Gunslinger
Second Heartbeat
Later that morning, Somerville got orders to put the men onto trucks as the division was heading to Uden on Hell’s Highway, to defend the town against a Panzer attack that the Dutch underground warned was coming from Helmond.
The trucks got through Veghel and into Uden without encountering resistance. Somerville and McKenzie climbed to the top of the church steeple to have a look around and when they got to the belfry the first thing they saw was German tanks cutting the highway between Veghel and Uden. Somerville spotted a patrol coming toward Uden, and he ran down the stairs and gathered the platoon.
“There’s nothing to get excited about, but we’re surrounded.” He organized an attack, and moved out to meet the German patrol. The group, which included Brian, hit the patrol hard and drove it back. Somerville received word to set up a defense. E Company, with assistance from HQ, set up roadblocks on all roads leading into Uden.
Somerville told Brian to take every man he could find, regardless of unit, and put him on the line. Brian saw two British soldiers walking by and grabbed one by the shoulder.
“You two come with me”, he ordered. The man looked Brian up and down.
“Private, is that the way you address officers in the American Army?” Brian took a closer look at the man and saw that he had the insignia of a major on his uniform.
“Oops, my bad”, Brian muttered. “Sorry, sir.” The major gave him a half-smile and walked away.
The Germans did not come on. Had they realized that there were fewer than 130 American troops in Uden and only three tanks, they would have surely overrun the town, but evidently Somerville’s quick counter-attack against their lead patrol convinced them that Uden was held in strength. They shifted the focus of their attack to Veghel.
Somerville and McKenzie climbed the belfry again and had a clear of Veghel to the south. They watched tanks approach, saw air force strafing, and watched a terrific exchange of firepower.
The battle was one of the biggest that the company had experienced so far. It was also critical. The Germans had cut the road, which was loaded with British transport vehicles of every type. Cutting the road meant fire and destruction for the vehicles, and clogged the road for almost its entire length. With the road cut off, E Company was also cut off from its supplies – food, ammunition, and medical supplies.
When the artillery began to come in, Brian, Dana and Hobbs took shelter in a cellar with a handful of Dutch civilians who were singing hymns and saying prayers. A young girl sat with Dana, clutching a battered cloth doll. She was crying and shaking as the whistles of the artillery grew closer, and she jumped when an artillery shell landed close by.
“What is your doll’s name?”, Dana asked. The girl looked at her blankly. “Wat is uw poppetje naam?”
“Mathilde”, the girl answered shyly. She smiled at Dana but cringed again when another shell landed close by.
Brian was sitting beside them, surreptitiously glancing at Dana out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t known that she spoke Dutch but then again he realized that her surname was Dutch. He realized that all the years he had known her, he had never taken the time to get to know her. He was coming to realize that he had misjudged her, but he had been an asshole to her for so long the damage maybe not be repairable. She glanced at him and saw him watching her.
“What’s wrong?”, she asked.
“Nothing”, he answered. “Just wondering how you’re doing.”
“I’m doing OK, well as much as I can be sitting in a war zone”, she chuckled. “How are you holding up?”
“I have helmet hair”, he responded with a wry smile. Dana couldn’t help but laugh.
“I think we all have helmet hair, Bri”, she responded. Brian sucked in a quick breath. Dana had never called him Bri before, and he decided that he liked it.
“Well, Danes it probably looks better on you than me.”
The Colonel came roaring up in a jeep and ordered the company to establish a perimeter defence and to shoot at anything moving. The group climbed out of the cellar and moved into a neighbouring orchard where Brian, Dana, Melville, Adams and Holmes frantically dug a foxhole which was 2 feet wide, 6 feet long and 4 feet deep. They wanted to dig deeper but water was already seeping in. The group sat helplessly in the foxhole under intense artillery fire, which was pure hell. The shells were coming in by threes, and each time they heard a shell come over they closed their eyes and put their heads between their legs.
After about an hour, it quieted down sufficiently for the supply people to bring up some British rations. The company spent the night in their foxholes. There was drizzle and the air was frosty. They pulled their raincoats around their shoulders and nodded off as best they could.
Brian looked down at Dana who had fallen asleep next to him, and he slowly and carefully put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer to him so that they could share body heat.
