Beyond the Rhine

by Griff Hosker

  “How long will it take?”

  “Oh we will have to stop a couple of times but we should be there before midnight!”

  The thought of driving in a jeep for eight hours did not fill me with joy!

  Even though he had the canvas top up I wore my greatcoat and contemplated donning my snow suit! We put the Bergens and weapons in the lorry and headed out of the gate to head north. “Where are we heading, sir?”

  “Rheinberg, Lieutenant. It is more than two hundred and fifty miles north.”

  “Right, Major, what exactly do we have to do?”

  He handed me a map. There were two circles. “There is a forested area just on the other side of the Rhine from Rheinberg. You are going to cross the river in boats and make your way through the forest to a place called Schermbeck. There is a crossroads there. It is where the road which crosses the canal and the Lippe meets the road heading east. When we begin to cross the river we expect the Germans first to use the crossroads to reinforce the front and second to try to hold us there. The forest is your sort of terrain. A small group of skilled men such as you lead could hold the enemy up. You could disrupt their attempts to counterattack.”

  “That sounds a bit easy, Toppy. Looking at this map it is just ten miles from the river to the crossroads. We will have air superiority and from the Germans we have seen so far the odds on them being a good unit are slim. What is the catch?”

  He sighed and lit a cigarette, one handed, “The catch is, Tom, that you will then leapfrog ahead of the army and secure the other crossroads between there and their ultimate target.”

  “Berlin?”

  “Probably.”

  I looked at the map. “That is over three hundred miles.”

  “I know.”

  “And the Russians are almost at Berlin now!”

  “In which case your job will be over sooner rather than later.”

  “This is ridiculous.”

  “You only have yourself to blame. You have been so successful that the brass think you can do anything. We learned, with Market Garden, that a few determined men behind the lines could achieve great things. You won’t be alone. The 6th Airborne will be north of you doing exactly the same. They will be deeper in Germany and they will be dropped by parachute. We are also sending in Frankforce. Three hundred SAS with jeeps and the like will be even deeper in Germany doing just what you are going to do. You will both stop the Germans being able to consolidate. When Monty hits them he will use better armour than the Germans have. Their offensive in the Ardennes stripped the Germans of some of their best armour. However, they are still able to dig in at strategic crossroads and slow us up. We know that they still have the 655th Heavy Anti-Tank battalion. Thirty heavily armoured tank destroyers could slow us down. Patton and Monty are going to use speed this time. Once we are over the river we don’t stop.”

  I looked at the map. It showed the river, the roads, the forest and the towns. What it didn’t show were the defences. “When we crossed the Rhine at Strasbourg we came through the German defences. They had machine guns and sentries. They will have the same close by Rheinberg, surely?”

  “They do, but there are gaps. The plan is for you to slip over and through their lines undetected. This time you won’t have to take explosives with you. You will travel lighter.”

  I was not convinced. It wasn’t as though we could just slip into the forest. It was a good half a mile from the river. We had to get through open country or towns. That would be tricky.

  I was silent for a while. I glanced out of the jeep. All along the road it was a sea of olive. The Americans were building up their forces. The Battle of the Bulge had been costly but the Americans had been able to replace the lost armour and men whereas the Germans had not.

  “Look Tom, this is not happening now or even in the next few days. You will have time to do a recce. We don’t mind if you choose the place you will cross the river. The only thing that Monty wants is for you to be at the crossroads twenty four hours before the offensive begins.”

  Behind me Lieutenant Poulson asked, “Do you mind if I have a look at the maps sir?”

  I handed them back to him, “Be my guest.”

  We drove in silence for a while. “Have you seen Susan then?”

  “Briefly, before I left. Hugo and Wilkinson have been attached to Combined Ops for the duration. It was thought that your sergeant could provide extra security and Hugo has proved invaluable. He liaised with Major Politho. The Americans were impressed by him. It has made the communications smoother. Hugo is an affable chap.”

  “And their problem?” Polly did not know about the American spy.

  “They still have it. I am afraid that the Germans will know that Patton and Monty are coming.”

  I shot him a look, “But not us?”

  “Not you. To be fair there is such a build-up that they must know we are coming.”

  Lieutenant Poulson showed that he had been listening as well as studying the map. “He is right sir, it might just work. For the first time we won’t be alone. The SAS are just as good as we are and we know that the paras are too. And I have been looking at the map. If we cross the Rhine we can keep going up either the Lippe or the canal. They can’t guard every inch of the banks can they sir? In fact, sir, we could get much closer to the forest that way.”

  “And, another thing Tom, Jerry released water to flood the area through which we have to cross. That means that the current is not as strong as it might normally be. The Lieutenant’s plan might just work.”

  I was silent. I held my hand for the maps and the lieutenant handed them to me. I saw what Polly meant. It would take a couple of hours to paddle up the Lippe. I recognised that as the better option. There was more cover. It would take us closer to our target. The trick would be to avoid detection.

