by Griff Hosker
Gordy shouted, “Bloody hellfire sir! What have you done now?”
“They were shooting the prisoners. John, take us up through the trees. They are heading up the slope.”
“Sir.”
We were overloaded but that actually helped us as we had better grip. As John opened the throttle I pushed the back of the bike and then jumped up behind him. Gordy had his Thompson out and as the first German heads appeared at the forester’s track he fired a short burst and they disappeared. Then we were among the trees. John had no choice over the direction he took. He went through the widest part of the forest. It meant we zigged and zagged. That helped us to escape for the Germans had no idea which direction we would take.
I leaned forward. “Head due North. The prisoners of war went that way. We might be able to help them.”
“Sir.”
I glanced around and saw that the Germans had decided we were small fry. I tapped John on the shoulder. “Stop here. Let’s reload.”
I put the Mauser back in the sidecar and took out my Thompson. Gordy reloaded. Hewitt turned off the engine to save fuel. Who knew when we would be able to get some more.
It was as Hewitt was stepping from the motor bike that he shouted, “There, sir, down in the gully! Germans!”
I saw a patrol of seven Germans walking along a gully. They were a hundred yards away. I took out my binoculars and saw that they were following a line of footsteps in the snow. They were chasing the escaped captives. Even as I watched I saw an American, obviously wounded, raise his hands from the snow in which he had been hiding. To my horror the officer walked up to him and shot him in the head. There must have been more hiding for at the sound of the gunshot a dozen rose from the snow and ran.
They would be massacred, “Open fire!”
I picked up my Thompson and fired at them. Gordy did the same. Hewitt hurled a grenade high into the air, “Grenade!”
We dropped to the ground. Hewitt was clever. He had used our height and his throw to enable an air shot. The grenade scythed through the air and finished off the survivors.
“John, see to the wounded Americans. Gordy, let’s see what these Jerries have on them.”
I saw that the Germans were, indeed, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte. The officer was young but the sergeant looked to be the same age as Reg Dean. We stripped them of weapons, ammunition and food. I put the ammunition and food into one of the German backpacks. “Gordy, take the grenades back to the motorbike and then meet us at the Americans.” I took out the ID from the men and studied them. They could be useful.
When I reached the Americans, Hewitt had just finished tending to the two wounded men. Five lay dead and there were three who were unhurt. I saw that the most senior was a sergeant.
“Major Harsker, Number 4 Commando. Are you in charge?”
Nodding, he held out a hand, “Thanks sir. You saved our bacon there. Sergeant Feldman of the 285th Field Artillery. Who were those guys?”
“S.S.. If you fight them don’t bother to surrender. They will shoot you anyway.” I handed him the rucksack. “There is food and ammo in here. Take these weapons. There are Germans all around you. I think we saw some of your buddies up ahead. If you keep heading cross country and north by east you should be safe.”
“What about you sir? Aren’t you coming with us?”
I shook my head, “We have a motor bike and besides I think we could do a little sabotage.”
“But there are only three of you.”
Gordy climbed off the bike and said, with a grin, “We are that but we are Commandos and the Major here doesn’t know when he is beaten.”
Armed and ready the seven men saluted, “Thank you, sir, and good luck!” They marched off following the line of footprints in the snow.
When they had disappeared Gordy said, “What exactly are we going to do, sir? He is right. There are only three of us.”
“You have seen those Tigers. Do we have anything which could stop them?” They both shook their heads. “When they are moving, they are protected by infantry so you can’t get close and I am betting that one of these could take out any number of Shermans. They will have to laager up for the night. All tanks do. We do something to hurt them.”
“Blow them up you mean sir?”
“We haven’t got the explosives but that is the sort of thing. The fuel strikes me as their weakness. If we could cut their fuel line or drain off their fuel then they would not be able to move.”
“If we had some sugar, sir, we could stick it in the petrol tank.”
“This is where we need Emerson. There must be something that we could do to hurt them.”
