The destruction of the German armies in Normandy presented an opportunity to swiftly conclude the campaign in North-West Europe. The censors commented that it was ‘the general opinion that the war in EUROPE would end in a matter of weeks’. The feeling at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was certainly that ‘the August battles’ had ‘brought the end of the war … in sight, almost within reach’. Montgomery shared the sense of expectation; on 26 August, he issued instructions that ‘speed of action and movement’ were ‘now vital … Every officer and man must understand that by stupendous effort now we shall … hasten the end of the war.’ So great was the opportunity, according to Harry Crerar, the commander of First Canadian Army, that ‘any tendency to be slow or “sticky”’ had to be ‘quickly and positively eliminated’.