Gunslinger

The company’s first objective was the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son. The route was over a north-south road that ran from Eindhoven through to Arnhem. The road was constructed of part asphalt and part brick and was wide enough for two cars to pass each other but was a tight squeeze for two trucks. Like most of the roads in Holland, the road stood a meter above the fields that surrounded it, which meant that anything that moved stood out starkly against the horizon.

This road was the key to Operation Market Garden. The task for many of the airborne troops was to take control of the road and its many bridges to open a path for the British to drive through to Arnhem and them over the Lower Rhine River into Germany.

E Company’s drop zone was about 30 kilometres behind the front line, which was some 15 kilometres north of Eindhoven. The initial objective was Son, then Eindhoven, which meant that the company initially marched south. The 1st Battalion moved through the field to the west of the road, 2nd Battalion down the road and 3rd Battalion in reserve. D Company led the march, with E Company, Battalion HQ and F Company following.

As the column entered Son, they noticed the residents lined up on each side of the road, almost as if they were turning up to watch a parade. The Dutch people were ecstatic to be liberated, and orange flags, which had been forbidden by the German occupiers, proudly flew from windows. The residents gave the passing paratroopers apples and other fruits. Bartenders opened their taps and handed out glasses of beer to the company. Some officers had a hard time keeping the men moving. Many of the women ran about kissing the paratroopers, much to their delight. One woman ran at Dana and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Ooh, Dana’s getting some”, Brian smirked at her.
“It’s more than you’ve got”, Dana shot back at him.

Emerging from Son, less than a kilometer from the bridge, the column was fired on by a German 88 and by a machine gun, both shooting straight down the road, however there were no casualties. D Company covered the right side of the road and E Company the left. They pushed forward, firing rifles and lobbing mortar shells which silenced the opposition. However, the Germans had done their job as they had delayed the advance long enough to complete their preparations for blowing up the bridge.

When the lead American elements were 24 meters from the bridge, it blew up in their faces. Somerville and McKenzie hit the ground with large pieces of wood and stone debris raining down around them.

The Colonel ordered 2nd Battalion to lay down covering fire while 1st Battalion looked for a way to get over the canal. Corporal Fitzwilliam fetched a waterlogged rowboat however half way across the canal the boat sank. Other men from 1st Battalion took the doors off a nearby barn and with the assistance of Brian, Richland and some more E Company men they laid them across the bridge pilings. The German rear guard, its mission complete, withdrew. Engineers attached to the regiment improved the footbridge over the canal, however it was so weak that it could bear only a few men at a time. It took the Battalion hours to get across.

It was now getting dark, and the Colonel realized that the Guards Armored Division had been held up by 88s a few kilometres south of Eindhoven, and he didn’t know the state of German defenses in the city. He ordered the company to halt for the night.

The platoon leaders posted outpost lookouts, and those not on duty slept in haystacks, wood sheds, and whatever they could find. Brian and Hobbs found a farmhouse. The Dutch farmer came out to greet them and led them through to the barn, which was already occupied with regimental Headquarters company who resented their presence. The Dutch man led Brian and Hobbs through to the kitchen, where he proceeded to present them with half a dozen Mason jars filled with preserved meat, peaches and cherries. Hobbs gave him so cigarettes, and Brian handed him a D-ration chocolate bar. The farmer sucked in the cigarette greedily (it was the first decent cigarette he had enjoyed in five years), however he saved the chocolate for his little boy, who had never tasted it.

The march resumed the next morning on the road south. On the edge of Eindhoven, the Colonel spread the regiment, with 2nd Battalion to the left, E Company on the far left flank. Somerville grabbed his radio.
“Lieutenant Marks, put your scouts out and take off.” Marks spread 1st platoon out in textbook formation, with scouts to the front, no bunching up and moving fast. The platoon advanced through gardens and freshly plowed fields.

Dana immediately noticed that something was wrong, and at the same time as she noticed she heard Somerville say “shit”. Marks was in front, with his map case at his side, binoculars hanging around his neck. He stood out as an officer like a sore thumb. Worse, he was well over 6 feet tall and easily visible. Somerville again grabbed his radio.
“Get back! Drop back! Drop back!”. Marks could not hear him and kept moving ahead. Every person watching knew what was going to happen, and Dana cringed knowing what would come next.

