Breakout (Combined Operations Book 7)

by Griff Hosker

  "He said to sit tight, sir. He is coming over himself in the next couple of days. He said to take two days off."

  Fletcher rubbed his hands together, "That'll do for me!"

  Sergeant Poulson said, "We have to get this place ship shape first, Corporal Fletcher!"

  In the end it was four days before Major Foster arrived. Part of that was due to the fact that the work on the airfield had slowed. German counterattacks had prevented it being ready. It suited us for we now had better quarters. We scrounged and we collected so that we could be both secure and comfortable. All the time more troops arrived from the beaches. We knew that there would be an offensive at the end of the first week in August. Ominously the Germans must have known it too. Every tank we had seen when we had been trying to evade the Germans had been either a Tiger or a Panther and they were S.S.

  As we sat one night on the river bank, watching the sunset in the west, Lieutenant Ross said, "Surely, Captain, the fact that you destroyed so much of their fuel means that their tanks will not be able to move. The war in this part of the world will soon be over."

  I shook my head, "These are S.S. divisions; the Das Reich and the Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler. They are fanatics. If they run out of petrol they will become static obstacles and will pick off our tanks one by one. They will not surrender. They will fight to the death and take a lot of brave men with them."

  Sergeant Poulson said, "You know what their crews call the Shermans don't you sir?"

  "No, Sergeant."

  "Ronsons, because they light up as quickly as a lighter. They are death traps and the German guns tear through their armour as though it wasn't there. You need a point blank hit with a twenty five pounder to stop a Tiger or a Panther. The Captain is right. This will be bloody."

  Just then, as though to prove the point, more Shermans trundled up the river road towards the jumping off point for the offensive in two day's time.

  We were woken next morning by the sound of gunfire and it was German eighty eights we could hear. I rushed outside and saw, to the north, smoke. We had no orders but the firing was so close that I could not ignore it.

  "Stand to! Get your weapons. I want everyone here in five minutes."

  I grabbed my battle vest, already festooned with grenades and ammunition, and put it on. I took my Thompson and my Colt. I was outside before the rest. Emerson was the first to reach me. "Freddie can your half track go?"

  "Of course sir."

  "Then we will get to the front line quicker in that."

  "Yes sir!"

  Lieutenant Ross was the last one to join us. "What do I do sir?"

  "Find out what the hell is going on. We will take the half track and head for the front line."

  We boarded the half track. Bill Hay cocked the heavy machine gun, the MG 42. We would have some serious firepower. As we headed north we received some strange looks but we were all wearing British uniforms and Private Beaumont had painted over the German cross. We saw ambulances carrying wounded men as we neared the front lines and the road became clogged. "Fred, take us down a side street." We were able to move faster. We could still hear the sound of tank shells hitting buildings and then the sound of hits on tanks but we saw nothing.

  As we turned left the houses disappeared and we were in the open land to the north of Caen. I saw a burnt out Sherman and a disabled Churchill. The Sherman was a blackened shell. The Churchill had lost a track. The smoke from the tank made it hard to see beyond the two vehicles. The Canadians were manhandling a six pounder anti tank gun into position. "Stay here and I will find out what is going on."

  I jumped out. Bullets pinged off the armour. Bill fired a burst from the German machine gun. I guess he must have seen where the gunfire came from. Shells were still hitting the buildings behind me. I ran from side to side with my head down until I reached a partly demolished building. A Canadian Major looked up when I entered, "Where the hell did you and the half track come from?"

  "We were by the river and I heard the firing. What is going on?"

  "We had a message at midnight that the Germans were planning to attack us this morning. We were ready for them but they had Tigers. We are holding them but only just. More men are coming from the beaches right now. If you and your men can block the road you are on and cover the six pounder that would be a help."

  "Will do. How many tanks have you left?"

  "Two Churchills and a Sherman. We lost five tanks already and we haven't even dented the Tigers. I think it is just the wreckage of our tanks that is stopping them."

  I dodged and ran back to the half track. "Right lads we are on a holding mission. We stop them here. Emerson, Hay and Shepherd, you stay here with the vehicle. The rest of you grab your weapons and we will join the crew of the six pounder."

