Deliver Us From Darkness
Page 21
Earlier, at around 0900hrs at the railway station, the noise from artillery and small-arms fire had become overwhelming. “Just up ahead on the same side of the tracks from our position was a row of houses and barns,” recalled Hank DiCarlo. “Frank Padisak was concerned that these might be used as a means of approach so together with Joe Harris, I went forward with Frank to investigate. In the rush to clear the buildings, we almost shot each other with our Tommy guns; however we still managed to take out a couple of Germans as they ran out from behind a door of the last house. Rather worryingly we were now close enough to hear voices shouting commands in German, and realized that this had to be more than just a local thrust. At that point we dashed back across the tracks into a railway waiting room and made our way back to the CP.”
Just before 1000hrs, after meeting with Col Sink and Maj Hester, Oliver Horton visited Lt Stroud at the station, in an attempt to assess the situation. A British Bren-gun Carrier and a Sherman tank had stopped on the level crossing, and the commander of the tank was now directing fire in full view of the enemy. About six German soldiers were moving towards Lou Vecchi trying to surrender when the crew of the carrier opened fire. Despite the fact that they were waving a white flag the men were all cut down and killed.
Members of 1/506 look on as the British vehicles roll by. (Bill Wedeking)
A Sherman tank rumbles past the Philips Light Tower en route for Boschdijk. (P. Hendrikx)
Dense crowds hampered the advance until it eventually ground to a halt. (Hendrik Beens)
British Sexton self propelled gun and crew seen here in Frankrijstraat waiting for work to commence on the Bailey bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son. (Piet van Heeswijk via Tom Peeters)
With the crowds now gone, members of the Machine Gun Ptn can clean weapons. The 1919-A6 machine gun had a two-leg swivel at the end of the barrel for dismounted use. Each 250-round box of ammunition weighed 25lbs. (J. J. M van Kruijsdijk via Tom Peeters)
Supply Sgt Ben Hiner posing at the Sint Josef Milk Factory situated along the river Dommel between de Wal and Paradijslaan, which became the main collection and distribution point for the regiment’s supplies. (Ben Hiner)
During the night of September 18, Royal Engineers attached to the Guards Armoured Division constructed a Bailey bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)
At 0615hrs the leading elements of XXX Corps crossed the new bridge and were finally able to make their way through Son towards Sint Oedenrode and Veghel. (Foundation Remember September 1944 Collection)
Vehicles from XXX Corps on September 19, in Rechtestraat, trying to force their way through crowds outside a department store belonging to Vroom & Dreesman. (Tom Peeters)
3/506 leaving Eindhoven on September 19 along Grote Berg, heading west for Winterle in order to assess the possible enemy threat. (Tom Peeters)
Those members of the 506th not engaged on combat operations were tasked with policing the crowds along with local boy scouts. In this photograph a paratrooper keeps people back as a Cromwell IV weighing 28 tonnes passes through Boschdijk en route to Son. (Hendrik Beens)
September 19: people look on as American casualties are brought in to the RHQ Co command post at the Catholic Community Centre. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)
Later that evening the first flares burst over Eindhoven marking the target for the German bombers. (P. Hendrikx)
Stratumseind after the bombing, looking northwest towards the twin spires of St Catharina church. (Tom Peeters)
German prisoners of war under guard at the football fields near Son. (Mark Bando)
This staged photograph shows a group from 326th Airborne Engineers passing a burnt-out GMC truck along Hoog Straat in Veghel. The vehicle had been transporting gasoline when destroyed by a German Jagdpanther tank on September 23. (Currahee Scrapbook)
Defensive positions dug at Veghel by the 101st Airborne in Heilig Hart Square, close to the canal and industrial basin. (Erwin Janssen)
The Maria School on Kapelstraat in Uden became the 506th PIR regimental command post between September 22–23 and again from September 26–October 1. The school had previously been used as a home economics facility for young women aged 14 to 20. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)
September 23, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands seen here with his deputy, Maj Van Houten, at the Ravens Huize Donck Hotel in Eindhoven. Now a restaurant, the hotel became the Prince’s temporary HQ during the early stages of the campaign. (Tom Timmermans)
Col Sink and Maj Clarence Hester (regimental S3) far right, examining what appears to be a German Marder III, self-propelled gun, along Hell’s Highway near Uden. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)
506th Anglican chaplain Tilden McGee, seen here in a POW camp. Captured at Veghel, the Germans offered to exchange Tilden for a senior officer, captured earlier. Col Sink replied, “Hell no, we’ll trade no battalion commander for a chaplain.” (Mark Bando)
The railway bridge at Dorshout, over the river Aa, where H Co 2 Ptn fought off a ferocious and futile German attack on September 22, 1944.
