At the beginning of April 1945, the Régiment de la Chaudière were approaching the city of Zwolle, which was shown to have strong German resistance. On April 13, the regiment’s commanding officer asked for two volunteers for a reconnaissance mission into Zwolle, their tasks being to scout the German force and, if possible, make contact with the Dutch Resistance, before an Allied artillery barrage could commence. Private Major and Corporal Arsenault stepped forward to accept the task.[2] However, Major and Arsenault, wanting to spare the city from destruction, agreed to attempt to liberate the city themselves.[4]

That night, Major and Arsenault entered the farmhouse of Hendrik van Gerner, who gave them rough positions of German emplacements near the railway tracks. After leaving the farmhouse, Arsenault was killed by German fire[2][4] after accidentally giving away the pair’s position.[11] In a radio interview with RTV Zwolle, Major told that he became mad after that, but managed to control himself.[12] Major killed two of the Germans, but the rest fled in a vehicle.[4][8] Deciding to continue his mission alone, Major entered Zwolle near Sassenpoort.[12]

What happened after that is unclear. Stories about Major’s actions in Zwolle have been exaggerated and conflated with his other deeds, and there are several conflicting accounts of what actually happened, including several contradictory accounts from Major himself. However, what is certain is that Major spent several hours in Zwolle, the German military left the city, Major contacted the Dutch resistance, and he returned to camp with Arsenault’s body.[2][4][13]

Thanks to Major’s efforts, the planned shelling of Zwolle was called off, and the Régiment de la Chaudière entered the city the next day without firing a single shot. For his actions, Major received the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Léo_Major#Liberation_of_Zwolle