A few minutes after the door had shut we heard the guns stop. They were no longer firing at the aeroplanes. That was ominous. I looked at my watch. It was one o’clock. I could not see the boats because of the buildings between us but I guessed that the flotilla would almost be at the sandbanks; perhaps even past them. They would be less than thirty minutes from the dock gates. I pointed east. The ships had not been spotted. We would go and help to capture the bridge. We made our way back to the road. I reckoned we had between one and two miles to go to get to the bridge. We avoided our booby traps and began to double down the road. There were no civilians about. I daresay they were sheltering from the bombs which had not been dropped.
We passed the flak guns and could smell the cordite in the air. Turning left along the coast road I saw the flotilla. They looked close enough to touch. The old American destroyer led two columns of launches towards the dock gates. It looked as though they had done it. Then suddenly searchlights played across the water and illuminated the boats. Guns opened fire at the flotilla. I saw the German flag flying from the destroyer. A signal lamp flashed from the bridge and was answered from the guns below us. I held up my hand and we stopped. I waved my men down towards the searchlight and flak emplacements which were just yards from the river.
The guns, miraculously, stopped firing and then a moment later all hell broke loose. Even the large guns at La Chémoulin opened fire too. I cursed. Had we waited just a little while longer then we could have attacked the guns and disrupted their fire. Battle flags mushroomed on the flotilla as they returned their fire. I took out a grenade, “Right lads let’s knock out this searchlight and upset these Jerries.”
The Germans were less than thirty yards from us. Although protected by sandbags they were below us and had no idea we were there. We hurled the four grenades high in the air. They exploded in the air and we were up, on our feet as soon as the wave of concussion had passed over us. I fired a short burst from my Thompson into the carnage of the emplacement. To my right I heard a dull double thump. The booby trap on the ammunition had exploded at the German battery. Suddenly a sheet of flame leapt into the air as the magazine exploded. That would disrupt their firing. Ken Curtis sprayed the searchlight and it went out instantly. In the dark we could hear the moaning of the wounded and the dying. The crew of the searchlight had all been incapacitated or killed.
We had done all that we could and we ran back up the slope towards the road and St. Nazaire. We ran with guns cradled in our arms. If we saw any Germans we would fire instantly. I saw that the flotilla was pouring their fire into a small guard ship which was being riddled with fire. The 'Campbelltown' however was also being targeted by every gun the Germans had. The gun on the foredeck disappeared as a shell hit it. The bridge was being targeted by every gun the Germans possessed and yet the ship still headed towards the gates. And then the flotilla was through the narrow entrance to the river proper. St. Nazaire’s Normandie dock was less than a mile away. I saw one of the MLs hit and as it burned I saw sailors and commandos leaping into the water. A second ML stopped to pick them up and it was struck by tracer. We were too far away to help.
Poulson suddenly called out a warning, “Sir lorry!”
I turned in time to see a German truck barrelling down the road towards St. Nazaire. I dropped to one knee and began firing my Thompson in short bursts. The other three joined in. Although the truck was hurtling towards us none of us faltered. As I emptied my magazine the truck lurched to its right as the driver was hit and it plunged off the road to plough into the gun and searchlight emplacements below us. I turned and led the men towards St. Nazaire. I changed magazines as I did so. To my right I heard an enormous crash which accompanied grinding metal. I didn’t know it at the time but the 'Campbelltown' had struck the dock gates. The Navy had done its job and now it was the turn of the commandos to do theirs. I looked at my watch, it was thirty four minutes past one. The attack and the raid had begun.
Chapter 12
There were more guns below us but I was acutely aware of our mission. The rest of our Troop would be racing from their launches towards the bridge at the western end of the old port. I estimated that it would be less than two hundred yards away. This part of the town was familiar to me. I saw grey uniforms as they emerged from a building to the right of us and ran towards what I assumed was the bridge. Their attention was on the port and not the road. We were unseen.
“Spread out!”