The exact spot where John Purdie, Lloyd Carpenter, and Johnny Hahn were killed on September 25. The old Hell’s Highway ran behind Van Genugten farm (seen here in the distance).
Don Zahn pictured in 1945 after receiving his battlefield commission. (Mark Bando)
Crew of a Royal Canadian Air Force Halifax bomber that crashed on the night of June 25, 1943, near Zetten. (L to R) rear standing: Sgt Ross McLachlan (Navigator), Sgt Reg Cleaver (Flight Engineer – RAF), Sgt George Neale (Pilot), Sgt Bill Jaffray (Bomb Aimer), Sgt Jack Griffiths (Wireless Operator – RAF). Front kneeling: Sgt Bill McLeod (Rear Gunner), and Sgt Dave Kenwell (Mid Upper Gunner). (Ross McLachlan)
The crash site at Indoornik, north of Zetten. (Rolf Polman via Ross McLachlan)
The brick factory on the river Waal where Dirk van Tintelen discovered the boat. (Dirk van Tintelen via Geurt van Rinsum)
Dirk van Tintelen in October 1944, after joining the Canadian Army at Beneden-Leeuwen. (Dirk van Tintelen via Geurt van Rinsum)
October 2, 1944 – this picture taken by 1st Lt John Reeder shows the 506th PIR moving north through Grave while en route to the Island. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)
Another wonderful photograph taken by John Reeder as the 506th reached the road bridge at Nijmegen. Note the smoke being released to screen the crossing from enemy artillery. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)
1st Lt Bill Wedeking (Machine Gun Ptn Commander) pictured here in 1947 at Ashland, Wisconsin, after returning home from duty with the 11th Airborne Division in Hokkaido, Japan. (Bill Wedeking)
Sgt Charles “Chuck” Easter, Machine Gun Ptn. (Tex Collier via Judy Gamble)
Pre-war photograph of Willem “Wim” de Bosch’s house (seen here in center of picture with flat roof). Note the small footbridges spanning the drainage channel in front of the properties. (Bernard Florrisen – Opheusden)
81mm mortar team in action somewhere on the Island. (Currahee Scrapbook)
Capt Jim Morton, the commander of 3rd Bn HQ Company. (Bob Webb Jnr)
Pre-war picture of the Dutch Reformed Church on Kerkstraat, Zetten (opposite Dorpschool) which became the 506th regimental command post from the afternoon of October 5–19, 1944. (Geurt van Rinsum)
Photo taken after the battle. A patrol moving along Dalwegenseweg towards the station passes a knocked-out PzKpfw II Aus F. The German reconnaissance tank had a top speed of 25mph and weighed 9.5 tonnes. (Mark Bando)
Another light reconnaissance tank lies upside down in the drainage ditch along Dalwegenseweg. (Bernard Florrisen – Opheusden)
Rocket attack from an RAF Typhoon aircraft somewhere on the Island. These ground-attack planes ultimately played a decisive role in breaking the Germa
n advance at Opheusden. (Donald van den Bogert)
3rd Bn 506 PIR, Opheusden, October 5, 1944
“As we were preparing to pull back from the pillbox, Horton arrived and asked where we thought we were going,” remembers Hank DiCarlo. “I respectfully replied that there was now heavy machine-gun fire coming down the tracks and that we would all be surrounded and killed if we stayed a minute longer. I couldn’t believe it when the major stepped out from behind the bunker and was struck in the midsection by one of the machine guns that I’d just warned him about! We laid Horton down on the protected side of the blockhouse; there was nothing on earth we could do for him and he died a few minutes later. I looked at my watch and it said 10.20am.”
