by Griff Hosker
The dour Scotsman had been right and snow began to fall. We had been driving without the canvas cover. We stopped to fit it when the snow began to become uncomfortable. I was annoyed with the delay because it was our fault. We should have put it on before we had started to drive. The road became extremely slippery and the going was hard for there were inclines, hills, dips and hollows. A couple of times Gordy had to get out and push. We had to cut pine branches to make the road passable. It took us forever and I began to despair of reaching anywhere. We might have to spend the night in the jeep and that was not an attractive prospect.
Gordy was driving and I checked the map. “It looks like there is a village up ahead; Monts. We will see if we can find shelter for the night. I can’t see us getting to Liège. Perhaps we might make it to Verviers.”
When we neared Monts we were stopped by a pair of M.Ps. “Papers sir.” I handed them over. He seemed satisfied. “I am afraid you can’t get any further north at the moment sir. There are Germans. They have cut it.”
“Cut it? I thought this sector had been secured?”
“It was sir. 30 Corps drove the Germans out of Celles.”
“Celles? That is over eighty miles behind our lines.”
“I know, sir. It was a mixture of the paratroopers who were dropped some time ago along with S.S. and Volksgrenadier. They have armour too. Caused absolute confusion and mayhem, sir. From what we heard Monty was none too happy. The Guards Division and the Royal Horse Artillery sent them packing and now they are driving them east. The captain said there is no order to their movements. They are just trying to get home but that makes them even more dangerous. There are reports of whole regiments of Germans wandering through Belgium. The captain has us on high alert.”
“Captain?”
“Yes sir. Captain Ferguson is in command of the troops in the village. They are a hotch potch of soldiers he has collected.” He laughed, “He is like a pirate, sir. He makes use of anything. He is going after them.”
I smiled at Gordy, “I think we both know the Captain. Where is he?”
“In the centre of the village, sir. He will be glad to see another officer.”
Chapter 15
As we drove through the village Gordy said, “It can’t be our Captain Ferguson, can it sir?”
“I am taking a guess that it is Gordy. He told me that he was keen to do some fighting and leading before the end of the war.”
The centre of the village was filled with soldiers. The majority were British but I saw a few Americans too. They also had a couple of lorries. I was intrigued. What was the Intelligence officer doing here leading such a disparate group of men?
We had to stop some way away from the house which had a Union Flag nailed to it. There were just too many men gathered around. We climbed out and made our way through the throng. I could hear Hugo’s voice. It confirmed his identity.. “Sergeant Armstrong will organize your duties. Remember that we don’t know exactly where Jerry is and so we will need to cover a wide area.”
A Corporal tugged at his sleeve. “Sir, a senior officer.”
I almost looked round to see who he was talking about and then I realised he meant me. Hugo turned and his face broke into a grin, “Major! You made it! Excellent!”
“Do you mind telling me what is going on, Hugo?”
He nodded, “Carry on Sergeant Armstrong. I shall talk to Major Harsker in the headquarters’ building.”
“Yes sir.”
“Headquarters’?”
Hugo looked sheepish. “Just the old hall here. There was no one using it and it is comfortable.”
We went into the hall which looked both ancient and decrepit. There was an oil lamp which gave off a smoky orange light. I took off my greatcoat. There was a log fire in the house which made it warm. Hugo poured wine for the three of us. “Right Hugo. What is going on?”
“After I left you I drove to Verviers. I met Lieutenant-General Galloway. He is now commander of 30 Corps. But then he was just on a fact finding mission prior to taking over from Lieutenant-General Horrocks.” I nodded, wishing that he would get to the point. “Anyway when I told him what we had discovered he acted immediately and ordered the units there to begin to prepare defences. He had me help him and in three days we had managed to make the perimeter secure. He was then whisked off to take over the Corps but, before he left he gave me the job of finding all those soldiers who had become separated from their units. He gave me Sergeant Armstrong. He is an absolute genius at organising, by the way, and we headed south to find and organize the lost men as I call them.”
