Chapter 7
Following the mayhem on the landing grounds the situation across 17th Airborne Division’s landing zones had calmed down by the early afternoon and all three Regimental commanders were able to report that they had secured their perimeters and were waiting expectantly for the enemy reaction.
At 15:00 hours, Major General Miley was relieved to hear the news that Company F in 507th Parachute Regiment’s area had met Scottish troops south of Diersfordt Castle. They had crossed at Xanten the previous evening and had spent the morning driving the Germans out of Bislich before pushing forward to link up with the airborne troops. Half an hour later General Ridgway drove into 507th Regiment’s area and located Colonel Raff’s headquarters; Raff was pleased to report that his men had secured his sector of Diersfordt Forest and captured Diersfordt Castle, taking more than 800 prisoners, over half of them wounded. The paratroopers had also managed to take on the German armour with their new recoilless weapons, knocking out five tanks, including two Mark V Panther tanks. Although contact had not been made with the British paratroopers on the north side of the Regiment’s perimeter, General Ridgway was able to confirm that 6th Airborne Division had also been successful and, despite heavy causalities on the drop zones, they were well on their way to securing all their objectives. After passing on the good news, the General’s party motored off in their jeeps to find the divisional headquarters.
General Ridgway (second from left) listens to reports from American and British officers. 111-SC-264635
General Miley was acutely aware that the Germans could counter-attack at any time but he realised that his men would have to hold the Issel bridges until the British troops moving east from Bislich were able to bring tanks and artillery into his perimeter. It would take all night to build a suitable crossing over the Rhine and, in the meantime, his men would have to fend for themselves. As the news of the linkup spread, Miley’s paratroopers dug in along the Issel Stream while patrols kept a look out for signs of enemy activity; it was going to be a long night. While a few paratroopers spent the afternoon processing prisoners, others continued to round up stragglers, some of them teenage Hitler Jugend fanatics. Meanwhile, the reserve companies spent the afternoon collecting equipment from the wrecked gliders and salvaging German equipment in the hope of finding spare arms and ammunition. As nightfall approached everyone was acutely aware that the Germans must counterattack soon.
On 513th Regiment’s front, in the north-east corner of 17th Airborne Division’s area, German activity on the ground was virtually non-existent and 2nd Battalion dug in around its bridgeheads over the Issel. The situation along 194th Glider Regiment’s front was similar and while troops consolidated their positions, supplies and ammunition recovered from gliders and supply canisters were being distributed along the front line. Meanwhile, General Meindl was gathering the reserves of II Parachute Corps to strike back at the Issel and as the afternoon wore on the German artillery began to search for targets along 17th Airborne Division’s perimeter.
A paratrooper keeps guard over members of the Hitler Jugend, teenage soldiers who had volunteered to fight for the Führer.
B-24 Liberator bombers fly low over the Rhine carrying supplies for XVIII Airborne Corps.
The Liberators dropped essential supplies for General Miley’s men.
Patrols search 17th Airborne Division’s perimeter for German soldiers.
Gliders were searched for equipment and ammunition so it could be taken to the front line.
On the western perimeter 507th Parachute Regiment contacted 513th Parachute Regiment in Diersfordt Forest during the evening and as it grew dark there were anxious moments in 507th Regiment’s sector when Company I’s patrols spotted figures moving through the trees. As the paratroopers waited with fingers on their triggers for the men to move closer, the message went the line along to hold fire, the enemy were wearing red berets; contact had finally been made with the 6th British Airborne Division. It meant that the whole of Diersfordt Forest had been secured and with his northern flank safe, Colonel Raff began to withdraw a large number of his men into reserve.
On the southern perimeter there had still been no contact with the British Commandos in Wesel by nightfall and the patrols sent out by Company K had been turned back by heavy fire; Company L’s patrol had also run into trouble on the outskirts of the town. Contact was finally made at 03:00 hours on 25 March after a Commando patrol slipped through the German lines to link up with Company L.
