by Tim Saunders
XXX Corps (above) and 51st Highland Division.
Major General Rennie’s plan for 51st Highland Division was to assault with two brigades, 153 and 154. Their initial tasks were to secure the bank and objectives little more than a thousand yards inland. In the case of 153 Brigade, their second wave (1 Gordon) was to capture Rees, while that of 154 Brigade (1 Black Watch) was to expand the bridgehead by capturing the villages of Speldrop and Klein Esserden. 152 Brigade was to send a battalion (2nd Seaforth) over the river to support 153 Brigade in the capture of Rees before midnight on D-1. The remainder of 152 Brigade were to follow and further expand the bridgehead.
The area chosen for the Highland Division’s landing was bounded by one of the horseshoe lakes (meres) and marshy areas created when the Rhine abandoned its old course. This provided the 51st Highland Division with some protection, however, to expand northward the villages of Speldrop and Bienen had to be taken. Speldrop itself lies at the centre of the great horseshoe and Bienen at its northern end. The Germans had fully appreciated the tactical value of these places, and had prepared counter-attacks which they could launch promptly.
In the area that 153 Brigade were to assault, the cover from view and fire offered to the enemy by the small riverside town of Rees was exploited to the full and was known to be occupied by elements of 8th Fallschirmjäger Division. Positioned amongst the buildings on the river’s edge, the determined Fallschirmjäger were able to dominate potential crossing points astride the town and the flood plains, especially that immediately to the east. Artillery observers had good positions of observation from Rees Cathedral and mill tower across the whole area. As Lieutenant General Horrocks was to bemoan, XXX Corps’s ‘...bad luck that once more we should be faced by these diehard Nazis ... we heard stories, from US and our flanking corps, of German soldiers surrendering in their thousands ... while we had to fight hard right up to the end’.
Major General Rennie.
Generalmajor Miendel, commander II Fallschirmjäger Korps.
Final Preparations and the Bombardment
Assembly and thorough briefing of the force, was one of Montgomery’s prerequisites for success and the few troops who took part recall more comprehensive briefings since those during the run-up to D Day. As already recorded, the assault troops had moved into their forward assembly areas in the woods and valleys, three miles west of the Rhine, all being in position early on 23 March (D-1). Here they slept, waited and carried out their battle preparations; last letters were written, radios, other specialist equipment, weapons and ammunition were checked and cleaned and life jackets fitted. Company commanders read Montgomery’s message to their soldiers, while quartermaster sergeants brought up hot food, the last to be seen for some time and finally faces were blackened.
Sappers prepare the carpet that their LVT will use to create an exit from the river.
A British 5.5 inch medium gun in action at night.
The first troops to move down through the units holding the Rhine to the river bank were the Royal Engineers. As night fell, at 2000hrs 3rd Division’s Sappers started work on creating gaps through the dykes and ramps down into the river. Behind them, other sappers, including 50 GHQ Engineers, began to build roads, such as that which became known as Caledonian Road, across the flood plain to the gap in the bank. In maintaining and improving the gap the Royal Engineers ‘were subject to almost continuous, and at times heavy, enemy shell, mortar and machine gun fire throughout the night and some forty-five casualties were caused’. Despite the attentions of the enemy, several lengths of road up to 800 yards long were successfully laid during the night of 23/24 March.
Finally, in darkness, the time came and, around 2030 hours, as described in Second Army’s history, the
′... assault formations slipped out of their hides and turned their LVTs towards the east. Across the broad floodplain toward the dark swift-running waters of the great barrier of the R Rhine amphibians picked their careful paths, assisted by movement light. A tremendous artillery barrage roared encouragement. The curtain had risen on the opening phases of the last battle of the European war’.
As there was little chance of forming up on the riverbank without being detected by the enemy, the assault force were all mounted in LVTs and, with the DD tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry following, motored down to their crossing points on pre-recced routes. Covering the sound of movement and softening up the 8th Fallschirmjäger Division, who were dug-in on the far bank, was the bombardment that had begun at 1700 hours and by 2100 hours, it was being fired by all the available guns of 21st Army Group. This was the beginning of what was reckoned to be the greatest British artillery bombardment of the war being fired by some 5,500 guns. 112 Field Regiment, for example had to take part in firing two fireplans codenamed ‘Snifter’ and ‘Sherry’ and a ‘milk round’ of counter battery tasks all against identified enemy gun and mortar positions. Just before H Hour, other regiments engaged some of the areas on the opposite bank with the aim of detonating enemy landmines.
Major Martin Lindsay of 1 Gordons, recalled that:
′There was a continuous ripple of slams and bangs as all our guns, stretching across so many fields behind, were firing, and it went on for four hours ... meanwhile quite a lot of stuff was beginning to come back from the other side, mostly medium and light mortars. One mortar in particular was dropping its bombs all round this house. At 7.30 p.m., there was still one and a half hours to go. A tremendous rumble of guns behind us, their shells whistling overhead, and the nice sharp banging sound of our 25-pounders landing on the far bank.’