There was too much noise for our words to be heard by Germans. Shell and shot were firing and there was the sound of battle all around. Within a few seconds there were ten yards between each of us and we were almost at the bridge.
“Halt and fire!”
We dropped to our knees and gave short bursts. The German soldiers were scythed down as bullets poured into their backs and sides. Having emptied my second magazine I slung my Thompson and ran towards the building from which they had emerged. I threw in two grenades in quick succession and then flattened myself against the wall. A wall of flame leapt out and I heard shouts from those that I had hit within.
I drew my Colt and, pausing only to pick up a fallen potato masher grenade led my men to the far end of the bridge. There were six Germans there and they were manning the machine guns they had set up to cover the bridge. Their backs were to us. They saw us and tried to turn the gun. The Colt bucked in my hand as I fired at the right hand crew. The others let rip with their Tommy guns. I threw the German grenade. "Grenade!" My men and I dropped to the ground. The grenade went off and the last of the crews fell dead.
“Quick, Harry and Ken, set one machine gun up to cover the west. Polly with me.”
In the distance I could hear grenades going off, the chatter of Thompsons mixed with the sound of German weapons. But around us was a little haven of calm. The Germans here were dead. “You be the gunner and I will lay for you.” I reloaded my Colt and my Thompson; we watched the empty road.
The brief peace did not last.
“Sarge, Germans!”
Polly added, “And there are some coming from the port too Sarge.”
That meant they were coming at us from both sides. “Hold them as long as you can. Our lads will be here shortly.”
I heard Ken and Harry’s heavy machine chatter. Polly’s joined it. I saw a German take a potato masher and smash the porcelain top. I fired three bullets as he arced his back ready to throw. He fell back and then the grenade went off. His squad all fell to the ground.
Ken's voice from behind us was urgent. “Sarge! There are too many of them!”
I gambled. We had stopped the attack from the port side, “Poulson bring the machine gun to the other side of the bridge.” I ran the few yards to my men. The Germans were setting up their own machine gun. I fired from the hip as I ran. One lucky shot hit the man carrying the barrel of the heavy calibre gun in the knee and he tumbled to the ground, taking his companion with him. I kept firing until my Colt clicked empty. I holstered it and drew my Luger. I emptied that too. I was firing blindly for there was so much smoke it was hard to see men; just the flashes of their guns. I took a Mills bomb from my webbing, pulled the pin and then threw it as high in the air as I could manage. “Grenade!” I dropped to the ground and the grenade went off above the Germans showering the air with shrapnel.
Poulson dropped next to me as I took my Thompson and took aim. I heard Colts behind me. They struck the lifting bridge wall. It was our men. I yelled, “Commando! Sergeant Harsker!” I glanced towards the Germans and saw that there was no movement. The threat was gone; at least for the moment.
I heard Captain Marsden as he shouted, “Cease fire!”
We had relief. There was a flurry of muzzle flashes from the dark. Poulson’s German gun began to fire and the flashes from the dark diminished. I turned and saw Captain Marsden and Reg Dean. “Well done, Harsker. You have save us a job. Sergeant Barker, get those charges set. Sarn’t Major Dean, bring up Harsker’s section and cover this end of the bridge.”
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“Sir. Come on lads!” I saw that the Sergeant Major was limping. He had been injured.
I saw that the whole of the section appeared to have made it. As Reg knelt down next to me I said, “Where is the Major and the rest of the troop?”
“One of the MLs got hit on the way in and he has gone to the Old Entrance Bridge.” He tapped the smoking German gun. “These would have made mincemeat of us.”
“Just doing our job. Are you hurt?”
“Just landed badly and twisted my knee. Don’t worry son, I can still fire my gun!” As if to prove it he suddenly whirled and fired a dozen shots at four Germans who appeared around the corner of a building to our right. One fell and the rest scurried back.
The smoke had cleared and I saw German trucks appearing from the dark. Sergeant Major Dean shouted, “Get a move on, sir. Reinforcements!”