  I ran to the anti-tank gun. Even as I reached it a bullet struck the layer in the head and he fell at my feet. "Corporal Fletcher, act as gun layer." I fired a burst from my submachine in to the smoke. Both sides were firing blind. The Canadian gun layer had just been unlucky.

  "Thanks sir." The sergeant looked at my flash, "Commando eh?"

  "Don't worry we know how to stand and fight too. Can you see any targets?"

  He shook his head. "The Germans have laid down smoke and the tanks just appear out of it. The only advantage we have is that when they are that close we can do some damage."

  I nodded. "Sergeant Poulson get some sandbags erected around the gun. Private Beaumont, come with me."

  I crawled along the ground towards the German lines. I counted on the fact that any bullets would be at waist or head height. "Where to sir?"

  "Let's head for the Churchill. It might be disabled but the gun looks like it will fire. Besides it will safer inside rather than out!"

  "Looking at that Sherman I am not sure, sir."

  Bullets zipped over our heads but they seemed too high to cause us damage. The Germans could not see us for we were below the smoke. I saw two of the tank crew. They had been shot after they had evacuated the damaged tank. When we reached the Churchill I climbed up the rear. The turret hatch was open but if I just went in blindly then I risked a bullet. I raised my head over the top. I could see, a hundred yards away, the German Panzer grenadiers. They were advancing alongside two Panthers. A Tiger was stationary some two hundred yards behind it but its gun was still traversing and it was still firing. Glancing to my left I saw two Tigers and to my right another two Panthers. I saw my chance when a breeze suddenly blew some smoke in front of our Churchill. I scrambled into the hatch and dropped down. I landed on the body of the headless driver. There was a large hole in the front of the tank where the shell had blasted through. Inside the turret was blackened. There had been a fire but it had gone out.

  I moved towards the gun as Private Beaumont dropped down beside me. "Do you know how this works Private Beaumont?"

  He looked at it and nodded., "I think so. We won't be able to traverse the turret but we can raise and lower the gun by hand. If you can load, sir, we might give Jerry a shock!"

  I saw that there were shells behind me. It was a miracle they had not exploded. Then I realised that the German shell had been armour piercing and not HE. I saw the difference in the two types of shell. The armour piecing had a more tapered tip and was made of harder steel. Private Beaumont said, "Give me an armour piercing first, sir, and then if you want to get on the machine gun. Those grenadiers are getting a bit close to us."

  Getting to the machine gun involved moving the torso out of the way. I could not be squeamish about it. The poor driver was well out of it anyway. I cocked the Besa machine gun."Ready when you are, Private Beaumont."

  "This will be tricky sir. I have to wait until the Panther moves into my sights. If you have to fire then go ahead sir and I will do my best."

  The Panzer grenadiers were now less than sixty yards from me. I could see the nearest Panther was traversing its turret to fire to our right. I opened fire moving the gun left to right and back again. I could not depress i
t too far but the range was perfect. I hit some of the grenadiers and the others hit the deck. The Panther's gun began to traverse. It now saw us as a threat. I left the gun and grabbed another shell. Private Beaumont fired the Churchill's seventy five millimetre gun and struck the Panther just below the turret. The barrel stopped traversing. The shell had done some damage.

  "Quick sir, another! I have him!"

  I loaded another armour piercing and he fired. This time it penetrated the turret. There was a whoosh of flame and the crew began to bail out.

  "HE sir."

  I loaded one of the other shells and then went back to the machine gun. I was just in time as the infantry was advancing again. I fired a burst and then the gun jammed. Before I could clear it Private Beaumont had fired and hit the tank with high explosive. There was an enormous explosion. The Panther's turret flew into the air. We had no time to congratulate ourselves as our tank was rocked by a tank shell which smashed into the left side, low down. It too was armour piercing but it was hot enough, as it struck, to start a fire.

  "Right Private Beaumont. Time to bail out."