  “Tom, we have just completed Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade. It took three weeks but we now have the Rhine under our guns. Monty is cautious, you know that. He has assembled so many big guns that he will clear the opposition from the banks of the Rhine. The Engineers assure Monty that they can get a pontoon bridge over the Rhine in under six hours. That is what you need to buy us; six hours. Stop reinforcements coming through the crossroads for six hours.”

  It sounded simple enough but I knew that it was not.

  Chapter 10

  The journey was a nightmare of clogged roads through the remnants of the German engineered flood. We reached our new billet at eleven. Our new home was a large barn on the southern side of the town. As we discovered, the next morning, we were just a couple of hundred yards from a small lake, the Haferbruchsee. The farmhouse had been destroyed in the last offensive. We had eaten while on the road and we just collapsed into our blankets, grateful for a roof.

  Major Foster left us the next morning. “The lorries and their drivers are yours until you leave for the river. Your dinghies will be here in the next twenty four hours. I am taking the jeep to Antwerp. That is where I will be based. The operation will begin in two weeks’ time. That should give you and your chaps time to familiarise yourself with the other shore and the boats.” He pointed to the Haferbruchsee, “You can use the lake. There is an island in the middle.”

  I smiled, “This looks remarkably well planned, Toppy! It isn’t like you to be so thoughtful!”

  He shook his head, “Cheeky bugger! I think I preferred it when you had to yes sir, no sir to me!”

  When he had left us I had Sergeant Major Barker organize our new accommodation. Lieutenant Poulson and I took the maps and one of the lorries. I needed to put my own eyes on the river. There was still a large area of the plain which was flooded and there were few tracks we could use. We were forced to use the main road and that inevitably took us close to the first of the jump off areas. That meant road blocks and questions. It took almost two hours to cover the twelve or so miles to the nearest point of the river. Büderich was just one and a half miles from the Lippe. I would have liked to have been closer bu
t I could not find a road which would allow us to get near to the river. We left the lorry and walked across the boggy fields to the river bank.

  As we neared the river we heard a Canadian voice shout, “I would keep your head down, sir. They have snipers across the river.”

  The machine gun was well hidden. We ducked and made our way to the back of it. There was an eight man section there.

  “Thanks for the warning, sergeant. Do you mind if have a look see from here.”

  “Be my guest sir but I will tell you what you will see. Nothing! Zip! Of course that doesn’t mean that the Krauts aren’t there. They are. It took two men wounded to find that out.”

  I used the glasses to scan the woods opposite. The Canadian was almost right. The Germans were hard to see but when you knew what to look for then you recognised the signs. I saw at least two MG 42 machine guns. I moved the glasses to look further north and I saw the mouth of the Lippe. I handed them to Lieutenant Poulson.

  The Canadian saw my Commando flash. “Say were you the guys with us on the road to Antwerp?”

  “Yes, Sergeant, I believe we were.”

  “You did good work. Are you guys going over there?”

  I smiled, “You know I can’t tell you that.”

  He nodded, “It is no secret that we are going to assault it though, sir. Monty is lining all of his ducks up again. He sure is cautious!”

  “Perhaps that is a good thing. It will save lives.”

  “Sir, I just want this over with and then get back to Calgary! I have a life I put on hold. I am not like you sir, I am no regular.”

  “Neither am I, sergeant, I joined up in 1940.” Lieutenant Poulson handed me the glasses. “We’ll be off. You take care sergeant and keep your head down.”

  “I will sir. I didn’t come all the way from Normandy just to fall at the last hurdle!”

  As we headed back to the lorry I said, “Well?”

  “If it is night time then Jerry in those woods won’t see us, sir. The current would do most of the work. I reckon it is about half a mile, may be a little more, to the mouth of the Lippe. We bring the boats in the afternoon and then carry them to the river after dark. It should only take an hour to get them from the lorry to the water.”

  As we neared the lorry I said, “We could cut that distance if we drove across the field.”

  “We might get stuck, sir.”

  I grinned, “Then when we get stuck we carry them. It isn’t as though we will have to move the lorry is it?”

  Once back at the barn I saw that the men had made it cosy. I couldn’t see Fletcher, Emerson and Beaumont and the other lorry had gone. I looked accusingly at Sergeant Major Barker and he shrugged, “I have sent them foraging sir. I hope you don’t mind!”

  “Just so long as they aren’t escorted by a couple of MPs when they return.”

  When they did come back it was with a couple of oil drums. We could cook again! They had also managed to buy some food to augment the rations which Major Foster had brought in the lorries. I went with Gordy and the lieutenant to examine the lake.

  “It is a while since we have practised getting in and out of boats. We can’t replicate doing it under fire but we can make sure it is as slick as possible We have time, over the next ten days to make certain the boats are well balanced and the crew of each boat know each other. I am thinking three boats. One for each of us.”

  “Sounds good, sir and I don’t think we need worry about landing under fire.”

  “Why not lieutenant?”

  “Because if it is under fire then the mission will have failed before we start. As far as I understand it we have to get ashore and inland without anyone being the wiser.”