The two heavy machine guns sent their bullets into the engine block of the leading truck. It swerved to the left and took its occupants to a watery grave in the submarine basin. We had, however used the last of the German ammunition. The other two trucks stopped and Germans flooded out.
“Let’s close with them!”
It was the right decision for Reg to make. It allowed those laying charges to put them at both ends but it took my tiny section towards forty German soldiers.
“Charge!”
The twelve of us ran at them spraying them with .45 slugs. It was a withering wall of fire. The Germans fired back but they were using just rifles. Even so I saw Reg Smyth pitch forwards, his chest a bloody mess and another bullet took Bert Grimsdale in the head. We made the German lorries and the men within flee to the safety of nearby buildings.
“Right lads, we can get back now!”
The words were hardly out of his mouth when there was an enormous explosion behind us as the lifting bridge gates were exploded prematurely. We were showered with wood and debris. We were trapped on the wrong side with no way of getting back. Already the water was rushing through the gap we had made. It was unintentional but it had given us a problem. The plan had been to embark the launches from the other side of the bridge we had just destroyed.
I turned to Reg, “Where are the launches?”
He pointed to the other side of the bridge. “Over there.”
“Then we have to go down to the river. They will have to pass us to get back to sea and we might be able to signal them. Curtis still has his lamp.”
“It is worth a try. You now the way, you lead.”
I didn’t but I followed the channel. As we ran down I saw the bridge at the seaward end of the lock. It was destroyed by Lieutenant Swayne and his men. If they had been less efficient then we might have got across there. We stopped at the wrecked bridge. There was nothing left for us to cross. That had been our last chance to use the planned escape. I waved my arm and led the section down to the small beach.
“Polly, Harry, keep watch.”
I could see to our left the fire fight still going on. Motor Launches were burning and I could see bodies in the water. I looked at Reg he looked like he had been through the mill. “Did the ship hit the dock gates Sergeant Major?”
“Oh aye. That part went well but the rest of it? “ He shrugged, “The Germans still have the mole and three launches went down there. I think the pumping house went up but….” Just then we saw MTB 74 stop just fifty yards away to pick up two men who had drifted down on a Carley float.
“Over here!” We all began to wave. I saw a sailor raise his hand in acknowledgment and then the big guns to our right began to pound the MTB to matchwood. The flak guns close to us had been depressed and their rapid fire began to punch holes in the boat. I watched as the officer ordered his men to jump into the river. Our chance had gone. The two commandos on the Carley float began to kick their way to shore. Sergeant Major Dean shouted, “Fletcher, Crowe, pull those men to shore.” We had a little haven and we appeared to be safe from German fire on this little beach. The two destroyed bridges afforded us protection from the Germans on that side of the port.
I looked up at the gun emplacements. They were less than fifty yards away.
“Sarn’t Major I will take my lads and try to stop those firing. We have no chance of being picked up while they are still firing.” He nodded. “Gowland and Hewitt drop your bags, grab some grenades and come with me!”
Without waiting for them I ran up to the road. I paused at Ken and the other two. “I am going to try to do something about these flak guns. Give us some cover.”
“Right Sarge. Things have quietened down here but there is all hell on close to the submarine basin.”
“I know. We are going to try to get a launch out. If we can’t then we will break out and go back the way we came.”
I saw that Gowland and Hewitt were with me. “Come on.”
We ran along the road. I had seen the other flak positions and knew that there was no protection from the land. It was our one chance to hit them.
“When I give the command then throw two grenades in quick succession. Throw them high. We want the shrapnel to do the damage. Then go in with your Tommy guns. In and out; no messing about.”
“Right Sarge.”
I saw, as we descended, the cannons hammering shells into the MLs trying to head out to sea. I pulled the two pins and shouted, “Now!” I hurled them both high and then dropped to the ground. I landed between two concrete walls and the shrapnel from the grenades flew over our heads. I jumped to my feet and swung my Tommy gun around. I ran towards the carnage that was the gun position and I sprayed the twitching bodies.
