The Baron organized the transfer to the Regiment of the following NCOs who had been under his command in the Royal Gloucester Hussars: Sergeants Kean, Maslim, Humphreys, Isham, Pothecary, Marke, and Corporals Edwards and Taylor. They replaced personnel who had chosen repatriation through the Python scheme, and although they had not been in action, they were all first class.
I organized a tank commanders’ course within the Regiment immediately.
We had the opportunity to visit the battlefield around Geilenkirchen, Prummern and Beek, inspect the enemy’s defences, and we had a look at the ground from their point of view, which was most interesting and made us all realize the difficulty of our approach. We inspected the German tanks we had knocked out and those of ours which had been brewed up and fought the battle all over again. While we were walking along a deserted street in Prummern, a goat suddenly appeared with a pair of women’s pants over its hindquarters and a straw hat perched on its head. The animal immediately attached itself to little George Culley and, in spite of threats, shouts and entreaties, refused to be shaken off and followed him for the rest of the morning. How the goat became so attired we never discovered. Myles Hildyard, one of our original Yeoman officers, spent two days with the Regiment. After his return from Crete he joined 7th Armoured Divisional Staff as intelligence officer and remained in that capacity until hostilities ceased. He brought with him a German count who had been educated in England. Myles discovered him when he interrogated him as a POW, and immediately seconded him to his staff. Wherever Myles went he was followed by his German count and I gather that he even had meals with him in the divisional officers’ mess, and except for a few caustic comments from the divisional general, nobody appeared to worry about him.
For the Regiment, Operation BLACKCOCK commenced on 18 January, in snowy weather, and with all our tanks white. Two troops from C Squadron reinforced with AVREs and flails, supporting the 4/5th RSF from 156 Brigade attempted to form a bridgehead over the stream running east and west in front of the villages of Lind, Sind and Havert. Unfortunately, owing to excessively wet ground on the banks of the stream, it was quite impossible to lay a bridge for the tanks to cross and the infantry had to attack without tank support. The 4/5th RSF secured a bridgehead through which the 5th HLI passed, and captured the villages of Lind, Sind and Havert. Until 24 January the Regiment captured a series of small villages, all within a very short distance of each other. Some of these were held lightly by a few infantry and others contained infantry and tanks or self-propelled guns.
Boket was taken by A Squadron, carrying the infantry on the back of the tanks. Honton proved difficult and three tanks were destroyed before the village was captured eventually by A Squadron. Selston was captured by B Squadron and the 6th HLI, Laffeld by A Squadron and the 5th HLI and Schandorf, Locken, Ospenan by B Squadron and the 1st Gordon Highlanders.
On 24 January, the whole Regiment attacked Heinsberg, which was for us the major attack of the whole operation. We were again supported by a troop of flails, crocodiles and AVREs. The tie-up before the attack was somewhat complicated, as each sub-unit was widely separated, and only a limited number of roads was available, owing to mines. However, each unit succeeded in appearing at the right time and place, and we crossed the start line at dawn. Eight hundred yards of dead flat ground had to be crossed before it was possible to enter the town, which was heavily protected by self-propelled guns, and we lost three tanks as we advanced through the smokescreen. Sergeant Lanes’s troop was the first to get into the town, and it was thanks to this troop that the remainder of our tanks found their way in, with the infantry on their backs. When Heinsberg eventually fell we found that every house had been damaged, and very few remained standing. All the German civilians appeared to have been issued with rifles, which we found in the cellars, but they made no attempt to use them. This operation cost us five officer casualties, including Wharton, Cagney, Perry, Walsh and Langford, none fatal I am glad to say, and 20 other ranks.
After a couple of days out of the line, the Regiment moved once again to Nijmegen, the Assembly area for the next operation, codenamed VERITABLE.
