On the night of Saturday 7 April the Lincoln and Welland departed Delden to catch up to the rest of the Division already advancing into Germany. The trek was very hard under heavy road traffic and a road surface which was breaking up. On April 8th the Regiment had caught up to the Regiment near Meppen, Germany.
The next day the regiment was given it’s orders. It was to participate in attacks on Sogel and Werlte, Germany in order to clear the road northeast to Oldenburg, 80 km away. It was the L&W Regiment’s primary job to mop any pockets of resistance which were encountered on the way.
By noon on the 9th, the Regiment moved into Sogel. There were light casualties as they cleared the south half of the town. By the afternoon, the Regiment waited for further orders. Would they continue east to Werlte or would they go north towards Lorup? On the evening of the 9th the orders were made to attack Werlte at first light on the 10th.
On Wednesday, the 10th of April, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment moved east in company with tanks of the Governor General’s Foot Guards. The leading companies were within four kilometres of Werlte when they were met by an estimated 150 men dug in with bazookas, machine guns and 20mm anti-aircraft guns. According to Regimental history “a short sharp skirmish” took place in which B Company routed the enemy, who were later seen running back towards Werlte.
The Regiment again moved off to the east towards Werlte. They moved forward until they moved to a wooded area which bordered the town. Here the Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Coleman came forward to arrange the attack. Men under Major Brady were committed north of the main road into town, Major Martin’s men were to travel to the south.
At 10 AM the advancing companies were pinned down under heavy fire. Brady’s company was hit the hardest, fired upon by hidden machine guns in a forested area. His company was pinned down by enemy fire for nearly an hour before tanks could be brought up to quell the enemy. The regiment suffered many losses in this action, including (as far as anyone can tell) Private Loren Nelson.