Lieutenant Beck, Gun Position Officer of B Troop, 341 Battery, 86th Field Regt RA (Herts Yeomanry) recorded in the battery command post log that not all went well for the gunners:
′The operation began with the roar of massed guns at zero hour and the firing continued all night. Bofors, mortars and rocket guns all joined in and the air was alive with tracer shells being pumped into the defences on the opposite bank. Soon after midnight, an unfortunate accident occurred on D Sub of A Troop. No one will ever know what happened but it would seem that in loading the gun in the dark the loader accidentally hit the shell fuse against the breech. Normally this would not cause an accident but the fuse must have been faulty. The shell exploded killing instantly the occupants of the compartment ... it was a grim reminder that the shells the gunners handled so easily were lethal. We had become so accustomed to them that we had almost ruled out the possibility of danger, the safety devices were known to be foolproof.
LVTs making their way down to the river in the fading light and smoke.
The Assault Crossing
Mounted in 150 amphibious Buffaloes, with one troop of four LVTs per infantry company and attached personnel, the leading four infantry battalions of 51st Highland Division reached the final holding area. The nucleus of the Bank Control Group was provided by the Royal Dragoons, dismounted from their tanks for the task. This unglamorous but absolutely vital job, according to Corps Commander, General Horrocks, ‘... was no easy task, as units had to be marshalled into their correct area and / or lanes in the dark, while all moves were coordinated with extreme accuracy’.
Captain Stafford of 617 Assault Squadron RE, who were to establish a ferry near Mahnenburg once the initial crossing had been made recalled:
The great night of 23 March arrived and I with my troop sergeant, loaded up the scout car with recce equipment and, at 1800 hours, we moved up to the forward assembly area of 1 BW, with whom we were to cross the river that night. We arranged to lie in hiding in Honnoppel until H Hour..., and then to proceed to the LVT loading point 400 yards behind the flood bank, where we were to get a lift across the river [as a part of the second wave].
The period between 1900 and 2100 hours was one which I’ll never forget. Every gun in the area was taking part in a most terrific barrage and at times I thought our machine guns might have done well to raise their fire a few feet higher, as the tracer seemed dangerously close. By 2100
hrs, the barrage reached its peak, and the assault wave left the home bank.
Through the gaps and into the water went the LVTs. Cpl James Campbell of 7 Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders recalled the four minute trip across the river in the Buffalo:
We got into our Buffaloes and ran down to the river, with the artificial moonlight going – that is searchlights shining on the cloud base and reflecting back down on the water – all you could hear was people shouting ″turn these so and so lights off″ because we felt that we were silhouetted on the river and if we could see two or three hundred yards up and down the river then so could the Germans see us sat out in the middle like ducks.
There was quite a bit of machine-gun fire from the German side of the River. Although we had a point 5 calibre machine gun on the Buffalo we were only too glad to be out of the river and across the other side.
Trooper Walter Fuller of 4 RTR recalled:
For this operation our Shermans had been replaced with American Buffalo amphibious tanks, supporting the 51st Highland Division. It was pitch black as we led our tanks into the water, we couldn’t see and had no idea what to expect, other than that being the first unit over the Rhine no doubt meant resistance would be heavy. It was an extremely nerve-wracking crossing, especially as we had only just changed over from the Shermans we were used to! After a while though we realised that in fact there was next to no resistance and our crossing was all but uncontested, which was a huge relief. When we reached the other side I remember one man, Colonel Alan Jolly [CO 4 RTR], planting the regimental flag on the eastern bank of the river. It was in fact the very same flag taken into battle by the unit in the First World War and was a proud moment for us all.
While for most things went well during the crossing of the first wave, but for Bill Robertson of 154 Brigade things looked difficult for a time.
My most vivid memory of WWII was crossing the Rhine ...1945, four days after my 19th birthday ... in amphibious vehicles called Buffaloes which were run by the Northamptonshire Yeomanry. We were half way across when our tracks locked and we went around in a circle and drifted. We all thought we were going to have to jump or swim for it, but at the last minute the tracks started up again.
8 Fallschirmjäger Division
General Horrocks, accompanied by his tactical HQ, with little else to do at this point in the battle, had climbed into an observation post on some high ground overlooking the Rhine. He recalled that ‘All around me were the usual noises of battle but I could see very little except the flicker of the guns’. Horrocks, however, did not have to wait long before, at 2117 hours, he received the message timed at 2104 ‘The Black Watch has landed safely on the far bank’.
154 Brigade
The task given to Brigadier James Oliver was to form a bridgehead a mile and a half deep, to the east of Rees, including the villages of Klein Esserden (not to be confused with Esserden which was in 153 Brigade’s area) and Speldrop. The assault was to be led by two battalions, 7 Black Watch and 7 Argyls, with the third battalion, 1 Black Watch, crossing into the bridgehead later.
7 Black Watch (first to report their landing and suffer casualties) and 7 Argylls and Sutherland Highlanders, crossing on the Division’s left, climbed up the steep banks, out of the river in their tracked amphibians with a little difficulty, astride Mahnenburg. One of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry’s LVT was knocked out by a Teller-mine, on the enemy bank. While 7 Black Watch were debussing from their Buffaloes, further casualties were sustained from anti-personnel Schumines that had been scattered thinly along the banks. Accompanying the infantry were engineers of 274 Field Company, whose task was to clear the bank of mines before the arrival of the subsequent waves, as well as helping construct exit ramps to ease their passage.