German counter-attacks against 194th Glider Regiment’s perimeter.
The first attacks fell on 194th Glider Regiment’s eastern perimeter where 1st Battalion covered a 4,700 yards front and seven of the Issel bridges. Casualties during the landing had been high and the Battalion commander had few local reserves to reinforce his thin line if the Germans broke through. The first infantry probe was made against Company A’s position around Bridge 4 on the Battalion’s right flank in the afternoon. As the hours passed further patrols probed all the bridges along 1st Battalion’s sector, gauging the paratroopers’ response at each position. Colonel Pierce waited anxiously to see where the main German effort would fall and each time the patrols were driven back, artillery searched for targets along the stream. The first blow fell late in the afternoon and threatened to break through Company A’s sector before Company B’s counter-attack restored the situation. A second company-sized attack struck the centre of 1st Battalion’s line and had driven a wedge between the two front line companies before Company B came to the rescue for a second time. Time after time the Germans tried to find a way across the Issel and the Battalion After-Action report sums up the night along 17th Airborne Division’s perimeter:
The attack was halted temporarily on several occasions during the night to repel enemy counter-attacks from the front, both flanks, and on one occasion from the rear. Elements of Company B were committed on both flanks of Company C at various times during the night to erase the counter attacking Germans. At or about 01:00 hours, rear security of Company C reported Germans in its rear, driven there by action of other friendly units nearer the river. This pressure was reduced by mortar fire and bayonet by Companies B and C. During the night, attacks varying from a squad to company strength continued. The artillery observers did an excellent job in getting massed artillery on the larger attacks as was evidenced by the large number of dead and wounded Germans found the next morning. At dawn only 300 yards separated Company C from the unit on the left and the entire area was filled with German dead. The 300 yards was effectively covered by fire.
On 194th Glider Regiment’s southern flank, 2nd Battalion had taken all of its objectives except one by the middle of the afternoon. Company G suffered the heaviest losses during the landings and the survivors were delayed as they pushed south and rounded up large numbers of prisoners. The leading platoons crossed the Issel Stream at Bridges 2 and 3 but the first attempt to move along the south bank towards Bridge 1 was stopped by machine-gun and small-arms fire. Lieutenant Wittig’s platoon only had nine men still standing when he volunteered to try to reach the bridge and his small party set off along the north bank of the canal in the afternoon. The first sign that something was wrong came later that evening when one of Wittig’s men returned to the Battalion command post with bad news; the patrol had been ambushed and he did not know whether anyone else had survived. It was obvious that the Germans were intent on holding Bridge 1 as a base for launching attacks. The first attempt, by infantry and two Panzer IVs, threatened to overrun Company F’s flank but they were dispersed with the help of accurate shellfire directed by Lieutenant Kehoe, the Battalion’s artillery liaison officer. The bridge was the weak spot in 194th Glider Regiment’s line and it had to be taken as soon as possible:
One platoon of Company E was to move forward to Bridge No 1 on the north side of the canal, push as far west as possible, relieve Wittig’s platoon if possible, and at all costs hold and protect the west flank of the Battalion which at that time was looming more dangerous than the front. Lieutenant Robinson got the mission. No further word had been received from Wittig. Robinson moved his platoon at dark and within an hour and a half had moved to a point about 200 yards north of Bridge 1. Reporting on the last known location of Wittig’s platoon, he reported finding one man dead, a member of the platoon, and no sign of the rest of it. Twice during the night Robinson’s platoon was able to ambush enemy troops moving along the corridor between Wesel and the west flank of the battalion.
As Robinson secured the exposed flank, the rest of 2nd Battalion dug in along the 5,000-metre front, a front far too long for the men available to defend against a concerted attack. It was going to be a long night.