*********************
Once agan a big big thank you to nolifelowlife and ladyofsorrows 101 for the comments. You guys seriously make my day. And yes, Brian is starting to come around but he's got a bit more work to do yet. I'm working on the next chapter now and it should be up later today :-) Housework beckons first :-(
Thank you to all my subscribers and readers :-)
The trucks got through Veghel and into Uden without encountering resistance. Somerville and McKenzie climbed to the top of the church steeple to have a look around and when they got to the belfry the first thing they saw was German tanks cutting the highway between Veghel and Uden. Somerville spotted a patrol coming toward Uden, and he ran down the stairs and gathered the platoon.
“There’s nothing to get excited about, but we’re surrounded.” He organized an attack, and moved out to meet the German patrol. The group, which included Brian, hit the patrol hard and drove it back. Somerville received word to set up a defense. E Company, with assistance from HQ, set up roadblocks on all roads leading into Uden.
Somerville told Brian to take every man he could find, regardless of unit, and put him on the line. Brian saw two British soldiers walking by and grabbed one by the shoulder.
“You two come with me”, he ordered. The man looked Brian up and down.
“Private, is that the way you address officers in the American Army?” Brian took a closer look at the man and saw that he had the insignia of a major on his uniform.
“Oops, my bad”, Brian muttered. “Sorry, sir.” The major gave him a half-smile and walked away.
The Germans did not come on. Had they realized that there were fewer than 130 American troops in Uden and only three tanks, they would have surely overrun the town, but evidently Somerville’s quick counter-attack against their lead patrol convinced them that Uden was held in strength. They shifted the focus of their attack to Veghel.
Somerville and McKenzie climbed the belfry again and had a clear of Veghel to the south. They watched tanks approach, saw air force strafing, and watched a terrific exchange of firepower.
The battle was one of the biggest that the company had experienced so far. It was also critical. The Germans had cut the road, which was loaded with British transport vehicles of every type. Cutting the road meant fire and destruction for the vehicles, and clogged the road for almost its entire length. With the road cut off, E Company was also cut off from its supplies – food, ammunition, and medical supplies.
When the artillery began to come in, Brian, Dana and Hobbs took shelter in a cellar with a handful of Dutch civilians who were singing hymns and saying prayers. A young girl sat with Dana, clutching a battered cloth doll. She was crying and shaking as the whistles of the artillery grew closer, and she jumped when an artillery shell landed close by.
“What is your doll’s name?”, Dana asked. The girl looked at her blankly. “Wat is uw poppetje naam?”
“Mathilde”, the girl answered shyly. She smiled at Dana but cringed again when another shell landed close by.
Brian was sitting beside them, surreptitiously glancing at Dana out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t known that she spoke Dutch but then again he realized that her surname was Dutch. He realized that all the years he had known her, he had never taken the time to get to know her. He was coming to realize that he had misjudged her, but he had been an asshole to her for so long the damage maybe not be repairable. She glanced at him and saw him watching her.
“What’s wrong?”, she asked.
“Nothing”, he answered. “Just wondering how you’re doing.”
“I’m doing OK, well as much as I can be sitting in a war zone”, she chuckled. “How are you holding up?”
“I have helmet hair”, he responded with a wry smile. Dana couldn’t help but laugh.
“I think we all have helmet hair, Bri”, she responded. Brian sucked in a quick breath. Dana had never called him Bri before, and he decided that he liked it.
“Well, Danes it probably looks better on you than me.”
The Colonel came roaring up in a jeep and ordered the company to establish a perimeter defence and to shoot at anything moving. The group climbed out of the cellar and moved into a neighbouring orchard where Brian, Dana, Melville, Adams and Holmes frantically dug a foxhole which was 2 feet wide, 6 feet long and 4 feet deep. They wanted to dig deeper but water was already seeping in. The group sat helplessly in the foxhole under intense artillery fire, which was pure hell. The shells were coming in by threes, and each time they heard a shell come over they closed their eyes and put their heads between their legs.
After about an hour, it quieted down sufficiently for the supply people to bring up some British rations. The company spent the night in their foxholes. There was drizzle and the air was frosty. They pulled their raincoats around their shoulders and nodded off as best they could.
Brian looked down at Dana who had fallen asleep next to him, and he slowly and carefully put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer to him so that they could share body heat.
*********************
Once agan a big big thank you to nolifelowlife and ladyofsorrows 101 for the comments. You guys seriously make my day. And yes, Brian is starting to come around but he's got a bit more work to do yet. I'm working on the next chapter now and it should be up later today :-) Housework beckons first :-(
Thank you to all my subscribers and readers :-)