Liberation of Belgium Second Army captured Antwerp, the port city on the river Scheldt in northern Belgium, close to the Netherlands, on 4 September as well. In the following days and weeks, the Battle of the Scheldt claimed many lives, as the port of Antwerp could not be operated effectively without control of the Scheldt estuary. Antwerp was the first port to be captured by the Allies in near perfect condition, making it very valuable, especially with its deep water facilities. On 6 September, the 4th Canadian Armoured Division crossed the border with Belgium and took areas around Ypres and Passchendaele. Between 9
Second city of the United Kingdom Aristocrat-dominated Georgian Dublin was the second-most populous city at the time of the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 (it was also the fifth-most populous in Europe), and was often described as the second city of the UK. Though it lost that position towards the end of the 19th century as the empire's Victorian cities grew through more rapid industrialisation. Dublin, and the rest of the Republic of Ireland, became independent of the UK in the 1920s. Later, the title Second City of Empire or Second City of the British Empire was claimed by