The commanding officer’s concerns were raised when a light mist began to form along the canal during the evening and before long German infantry began to infiltrate between 2nd Battalion’s outposts. Lieutenant Anderson’s platoon was ordered to search the Battalion’s rear looking for enemy patrols but after rounding up three groups of German infantry, the main attack started. It appeared that the patrols had radioed many of 2nd Battalion’s positions to the artillery and when the first shells began to fall around midnight, Company G and Company F were subjected to a devastating bombardment. As Company G began calling for artillery the barrage abruptly ended and German infantry swarmed towards their positions, overrunning the outposts. Moments later the radios and telephones went dead; and the only sign that members of Company G were still alive was the sound of gunfire and explosions around their positions.
Sporadic fighting continued as the paratroopers collected supply bundles from the drop zones.
An attempt to contact the lost Company ended in failure when the two man patrol was ambushed 500 metres from the Canal. It appeared that the Germans had penetrated deep into 2nd Battalion’s lines and were threatening to unhinge the entire Regiment’s line:
It looked bad. That Company G lines had been broken was considered a possibility. One platoon of heavy guns and two anti-tank guns in the Company G area could not be accounted for at that time. Heavy small-arms fire continued in the Company G area.
On the opposite flank Lieutenant Sheehy and Staff Sergeant Kovacs stumbled on sixty German infantry assembled around a Panzer IV near Bridge 2 rather than the anti-tank gun they had positioned to cover Company F’s position. After a narrow escape the two men returned to Battalion headquarters to report the incident but with Company G out of contact and Company E covering the exits from Wesel, there were few reserves available to counter the enemy breakthrough. It appeared that 2nd Battalion’s front was disintegrating.
With the help of Lieutenant Anderson’s platoon in tow and a few spare bazookas, Lieutenant Sheehy returned to Company F’s flank with a long list of objectives:
Their missions were to establish contact with Company G, locate any enemy forces within our lines and destroy or capture them if possible. The point where Lieutenant Sheehy had seen this group of enemy with the tank looked like a good rallying point for the infiltrating Krauts and the patrol made its way back to this point. The enemy tank at that time began laying high-explosive fire straight up the road towards the rear of the area. Going to the south side of the canal in the centre rear of Company G area, the patrol located the group that Sheehy had seen earlier although they had moved somewhat to the west. The size of the group was now about one hundred men with one tank. They were in position to force a crossing of the bridge near that point and penetrate the Battalion area north of the canal in some force. They radioed back the information and gave accurate coordinates. These were relayed to Lieutenant Kehoe and within five minutes he had the Corps artillery on the target; perfect shooting. Despite the fact that the group was within our lines, despite the fact that the fire was solely from the map, the fire was devastatingly accurate. Much credit here is due to Lieutenant Anderson who knew the ground and had studied his map so thoroughly that even on this dark night, being on this ground for the first time, he knew exactly where he was, making possible the accurate designation of the target. The enemy group scattered in confusion and the artillery began to fall and many casualties were suffered by the Germans as the next morning showed only too well.
With the help of their recoilless rifles and captured weaponry the paratroopers were able to deal with armour roaming across the drop zones; this man takes cover behind a wrecked German armoured car. 111-SC-253933
Anderson and Sheehy ordered their men to hold their fire and as the artillery barrage came to an end, moved out in search of Company G.
They only encountered German infantry and during the early hours returned to Battalion Headquarters to report that their mission had only been partially successful. The news was extremely worrying and the only consolation was that machine guns and small arms could still be heard; even if Company G had been overrun, the survivors were still fighting for their lives along the canal.
Facing disaster, the Battalion commander sent his only remaining reserve, the Intelligence and Reconnaissance section, forwards to try to restore the left flank. The small group quickly ran into trouble and found itself embroiled in a German attack on Company G’s command post. As the Intelligence section gave covering fire the company staff withdrew, firing everything from pistols to bazookas to keep the Germans at bay. It had been a lucky escape but when Company G’s commander reported to Battalion Headquarters, he was unable to shed any light on the situation along his sector of the Issel. Communications had been cut at the start of the attack and nobody had returned with news from the front line for several hours.