“Now it makes sense.” I sipped the wine.
“What date is it now? Ah yes the 29th, well we left Verviers on Christmas Eve and found this place on Christmas Day. Just driving down here we found about twenty men. Since we established headquarters here more than sixty others have turned up. Most were half starved, especially the Americans. By the way some mentioned you, sir. They said they escaped the Malmedy massacre and you gave them food and weapons. Good show, sir.”
“But the M.P. said something about going after the Germans.”
“Yes sir. We have radio contact with HQ and we have been ordered to round up as many Germans as we can. When the roads are clear we will have tanks but, for the moment we have to make do with small arms, machine guns, mortars and PIATs.”
I swallowed the wine in one. “No offence, Hugo, but Headquarters are mad if they think you can take on S.S. and paratroopers with these orphans.”
“Sir, I have my orders. We have had a couple of run ins with some of those who escaped from the west. We killed some and we captured some. They were sent back to Namur before the bad weather returned and the snow closed the road.”
I shook my head. Gordy said, “I’ll just go and have a word with Sergeant Armstrong, sir. I’ll leave you two gentlemen to chat.”
Gordy was becoming a diplomat. After the door had closed I said, “Hugo, you are out of your depth. You will get yourself and these men killed. They can’t do much damage east of here. It is forest and then Germany.”
Hugo shook his head, “Not true sir. When we arrived here we found the villagers slaughtered. We chased the Germans from the village. We buried the villagers. The road east of here leads to the Elsenborn Ridge. There was hard fighting there, sir. The last thing we need is for them to be attacked in the rear. Besides these orders come directly from Monty. You may be right, I might not be a hero like you sir, but I can obey an order and this is not one you can countermand. I am sorry sir, I thought that you would be pleased for me.”
I could see that I had hurt his feelings, “Hugo, I want to see you survive this war. I have lost too many good friends already. If it is orders then you must obey and I shall stay with you. I will give you the benefit of my knowledge.”
He grinned, “Good show sir!”
“Now tell me what you know.”
Hugo took out a map. He knew his way around a map even if he didn’t know his way around a battlefield. “They have been coming across the road north and south of us here.” He shook his head, “To be truthful, sir, I tried to place men to stop them but it didn’t work. We lost ten that way.”
“Tank tracks? Vehicles?”
“We have seen a couple of tracks but they were on the road.” He jabbed a finger at a place on the map just half a mile from the village. “This is the only track that we have seen which could accommodate a tank. There are tracks heading east. The track ends up in Germany but there is a river to ford.”
“Until the snow melts then they can use a ford. They will use that track. Right, it is too late to do anything tonight. I might take Commandos out to tackle Jerry but not this disparate group of soldiers. Too many would get hurt. I want all of your men pulled back to the village.”
“But what about watching the track sir?”
“Hugo, we are quite remote here. If a tank heads down the track then we will hear it. I want every one of your soldiers to be within shouting distance
of this Command Post.”
“Command Post?”
“This hall. From now on that is what it becomes. I want your radio man in here, as well as your Sergeant Armstrong and Sergeant Barker.” I had a sudden thought. “The ones you drove from the village; what unit were they?”
“Volksgrenadiers sir. There were just ten of them. We killed five and the others fled east.”
That explained why and how Hugo had managed to find the village intact. Had it been S.S. it would have been a different story. “Now you go and tell the two sergeants what we have planned and I will walk the perimeter. Oh and pull back the M.P.s. We don’t need them there. We need every man who can fire a gun, close.”
“Sir.” He smiled, “Thanks sir.”
“Thank me after the war… if we survive.”