Before leaving we entertained at dinner some old friends from the Staffordshire Yeomanry, including Lawrence Biddle, the Staffs’ doctor and Chris Sidgewick, Arthur Warburton and George Culley from the Essex Yeomanry. After dinner Chris, who was delightfully mellow with wine, suddenly remembered that he had to attend a conference with his own commanding officer and other regimental battery commanders. Haughtily disregarding all offers to direct him on the journey he left the room, making a gallant effort to appear steady on his feet, and drove away in his Jeep without waiting for his driver. He reached his regimental orderly room, but from there was quite unable in the dark to locate the regimental tactical headquarters where the colonel was holding the conference, which was only 500 yards away. In the end he gave up, returned to the orderly room and rang up the colonel, having to admit that in spite of desperate efforts he had failed to locate Tactical Headquarters, much to the amusement of all present, who appreciated his condition and had heard the Jeep pass and re-pass the headquarters, travelling at great speed along the very slippery and muddy road.
On 3 February ‘Von Thoma’, the commander of 43rd Division, explained to regimental commanders the details of the forthcoming operation. Five divisions, including the Canadians, were to break through the Reichwald on to a line from Kleve in the north to the south-eastern corner of the Reichwald. The 43rd Division, supported by the 8th Armoured Brigade, was given the task of breaking through this bridgehead. The Regiment was detailed to operate with 129th Brigade. The first stage of the operation was called PEPPERPOT, during which the tanks of the Regiment were to be used as artillery, which was wrong in principle, in order to augment the existing artillery on the Canadian division front. Each tank in the Regiment was allocated 220 rounds of high explosive.
On 7 February each tank in each squadron, with the aid of the OP lent by the Canadians, registered its targets, and at 05.00 hours on 8 February started firing according to a scheduled programme until 10.30 hours. On a 7000-yard front there must have been at least 1500 guns firing, including tanks, Bofors and field artillery. When all the allocated ammunition had been fired I ordered the whole Regiment to reload with one round of high explosive, elevate the guns to extreme range, then gave the order to fire simultaneously, in the hope that certain destruction might be caused to a German headquarters situated well behind the front line.
Operation PEPPERPOT.
Ronnie Hutton, who since D-Day had commanded Bl Echelon, applied to me for a transfer to a fighting squadron. I was most reluctant to grant his request because he had proved such a reliable echelon commander. Never once had he failed to turn up at the end of a day’s fighting with supplies of petrol and ammunition, however late it might have been, or whatever distance we had travelled. He invariably found the Regiment, even without the aid of wireless communications. He had the knack of suddenly appearing when he was most needed. In a battle, when tanks appeared to be running out of petrol and arms, Ronnie would suddenly turn up in his scout car, ready to lead any tank back to his lorries. However, he was insistent and I placed him in A Squadron, much to the indignation of Roger Sutton-Nelthorpe, Headquarters Squadron leader, who was most reluctant to lose his second-in-command; Michael Howden (Dis-Mike) took his place as Bl Echelon commander. Ronnie joined the Regiment in Palestine, having been commissioned from the North Irish Horse. He was tall, short of hair, and spoke with a gentle Irish brogue; a delightful companion at all times, with an unparalleled subtle and quick humour.
The four-divisional assault started at dawn on 9 February and the same evening the Regiment moved forward carrying the infantry on the back of the tanks to Kleve, which had been reported clear, in order to take our first objective, the high ground to the north-east of the town, passing en route through Beek (yet another), Kranenburg and Nütterden. We soon discovered that the information about the position in Kleve was enti
rely inaccurate; none of our troops had entered the town, and Ray Gaiger, who was the leading troop leader, suddenly reported a roadblock covered by fire, which he broke through, and led the column to the centre of the town. We soon found that the town contained SP guns, as well as a considerable number of infantry, which immediately counter-attacked the compact square into which we had formed ourselves in the centre. German snipers hiding in the buildings overlooking the streets in which we had taken up positions added to our discomfort. A German SP gun attacked up the street where the infantry brigadier had established his headquarters, and knocked out his scout car, killing his G3 and wounding his brigade major who, however, disposed of three German infantrymen with his revolver before passing out.
