Beyond the Rhine

by Griff Hosker

  The two sentries went to fetch the water while the sergeant put more sticks into the brazier. It flared up. He would have no night vision! They had just lifted the pot of water on to the brazier when the sky was lit up by the barrage. A heartbeat later the sound of the shells erupted. My gun spat three bullets and the three Germans fell. Even as they were falling, the sergeant spilling the water and the brazier, Beaumont was racing across the road. He rolled one grenade under the truck as he hurled the other in the back. I could hear German voices. Beaumont raced back and threw himself next to me. As a head appeared I fired another two bullets in his direction and then took cover. The grenades went off almost simultaneously. The fire from the brazier ignited the fuel and the whole truck lifted in the air and crashed to earth.

  I grabbed my Thompson and ran to the bridge. I kept to the left so that I was not highlighted by the fire. The two sentries at the far end were dead thanks to Davis but I knew they had a radio. The barrage was so loud that Beaumont would not have heard me even had I shouted. I just hoped that he would follow me and that Davis would cover us. Two men rose. They were a hundred and forty feet away. Holding the Tommy gun in two hands I sprayed a short burst. The sound was dwarfed by the barrage. I kept running. One of the men I had shot began to rise and was thrown to the ground as Davis hit him. The last two men rose from the Kubelwagen. Beaumont and I fired at the same time and both fell. I saw the radio by the Kubelwagen and I emptied my magazine into it.

  Beaumont was already using the dead Germans’ grenades to booby trap the Kubelwagen and the bodies. I turned, “Davis, booby trap the north end of the bridge.”

  As Beaumont worked he nodded to the radio, “Do you think they got a message off?”

  “If they did there is nothing we can do about it.” I gestured with my thumb at the barrage. “I think that will worry them more than an incident at a bridge.” I took one of the MG 42 machine guns and ammunition canister. “Fetch the other one when you are done.”

  “Sir.”

  When I reached the north side of the bridge I saw that the cannon and the machine gun were both wrecked. “Get back to the house as soon as you have finished. Fetch any weapons you think might be useful.”

  He held up a box, “I have dropped lucky, sir. Two hundred rounds for my Mauser!”

  The MG 42 weighed twenty five pounds and the ammunition was almost as heavy but I knew that it would add to our firepower. I called out as I approached our fort, “Coming in!” so as to warn White and Foster. I did not think they would be trigger happy but we had been away some time.

  I handed them the gun and ammunition. “Set this up where you had the rifle grenade. We have another one, Beaumont is bringing it. I will go and clear a space on the first floor.”

  The upper floor had been partly demolished but the upper wall to the bottom of the window remained. Crucially, it faced east and would add to Lieutenant Poulson’s firepower. I found a half dozen broken roof beams. I laid three of them above the lintel of the window. I found a broken chest of drawers. I hauled it in front of the window and them arranged the last of the beams above it so that the gunner and loader would have some protection. I peered through the window and saw that it had a clear view of the road. I went down the half demolished stairs and took a section of camouflage netting.

  “When Beaumont and Davis get here help them to carry the machine gun upstairs.”

  “Sir.”

  I went back upstairs and risked standing on my defences. I was not certain if the brickwork would hold. I gingerly ascended and, although the wood creaked, it held. I draped the netting down the window. I prised loose a couple of bricks and laid them on the top to secure it. We just needed to disguise the barrel until the Germans were within two thousand feet. That was the range of the MG 42. I heard footsteps as they laboured up with the machine gun.

  “Lay it here and load it.”

  ”Sir!”

  “Bridge booby trapped?”

  “They won’t stop tanks but infantry or soft skinned vehicles will get a shock. If nothing else it will give us warning.”

  “Davis!”

  His voice came from downstairs, “Yes sir?”

  “I want you and Foster up here with the sniper rifle and this machine gun. You are our eyes to the east.”

  “Sir!”

  “And Beaumont!”

  “Yes sir?”

  “Get a brew on, we have earned it!”

