Beyond the Rhine by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Published: 2017-05-27T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“Stand to!” I ran back inside. “No one open fire until I give orders. “Davis, how about the road to the east?”

“Nothing yet sir.”

“Beaumont, you get on the MG 42 with White. I will use the Thompson.”

I used the glasses to peer through the camouflage netting. It was a German column. I saw the black cross on the lead vehicle. It looked to be a 6 Rad 231, German armoured car. It had a 20 mm gun but tyres rather than tracks. I tried to put myself in their position. They knew that the allies had been shelling. They would see the wrecked Kubelwagen and lorry. As there were no British uniforms they would assume that the men had been killed by shells. They would still be cautious but they would be keen to push on to the crossroads. They would be within range when they were at the bridge. I wanted them closer when we opened fire as I wanted the maximum casualties.

When they were just short of the bridge they stopped and I saw the commander of the armoured car scanning the bridge. He was looking for wires. He would not find any. Our booby traps were more subtle. I saw him raise his arm and shout something. Eight men disgorged from the half-track which was following and ran towards the bridge. It was obvious that they were moving the bodies. As they tried to move the first two the grenades exploded and the eight men were thrown to the ground. I saw a couple of them moving but four did not. The hatch was slammed shut and the turret moved around. The booby traps suggested an ambush. The men who were in the half-track kept their heads down. The men who had begun to descend from the lorries climbed back on board. And no bullets came their way. We had posed them a problem. It would take time to solve the problem and that was our task. Delay them.

They had to have radios on board. I could imagine the conversations. The armoured car began to fire into the trees and bushes alongside the river. The half-track joined in. After a few minutes the armoured car moved forward. We had left the Kubelwagen with its front wing protruding a little from the bridge. The armoured car went to nudge it out of the way. As it toppled backwards it set off another two grenades. Using the glasses I saw that the front tyres on one side were shredded by the shrapnel. The armoured car could still drive. It would, however, move very slowly.

The half-track moved forward as the armoured car reversed out of the way. I hoped that the Sergeant Major and Lieutenant would hold their fire until they heard the sound of a Thompson. That had been the agreed signal. I knew that they would be eager to destroy the Germans.

“White, slip out of the back and, when I give the word, send a grenade into the middle of the bridge.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.