Following Horton’s death, Executive Officer Bob Harwick stepped up to take command. Harwick was highly respected by the men and despite the terrible circumstances, news quickly spread and his appointment was warmly received. Shortly afterwards, a jeep from B/326 collected Horton’s body and took it to the regimental aid station at Dorpschool on Kerkstraat in Zetten.
“The battalion got into some of the meanest fighting, perhaps the worst we had ever encountered,” recalled Bob Webb. “The whole thing seemed like it was a life and death matter for the Germans to break through. Our people were coming off the line really shaken, which was unusual.” Webb’s job at the time was to set up a battalion supply depot, with Ben Hiner, inside one of the buildings south of the level crossing along Dalwagenseweg. The 81st Antiaircraft Battalion was already there when they arrived, but were quickly persuaded to relocate. “It turned out to be a very handy place from which to service the troops during the early stages of the battle. The fighting was so intense that S/Sgt Roy Burger burned out three 81mm mortar barrels before completely running out of ammunition. Under heavy enemy fire, I loaded up a couple of trailers and made a run for Zetten to resupply him.”
Local children Geurt van Rinsum, Cor de Ruijter, Adrie Hendriks, and Henk Arnoldussen (Jannie’s younger brother) were “playing” close to the 81mm mortar battery at Hoofdstraat as Geurt recalls: “I was 13-yearsold and totally fascinated by the American positions which were located next door to my house. Beside each mortar lay a pile of bombs in readiness for the two-man crew. When the command to fire was given each team worked in unison taking it in turns to drop the heavy shells into the tube. Firing at a rate of about 50 rounds per minute, it seemed to us that there was hardly a second when there wasn’t a shell down a barrel.”
During the barrage that followed, more soldiers were on hand to replenish the rapidly dwindling stockpiles of ammunition.
On other occasions we had always stayed nearby to the predug air raid trenches but this time decided to move closer for a better view. Suddenly we heard the all too familiar sound of incoming enemy artillery. The high-pitch whistling changed to a strange fluttering noise, as I ran with my friends toward the safety of the trenches. I threw myself to the ground as the first shell exploded, scorching my head, face, and legs, getting back up I continued to run until a soldier pulled me into a slit trench. I was lucky, as the blast ripped open the upper part of Adrie’s leg down to the knee. I can still see him standing there screaming over and over again “I’ve been hit” as blood poured from the gaping wound, filling his clogs. Panic set in and I ran to my house, not realizing that Henk had also been hurt. Henk and Adrie were quickly evacuated with other casualties to the Dorpschool. Henk was treated and sent home but Adrie was moved to a hospital in Brabant for further treatment. It was months before his parents learned of his whereabouts and condition.
The quick and the dead
At the time of the battle, H Co’s 3 Ptn had around 44 men at its disposal as Alex Andros recalls: “Sgt Charles ‘Chuck’ Richards’ squad was on the right locking in with G Company. Sgt George Montilio’s squad was in reserve, protecting our left flank, and Sgt Kleckner’s first squad were way out front with the MG Platoon, and bore the brunt of the enemy assault. I had previously sent two guys to a house over on the southern side of the tracks to keep watch. Just before dawn, they came back and reported to Ralph Bennett that they’d seen a large number of enemy soldiers approaching from the west. More worryingly, the scouts had also observed another group cautiously advancing behind the railway embankment towards us.”
At daybreak Ralph Bennett was in a large tool shed located on the northern side of the railway junction at Smachtkamp, peering across the tracks with his field glasses. “It looked like the whole German army was coming our way in what seemed like one solid black mass,” recalls Bennett.
A few moments later our artillery opened up but the Germans still kept coming. The two guys who had previously been on outpost duty moved forward with me along the edge of the embankment. We had only gone about 25 yards when we heard German voices coming from the other side of the tracks. I threw a grenade and scrambled across the railway lines and found myself pointing my TSMG at maybe a dozen or so enemy soldiers, standing in the wide waterlogged ditch that ran along either side of the embankment. The only way to describe what happened next was as if I’d clapped my hands to gain their attention. Simultaneously, the group lifted their heads and looked up towards me. We were so close that I could see the horror and panic in their eyes. Squeezing the trigger, I emptied an entire magazine into their faces and ran like hell back to our CP. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, that one defining moment would haunt me for the rest of my life. When we got back to warn Lt Andros of the impending threat, he told me that Harry Clawson had been hit and I was now the new platoon sergeant.
