Opening Moves (The Red Gambit Series) (112 page)

At E - OC ‘A’ Coy 4RWF and CSM killed by artillery.

At F - Admin Platoon 4RWF receives high casualties from artillery.

At G - 4RWF Chief Medical Officer and orderlies killed by artillery fire.

At H - Lt Ramsey killed by artillery fire.

At J - ‘D’ Sqdn ERYY Sherman killed by artillery fire.

The incoming rounds were relentless, covering the whole defensive area with smoke and dust in equal measure.

Most allied casualties were sustained in the first few minutes, although the destruction of the Yeomanry’s D Sqdn tank in Reesendamm occurred in the very last salvo before the Soviet’s switched their attention to the other side of the canal.

Despite the fact that every fusilier and rifleman was fully focussed, the first warning of an attack was the roar of a Russian tank exploding in Bergstra²e as a Fallschirmjager panzerfaust sought it out. This was closely followed by the sound of a Sherman’s 75mm as D Sqdn engaged Soviet T34’s flanking Rathausmarkt.

A Vickers from the Manchesters positioned in the Rathaus started hammering out as Soviet troopers came into and disappeared from view in swirls of dust and smoke, pouring out from behind St Petri’s and beyond.

The man knew his job and few bullets were wasted, .303’s tearing great swathes in the Russian infantry of III/215th Rifle Regiment and the support companies of the 1st Rifle Corps.

As the dust grew less and vision improved, other weapons reached out and touched the attackers, adding to the growing piles of dead and dying all along Llewellyn Forces’ front line.

The Black Watch worked their Enfield bolts mechanically, shifting target when the man dropped, taking a steadier aim if the bullet went wide.

Corporal McEwan, relieved of his driving duties, was doing what he knew best and his sniper’s rifle dealt death with every pull of the trigger. Positioned on the first floor of the Rathaus, he had a superb field of fire down Mönckebergstra²e. Methodically the Corporal destroyed the visible command structure of III/215th Rifle Regiment as it hurled itself down the highway, intent on gaining the Markt and beyond.

Talking to himself, as was his habit in the stress of combat, McEwan showered himself with plaudits for taking the cap off one officer who was stood back encouraging his men.

That the bullet took the life of the IIIrd’s commander was incidental to the pleasure the slightly mad Scotsman derived from seeing the headgear roll away.

Fig#30 - Hamburg - First Soviet assault

At A - T34 killed by Fallschirmjager Panzerfaust.

At B - Sherman 76mm concealed in Hermanstra²e kills a T34.

At C - Cpl McEwan’s sniping position from the first floor of the Rathaus.

At D - Defensive artillery strike area.

At E - 6-pdr Anti-tank gun engaging Soviet T34’s misfires.

At F - Disabled T34.

At G - Fallschirmjager counter-attack drives out Soviet troops.

At H - T34 killed by 71st Regt 6-pdr gun. [at J]

At J – 6-pdr Anti-tank gun killed by T34’s firing from Ballinndamm.

At K - III/259th Regt attack.

At L - Scene of bitter fighting between Admin Platoon,arriving reinforcements of A/4RWF and soviet infantry.

At M - 6-pdr position, focus of heavy fighting between Soviets and C/4RWF.

At N - T34 advances believing both sides secured by own infantry.

At Q - The Rathaus fighting.

At R - M4 Sherman, which previously killed a T34 disabled by infantry with mines.

A consummate professional, 1st Lieutenant Ames had the artillery support just right again and brought its accurate fire down in the area of Pelzerstra²e/Schauenburgerstra²e, the deadly 25-pdr’s causing heavy casualties with a mix of HE and Fragmentation shells and giving the two lead battalions of the 215th a very hard time. One of the 71st’s 6-pdr’s reached out at a T34 pushing up towards the Markt and succeeded in damaging it as well as killing the driver. However, the tank crew did not lack courage and engaged the anti-tank gun, missing with their first shot but killing one of the Manchesters in the window beyond.

The anti-tank gun then misfired, causing panic amongst the crew, who screamed at each other as they started the procedure to clear the weapon.

A second shell from the tank again missed but was close enough to cause the crew to bolt from their useless weapon, all seeking cover within the Rathaus.

A PIAT round arrived on the Soviet tank and removed the offside track, causing casualties amongst the infantry who were supporting the tank.

Mortar rounds were now dropping on the anti-tank gun position, ensuring that the crew did not have second thoughts and re-man their gun.

The lieutenant commanding the T34 stuck his head out to assess the damage and left it there for enough time for a number of Black Watch to open fire. Even as he ducked back in, angry wasps clanged off the tanks armour, ricocheting in all directions, one of which caught the III/215th’s oldest soldier in the back of the head, killing him instantly.

Howling with rage at the death of their talisman, the younger men threw themselves forward but were beaten off, seeking cover in the ruins that had collapsed on the Fallschirmjager.