One impudent German sniper had the nerve to draw a bead on the head of the worthy Baron who, however, spotted the window from which he fired. He immediately returned the fire with AP and high explosive shot that caused the corner wall of the house to collapse, thus revealing, much to the consternation of the Baron, a German SP gun, which had been hiding behind the house. The Baron and his gunner, Corporal Newton, engaged with much ferocity, but without accuracy, and the SP moved away. He was, however, most indignant that he had received no support from the adjutant, whose tank was positioned just behind him on the other side of the street, and so called him on the air.
‘Couldn’t you see that I have been engaging a bloody SP gun? You might have given me some support – out.’
‘Can’t you see that a bloody SP gun is just about to emerge from the street to your right rear, for whom your bottom will be a perfect target, when he does appear? Off.’
The Baron’s indignation soon evaporated, and he hastily changed the position of his tank to deal with this new threat.
For a week we fought in the Kleve area, until finally all opposition had been wiped out. The supply position became serious, because at one period there was only one road between Kleve and Nijmegen, and when the Germans flooded the southern bank of the Rhine this road became impassable to all vehicles. However, the situation was saved by the use of 150 Ducks, which were amphibious troop-carrying vehicles.
The final objective, a village called Louisendorf, which included a mental hospital, was captured by A Squadron and the 4th Wilts. Ronnie Hutton passed back a message on the air that he had captured three doctors, 30 nurses and 1300 lunatics. I replied that he could retain the doctors and the lunatics, but he could send back the nurses to Regimental Headquarters.
In this village I found a snowdrop, the first I had seen for such a long time.
During this week of fighting we suffered 31 casualties. Lieutenant Thomas, a new officer, had been killed, and Whalen, Howard, Coleman and Knapp all wounded, which again made us short of officers. Among the other rank casualties, Sergeant Geddis, one of our very best REME NCOs was wounded and 14 of our tanks had been destroyed. Much to his wrath little George Culley, our OP from the Essex Yeomanry, received a shell fragment in his right buttock and when, with trousers down, he was being examined by Hylda, two German Fraus walked into the RAP for medical attention, he made a desperate effort to escape, but was firmly detained by Hylda, who removed his trousers outside, much to his furious indignation.
A very weary Regiment returned to Kleve in which practically no building remained standing. However, we made ourselves comfortable in the cellars, which were well stocked with coal and jars of preserved fruit, and remained out of the line until the end of the month. Most of the German inhabitants had been evacuated, but a few, including old women, had flatly refused to leave their homes and now pathetically existed in the cellars of the ruined houses.
We enjoyed our few days’ respite in Kleve, but immediately I had to organize the usual cadre classes to train the new NCOs. Naturally they came to the Regiment with certain basic training but it was imperative, whenever possible, to teach them certain things regarding tactics, gunner and wireless procedure, which were peculiar to the Regiment.
Bill Enderby returned after having been wounded on D-Day. He had a permanent injury to his arm and had been medically downgraded, but somehow he fooled the Medical Board and returned once again to the Regiment and took command of A Squadron.
At Kleve, Stuart Hills returned to the Regiment, having completed his course in England, and I gave him command of the reconnaissance troop, as Ian McKay had taken over A Squadron. Basil Ringrose applied to come back. He had seen many years’ service with the Regiment before the war. In Palestine as a result of a quarrel with Flash Kellett, who was then commanding, he accepted a position in Abyssinia working with Haile Selassie, where he did extremely well, rejoining just before the Battle of Alamein as my second-in-command in A Squadron. After the desert he assumed some kind of staff duties, and now once again wished to start regimental soldiering. Such applications always created certain ill-feeling among those who had fought continuously in the Regiment. Although he had been with the Regiment before the war, his return would block promotion. However, I decided to agree to his return, as at that stage it appeared that the end of the war in Europe was in sight and that Robin Leigh, my second-in-command, would wish to rejoin the RGH.
At Cleve, Germany, February 1945. Left to right (standing): Bob Dare-Smith (Brigade Major), Ronnie Hutton (A Squadron Leader). Left to right (sitting): Derek Colls (Company Commando 12/60), Neville Fearn, Bill Enderby, Chris Sidgewick (Commander, Essex Yeomanry), SDC and Beek (dog).