  I jumped up and, grabbing my Thompson held it above the turret and sprayed blindly. I pulled myself out and dropped behind it. I put it on single shot and began to aim at the Panzer grenadiers. I saw the second Panther lining up to take a shot as us.

  "Hurry up Private Beaumont!" He tumbled out and I yanked him over the back. We fell in a heap. I grabbed his collar and pulled him up. "Run!" We were just forty feet from the Churchill when the shell hit it and exploded the petrol tank. We were thrown to the ground and I could smell burning hair as the flames singed us. I could barely hear anything but I pulled Private Beaumont to his feet and stumbled back towards the half track and the six pounder.

  I could not hear but I could shout, "A Panther two hundred yards away!" I dropped behind the sandbags my men had put up. I put a new magazine into my Thompson and placed a Mills bomb before me. My hearing would come back but it would be gradual. I turned and shouted, "Lance Sergeant Hay, Panzer grenadiers and a tank!" He waved his acknowledgement and began firing into the smoke. With a range of two thousand yards he might get lucky.

  I saw the flash of the muzzle of the Panther and, tapping the gunner on the shoulder, pointed. He nodded. The shell exploded behind us. I turned and saw the headquarters' building crumble. Part of the stonework crashed onto the back part of the German half track. Bill Hay waved. He was still standing. The gunner fired and immediately the six pounder was reloaded.

  I saw the Panzer grenadiers as they darted, as I had done, from cover to cover. They were good. One man fired while the other covered. We needed a grenade launcher but we had none. I fired a short burst to make them go to ground. The rest of my section used their own automatic weapons to lay down a wall of fire. The Canadians around us had Lee Enfields. A good rifle, it did not have the rate of fire of our Thompsons. Then I saw the barrel of the Panther. The gunner saw it at the same time. The range was less than a hundred yards and the shell slammed into the front. It did not do as the Sherman was prone to do and catch fire but it was stopped.

  "Hit it again Sergeant!"

  I stopped shooting blindly and looked for the officers and sergeants. If I had had my sniper rifle then I could have been more accurate but I had to use the machine gun. I saw an officer raise his arm and I fired three shots. One of them hit him. Then the Panther's machine gun began to chatter. The Canadian sergeant fell. Bullets had torn into his chest. Private Beaumont leapt to replace him. I took my grenade and stood. It was risky but I needed the maximum flight. I pulled the pin and threw it as high and far as I could. "Grenade!"

  I dropped to the ground as Private Beaumont fired the anti tank gun and joined me. The shrapnel from the grenade scythed through the air at head height. As soon as it had passed I rose to my knee and fired again. I saw that the Panther was smoking and the turret had been damaged. The crew began to clamber out and Bill Hay cut them down.

  Just then there was a whoosh from behind us followed by the roar of a pair of tank busting Typhoons. I saw an explosion in the distance. They had destroyed the disabled Tiger. "Right lads, at them!"

  I led my section and the remainder of the Canadians and we ran at the Panzer grenadiers. Already badly shaken and without their three tanks they turned and ran. They were S.S. and this was no time to be noble. We shot then. When we reached the burning Tiger I stopped. We had held off a major attack. The question was, would we be able to launch our own attack or had the Germans forestalled it?

  Chapter 9

  Hay , Emerson and Shepherd were covered in brick dust and had minor cuts and bruises but otherwise they had survived well. Fred Emerson was more concerned about his half track and he had my section remove the bricks and stones so that he could see what damage there was.

  The Major and his headquarters' staff had all been killed when the building collapsed on them. Captain Thomas was the senior surviving officer from the battalion. He looked shaken as he watched the bodies being brought out from the rubble. "Thanks for the help Captain Harsker."

  I nodded, "We were lucky this time."

  "I know. We had warning but it didn't seem to do us any good."

  "Are you involved in the offensive tomorrow?"

  "No. It is an armoured attack. The Poles are going to assist our boys. Thank God. It will take us a few days to get back in some sort of order."

  "I am afraid that time is a luxury we do not have." I shook his hand. "If my chaps have repaired the half track we will get out of your way." I pointed to the battalion which was marching to relieve them. "New uniforms. You had better tell them what they are up against."

