From Normandy to Holland by Bren Carrier (Part 3)

Ryckevorsel (main battle 25th Sep)
I was sole leader of my section as we joined 'A' Company and advanced towards Ryckevorsel. I was well ahead and as soon as I saw a church spire I was suspicious. I left the three carriers with the drivers and they concealed them well but could watch as I moved forward with the five men I had available. I guessed the enemy would be well positioned. We kept a good distance between us and prepared for any action as we advanced. We split into two groups as we approached towards a solid building and took whatever cover we could get. We crawled at the side of a wall but were surprised by a German with a stick grenade in his hand which he threw down close to me. I called for everyone to lay flat and the three of us leading dived to the ground. My warning was a success as the grenade exploded but our training had saved our lives, the shrapnel just flew through the air missing us. I waved the other three towards me, then crawled on with the rest following. We came across a gap in the wall and I felt we had to go across in two groups and explained that to the others. I ran across in the first group, the second were to follow when silence came. The Germans opened fire as we ran and the burst ripped into the wall, pieces of stone breaking away from the wall, in fact quite a few small pieces went into my back. I rushed through shrubbery towards the opening of what was a grand old house. We got into the hall to find to our luck that the place was empty of Germans. I went up the stairs and took up position in the first room upstairs, a woman with her small boy and an old man were laid in the corner of the room. We told them to lay flat and gave them support whilst taking up position. It looked a good defensive place, the walls were solid and well positioned, with three large windows giving us all round views. I told the others not to use the bren guns unless forced as I knew the Germans would really blast us if they knew we had fire power, we would use our rifles. I had a good view from my window and had noted a German section in position in the bottom of the garden. I fired my rifle at one of the Germans hitting him in the body, one of my section shot another in the other area. I think we had reached the destination just before the Germans and it gave us a good view with some advantage. I told the others not to show themselves but fire out of view through the windows, and so far things had been going well.
I posted one of the men downstairs near the entrance. A few moments after I heard two shots, I ran downstairs to find he had been shot, I dragged him inside and he told me he had captured a German who had has hands under a cloak, hiding a gun which he shot him with, the German then escaped back to his section. We got the wounded sentry back to safety and I went back upstairs to my position. I was there for about an hour when I saw a German coming towards the entrance shouting he wanted to come in, I didn't trust him as he had a cloak above his head so I just aimed and shot him, it was just too dangerous to risk. All the section were still in positions and we were sitting pretty with the rifles. I had a big surprise when I looked across the German lines however to see quite a lot of Germans forming up in the distance. I got on the radio to headquarters and gave them the information and asked for support. They sent a Forward Information Officer who was able to climb higher up the stairs and witness a lot of movement. He came down having estimated a company of Germans were getting organised. The FIO radioed back giving information and map references asking for plenty of artillery fire. We pulled back to safety and after half an hour the artillery gave the German area a lot of shells, which certainly made it easier for our company going in. They captured over one hundred Germans and found about a dozen dead in the area we were in. I was proud of my carrier section, who had gone in obeying instructions and showing no fear. When the fighting had almost died down an officer joined me and thanked my section and myself for our information and support, and Major Dunhill sent a message of thanks. As soon as the conflict was ended we moved forward to the platoon H.Q. and had a few hours break, re-armed, had a meal and felt good.

Turnhout
Our next objective was to travel on towards Turnhout. We made our way towards the Turnhout Canal, and came across a brick yard which when recce-ed. by myself fortunately proved to be empty. I radioed my Carrier Platoon H.Q. and positioned my three bren gunners into different kilns and found good positions. An hour later my platoon Sgt. joined me bringing another Sgt. to take over, and he was an impressive looking man. Meanwhile my gunner called to me that he had spotted three Germans in front just across the river. I told him to get firing if he had them in his sights whereupon the Sgt. who was close by asked if he could have the honour. I told him to get down quickly and shoot but once there he said he couldn't do it, never having taken a human life. I pushed him aside and picked the bren up but the Germans were now out of view. I was livid at having missed such an opportunity after all we had been through and told him so in no uncertain terms.
We left the brick-yard and carried on towards 'Turnhout' which was a nice town and we received a fine welcome. The sergeant took over but my respect for him had been diminished. Our next orders were to recce. for 'A' Company, so the Sgt. led the way. After a good mile patrolling he halted and said that we had gone far enough. I wasn't satisfied and said there's a long way to go yet but he insisted we stay. I decided to continue the recce. on foot with corporal Brown and two gunners, as I told the Sgt. 'A' Company was depending on our information and I wasn't prepared to sell them short, particularly as my brother was in 'A' Company and I would never forgive myself if our recce. failed. Anyway the four of us continued with the recce. for about another half a mile. On our return to the rest of the section I told the Sgt. he would have to hand in his stripes or I would disgrace him on our return. He never replied and left us. It wasn't surprising my men followed me after what we had been through, I had a high reputation with the carrier platoon and H.Q. company and can honestly say that I always took the lead on every recce. I never saw the sergeant again.