Hewitt had been pondering, “Freddie was most meticulous about keeping the carburettor clean. He also worried about the quality of the fuel. If we could put something in the fuel… oh I don’t know, water, pee, something like that, and add some sand or soil then they would have to strip the whole thing down wouldn’t they sir? They would have to empty the fuel tank and refuel.”
“And the one thing the Germans are short of is fuel. Good man, Hewitt. Let’s find some soil or something here eh? Scrape away the snow, no better yet, collect the snow and stick it in the German water bottles. We will add the gravel and soil and then pour the whole lot in.”
“Sounds easy sir but don’t you think they might be guarding the tanks?”
“I am certain they will be but we have our daggers and our pistols.” I pointed down the valley, “After what I have seen today I have no sympathy for these S.S. at all!”
It was dark by the time we headed through the forests and paralleled the road. I was in the side car again and I had my binoculars. I scanned the road ahead for any sign of the Leviathans and their escorts. They would have to stop sometime or risk damaging their engines. I knew we had passed Malmedy. As I looked at the map which Sergeant Ford had given me a few days ago, I noticed that north west of Malmedy was a fuel dump. That would be a strategic target for the tanks. We would head there. I doubted they would reach it before dark but so long as we had the right direction then we should be able to spot them. Two King Tigers would be easy to see. It would be like looking for two small houses. Even in the dark their bulk would give them away.
I had Hewitt stop the motorcycle every now and then. Each time he did so I could hear in the distance the rumble of the two tanks. I knew that if we were on the road then I would be able to feel the vibration beneath my feet. The snow deadened such sound. It was just after dusk when I was greeted by silence. At least the silence of Maybach engines. It was replaced by the sound of men. They were some way off but I also caught the smell of wood smoke. They had made camp.
“Hewitt, keep the revs to a minimum I just want it turning over. Head closer to the Germans so that if we are heard we will be taken for one of their own. Be ready to stop when I tap on your shoulder.”
“Sir.”
We had been doing this so long that there was an element of instinct about it. Ahead of us the trees seemed to be closer together and yet I knew they shouldn’t be and so I tapped Hewitt on the shoulder. We stopped. I thought we were close to their camp. We used hand signals. We were at the top of a ridge. We turned the motor bike around so that it was facing downhill. When we had completed our sabotage I intended heading towards the fuel dump. I was not happy about retreating to Liège when we could be fighting the Germans. This was our kind of war. I had a quick look at the ID I had taken. I gave one each to the other two. They nodded. They knew how to use them. Mine said that I was Feldwebel Heinrich Mannling of the 2nd Company 2nd Battalion Panzer Grenadiers. We left our rifles and machine guns but I donned my battle jerkin and attached as many grenades as I could. I had my Colt, knife and Luger. We each had two German water bottles filled with a mixture of snow, sand, soil and urine. Hewitt had also suggested we take twigs and pieces of pine to put in the petrol tank. We set off towards, what I hoped was, the German lines.
There had been a slight thaw and there was no longer a cr
ust on the snow. It was wetter. That meant we made less noise but we sank deeper into it. I was glad we had such good boots. I could now hear the sound of the Germans. They were in good spirits. They had advanced almost forty miles and driven a huge hole between the Allies. As far as I could tell from the conversations we heard they had not lost many men and with a fuel dump almost within touching distance they were within sight of victory.
As we moved closer I was determined to avoid alerting them to our presence. That mean sneaking through their sentries rather than killing them. The reason for the slight thaw became apparent when snow began to fall again. It became a blizzard. Not only would it disguise us it would hide our tracks. I saw the glow of the German sentry’s cigarette. If a sergeant found him he would be in for it. The snow was coming from behind us and so he had his head turned to get some protection from the nearby tree. It allowed us to slip past him. Getting out would be harder but we would cross that bridge when we came to it.
