On to Victory

by Mark Zuehlke

  Once the Royals pushed past the brush boundary into the rail yard, opposition became desultory, confined primarily to snipers. Many of the Germans began surrendering, but other pockets—especially those manned by SS and SD personnel—fought to the death.14

  At 0930 hours, Major General Bruce Matthews met Brigadier Cabeldu in a hotel on the city outskirts. They agreed that Groningen was defended in depth and would require more than a single brigade to subdue. Cabeldu’s brigade was to complete clearing the southern suburbs through to the canal, and 5th Brigade would come up on the south to widen the front advancing on the canal ringing the city centre. By day’s end, Matthews wanted Cabeldu to have secured the southern edge of the canal to create a jumping-off point for 6th Brigade to cross it. At the same time, 5th Brigade would also force its way into the city centre from the west.15

  EVEN COMPLETING THE more limited task proved a costly challenge. Dozens of snipers fired from rooftops, while machine-gun crews shot out of loopholes cut in the exposed upper walls of building basements. The Rileys’ ‘A’ Company suffered so many casualties closing on the main bridge that Major W.L. Coleman realized it would be shredded before it got there unless he obtained some support. He pleaded for Wasps to burn a path through the buildings, but was rebuffed because Matthews had ordered that artillery, flame, and other destructive heavy weapons be limited to prevent excessive damage to a friendly city.16

  One of Coleman’s platoons managed to wrest a building from a large force of men but was so badly shot up that Lance Corporal Wilf King—one of the few men still standing—knew they would never withstand a counterattack. There were not enough bandages for all the wounded, and King realized some would die unless they were evacuated immediately. Dashing into the street, King sprinted to Coleman’s headquarters with bullets ricocheting off the building walls around him. Coleman gathered a relief party and King led it to the platoon’s position, an act that earned a Military Medal.17

  To the left of ‘A’ Company, ‘C’ Company was harassed by one sniper, who “controlled the crossroads, firing from approximately 400 [yards] with deadly accurate fire.” The anti-tank platoon’s Captain J.D. Bell brought up a 6-pound gun, “but because of the sniper’s agile movement was unable to score direct hits and stop the fire.” Deciding he needed more punch, Bell had the platoon’s 17-pounder hauled up. Several rounds punched into the building the sniper was using, and he stopped shooting.

  The Rileys were increasingly fed up with losing men while trying to minimize damage. Seeing a large number of Germans milling around a water tower serving as an observation post, Lieutenant Colonel Arrell ordered the position engaged by the Toronto Scottish Regiment’s 4.2-inch mortars and the battalion’s anti-tank guns. A suspected army barracks nearby was also “shot up.”18

  By noon, the Rileys had rendered their area “somewhat more habitable,” and German prisoners were “pouring in.” The past twenty-four hours had yielded 225 prisoners and “there were many more to come now that things are softening up.” To the right, the Royals had won the railway station and yards, and the Essex Scottish started passing through at 1235 hours. The Royals reported that the main highway bridge over the canal was still intact and enemy troops were streaming over it to escape into the city centre.19

  Hoping to keep the Germans from destroying the bridge but also to cut off its use as an escape route, the Toronto Scottish’s No. 7 Platoon hauled its heavy machine guns up onto the roof of the railway station. From this elevated vantage, the crews were able to bring both the large bridge and the smaller one to the east within their arc of fire, “denying the bridges to the enemy.” The machine-gun crews killed thirty-three escaping Germans and wounded many more. Return fire from a 20-millimetre gun forced them to move cautiously and slightly wounded two men.20

  As the Essex Scottish moved through the Royals, the battalions were reminded that “it was against orders to use artillery and tank fire in the culturally sensitive Old Town.” The Canadians were to use only infantry weapons and what support the carrier and anti-tank platoons could offer.21 Major Doug McIntyre’s ‘A’ Company and the carrier platoon led the way. Dogged by persistent sniper fire, McIntyre’s men closed up to the canal at 1640 hours. Before them was a swath of open ground and then the waterway. To the left, the main bridge still stood. Nobody expected this situation to last for long, so despite their task being only to secure a jumping-off point on the south bank for 6 CIB’s use, ‘A’ Company’s No. 8 Platoon decided to dash across. Meeting “murderous fire,” most of the men went to ground short of the bridge.22 Lance Corporal Max Wright and Private William “Bud” Tasker, however, ran right over with bullets whipping all around them.23 Both men were “mowed down before they could find cover” on the other side. These deaths defeated “the daring attempt,” but the platoon did learn that “the bridge was not prepared for demolition and was capable of carrying vehicles.”24