  While Beaumont went to put on some water to heat up I took the binoculars and went out to look down the road. To the west I could still hear the sound of the barrage. I had almost tuned it out. I saw nothing down the road. Of course the Americans were further south and advancing. That would limit the forces they could use to reinforce this area. Gelsenkirchen was just fifteen miles away. If a message had been received it would take them half an hour to must forces. It was now almost 0430. There was no sign of vehicles. They would come north. The barrage would tell them what Monty was up to. They would assume that the defenders would hold out for a short time. We had time. Munster was forty miles to the north east. They would take even longer to reach us.

  Satisfied that there was no one on the way I returned indoors. I handed the glasses to White, “Sam, go outside and keep an eye open for anyone coming up the road.”

  Beaumont had the tea ready. He handed me my mug and shouted, “Tea’s up!”

  Foster came down, “Sir, Lance Corporal Davis says he has a good view down the road. Nothing moving.”

  “Good. As soon as it is dawn and the artillery stops then I expect we will see some movement. Eat while you can.”

  Beaumont handed me a piece of sausage. “Jerry was cooking this. I have some more for the lads. It is mainly fat but it is spicy. It will fill a hole.”

  “Thanks, Roger.”

  It was fatty and it was chewy but it was tasty too.

  The barrage stopped shortly before 0700. The sky was much lighter and there was still no sign of the Germans. I took the glasses from Sam and went to look down the road. There was nothing. I moved them from east to west and then a movement caught my eye. There was a vehicle coming up the road. It looked to be less than two miles away. I did not know what kind it was but I knew it had to be German.

  They were here!

  Chapter 12

  “Stand to!” I ran back inside. “No one open fire until I give orders. “Davis, how about the road to the east?”

  “Nothing yet sir.”

  “Beaumont, you get on the MG 42 with White. I will use the Thompson.”

  I used the glasses to peer through the camouflage netting. It was a German column. I saw the black cross on the lead vehicle. It looked to be a 6 Rad 231, German armoured car. It had a 20 mm gun but tyres rather than tracks. I tried to put myself in their position. They knew that the allies had been shelling. They would see the wrecked Kubelwagen and lorry. As there were no British uniforms they would assume that the men had been killed by shells. They would still be cautious but they would be keen to push on to the crossroads. They would be within range when they were at the bridge. I wanted them closer when we opened fire as I wanted the maximum casualties.

  When they were just short of the bridge they stopped and I saw the commander of the armoured car scanning the bridge. He was looking for wires. He would not find any. Our booby traps were more subtle. I saw him raise his arm and shout something. Eight men disgorged from the half-track which was following and ran towards the bridge. It was obvious that they were moving the bodies. As they tried to move the first two the grenades exploded and the eight men were thrown to the ground. I saw a couple of them moving but four did not. The hatch was slammed shut and the turret moved around. The booby traps suggested an ambush. The men who were in the half-track kept their heads down. The men who had begun to descend from the lorries climbed back on board. And no bullets came their way. We had posed them a problem. It would take time to solve the problem and that was our task. Delay them.

  They had to have radios on
board. I could imagine the conversations. The armoured car began to fire into the trees and bushes alongside the river. The half-track joined in. After a few minutes the armoured car moved forward. We had left the Kubelwagen with its front wing protruding a little from the bridge. The armoured car went to nudge it out of the way. As it toppled backwards it set off another two grenades. Using the glasses I saw that the front tyres on one side were shredded by the shrapnel. The armoured car could still drive. It would, however, move very slowly.

  The half-track moved forward as the armoured car reversed out of the way. I hoped that the Sergeant Major and Lieutenant would hold their fire until they heard the sound of a Thompson. That had been the agreed signal. I knew that they would be eager to destroy the Germans.

  “White, slip out of the back and, when I give the word, send a grenade into the middle of the bridge. Can you do that?”

  “I thinks so sir, but what about the machine gun?”

  Beaumont said, “Don’t worry, White, you’ll have time to get back in here and feed the ammo through.”

  He slipped out of the back and I cocked my Thompson. The half-track was almost level with the lorry. As it drove over the sergeant’s body it set off another booby trap. The grenade did little damage to the half-track but the gunner began to fire at the three buildings in which we sheltered. Instinctively we ducked down but the bullets just struck the bricks. They were trying to get a response. The half-track moved up the road towards us. Normally they carried twelve men and eight had been incapacitated. If we could stop the half-track then the road would be blocked and the armoured car would not have a clear field of fire.