I went back to the map. The roads were typical of this part of the Ardennes. They were very narrow. In winter people normally stayed close to their houses. The roads would stay closed if it snowed and people would hunker down. I knew that if we searched the cellars we would find food stored for such times. The Germans would also know that. It explained their choice of route. To the east were forests, a lake, streams, rivers and hills. It was not tank country. If the Germans took tanks over it then they would be desperate. That was what Hugo did not understand. If these were desperate S.S. and paratroopers then his hotch potch of soldiers would stand no chance. It would not be a level playing field. Gordy Barker and I would have to make it level.
I put on my greatcoat and stepped outside. It was still snowing. That meant no air force and no relief column. Malmedy might be only a few miles away but the roads were impassable. We had seen that on the way here. Men saluted as I went passed. The two sergeants had set them to work. I could see Gordy organizing men to make barricades across the road. They would wonder why. In a perfect world I would explain but I did not have time.
I walked up the road to the edge of the hamlet. There were just a dozen houses here. The memory of Albert’s little huddle of houses brought back a painful memory. The poor people of Belgium were paying the price for our lack of vigilance. There were four soldiers there manning a Lewis gun. I saw that they were from the East Lancashire regiment. They had a nervous expression on their faces. They were staring up a road which was like an abyss.
“Where are you lads from?”
“Corporal Parr, sir, Wigan, sir!” He pronounced it ‘Wiggin’. I knew the accent. My grandparents had lived not far away.
“Missing the pies eh lads?”
The Corporal grinned, “Aye sir. I could go a nice meat and potato one right now!”
“Nah Corp, steak pie, full of gravy, dripping down your chin.”
I nodded amiably, “Me too. Well we will have to get out of this little mess first won’t we? You need to make your defences higher.”
“Higher sir?”
I pointed to the last house, just behind us. There was a block of wood with an axe in it and, next to it, a pile of firewood. “Take the axe and cut down some of the larger branches or smaller trees. Make yourself a dugout. You want it four logs high and with a roof. Cover the roof with branches and then snow. Disguise it. Trust me the wood will stop a bullet better than anything and if a tank comes down and tries to climb over it then a grenade underneath can do some damage.”
“A tank sir?”
“It could happen but, hopefully, it won’t. The other thing is that the wood will keep you a little warmer. Cut the branches and I will come back and help you make a dugout.”
“Right lads you heard the Major!”
They had something to occupy their minds now other than the thought of Germans coming down the road. I walked back. There was another road coming from the west. Gordy had already been there and was helping them to make it more defensible. At the southern end of the hamlet they were giving their Browning .30 Calibre a thorough check. I approved.
“Where are you chaps from?”
“Virginia sir. Most of us are from Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley.”
“Stonewall Jackson eh?”
“Yes sir!”
“I hope you have all of his qualities then for we shall need them here.”
“We just want the chance to kill a few Krauts sir. They killed our buddies. We want payback!”
“How did you chaps end up here?”
The sergeant said, “Bad luck I guess, sir. We were heading towards Stavelot with more bridging equipment. We were ambushed close to Spa. The Lieutenant and the rest of the guys were killed. We took to the woods. The Krauts took our trucks and headed south. We came east. If the Captain hadn’t found us.” He shrugged, “They would have found our bodies in the Spring, I guess.”
“Well you are Engineers and I think you can make this into a little fort. Use wood, stones, anything to protect you. Put a roof on it if you like. When Jerry comes make it hard for him. This becomes your home. Defend it.”
“But the road south of here leads to Malmedy sir. That is in our hands.”
“Your Airborne and the 30 Corps, along with the Air Force, have stopped the offensive. The Germans want to get home. We are in their way. None of us chose to be here but we are and that means that we have to endure whatever they throw at us. Remember that they have less ammo than we do and they are hungry. No matter how tough it gets, remember that.”
“Yes sir. Right guys. Let’s show these guys how to build!”
By the time I got back to the men from Wigan they had assembled logs and branches. I showed them how to lay them so that they interlocked and formed a three sided dugout with a couple of small logs and branches for a roof. “This will keep the snow off you but, more importantly it will keep shrapnel off you. I’ll leave you to it, Corporal Parr. You will be relieved in a couple of hours.”