C Company 7 Black Watch secured their battalion’s bridgehead, while B Company advanced on Potdeckel. Once secure A Company set off to their objective of Scholtenhof, further inland. Lieutenant Colonel Cathcart’s Tactical HQ was established in Potdeckel with B Company. D Company then advanced between A and B to complete the battalion’s initial objectives and took the hamlet of Wardmannshof, with the assistance of two Wasp flame-throwers. C Company remained in reserve, securing the bank for subsequent waves. By dawn the ‘Black Jocks’ had coordinated their defensive positions and were digging-in, with detachments of medium machine gunners from 1/7 Middlesex, in time to beat off a Fallschirmjäger counter-attack that was launched under cover of the early morning mist.
Meanwhile, 7 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders after an uneventful crossing in the Buffaloes of the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry, who had landed the battalion exactly as intended, set about executing their plan, which Captain Ian Cameron recalled:
The plan for the 7th Argylls was to attack with A Company forward on the right and B Company on their left, with D Company following up behind A company. A Company were to make for Ratshoff, which was a small village, and B Company were to make for a farm a bit to the left of this. D Company were then to go through A Company and make for a crossroads beyond Ratshoff.
An early version of the Wasp flame-thrower conversion of the Bren gun carrier, issued to infantry battalions with two tanks holding a total of 100 gallons of flame fuel.
On reaching the enemy bank, ‘the cordite and smoke from the creeping barrage was hanging low over the area and the general atmosphere resembled a London fog’. It was only a matter of minutes before the companies found their bearings and set off towards their objectives around Ratshoff and the crossroads beyond. ‘The first phase went according to plan, and all companies captured their objectives quickly against light opposition, along with about 100 prisoners.’
Phase One Operations of 154 Brigade 23/24 March 1945
Thus, the initial phase of 154 Brigade’s part in the operation had been completed remarkably smoothly, against Fallschirmjäger, who were thinly spread and still stunned by the tremendous bombardment. Well before dawn, the leading battalions were digging-in to form a firm bridgehead. The Brigade’s reserve battalion 1 Black Watch was crossing and moving up to expand the bridgehead in the Brigade’s second phase.
At 2100 hours Black Watch was forming up in the assembly area awaiting the return of the Buffaloes from the river. Crossing with the Black Watch was Captain Stafford and his RE recce party.
My troop sergeant and I left our scout car and walked off, loaded with a wireless set, mine detectors, prodders, tracing tape, numerous small hand lamps, etc, to the LVT loading point. After a short walk, we boarded a Buffalo, sat on top of a small armoured car, up went the ramp and off we went for our short ′swim’, I might add that up to this time enemy fire had been negligible, but the sky was lit up by a chandelier type of flare which, made me feel most conspicuous.
1 Black Watch touched down on the far bank just after 2300 hours and passing through 7 Argylls, made for the villages of Speldrop and Klein Esserden. They soon ran into trouble; and Major Richard Boyle was killed leading B Company on the approaches to Klein Esserden, which according to the Battalion’s post operational report ‘... was a strong position of houses and deep minefields, resolutely defended by parachutists’. To make matters worse and deny crucial fire support, the artillery observation officer’s carrier and his radio were destroyed by a mine. The battalion was now unable to contact the artillery back on the home bank and could not adjust fire, which would normally deliver a crushing blow to the enemy before the infantry’s final assault. With heavy enemy mortar fire directed at them, 1 Black Watch was suffering casualties. However, virtually unsupported, A Company took the Creamery on the outskirts of the village without much difficulty and B Company, with only one officer left unwounded, went on to occupy the main part of Klein Esserden. C Company advanced on Speldrop a thousand yards away. In reaching Speldrop they had succeeded in isolating Rees from the north west, thus protecting the left flank and 1 Gordons (153 Brigade) who would be attacking Rees from the west, from start lines behind the Black Watch. By 0600 hours, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel H
opwood was reporting, from his Tac HQ, now established in the Klein Esserden creamery, back to Brigade HQ that he had moved forward from the river bank and that his companies had taken their objectives. The Black Watch had far more of a fight against Fallschirmjäger who had the opportunity to recover from the bombardment, as well as benefiting from the support of immediate reserves. To make matters worse there were soon disturbing reports that C Company in Speldrop were under mounting pressure from Fallschirmjäger counter-attacks.
The view from the river dyke inland to Esserden over the country to be crossed by 5 Black Watch.
Under darkness and mist, a very heavy enemy counter-attack had infiltrated into Speldrop and C Company, who were fighting in the buildings, which they had not had time to prepare for defence were forced to give ground. In addition, their ‘bag of sixty German prisoners had already to be set free’. Such was the danger of the company being overwhelmed and Colonel Hopwood decided to withdraw them at 0800 hours and subsequently B Company were also forced back. Both companies were brought in behind A Company in the area of the Creamery. One platoon of C Company was, however, isolated and could not pull back with the rest of the company.