Sword Beach to Bremen., A Veterans tale. Sapper

Hi Stevin.
The general wade charges were heavy and longer. the whole idea of blowing the flood banks at the last moment, meant that there had to be a passage from the high bank down to the water, free of all obstruction, ready for the troop carrying buffalos to charge straight down and into the water.

Had the paths down to the river been prepared earlier they would have come under heavy and sustained fire, for the banks were under direct enemy observation. While preparing (or trying to) the banks for the drive across, we had tried heavy smoke to disguise what we were doing. The smoke was toxic and caused all sorts of troubles. The men elected to prepare under the enemies gaze and shell fire, rather than under a great cloud of toxic smoke.
Brian.
More later.

The experiments carried out at Mook seemed to indicate that the general Wades would serve the best in this instance.
I have only seen them briefly and cannot honestly describe them in detail. They were not the normal charges that we held in the company, ours were Beehives, for demolishing stubborn enemy defensive positions. Not a task that was looked upon as "Desirable"

 

Thanks for that link Sommecourt...

 

Furthermore to my posting here....

For his actions as leader of the American end of the rescue operation of Operation 'Pegasus', Lt 'Moose' Heyliger was awarded the Military Cross by the British...

 

Thanks SapperBrian.

Hadn't heard of them till now. Can't find anything on the net either. Have you got any idea what the destructive power of thes chargers were? They were supposed to blown up a large piece of river bank....

Stevin

 

Hi Stevi.
Sorry I cannot help you with more information about the General Wade charges. It is not something that I came across, I had heard of them and probably have seen them, but I cannot go any further than that. I am coming up to the description of how they were used shortly. During the Rhine crossing they used quite a few to blow the banks. Will continue with this later.
Sapper.

 

Hi Sapper--glad to have you back and looking forward to your next installment.

 

Hi Folks. Hi Carl.
The problem of blowing the flood banks on the Rhine now had to resolved and put into practice. For the three routes down into the Rhine had to be ready at any cost.

When the time came to go, the Buffaloes and DD tanks would come straight up the prepared routs and would not stop. For in the rear areas awaited an army just waiting for the word. GO, then there would be no stopping. All the time the enemy kept up
Mortar, shell, and small arms fire, making life very difficult for the sappers.

Meanwhile the toxic smoke had caused so much trouble that it was discontinued, that meant that all the preparatory work was done under the direct gaze of the enemy on the far bank. All the charges had to be dug in, in two rows on each side allowing for armoured bulldozers to remove the centre and make a path down for an embarkation point. When the time came those in charge of the charges retired to the local buildings, ready to blow.

Quickly, as soon as the banks were blown, the armoured bulldozers were to get to work and finish the paths down. The men had been under fire for some time but had continued to work to get the explosives dug in. When the armoured bulldozers got to work they came under tremendous fire from the far side from 88s 40mm and 20 mm fire. Not nice!

Of the three armoured bulldozers with the task of opening up the three tracks down to the water, one was knocked out by enemy fire, another lost a track on the waters edge,
The remaining bulldozer in a most exemplary manner cut the paths just in time.
There had been one very worrying moment, when the officers charged with the task of the demolition having been wounded, was nearly evacuated with the exploder still in his pocket. The last bulldozer completed the task just as the first Buffaloes arrived.

Our job was nearly finished. But then the news came back the Buffaloes were having great difficulty in getting out on the far bank. Our sister company sent sappers over with the Buffaloes to help improve the bank exits.

The last armoured bulldozer while trying to improve one path, bogged down, and then came under withering fire from everything the enemy had. 88s the lot! Later that morning, the most inspiring sight of the arrival of the Airborne. First the Para’s, then the gliders. There were some pretty grim scenes as the heavy flak burst or broke up aircraft in the air. To top it all off, there were rumours that our old friends 24 para regiment “Hubner” were holding the other side of the river.
But for the moment our job was done. A good rest with a job well done.
Brain

 

Brian, again a big thankyou for the written memories.....you've mentioned Buffalo's several times.....what were they actually ? and another question. By clearing out the banks on the Rhine did you guys not have very much unsuitable conditions for foot as well as vehicle traffic ? I would of thought any type of road surface would have bee a mire, or am I wrong here ?