Gowland shouted, “Duck Sarge!”
I ducked and a wall of .45 bullets tore into the German who had risen like Lazarus from the pile of bodies. He was almost torn in half. The guns had stopped firing. “Back to the beach!”
We ran down the road. As we did so I glanced to the left and saw more vehicles coming down the road. We would not be quiet for much longer. When we reached the beach I shouted, “Incoming! Gowland, Hewitt, Lowe stay with the Corporal and Poulson.”
I ran to the Sergeant Major, “We will have company soon.”
He pointed to the two commandos we had rescued. They had both been wounded. “These lads are in trouble too.”
Just then I saw an ML begin to head towards us. It was ML 160. I saw Bill Leslie waving from the bow.
“We have a chance. I’ll get the other lads.” I turned to fetch the men from the road.
Sergeant Major Dean began to lift one of the two wounded commandos to his feet. “Right come on you pair, get these lads out into the sea.”
As I headed towards the road I heard a rattle of bullets. To my horror I saw Ken Curtis pitch backwards. Blood poured from his shoulder. “Hewitt, Lowe, get the Corporal to the beach. There is a launch coming in. We will follow!”
I threw myself to the edge of the road and levelled my Thompson at the Germans who had taken advantage of our inattention and were racing towards us. I had a full magazine and I let rip. They were just twenty yards from me when I fired and I scythed through them all.
Polly said, “There are more of them Sarge. If we leave they will get the lads on the beach.”
I turned and saw that the section and the two rescued commandos were wading through the water to the ML. Polly was right. I shouted to them, "We will find another way! Go!" I turned back to my men, "We have to lead them away. Fire and head right. I’ll bring Ken’s Bergen! Run back to the bridge.”
“But it is blown up!”
“Just do it Poulson. Let me do the thinking!” They both fired and then ran. Picking up Ken’s Bergen and Thompson I turned and shouted, “Sergeant Major! Leave while you can!” He shouted something back but I just waved him away. I turned and ran back to the road. As I reached the road I saw four Germans. They were less than ten feet from me. They were aiming their rifles at Poulson and Lowe. I fired Ken’s Thompson left handed and kept pulling the trigger until it was empty. Their heads looked like ripe tomatoes whe
n I had finished. I ran after my two men. Bullets filled the space I had just occupied.
We had to watch our footing as we ran. There were bodies and debris all over the road. Behind us I heard the fire from the pursuing Germans. We would be hard targets in the dark. Even as we ran I began to formulate a plan. The best and fastest way out of the town was the one we had taken last time, north. We could not take the first road north for we would be too close to the Germans who were chasing us. "Run to the place we first attacked the Germans, the far bridge."
I was counting on the fact that we were fitter than those behind. To our right we could hear the battle still raging. The ship had yet to explode. I vaguely remembered that they had put timers on board. I knew how notoriously inaccurate they were. The ship could go up at any time or even the next day. When they reached the bridge my two men stopped and dropped behind the bodies of the dead Germans. I joined them and we levelled our Thompsons at the line of men who ran towards us. There were just six. I guessed that the rest were busy trying to hit the ML which had more targets for them.
I whispered, "Wait!" When they were twenty yards away we fired. We used very short three bullet bursts. They tore into the Germans who had taken us for dead Commandos.
"Quick grab any grenades you can while I transfer stuff from Ken's Bergen."
I took the magazines, rations, water bottle, signalling lamp and camouflage nets. I jammed them into my bag. I had used some of my magazines and everything fitted; just. Poulson and Gowland reappeared. "Right we head up there. Polly, tail end Charlie. Keep low and don't fire unless you have to. We are going to find somewhere to hide."
The fighting was on the seaward side of the submarine basin. On the landward side it appeared quiet. None of our men had penetrated that far. It was the last place they would look for us. I had a bold plan. We would wait out the initial search and then leave when they were looking further afield for the commandos who had attacked their dock.
Behind Enemy Lines Page 15