibious vehicle is a vehicle that can operate on both land and water without the need for switching or additional equipment. During the Second World War, this type of vehicle was of great strategic value, particularly in a country like the Netherlands where rivers, canals, and flooded polders severely restricted the freedom of movement for troops.
The most famous amphibious vehicles on the Allied side were the DUKW, popularly known as the „Duck,” and the Buffalo, officially the LVT or Landing Vehicle Tracked. The DUKW was a truck-based wheeled vehicle that could travel over both road and water and was deployed for transporting supplies and troops from ships to beaches and riverbanks. The Buffalo was an armored tracked vehicle that could transport troops over water and land them directly, even under enemy fire.
In the Netherlands, amphibious vehicles played a decisive role in the liberation of Zeeland and in the crossing of the major rivers. The Battle of the Scheldt in the autumn of 1944, in which Canadian troops had to capture the Zeeland islands to enable the use of the port of Antwerp, required the massive deployment of amphibious assets. The islands were surrounded by water and partially flooded intentionally by the Allies themselves to undermine the German defenses. Without amphibious vehicles, a landing on Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland would have been virtually impossible.
Amphibious vehicles were also indispensable during the crossing of the Rhine and the Waal in the spring of 1945. Bridges had been blown up or heavily damaged, and the wide rivers could not be bridged quickly enough with emergency bridges alone. Buffalos carried infantry to the other side under enemy fire, while pontoons and emergency bridges were constructed for heavier vehicles. This combination of amphibious assault and rapid bridge building was decisive for the speed with which the Allies could overcome the final natural obstacles for the liberation of the Northern Netherlands.
The Dutch landscape, with its rivers, dikes, and polders, made the deployment of amphibious vehicles not only useful but often indispensable. The liberation of the Netherlands was therefore partly a logistical achievement in which the boundary between land and water had to be constantly overcome.