  I reached my men, "They nearly hurt Bertha sir but she is a tough old lady!"

  "Bertha?"

  "Like the big gun from the Great War sir, Big Bertha."

  "Right Freddie, let's get your new girlfriend home. Well done everyone, especially Private Beaumont here. Two tanks is an impressive score for your first time."

  "It would have been nice to get a hat trick, sir."

  When we reached our base Lieutenant Ross said, "Major Foster is arriving tomorrow, sir."

  "Good."

  "How did it go?"

  "We won but the Canadians picked up the butcher's bill."

  Private Emerson and Private Beaumont did not do as the rest did and find some food. They began tinkering with their new toy. I cleaned my weapons and reloaded my magazines. After I had done so I had a thought, "Lieutenant Ross, just in case Major Foster takes you back to London with him, could you spend the afternoon trying to get us some ammunition? Use your magic letter while we still can and while you are about it see if there are any American rations kicking about. They are always better than ours."

  He looked perplexed. Scouse Fletcher volunteered, "Should I go with him sir? Show him the ropes, so to speak."

  "Just don't get him arrested."

  "As if I would and if we took the half track sir it might be easier to carry the stuff back."

  "Very well."

  Scouse looked happy, "Great, come on, sir, and I will open those baby blues of yours to the real world of bein' a soldier!"

  With Shepherd doing some washing that left me with my three NCOs. "Sergeant Poulson, how is the wound? You seemed to cope today."

  He looked at John Hewitt, "I feel fine, sir, but sometimes my chest feels tight."

  Hewitt nodded, "To be expected. I know you are running and that will build up your stamina but you need to build up your chest muscles too." We all looked at him. He shrugged, "When I went home I went to the library to find a bit of peace and I read up on the wounds the lads had suffered. Until we are attached to a unit with a doctor I guess I am it."

  "There you are Sergeant, you have a starting point."

  "That's all I want. I need to know how to become as fit as I once was."

  "What next sir?"

  "I don't know, Bill. I can't see the Major coming all the way over here just to tell us we can go home
. There will be another job for us. Of that I am certain. Why, do you want to go back to the Brigade?"

  He shook his head, "This suits me. We all get on. Life is never dull and there is no spit and polish here. It's just that I heard his lordship wanted us to be more like regular troops."

  "Like Poulson here he is wounded and appears to be out of it for a while. We have the support of the Prime Minister and that seems more important than the fact that generals like Monty don't approve of us and our tactics. They think they are a distraction."

  Bill Hay shook his head, "With respect, sir, that is a load of bollocks! Pardon my French! In terms of cost we get better results than large numbers of other units. Look at today. If we hadn't been there then Jerry would have walked through. You and Private Beaumont took the initiative and destroyed a tank and slowed up the advance."

  "The fighters were on their way, Lance Sergeant."

  "By the time they got there the whole of the Canadian company would have been dead or in the bag."

  "Well it is not our decision. We just do what we do and hope for the best." I stood, "Anyway we had better make arrangements for Major Foster."

  "Will he be staying here?"

  "I have no idea but better to be prepared. Rig something up. Put him near Lieutenant Ross."

  "Should we put a curtain around him or something?"

  "No Bill, he is a Commando. He knows how to rough it but see if you can scrounge another mess kit for him. He won't have thought to bring one."

  "He can have Joe's. His stuff is still here. I wonder how he is."

  Hewitt said, "His wounds were straightforward. A week of sick leave and he will be back to normal duties."

  "Just my luck to have something that has taken two months to heal."

  "What about the other lads? They are worse off. They are still in Blighty. I bet Gordy is climbing the walls!"

  "You are right Bill." Sergeant Poulson chuckled. "He will be giving those nurses hell! I miss his miserable face."

  It was early evening when we heard the sound of our captured vehicle. We went outside to see them. Corporal Fletcher said, "The Lieutenant is a natural sir! We were stopped by some redcaps who asked why we were driving a German vehicle. Mr Ross here whipped out his magic letter and put them in their place. They were all, 'sorry sir, just doing our job sir'! Proper Jobsworths!"