  Essex commander Lieutenant Colonel John Pangman decided a “quick plan to storm the bridge with troops mounted in Kangaroos.”25 Brigade sent three of these armoured personnel carriers, but their drivers “became lost and instead of stopping at the [rendezvous] with [the] Essex made the turning and crossed the [bridge], where they immediately came under heavy [Panzerfaust] fire. Two . . . got back. The other disappeared up the street and was not seen again.”26

  With the two remaining Kangaroos under wing, the Essex Scottish teed up the assault. ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies established firing positions on either side of the highway. Removing its Bren guns from the vehicles, the carrier section positioned them in windows of a building overlooking the bridge. The Toronto Scottish crews were still providing covering fire from the railway station. A Fort Garry Horse ‘B’ Squadron troop had also arrived and would fire selectively to avoid smashing historic buildings.27 Major McIntyre’s ‘A’ Company crowded into the Kangaroos, which “sped across the bridge and the open spaces there and took up firm positions in houses dominating” the span.28 After a short, hard fight, the Essex controlled the buildings. McIntyre’s leadership, both during the fight to gain a foothold in front of the bridge and in winning the bridgehead on the other side, was recognized with a Distinguished Service Order.29 The Essex Scottish concluded 4 CIB’s operation for April 14 feeling “proud of the springboard we supplied to 6 [CIB ].”30

  AS THE ESSEX had been winning the objective, 5th Brigade had worked its way in from the west. Brigadier Bill Megill had initially advanced the Calgary Highlanders towards the village of Hoogkerk on the city’s outskirts. Once this job was complete, Le Régiment de Maisonneuve was to come up on the southern flank to seize a variety of road and rail crossings, a rail bridge over an east-west-running canal, and a large sugar-beet factory. If Hoogkerk proved “soft enough,” the Calgaries would continue into Groningen. The Black Watch formed the reserve, and Megill intended to deploy it to support whichever of his lead battalions met the most success.31

  The Calgaries started out at 1300 hours with Major Francis H. “Nobby” Clarke’s ‘A’ Company supported by a troop of Fort Garry Horse tanks. Swinging around Groningen’s outskirts from the south, Clarke led the battalion in a two-mile “walk up” to enter Hoogkerk unopposed.32 Lieutenant Colonel Ross Ellis had fallen ill on April 4 and been confined to bed, so Major Dalt Heyland was acting commander and facing his first battalion-sized operation. Establishing a tactical headquarters in the town hall, Heyland decided to advance Captain Mark Tennant’s ‘D’ Company across the open ground between Hoogkerk and the city’s outskirts. ‘C’ Company would then hook northwestward to capture a railway bridge crossing the main ring canal.33

  While Heyland was arranging things, the battalion’s intelligence officer used the town clerk’s phone to call a pharmacy that local maps indicated would be passed during the attack. A “puzzled voice on the other end [said] that while most of the local inhabitants were hiding in cellars waiting for the fighting to end, a strong force of Germans and Dutch Nazis were still holding the city.”34 This, plus the sc
outs returning from a patrol to the canal with two prisoners and a report that they had killed or wounded six other Germans, confirmed expectations that the Calgaries faced another stiff fight.35

  At 1630 hours, Tennant led his men forward. As they reached a crossroads close to the canal, a six-barrelled 20-millimetre gun opened fire and pinned ‘D’ Company down. Ellis had been a commander who led from the front. Similarly inclined, Heyland and artillery officer Major K. Degin rushed forward. While Heyland directed the mortar platoon’s fire, Degin called in artillery. The combined barrage destroyed the German gun.36 Heyland stayed up with Tennant as the company pushed into the city, and by 1800 hours its objective was reached. The company had captured twenty prisoners and suffered not a single casualty. ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies had passed through and, despite heavy small-arms fire, reached their objectives at 2030 hours.37 About five city blocks away stood Groningen’s university—their priority for the morning.