“Right sir.”
The camp was now more compact and there were no isolated men any more. Corporal Parr and his section were flanked by two houses which had men in them. It was the same with the American point at the southern end. The last road was the most heavily defended as it was close to what I had termed the Command Post.
Sergeant Barker had organized some food for me. He ladled me a plate of stew. I knew what it was. It was standard fare in the field. He had chopped up a tin of bully beef and added water to the soup powder from our rations before thickening it all with oatmeal. It was not the tastiest of fares but it had the right number of calories and the oats kept us going for longer. A Commando ate to survive and not for the taste.
The Corporal with the radio was sat by the window with his headphones on. Hugo and Sergeant Armstrong were going over the duty rotas. Gordy sat by me as I ate, “What do you reckon, Gordy?”
“The lads have guts, sir, but there are clerks and engineers amongst the fighting men. Most weren’t even at D-Day. If Jerry comes then survival will be the best we can hope for.”
I nodded and wiped my mouth, “Good stew!”
He laughed, “Lost your taste buds then sir?”
“As my granddad might have said, ‘I was hungry enough to eat a horse… with the skin on’!”
“Jerry might not come.”
I gestured with my spoon at the map on the wall. Hugo had marked the extent of the German gains. “They reached almost as far as Dinant. There are perilous few roads here and if we know how to survive in this country then you can bet that the best German soldiers can too. They won’t surrender and they will come. It is that road north of us that will draw them. They can use that to get back to Germany. We are less than twenty miles from the border. Well the border before the Offensive. We could be just ten miles or so from German troops. I would not like to be on the Elsenborn Ridge. From what I heard yesterday in Stavelot it was those lads there that saved Antwerp. It was why we had so many to fight around Stavelot and Trois Ponts. They couldn’t follow their original plan and headed through that gap.”
“They might not come here and this snow can’t last forever, sir!”
“In this part of
the world it can. I daresay that they will move heaven and earth to reach us but my bet is that the Germans reach us before reinforcements or supplies.” Gordy nodded, “How are supplies?”
“Better than for some time. All the men have a week of rations. You can live off it, I suppose.”
“Hugo, would you and the sergeant join us? Gordy go and fetch the brandy from the jeep.”
“Sir!”
The two joined me. The Sergeant stood rigidly to attention. “We don’t bother with such things at the front, Sergeant. At ease. Sit down, both of you.”
“Sorry, sir, force of habit.”
Gordy returned with the brandy. I put four mugs there and I poured a generous measure into each one. “Gentlemen, the King!”
We all touched mugs and they said, “The King!” We drank.”
Sergeant Armstrong and Gordy swallowed theirs in one. Gordy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That was nice sir. Reminded me of the rum on the ‘Lucky Lady’.”
“Well we shall keep the rest for after this battle. Now listen there are just the four of us here to command Fred Karno’s army. Here we have to be of one mind. Now I may be wrong and Jerry might not come. I hope I am wrong but we I might not be.” I took a piece of paper from the sergeant’s clipboard and began to sketch. “Now we are here. From now on this Command Post is Buckingham Palace. Here is the southern end where the Americans are. That is Fort Shenandoah. The Engineers and the M.P.s can man that one. Up here at the north are the East Lancashires. That is Blackpool Tower. I have a feeling that is where the hardest fighting will be. Finally here, at the crossroads,” I looked at Sergeant Armstrong, “That will be Alnwick Castle. The rest of the men will be there. Now I want all the emplacements improving. Pile the firewood in front of them. Cover the tops with branches. We need forts. What we lack in firepower we will make up for in the strength of our defences.”
“Right sir.”
“Gordy, go and have a look for food.”
“Will there be any sir?”
“Check for cellars. They normally keep things like ham and preserved foods there. If the cellar has an earth floor see if they have buried apples and carrots in straw. You might be lucky and find some potatoes.”