Erich

 

Hi Sapper--Erich.

Sapper thank you for this installment--the way you put things made me feel as if I was there to see this.

Erich--if im not sadly mistaken--I think the Buffalos are like wheeled Infantry landing Craft. The boat that also drives on land--as it were. I THINK that that is the vehicle Sapper is talking about. Im so out of touch on Allied vehicles--its difficult to recall what is what outside of a Deuce and a half--a Willys Jeep, and a Sherman Tank. Ive been into the German vehicles so long................

 

I here ya friend. Familiar with the Bren carrier and that is about it.....sad......

E

 

We both almost have one track minds

 

Hi again. Mines and more Mines.
On the 28th of March, 3rd Div crossed the Rhine that they had contributed so much in the preparation of its crossing. And by a bridge that another unit had completed. Great stuff! 51st div having held the bridgehead was now relieved by 43Wessex div. Guards Armoured were also across and ready to break out. Prisoners were taken by the RUR, they told us that our objective, Haldern had already been evacuated by the enemy.

Later, there were reports that more obstructions blown by the enemy on the road into the village, just in front of our forward lines. The CRE with a Major from our sister company set off to recce a demolished bridge. When they got there, they found that it had not been blown and the CRE going a bit further than he had intended, got himself blown up on a mine, wrecking his scout car. That caused a very unwilling CRE Lt Col Evill, to get evacuated.
The whole area was thick with mines, subsequently, Major Collins then arrived and despite being warned of the danger of the mines, started to clear them himself, though he did not have the necessary kit on hand.

This gallant officer cleared the mines ahead for half a mile, well in front of the leading infantry until he got blown up and killed. (Mine clearing always takes casualties) His loss was a great blow to his unit, and to his many friends, for he was held in greatest esteem.
Sapper.

 

Hi again. Mines and more Mines.
On the 28th of March, 3rd Div crossed the Rhine that they had contributed so much in the preparation of its crossing. And by a bridge that another unit had completed. Great stuff! 51st div having held the bridgehead was now relieved by 43Wessex div. Guards Armoured were also across and ready to break out. Prisoners were taken by the RUR, they told us that our objective, Haldern had already been evacuated by the enemy.

Later, there were reports that more obstructions blown by the enemy on the road into the village, just in front of our forward lines. The CRE with a Major from our sister company set off to recce a demolished bridge. When they got there, they found that it had not been blown and the CRE going a bit further than he had intended, got himself blown up on a mine, wrecking his scout car. That caused a very unwilling CRE Lt Col Evill, to get evacuated.
The whole area was thick with mines, subsequently, Major Collins then arrived and despite being warned of the danger of the mines, started to clear them himself, though he did not have the necessary kit on hand.

This gallant officer cleared the mines ahead for half a mile, well in front of the leading infantry until he got blown up and killed. (Mine clearing always takes casualties) His loss was a great blow to his unit, and to his many friends, for he was held in greatest esteem.
Sapper.

 

Sorry friends, another double posting.
Sapper.

 

All I can say is cool, very very cool. This is something special.

 

Where is Sapper?
Is everything OK?

 

Hi Forums.
Sapper is well, but has been rather busy lately. will continue the tale later. Nice to hear from someone again, it has been very quiet here!
Sapper

 

Great to see you back Brian and that you are fit and well; we had all been worried about you - have a look around on the site for the 'wheres Sapper' postings!!

 

Hi Everyone again.

Sorry I have been away for some time from these pages. I am pleased to see the messages enquiring about me in the other pages. I am perfecly well.

I am, as you will probably know, aged 78 and quite severely war disabled. I have been writing in other places for some time, but hopefully if possible I would like to continue writing here.

I do really appreciate your enquiries after my well being. I am going like a train, albeit, rather slow, chugging, old steam engine! And my engine is pretty worn.
Brian.

 

Quite welcome sir and looking forward to seeing more from you here.