Doing what the Germans did best, an ad hoc force of Perlmann’s troopers counter-attacked violently and threw the Soviet infantry back with heavy loss of life, recovering the lost ground.

‘A’ Company RWF still received incoming mortar fire but was generally fine as only II/259th Rifles were opposite them with nothing more than a holding brief.

RWF’s mortars were dropping accurate fire to the east of the Rathaus, denying the area, rather than killing in numbers.

Down Ballindamm came a mixed force of infantry, engineers and tanks, the latter of which were three survivors from the previous attack, intent on surviving this attack as well. Remaining outside panzerfaust range, they proceeded to pound the Fallschirmjager defensive positions with accurate HE rounds, causing some casualties

A 6-pdr shell streaked across the water, catching the nearest tank on the turret ring and boring inside, destroying the mechanics and flesh in equal measure.

Only the hull gunner and driver escaped and fled down Gertrudenstra²e, uniforms smouldering.

Enraged, the other two tanks turned their guns on the anti-tank gun and destroyed it in turn, complete with its entire crew and four members of the RWF carrier platoon who were nearby.

The artillery was still killing, a salvo of shells arriving near the Bleichenbrücke destroying four of the RWF trucks and killing the fusiliers set to guard them.

III/259th Rifles made a sudden surge, charging recklessly through the smoke in Gro²e Johannisstra²e, losing considerable numbers of men to grenades and small arms fire in the process.

A large group broke into the ground floor of the Exchange, having mistakenly crossed the junction, missing their intended target. Close combat with the RWF’s ‘A’ Company ensued.

A short platoon of battle-hardened Russians burst upon the already unsteady survivors of the Admin platoon and virtually wiped them out in close combat, the clerks and drivers being unprepared for the horror of bayonets and sharpened spades wielded by a enemy filled with hate.

Two sections from ‘A’ Coys 2nd Platoon were swiftly thrown into the fray and managed to beat the Russians back into the corridors and rooms from which they had emerged. The reserve platoon was summoned and the Captain now commanding the depleted company held his ground until they arrived and he could throw the Russians back out into the street. Very few Soviet soldiers lived to retreat back across the road.

In the initial rush across the open ground, a larger group had managed to reach their intended target and, as with ‘A’ Coy, the Fusiliers of ‘C’ Coy found themselves in fighting where the hand grenade and sub-machine gun ruled as a king until the closer bestial work required less sophisticated weapons.

A 6-pdr position became the focus of much fighting, with the Soviets determined to capture the weapon and the Welch equally determined to retain it. The gunners had succumbed in the first rush and lay dead around their weapon.

A T34 pushed forward, encouraged by signs of friendly infantry in the buildings on either side of Adolphsplatz. Another survivor of the previous attack, this commander, an experienced and decorated Starshina, had got through his war so far by skill and luck and, by his own admission, more of the latter than the former.

His hull gunner was on the ball and a short burst killed a ‘C’ Coy Corporal intent on setting up a PIAT to their front. A quick glimpse through the smoke and another burst took the lives of two stretcher-bearers rushing forward through Adolphsplatz as they searched for ruined bodies to transport to the Aid post.

The same hole in the smoke gave the tank commander his own glimpse of other enemy to his front, and he knew his luck had finally run out.

An ‘A’ Sqdn Sherman had him targeted and he watched as the white blob reached out towards him, struck in a shower of sparks and then whined away off the mantlet, failing to penetrate.

Ordering his gunner to return fire, he got his driver to manoeuvre to the right, moving the T34 into the lee of the building where ‘C’ Company was fighting for its life against his infantrymen.

The 85mm barked and the shell streaked past the enemy tank, striking the bridge beyond and ricocheting skyward.

The Sherman fired again, hitting the side of the building and bringing down brickwork, adding more dust to the smoke and immersing the T34 in a cloud of particles and smoke, shutting off all sight of the enemy.

Opening his hatch and holding the half-moon section forward to provide cover for his upper body, the Starshina deployed his PPS, in case enemy infantry took advantage of the cover offered by the smoke and dust to try and get close in.

The Sherman, having no target registered, decided on a speculative shot and fired another AP shell.

The Starshina’s luck had indeed run out and it was an unusual death.

The solid AP shell would have missed the tank but the vertical commander’s hatch increased the height by a short distance. Even then, the round only lightly kissed the top side of the hatch on its way past and into the buildings behind. That ‘kiss’ was enough to slam the heavy cast of metal into the NCO at a speed, which destroyed his chest in a micro-second, leaving him trapped in the hatch and hanging down inside the turret. His crew were oblivious to his death until the smell of blood, urine and faeces overtook them. They withdrew immediately, the turret gunner firing parting shots from main and coaxial weapons as they went.

It was ‘D’ Company RWF who had the hardest fight to date, with scores of Soviet troopers breaking into the ground floor of the Rathaus and forcing the fusiliers back. This permitted more Russian troops to charge across Gro²e Johannisstra²e relatively unhindered.