A shot rang out from a sniper situated in one of the houses, and Marks went down like a tree felled by an expert logger. The shot had hit him in the throat just below his jaw line. The medics quickly ran forward to attend to Marks whilst the company moved on. Dana looked down at him as she passed and shuddered at the sight of the blood pumping from his neck wound.

Even though a few more snipers took pot shots, there was only light scattered resistance and they arrived in Eindhoven without further difficulty. The Dutch residents of the town came out to greet them in much the same way as the residents of Son. The applause was nearly deafening.

* * *

The company spent the night in hastily dug foxholes on Tongelre, a suburb on the east side of Eindhoven. On the morning of 19th September, Somerville reached orders to march to Helmond in the east. A squadron of Cromwell tanks accompanied the battalion.

Somerville led a forced march to Nuenen for about 5 kilometers, encountering no opposition but again Dutch residents offering food and drink. Beyond Nuenen the picnic ended.
“Kraut tanks! Kraut tanks!”, shouted Richland. The Germans had recovered from their surprise and were beginning to mount counter-attacks. The company jumped off the Cromwells to dive into a ditch. Less than 400 meters away the first in a column of Germans tanks came through the bushes.

The 107th Panzerbrigade was attacking west, toward Nuenen with some fifty tanks. Sergeant Butler saw a German tank almost hidden in a haystack about 100 metres away. A British tank was coming up and Butler ran to it, climbed aboard and told the commander that there was an enemy tank just below and to the right. The tank commanded continued forward.
“Are you nuts?”, Butler shrieked. “If you keep going forward they’re gonna see you!”
“I can’t see him, old boy”, the British tank commander responded. “And if I can’t see him I can’t very well shoot at him.”
“You’ll see him damn soon”, Butler yelled as he jumped off the tank and scurried away.

The German tank fired and the hell penetrated the British tank’s armor. Flame erupted and the crew came flying out of the hatch.

Lieutenant Hanson was shot in the backside. As Doc Brouchard went to his aid with O’Shea, Private Laird, Pagliaro and Melville, Hanson looked up and moaned.
“She always said my big ass would get in the way.” He looked at the men. “Go. Let the Germans take care of me.”

He was such a big man, and the fire was so intense, that the troopers were tempted to do just that. But O’Shea, Pagliaro and Melville pulled a door off a farm outbuilding and laid Hanson face down on it. They then skidded him up the roadside ditch to one of the retreating British tanks and loaded him, face down, onto the back end. The bullet that had hit Hanson had gone into the right cheek, out, into the left cheek and out. Richland looked at him and couldn’t help laughing.
“You’re the only guy I ever saw in my life that got hit with one bullet and got four holes.”
“If I could get off this tank, I’d kill you”, Hanson moaned.

The British Cromwell tank, now a flaming inferno continued to move forward on its own. Dana was directly in its path and she was forced to move in the direction of the enemy to avoid it. As she scrambled along the ditch to avoid it, the tank exploded and she felt a burning pain in her shoulder. Realizing that she was cut off from her squad, she ducked into a barn. A German soldier ran in behind her, however she had heard him move and slashed him across the neck with her bayonet. He fell with a choked cry at her feet, and Dana felt herself growing dizzy, both from the shock of having killed a man in close combat, but also from the wound in her shoulder which was pumping blood.

Once the rest of the company reached town, they found shelter in buildings that they used as cover to move around and set up some semblance of return fire. E Company managed to hold up the Germans but was unable to force them back. There were quite a few casualties. Johnson and Brian went over to a Cromwell, hiding behind a building. Johnson asked the commander to take out the church steeple as the Germans were using it as an observation post, however the tank commander advised that he had instructions not to destroy too much property.”

The Germans kept pressing, as their aim was to through to the highway leading from Eindhoven to Nijmegen (“Hell’s Highway as the men named it), however they couldn’t get through Nuenen. Somerville decided to withdraw under the cover of darkness, and as he checked the men he asked Johnson about the casualties.
“We’ve got 10 dead, 5 wounded and Vandenberg’s missing”, Johnson responded.

Brian, who had been walking past, dropped his rifle and stared at Johnson.

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This one's kinda long but I couldn't think where to cut it with all the action so decided to keep going.

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