On 1 March the Regiment once again went into action supporting the 12th Brigade of the 53rd Welsh Division, to capture the village of Weele. From this stage until the crossing of the Rhine we fought against German rear-guards, consisting largely of German parachute troops, who fought fanatically, covering the German withdrawal to the Rhine.
A week’s action followed, during which all squadrons were involved each day. A composite force under Basil Ringrose was formed, known as Robin Force (named after Robin Hood, my tank), consisting of C Squadron, 43rd Division, Recce Regiment and a company of 12/60th. It was ordered to work southwards through the woods to capture the bridge south of Weele, while the 4/7th drove along the road leading south of Weele. The thick woods made progress slow, but the bridge was eventually taken with the loss of two tanks. A and B Squadrons, operating in the same woods and each supported by a platoon of the 12/60th, drove south towards the river. The company from the 12/60th proved, as usual, immensely valuable to the tanks operating through those woods. They had worked with us since D-Day and each man in the company appreciated the danger that woods held for tanks. B Squadron, under Ian McKay, encountered several farms containing pockets of Germans who fought to the last man. In one particular farmhouse a German parachute company actually counter-attacked with rifles and bazookas as the squadron attacked, shouting that they preferred death to capture. One tank of B Squadron, which became detached from the rest of the squadron, was knocked out by a German bazooka team. The crew baled out, including Corporal Turner, the tank commander, who was severely wounded in the leg, and found themselves in the midst of a German infantry platoon. The crew, except for Corporal Turner, managed to extricate itself, but he was captured and taken to the German headquarters in a farmhouse. We learned afterwards from the farmer that he had been well cared for, and that the German medical orderly had amputated the shattered leg, but he did not survive and he was buried by the padre when we found him.
On 4 March all squadrons once again formed up in a regimental group, with a battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Infantry Regiment in ‘Kangaroos’, which were armoured tracked troop-carrying vehicles. I received orders to proceed and capture the town of Issum with all speed. We moved off at 09.30 in the morning, with an advance guard consisting of C Squadron, a platoon of 12/60th, preceded by a section of the recce troop. Just before reaching Issum the leading squadron reported that it was engaging some armoured cars to the right flank. These turned out to be elements of an American armoured-car regiment coming up from the south with orders to keep contact with the British advance. We all met up
in the centre of Issum, and apologized for our mistake. Fortunately our shooting had not been accurate.
The American troop commander was most impressed with the issued tank suits, which we were all wearing, and asked whether we could give him a couple. In view of our shooting error, I readily agreed to his request and sent a wireless message back to the quarter master asking for two suits to be sent up immediately.
Issum contained no Germans, but was under shellfire. No progress was possible as all the bridges over the river outside Issum had been blown, and it was quite impossible for tanks to cross. Patrols of the 12/60th reported that Germans dug in had been contacted two miles down the road on the far side of the river. I called up the Regiment’s armoured bulldozer, a converted Sherman, which was driven by Corporal Evans, and he did excellent work by filling in a shallow part of the river to make a firm foundation on the bank for a tank bridge. In order to achieve his object he had to knock down a house situated near the bank of the river to obtain more rubble. By midnight a ‘scissors’ bridge, with the help of a detachment of engineers, had been thrown across the river. This kind of bridge, a clever invention, is carried on a specially constructed Crusader tank, which can lower it across a moderately wide river.
The ruined German village of Issum, February 1945.
Naturally the engineers required some protection while they worked, and I felt rather mean having to call upon the Recce Troop, when the rest of the Regiment had a full night’s sleep under cover in comfortable billets. Stuart Hills and Corporal Morris reported to Headquarters for orders, Stuart complaining that he did not mind having to do the job, but resented the gleeful relish on the part of Frenchie Houghton, who woke him up, after an hour’s sleep, at about two o’clock in the morning.
An Englishman at War Page 47