I saw the oil cans they were using for braziers. Their glow gave us an idea of where the Germans were. They had canvas rigged up from the trees to their halftracks and trucks. The blizzard meant they were huddled in shelter. I saw the shape of the two King Tigers and the two armoured cars. Their crews would be close to them. We crept closer to them while keeping away from the Germans. They had a ring of sentries. We had passed one but I now saw others. The problem would come when they changed the guard.
I spied an unattended Kubelwagen and small petrol bowser. It was obviously for emergencies. This was an opportunity which was too good to miss. I signalled for the other two to keep watch and then I unscrewed the cap on the bowser. I poured the contents of one of the water bottles into it and then replaced the cap. I took out a German grenade and broke the porcelain. I put the grenade under the rear wheel but hidden from view. I tied a piece of cord to the detonator and then tied that to the nearest tree. I covered the cord with snow. The blizzard would do the rest.
I signalled for the other two to settle down with me. We would wait for the camp to go quiet. The three of us squatted beneath our camouflage capes. They were quite warm. Snow fell on us until we became just three white lumps with eyes. I saw a German approaching. I could not see my watch but I guessed it was about eleven o’clock. The camp had been quiet for some time and I was contemplating moving. He walked over to us. I thought he had seen us but he stopped six feet away and urinated on a tree. He took the cigarette out of his mouth to throw it away and then realised how close he was to the petrol bowser. He turned and threw it into the woods. When he had stared at the bowser we were in his eye line and yet he had not seen us.
I waited a while. I determined the time by counting up to five thousand. I stood. The blood rushed to my feet and the sensation was like burning. It was not pleasant. Luckily our hands had been inside our white camouflage capes. We moved through the silent camp towards the two Tigers. We had our Colts at the ready. There was no sign of life at the tanks. It took a few moments to discover where the caps for the tanks were. While Gordy and John unscrewed them I kept watch. They both poured their sabotaged liquid in and I handed over my last bottle for good measure. While they replaced the caps I took the pins from a grenade and jammed it in the driving wheel of the track of one of the Tigers. With luck they wouldn’t see it.
We headed back through the camp. I thought that we had escaped unseen when a figure rose from the armoured car we were passing. “Cold eh?”
“Freezing.”
Where are you off to?”
“We are on duty.”
“Ah, poor buggers.”
We kept walking. Our conversation had, however, woken another German. As we approached the tree line he said, “You three, name and unit?”
I had my Colt ready beneath my camouflage cape. I smiled, “Mannling, 2nd Company 2nd Battalion Panzer Grenadiers. Don’t tell me we don’t have to go on duty?” I kept walking to get as close to him as I could. He had no camouflage cape on and we did. I suddenly remembered that I had not seen any of the S.S. with camouflage capes on.
I saw him frown. “Heinrich Mannling did not return from…”
He got no further. I fired twice at point blank range. The silenced gun did not wake anyone else. He fell to the ground. He would be discovered. We turned and moved quickly. We reached the tree line before he was discovered. A sentry loomed up.
“What is going on?”
Gordy’s fist rammed into his chin and the back of his head cracked off a tree. He lay unconscious. We ran. The camp was now in uproar. I heard orders being shouted. It would take some minutes for them to find which way we had gone. “Hewitt go and start the bike. Gordy, booby traps.”
This would not be sophisticated. I took a German grenade and, using parachute cord, tied it between two trees. Gordy did the same. If they followed our footprints, they would trigger it. I saw a torch coming up the slope. I tapped Gordy on the shoulder and we ran. It was an energy sapping climb. I heard the sound of the bike as it roared into life. If they did not know where we were before, they knew now. I grabbed my Thompson and climbed into the sidecar.
“Which way sir?”
“We can’t go the way I wanted to. Go back to Malmedy.”