  ‘C’ Company, meanwhile, had been pushed to the railway bridge, finding it intact but raised. Discovering a row of interconnected barges that extended across the canal, the company skipped across them and then wound back through streets leading to the bridge. Coming to a large barbed-wire barrier, the men started removing it, only to have the structure collapse with a large crash. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the Germans to open fire. When nothing happened, they carried on to a building that overlooked the bridge and canal. From inside, they were well positioned to cover an expected advance by the Black Watch.38

  Advancing to the south, the Maisonneuves had faced so many tasks that each company operated quite independently. At noon, Lieutenant Colonel Julien Bibeau had sent ‘D’ Company to capture a crossroads west of the city, ‘A’ company a road and railway junction also west of Groningen, ‘C’ Company the sugar-beet factory, and ‘B’ Company a railway bridge crossing an east-west-running canal on the outskirts. ‘B’ Company had a rough time pushing through a string of sniper and machine-gun positions but succeeded in capturing the bridge intact, along with two 20-millimetre guns. ‘A’ and ‘D’ Companies had earlier reported they were tight on their objectives.39

  ‘C’ Company had gained the road opposite the beet factory without serious casualties, but as Private Arthur Doiron led the dash over, a 20-millimetre round tore his head off. Realizing the gruesomeness of the twenty-three-year-old’s death could cause the rest of the company to falter, Captain Jean R. Beauchemin charged across without looking back. His men followed, and slowly cleared the sprawling factory. Beyond was the railway bridge, and Beauchemin could see ‘B’ Company still closing in on it. As he led his men out to assist in the bridge’s capture, they came under fire from a pillbox guarding a roadblock. The Germans inside were impervious to gunfire and refused demands to surrender. Finally, the company’s PIAT operator fired a lucky shot that passed through a firing slit. Only the officer inside survived the explosion. He signalled his intention to surrender, but as he emerged a gun fired from near the bridge, and the officer fell dying.40 Spotting five Germans wiring explosive charges to the bridge, Beauchemin’s men shot them down. Moments later, ‘B’ Company surged across the bridge and secured it.41

  ‘B’ Company had suffered the most casualties, among them Private Roland Hains of Trois-Rivières. He had joined the regiment at Laren on April 7, recording in his diary being assigned to No. 11 Platoon. The next day his company commander, Major G. Brosseau, was wounded. Then, on April 11, Hains had the satisfying duty of guarding a large group of German prisoners. On April 14, he recorded fighting near the sugar-beet factory and then, with sadness, that he was wounded and would be evacuated after just a week with the regiment. It was a common outcome for inexperienced reinforcements.42

  CARRYING 5TH BRIGADE’S advance into the city centre fell to the Black Watch, and Lieutenant Colonel Syd Thomson ordered Captain E.D. Price’s ‘B’ Company and Major J.F. Bailey’s ‘C’ Company to lead. Deciding to cross the canal in the dark early-morning hours of April 15, the two men went forward to liaise with the Calgaries. The previous day’s warm weather had given way to a cold drizzle, which limited visibility and so favoured the attacker. Jumping into a row-boat crewed by a Calgary sergeant, they crossed the river and confirmed that the bridge site was a good place to cross. With the bridge raised and its mechanism damaged, the two noticed a long barge tied to the edge of the canal’s west bank. Freeing the lines holding one end made it an easy matter to swing the barge crosswise. This impromptu bridge left a gap to the other bank of just four feet, “which the men were able to jump with comparative ease, heavily-laden though they were.”43

  ‘B’ Company’s objective was a railway bridge over an interior canal, which was gained unopposed and found intact. However, the swing-type bridge had been turned on its pivot away from the railroad tracks and with the controlling gears locked in place. ‘C’ Company worked more to the north. Initially daunted by the task of checking the many houses along their line of advance for Germans, Bailey divided each platoon by sections and sent each party to check an assigned row of houses. While the rest of the section stood guard, one man then rang the front doorbell and asked the civilian who answered for permission to enter. By 0410 hours, ‘C’ Company had canvassed its way through the assigned sector without encountering a single German.