  They had a gap of forty feet between vehicles. They feared that there were either booby traps or mines. I waited until the half-track was less than fifty yards from the house. I shouted, “Now!”

  I aimed my Thompson at the gunner. He was protected from the front but I had a side shot. The grenade landed just behind the second truck. The shrapnel scythed through the open back. Every German gun began firing blindly at the hedges along the side of the road and into the buildings. I fired two short bursts and the gunner slumped. He was hit. As I fired at the driver I heard the crump of the mortar. I stepped out and ran towards the half-track. The MG 42 operated by Beaumont began to chatter. The 20 mm was unable to fire at me because the half-track was in the way. I jammed the Thompson in the driver’s visor and emptied the magazine. The bullets bounced around inside making it a charnel house. I took a grenade and, pulling the pin threw it into the open back of the half-track. Even as the last occupants rose I was diving to the ground. The chatter of a Bren gun made the men duck down and then the grenade went off.

  The mortar was working its way up the road and the armoured car attempted to get by the half-track. Its shredded tyres did not help.

  From above me I heard Davis shout, “Sir, trucks heading down the road from the east!”

  “Deal with them.”

  I turned and hurled a grenade high into the air. It exploded in the air in front of the armoured car. It did little damage but it takes a brave driver to keep driving with shrapnel flying through the air. I rolled into the house and loaded another magazine.

  “White, fire an anti-tank grenade at the armoured car. Use the grenade rifle like a bazooka!”

  “Sir!”

  The armoured car was moving towards us. Its turret was turning and it fired. It could not lower its gun low enough to hit anything but the wrecked roof. However, the chunks of brick and stone which flew off told us how powerful a weapon it was.

  “Any time Sam!”

  The grenade flew through the open window at the side and crashed into the side of the armoured car. The range was very close. The armour was thickest at the front and the grenade exploded in the thinner metal at the sides.. Fortune favours the brave. White must have hit the fuel tank for we were knocked over by the wall of heat and the concussion as the armoured car was destroyed.

  I fired my Thompson at the second truck following the armoured car as the mortar hit the third truck. White fed another belt into the MG 42 and the last of the Germans was driven back over the bridge.

  “Can you hold here, Beaumont?”

  “Yes sir!”

  I ran up the stairs to join Davis and Foster. Lieutenant Poulson now had all his men firing at the advancing column. I could see half-tracks but no armour. “Peter, I’ll take over the machine gun, get your rifle and take out the officers and the NCOs.”

  “Sir.”

  He slipped from behind the gun and I lay down where he had been. The infantry had left their vehicles and were running and firing as they advanced towards us. Our changeover and the fact that the gun stopped firing made them think that we were beaten and they rose. I traversed from left to right, firing short bursts. I saw men fall. An officer pointed at our emplacement and then fell back as Davis worked his gun. He was good. Each time he slid the bolt back and aimed the target was as good as dead. They were less than two hundred yards away and the telescopic sight made them seem even closer. The Bren gun was now adding its fire. When Gordy had Ashcroft and Richardson switch their mortar to the east road then the Germans fell back.

  “Reload. They will call up for reinforcements.” I went back down the stairs.

  I looked at my watch. It was just 0900 hours. It would take at least six hours to build a pontoon bridge across the river. The ones who had assaulted across the river in the Buffaloes and Funnies would be hanging on. It would not be until the pontoon was finished that we could really start the push. We could have another ten hours to wait for relief.

  “Is that it sir? Will they give up?”

  I moved a few of the Mills bombs on to the window ledge next to my right shoulder and peered out of the glassless widow, “No Sam, they won’t. They tried the fast approach and now they will attempt the slow way. This is where we keep our wits about us. They will not come up the road. They will use the cover from the river. Luckily for us whoever had this house cleared and used the field to the south of us for crops. They only have cover to the edge of it and then we have a hundred and ten yards of killing zone between us.”

  “How do you know, sir?”