Just then there was a double explosion as the booby traps were triggered. Hewitt took us directly down the ridge. It was a wild ride. To the right was the German camp. I heard the cough as they started the two Tigers and then the sound of the armoured cars starting. You had to run a tank’s engines for a few moments. Suddenly there was a loud belch and then a second. The two Tiger’s cut out. I made that assumption from the lack of noise. I could still hear the two armoured cars. Then there was another explosion and a huge column of fire leapt into the air. They had tried to move the bowser and it had exploded. Our sabotage had worked but there were now two armoured cars and they wold be racing down the road to get us. The S.S. soldiers were not stupid and they had heard the motor bike. This was now a race.
As Hewitt threw the bike onto the road, we skidded. I thought for one horrible moment that we were going to crash into a tree. A huge pine loomed up at me. Mercifully Hewitt stopped us in time. The road was now covered, once more, in snow. “Hewitt use your light. The enemy are behind us. I don’t fancy going off this road.”
“Me neither sir.”
I turned to watch the road behind. We twisted and turned but every so often I had a clear line of sight behind and I saw the dim lights of the armoured cars. The motor bike would normally have been quicker but we had laden this one. The Germans would catch us. I turned around and replaced the Tommy gun into the side car. I took out the Mauser which had a longer range. It would be hard to be accurate as we were bouncing along like a child’s wood top but I might get lucky.
Of course I had no idea who was in Malmedy but we had the advantage that we had German snow camouflage capes and we were riding a German bike. If it was the enemy it would take some time for them to realise it. I turned again. I could now see one of the German armoured cars. It was a hundred yards behind us and gaining. We had a straight stretch and the gunner opened fire with his machine gun. I rested the Mauser along the side car and tried to keep it as still as I could. I had few targets. It was armoured. As I looked through the telescopic sight I realised that the gunner was out of the turret using the top machine gun. Below him was the visor for the driver. At night it would be wide open. I aimed at the visor and emptied the magazine. I saw the bullets strike the metal turret and then, as we hit a bump one struck the gunner. He clutched his arm and I saw him slither back down. I reloaded my magazine and did the same thing. I now knew that I was firing high and so I aimed low. When the armoured car swerved briefly I knew that I had sent a bullet to rattle around inside.
Gordy shouted, “Sir, to the right, coming up. There is a track leading off to the right. We could try an ambush with a grenade.”
I shouted, “Hewitt, take the track but then head parallel to the road when you find a gap big enough.”
Whe
n Hewitt applied the brakes we fishtailed. I stood and leaned over Gordy’s back to keep all three wheels on the ground. He gunned the motor as we drove up the track. Gordy rolled a grenade behind us as Hewitt threw the bike left. We were so close that the tree on one side grazed my hand. The armoured car would not get through there. There was a screech and a skid as the armoured car tried the same manoeuvre. It almost stopped and then the grenade went off. I heard the shrapnel strike the metal of the car. It might not have hurt them but they lost sight of us. Hewitt drive through the trees until I was certain that they were no longer behind us.
“Hewitt, find somewhere to stop. We will listen for them. If we don’t hear anything then we will get our heads down. Tired men make mistakes.”
Hewitt found an open space which was flat and far enough from the road for us to be hidden. Even though it would be hard to see us I took no chances. We rigged a camouflage net over the top of us. The snow which was still falling, although nowhere near as heavily, would soon cover us. We cleared the snow from the ground and using the camouflage capes as a groundsheet sat and ate some rations. Thanks to the Americans we had plenty. I hoped we would be far enough away from the road to remain hidden. I put us in God’s hands for we all slept and trusted to our instincts to wake us if danger threatened.
I woke before dawn. My in built clock did that for me. I rolled out from under the netting. The snow had covered it and it had fallen all night. I saw no sign of our tracks. The snow had now stopped. Looking up I saw blue in patches. That meant the Allies could get aeroplanes up. After I had finished my toilet I listened. I could hear, to the south and west the sound of firing. Firing meant the enemy but it also meant that there were Americans or British nearby. I was still tempted to head north but there was just one road in that direction and we knew that the Germans were on it. More importantly they knew of us. At least heading for Malmedy we would be unknown.