While Bennett had been away, 1st Lt Andros and S/Sgt Harry Clawson were desperately trying to contact the battalion but signals corporal Franklin Stroble was unable to get his walkie-talkie to transmit. The three men were sheltering in a small orchard enclosed by deep drainage ditches when a shell exploded, killing Stroble and wounding Clawson. Half of Stroble’s face was missing and it was obvious to the others that he was dead. Andros was incredibly lucky to escape with nothing but a flesh wound and a dent in his steel helmet.
Pfc Dud Hefner ran across a makeshift bridge that spanned the ditch directly behind “Blokpost 17” and recalls: “Although we were still being shelled, I could plainly hear Clawson calling for help. Harry was completely blind and I placed his arms over my shoulders and carried him back to the CP.”
Three or four men from Andros’ platoon started firing from the corner of the Blokpost as the enemy tried to avance across the road junction. During the exchange of fire, assistant 3 Ptn leader, 2nd Lt Willie Miller, was seriously wounded in the neck. “The crossing soon became cluttered with enemy casualties and since we were in such close proximity, we began exchanging grenades back and forth across the embankment,” recalled Andros. A small group of Volksgrenadiers got into the tool shed and started shooting as Gene Johnson remembers: “One of our guys fired a rifle grenade at point-blank range through the open door and took them out.”
Pfc Spencer “S. O.” Phillips was in Sgt Frank Kleckner’s first squad and recalls: “Charles Hutchings and myself were on outpost duty about 100 yards in front of the LOD, when the Germans started another attack from the direction of the river. Hutchings took aim with his rifle and I told him to hold fire until the enemy was no more than 25 yards away from our position. We then pulled back to a house and took cover in the cellar as half a dozen artillery rounds destroyed the walls above our heads.”
Part of the line held by G Co’s 2 Ptn was also overrun, as Joe Doughty recalls: “During the bombardment my CP was hit, burying me in the rubble. I was lucky to escape reasonably unscathed except for a piece of shrapnel that narrowly missed my eye. The wound was serious enough for the medics to evacuate me to a hospital near Nijmegen and Ed Harrell took over the company in my absence.” Shrapnel nearly severed Sgt Oscar Saxvik’s thumb and severely damaged the nerve endings in his hand. “One of the medics wanted to remove it completely but I screamed like hell at him which thankfully worked. The doctors reconnected the digit but I had to have an
other operation after the war to fully restore function.” During the battle two men from G Company, Pfc Andrew Cyran and Pfc John Androsky, were killed and Pfc Jim Hollen was captured.
On the northern side of town, not far from the G Company area, it had become impossible to safely maintain 3 Bn’s aid station at Dr van Empel’s house in Burgemeester Lodderstraat: “I was helping three other medics carry a dead soldier out the back door when a shell struck the front of the building,” recalls medic John Gibson. “The terrific blast knocked all four of us to the floor. At the time there were a few wounded German soldiers lying on stretchers in the front room. Despite the fact that they were covered with debris, the explosion did nothing to shake them.” After spending the best part of the day transporting casualties by road from Opheusden to Zetten, Assistant Battalion Surgeon Dr Barney Ryan was forced to relocate his entire operation to the Regimental Aid Station at Dorpschool.
One of the younger medics, T/5 Tom Call, was conveying wounded to Zetten, when he was killed: “Tom was travelling through a barrage in one of our jeeps when he slumped forward absolutely stone dead,” recalls John Gibson. “The guys checked his body from head to toe but failed to find any obvious wounds. On further examination, Dr Ryan pulled down on an eyelid and found a tiny penetrating wound hidden by a fold in the skin. Incredibly a sliver of shrapnel had come over the windshield and under the rim of Tom’s helmet, penetrating deep into his brain. There was no blood, nothing – we were all totally stunned by the incident.”