On Company F’s front the artillery liaison officer had helped to disperse a second attack, directing shells on the gathering infantry and tanks across his front and, as the Glider troops ceased fire and waited for the next blow to fall, Captain Dukes noticed that the Germans had committed a fatal error. The infantry had failed to locate Company F’s front line and had chosen to regroup only 300 metres from their foxholes. The opportunity was too good to miss and Dukes’ men held their fire and watched as lorries brought German reinforcements to the assembly area (estimates put the final number at around 400 men). Timing his response to perfection, Captain Dukes gave the signal to open fire as the first salvo of shells landed on the German infantry. As the Glider troops’ rifles and machine guns joined in the slaughter, panic set in and many Germans were shot down as they ran towards the American lines, bringing to an end the fighting on Company F’s front for the time being.
A convoy of jeeps, horses and carts ferries men and equipment to the front line.
As the long night came to an end and firing died down, the Germans withdrew to regroup, leaving the Glider men wondering when the next attack would begin. Although the situation at Bridge 1 was still precarious the Battalion Commander had no option but to move all of his reserves in the opposite direction to try to restore his right flank. However, at dawn a bedraggled soldier reached Battalion headquarters with good news; Company G, or what was left of it, was still holding its positions:
… the enemy made numerous attempts to infiltrate the lines and infantry, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, and were able to penetrate the gaps… The Company had suffered heavy casualties but the two platoons had held the front and had inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. Pushed back to some extent, especially on their left where the heaviest casualties were suffered… Most of the enemy were killed and the few remaining were captured within the battalion area. The tanks and self-propelled guns were knocked out. Not one man had given any inch of ground to the enemy. Counter-attacks were thrown back repeatedly during the night along the entire perimeter… Company G lashed out in attack at daylight and within half-an-hour had completely broken the enemy’s will to fight and streams of prisoners began coming back… The woods, ditches, lanes and houses in front of Company G were littered with German corpses. Few escaped.
As it began to grow light Lieutenant Robinson took advantage of the lull in the fighting and led his men towards Wesel to see if he could capture the troublesome Bridge 1. As it advanced, the platoon was surprised to see a small group of Glider men coming the opposite way along the canal; it was Lieutenant Wittig’s party. Wittig’s men had survived the night and slipped into Wesel under cover of darkness where they had contacted British troops. One of the Commandos had accompanied Wittig to formalise the contact with 194th Glider Regiment.
Robinson’s platoon pushed on towards Bridge 1, rounding up dozens of Germans on the way; over 200 were collected over the next couple of hours.
The Germans were a spent force. Wesel was in British hands and 30th Division was already driving along the opposite bank of the Lippe Canal behind their southern flank, threatening their rear. With daylight approaching the Allied Air Force was able to take to the skies once more; the Germans were trapped.
Throughout the morning 2nd Battalion searched its perimeter finding hundreds of German wounded and dead strewn all along the front, testament to the savage fighting. The haul of captured and destroyed equipment taken by 194th Regiment was staggering. Captured artillery and anti-tank guns, many of which had been used by the Glider men, totalled four 155mm guns, two 150mm guns, four 105mm guns, two 76mm anti-tank guns and nine 75mm guns. The number of anti-aircraft guns collected in the perimeter confirmed the power of the German air defences that had been waiting for the Regiment; eleven 88mm guns, ten 20mm anti-aircraft guns and two 20mm flak wagons. The anti-tank platoon had also been successful, making good use of their recoilless weapons as well as captured German equipment. They had accounted for five Panther tanks, five Panzer IVs and five self-propelled guns. The final tally of prisoners taken was 1,153 prisoners including most of 1052nd Regiment, half of another Regiment and the Elbe Artillery Regiment. However, the successful landing and subsequent defence of the Issel Bridges had come at a price, 194th Regiment’s own losses had been high; 444 killed and wounded, over half of them on the landing grounds.
Paratroopers move out after destroying a German bunker.