  “I paced it out when we headed down to the river. You two make sure the field is where they die. I will watch the road. They can use the hedgerow for cover. If I disappear Beaumont, don’t worry. It is because I have gone outside.”

  “What about the other side of the road, sir?”

  “That is the Sergeant Major’s domain. Our danger comes if they join up with the men on the east road with these. Then we have trouble.”

  It took them thirty minutes to plan and then begin their first assault on our strongpoint. I saw another two trucks arrive and disgorge their men over the bridge. They were wary and came over in threes and fours. Our mortar was ominously silent. Gordy had said we had limited ammunition. He would save it until there were enough men to make it worth his while. The first figures in grey began to head up the road but this time they used the hedge for cover. It meant I could not see them. Gordy’s team could but he would not waste ammunition. They would wait until they were within range of the Thompsons.

  Beaumont said, as he cocked the MG 42, “They are at the edge of the field sir. Here they come!”

  I heard the crump of a grenade, “Sir, they are using smoke bombs!”

  “I won’t be long.”

  Taking one Mills bomb and my Thompson I slipped through the opening which had been the front door originally. The remnants of the wall around it now afforded protection to Beaumont and White. The Germans were keeping to the east side of the hedge. That was the side I could not see them. As I stepped out I threw myself to the ground and gave a short burst at the grey clad figures a hundred and thirty yards away. One fell with a large red chest and a second clutched his arm. The others opened fire as they ducked back into the hedgerow. I had an elevated position and I was lying down. Their bullets flew over my head. Then I heard Beaumont’s gun as it opened f
ire. The cries told me that, even firing through smoke, he had hit men. I heard Davis’ MG 42 begin as well and the sound of a Bren gun. They were attacking from the east too.

  I fired another burst and then, rising, ran towards the hedgerow. I could not see them and that meant they could not see me. I glanced in the field to the south of the house and saw the smoke. To my left the muzzle of the MG 42 sent bullets into it. So long as the ammunition held out that would be a killing zone. I risked moving down the field side of the hedge. The smoke hid me from the Germans. Then, when I was thirty yards down, I pulled the pin on a Mills bomb and threw it high into the air. I turned and ran back to the house. It exploded in the hedge. I peered through the hedgerow. I saw a couple of bodies.

  I raced back into the house. “White, get your grenade rifle.” I took the belt from him and continued to feed Beaumont’s machine gun. He was firing blindly into the smoke but he was not using a pattern the Germans could detect. He would have a plan in his head. Sometimes he fired just six or seven bullets and sometime a longer burst. He fired low and he fired high. There was no pattern.

  White shouted, “Where to sir?”

  “Go outside and use the grenades to work down the hedge and clear it. Then switch to the trees by the river.”

  “I can’t see them sir.”

  “We will spot fall of shot for you. The smoke is clearing a little.”

  “Sir.”

  Just then I heard the crump of the mortar. Gordy had to have seen something for the mortar shell exploded to the south of us.

  From upstairs Davis shouted, “Sir, they are getting very close to the Lieutenant.”

  “He will have to hang on. If he heads back to the Alamo then let me know.”

  “Sir!”

  The smoke had cleared considerably and I saw grey bodies littering the field. The closest were about fifty yards away. The wooden and brick defences had meant we had been safe. The camouflage net now had holes in it but it still disguised our exact position.

  I heard the grenade rifle as White systematically lobbed his bombs down the hedgerow. The Germans were retreating down the field. Another crump told me Gordy had risked another mortar shell. I grabbed my Tommy gun and slipped out of the door. White was kneeling and using the remnants of a small wall on which to rest his barrel. I risked stepping out into the road. I saw a machine gun crew carrying a machine gun. They were rushing up the road. I guessed they were trying to enfilade us. White must have seen them as they began to set up just a hundred yards from us. I aimed at them and began to fire. Two other Germans were behind them and they knelt down and began to fire at me. I concentrated on the machine gun crew as bullets zipped around me. Then I heard the crump from the mortar and the shell exploded twenty yards behind the two men and the machine gun crew. A second shell followed a few seconds later and the machine gun was destroyed.