  “You are right and that means burning our boats, quite literally, behind us. We will have to puncture and sink them.”

  Gordy coughed, “Isn’t it about time you told the lads the mission sir? We have worked out we are going across the Rhine in boats but that is about it.”

  “You are right Gordy. After we have eaten I will brief the men. You keep me straight.”

  “Don’t worry sir, you have had a lot on your plate lately. We understand.”

  Once back at the barn Lieutenant Poulson and I went through the maps and photographs. It was vital that we reached the crossroads without being seen. We needed the edge. I could imagine the shock if the Germans tried to reinforce their front and found themselves under fire. “I want a mortar. The rifle grenade is a good weapon but the mortar is more reliable.”

  “The major said we could have whatever we needed. Supplies are flooding in through Antwerp now.”

  “Then make sure we have ammo for the Thompsons. We didn’t pick up any German stuff on the last raid.”

  Polly laughed, “I think we had a bit on our mind, sir!”

  “I know. And it is a shame we can’t use the snow suits. They were the best cover we have had.”

  “At least we won’t have to parachute in. We were lucky the last two times. It could have gone horribly wrong.”

  “I know.”

  By the time Gordy shouted, “Grub up!” The two of us had it clear in our own minds what we had to do.

  After we had eaten we gathered around the table in the middle of the barn. “As you know we have a new mission. We are going to paddle up the Lippe river and then make our way through German lines to hold a crossroads. Our task is quite simple. We have to stop Jerry reinforcing the Rhine front for six hours. We will not be alone. The Paras and the SAS will also be out there doing the same. The R.A.F. will use their Typhoons and Mossies to strafe and bomb the roads but we all know that determined men can still get through such deterrents.”

  I saw them nodding. “We will be using three rubber dinghies. We take them in the lorries to the river and paddle down the Rhine and then up the Lippe. We have about two and a half miles to paddle and then another eight to run through the forest. We have one night to get there and then the offensive begins. Each boat will be a separate team. If we lose contact with one another we do not wait. We get to Schermbeck. Even if only one team makes it, then we hold.”

  Lance Sergeant Beaumont showed that he was a thinker, “We want to keep the crossroads intact sir?”

  “We do, Lance Sergeant. We will need it for our amour. This is the start of the race to Berlin.”

  I let them take that in. Berlin meant the end of the European war. Lieutenant Poulson had said that he would stay in after the war but I was not sure if any of the others would.

  “Anyway as soon as the boats come we practice all day and, when we have it right then we do it at night. Once we have mastered that we do it blindfold. We have been given the luxury of time to train. I do not intend to waste it.”

  The dinghies, all four of them, did not arrive until noon the next day. The engineers who delivered them were apologetic. “Not our fault sir. There were so many ships to be unloaded that these were pushed back.”

  “That is all right sergeant. They are here now.”

  We manhandled the boats carefully. We had a spare but I did not want to risk a puncture. When they were taken from the lorries I saw that we could, if we had to, just take two of them. That would mean we would be a little overcrowded. We carried them to the lake and tethered them. I divided them into their teams.

  “My team, Beaumont, Davis, White and Foster. Lieutenant Poulson’s team, Fletcher, Hewitt, McLean and Betts. Betts and McLean, you have the Bren. Sergeant Major Barker’s team, Hay, Emerson, Richardson and Ashcroft. Richardson and Ashcroft will take the mortar.”

  We had ensured that the rookies were spread out and the experience was too. I saw that Beaumont and Fletcher were unhappy at being split up. They would have to learn to live with it.

  “You have one hour to work all the wrinkles out of your team. Find the best balance. In an hour we have a three lap race around the island!” We had decided this was the best way to approach the mission. Make this part competitive. It would highlight any weaknesses in the teams and it was
better to discover that here rather than on the Lippe under fire.

  I took my team to our boat. I shouted, “I name this one Lucky Lady!” I saw that the others had been going to do the same.

  The new boys look mystified. Davis said, “We had a German E-Boat. We used it for missions and we called her the Lucky Lady.”

  “Davis and Beaumont you take the front. White and Foster the rear. I will be the rudder. The key to this is a clean stroke delivered together. Right let’s try to get aboard without tipping it up. As I recall that is never easy.”

  As if to prove the point Big George MacLean was too eager and, as he stepped in, he slipped. He fell backwards and the boat slid across the water. He splashed spectacularly into the lake. Luckily Scouse had hold of the rope. “Typical Geordies! Always too much in a hurry!”

  I smiled at my crew, “See!”

  Beaumont and Davis climbed aboard together from the stern. Once seated Beaumont turned, “Right you lads, come in together.”

  Once they were in I took my paddle and stepped into the stern. I used the paddle to push us away from the bank.

  Beaumont said, “How about a song sir to help with the rhythm?”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “There can only be one sir, the Eton Boat Song.”

  “Of course. You start and we will all pick it up.”

  Jolly boating weather,

  And a hay harvest breeze,

  Blade on the feather,