  Just after daylight, Thomson ordered the other two companies to cross the barge and pass through the leading companies. ‘A’ Company crossed without incident, but after the first two ‘D’ Company platoons and the headquarters section had crossed, a 20-millimetre gun opened fire from the top of a nearby water tower and drove the rest of the men back. The company was at an impasse, until some Dutch bargemen sailed up at the helm of a barge that offered a much lower profile. With the higher barge blocking the German line of sight, the rest of ‘D’ Company crossed unimpeded on the lower one. A small ferry was soon impressed to carry over the battalion’s jeep, carriers, and Wasps.

  The pioneer platoon rushed in its carriers to the railway bridge. Using some explosive to destroy the gear controls, the pioneers ran lines out to the bridge and hooked these to the carriers. Engines screaming, the carriers dragged the span around and restored the crossing.

  By mid-morning, the Black Watch was well along in clearing the city’s northern sector. Whenever a platoon met heavy fire from a strongpoint, a section slipped through the backyard gardens, climbing over the intervening walls to take the Germans from the rear. This unorthodox tactic usually so rattled the defenders that they immediately surrendered. Those who proved more obstinate were burned out of their positions by the Wasps. 44

  When the battalion came to a large city park, the first men stepping into it came under fire from Germans dug into bunkers and slit trenches who were well endowed with 20-millimetre guns and machine guns. A two-hour pitched battle followed, “with our men using PIATs and Brens, rifles and grenades, as well as [2-inch] mortars . . . against the heaviest opposition so far encountered in this operation.” At 1555 hours, the company 2-inch mortars were called in and the Wasps “fired a few bursts.” The moment the mortars and flame-throwers let up, the rifle companies rushed forward as one. At first, the enemy “gave ground reluctantly, but upon being convinced that we meant to oust him from his prepared defences fled or capitulated.” After advancing beyond the eastern boundary of the park, the battalion received orders to stand down, and the Maisonneuves continued the advance. Most Black Watch casualties were suffered during the park fight, but these were surprisingly light considering the intensity of the resistance. Total losses for the day numbered one man killed and seven wounded. The battalion netted 247 prisoners.45

  South of the Black Watch’s area, the Calgary Highlanders had fought for control of the university grounds and a nearby German naval barracks. Between their starting position and the university was a large block of apartment buildings “each with three stor[eys] and each apartment having about four rooms containing several civilians and many snipers.” Captain Sandy Pearson’s ‘B
’ Company led the attack on these buildings at 1055 hours.46

  A routine German tactic was to position a machine gun on the corner of a building or in its basement in order to fire up the length of the street. The supporting Wasps retaliated by trundling into their 120-foot range with men aboard firing Bren guns into the overlooking windows to keep snipers at bay, and then letting loose a stream of flame. Pearson found this manoeuvre “extremely effective and horrifying . . . as soon as you would start to use them prisoners would just pour out into the streets.”47

  When Pearson’s headquarters section set up in one apartment to await the conclusion of a firefight in the street ahead, an elderly woman emerged and began brewing up ersatz coffee. Emptying the pot into her best china cups, the woman served it to the grubby-handed soldiers gathered in the kitchen. While she was serving the coffee, a Bren gunner smacked his weapon onto a small hardwood table and opened the facing bay window. He then proceeded to fire bursts at a German position. Obviously alarmed that the heavy steel bipod would ruin her table, the woman offered him a little cushion, which he obligingly placed under it. After accepting a cup of coffee and taking a sip, the soldier set the china to one side and resumed firing.

  At the edge of the university grounds, the battalion’s mortars lay down a smokescreen to cover the advance by Captain Mark Tennant’s ‘D’ Company, but the cold wind blew it away while the men were still in the open. As the men started to take cover, Tennant yelled, “Get going, you sons of bitches, or I’ll gun-gut you myself.” The entire company renewed the charge. The Calgary’s padre approached Tennant after. “Very crude, but rather effective, Mark,” he said.