To Breda
On Sunday 29 October 1944, the units of the 1st Polish Armoured Division of Major General Stanisław Maczek prepared to liberate Breda. The tanks were to enter from the north, however that part of the plan had to be postponed because the alarm has been raised in Dorst.

German reaction
A large group of German forces from the 719th Infantry Division had, completely unexpectedly, launched a counterattack from the woods, from the Cadet Camp to Rijen. On the morning of the 29th, as soon as it had got light Zawiska had gone on reconnaissance. Seeing no movement among the enemy or his own troops, he had returned to Lijndonk to pick up his battery of eight six-pounder anti-tank guns. However, on arriving in Dorst for the second time, he got the fright of his life: enemy infantry had entered the village. The attackers managed to capture the first three Brencarriers (light tracked vehicles), leaving Zawiska without a radio. The Major was forced to send a courier with a hastily scribbled note back to brigade headquarters in Lijndonk.

Panic
Meanwhile, his six-pounder guns opened fire from a dirt track (east of where Bavelstraat 11 now stands), and the German counterattack was halted. But for how long? They were running out of ammunition, but fortunately for Zawiska and his men, help was on the way. The noise of the fighting had alerted headquarters that something unpleasant was going on and Maczek immediately ordered the 'Dragon' group to halt the advance to Breda and instead return and launch a counterattack. This group consisted of two battalions: the 24th Lancers and the 10th Dragoons. The 1st Polish Armoured Regiment was to assist by taking over the crossroads east of Breda. After arriving at the crossroads, their Sherman tanks fired at observation posts in and around Breda, including several church towers.

Success
The counterattack resulted in heavy fighting, but at 11:00 Dorst was recaptured by the Polish forces. However, this was far from the end of the battle: it took until early afternoon before the Breda-Tilburg road was finally free again and the German attackers withdrew into the woods north of Dorst, definitively this time. At the end of the afternoon, the attack on Breda could be launched and at around 17:00 the Polish tanks reached their target - the area around the railway station. In the meantime, the rest of the city had already been liberated by the Polish infantry and the celebrations could begin.