Belgium / Holland
We later had to recce. towards the Dutch border, towards Wuustwezel, we passed the church which looked a replica of Ryckevorsal church, in fact the whole area looked like Ryckevorsal. We then travelled towards Esschen, the area was rough so when came across some stout timber, the carriers were made safe and left with the drivers plus two men. I was suspicious of the area on my left, it was a wooded area, we dragged some of the timbers to make cover for the Gunner, we had a few magazines with us and a Bren gun. I laid at the side of my gunner facing west and thought it a good position. About an hour later we were surprised by a burst of machine gun fire and my Gunner was hit in the arm and shoulder, and I had part of my web equipment ripped off. We dropped back a few yards and kept low. My gunner received temporary treatment and was put in a safe place to await a stretcher; we stemmed his bleeding using a tourniquet. I removed my webbing and shirt to find I had only suffered a slight rip in my webbing. I got the section together and travelled about fifty yards north. We were down to five men now, trying to take up a safe position. One man exposed himself too much and was hit by another burst of machine gun fire. He got down besides me and I checked his left shoulder to find to my surprise a wooden bullet, stuck in the fleshy part. I warned him not to try and pull it out, or let anyone else try and pull it out, as it looked well embedded. I radioed through to HQ and they sent transport through to take back the wounded. I came to the conclusion we had been caught in a fixed line, when my driver was hit too. We were made up with three extra men as I wasn't in a strong enough position to continue, but three was all the platoon could spare as it was well run down, in-fact the platoon wasn't strong enough to make three sections up, we'd been managing quite a while with three per carrier. We moved on for about 100 yards and I positioned the three carriers in good gun positions. After about half an hour an armoured car pulled up about fifty yards behind us and an officer and Sgt. got out and crept towards us. The officer explained he was Brigadier Clark of Clark Force, and asked if a small column of recce. cars had passed our positions. I told him no and that we had been there for a good hour, so he went back a few yards and studied his map. He then told me to take my section forward through the forward positions to contact the Americans. I ordered my section to drape the top of the carriers with the yellow tape we carried, I was concerned in case the Germans were to our front. In fact we only had to travel 2-300 yards before a voice cried out not to fire as we were English. It was a section of coloured troops who were part of the Timberwolf Battalion. These Americans made us welcome for the 10 to 15 minutes we were there and made us a hot drink. I left the area and went back to our own battalion front, the Brigadier had moved on but we had completed another good job with a lot of tension. We carried on route to Rosendal and then on towards Klundert. We took up positions and settled down watching the front. I was surprised a couple of hours later when Major Dunhill and an officer approached me. The Major thanked me for getting in touch with the American Timberwolves and said he always asked for my section as he had great confidence in us. He also said there would be a good job for me if we ever got through this war, at his firm, which was only three miles from my home, then he left me with my section.
I remember the terrible night that Major Dunhill and Sergeant Heatley were killed. It was a very sad night (4th November 44), our section had worked under Major Dunhill many times, and he was a very well respected man.
When we entered Klundert for once it appeared that we were in a quiet suburb and our front was, to our surprise quite secure, seeing no action. Our next move was in the direction of Venlo, we were just to the West, and I remember doing patrols in the heavy rain, and whilst on these patrols, we were shelled throughout the night. We advanced towards Nijmegan, where we found it very difficult having to cope with the floodwater and the cold. The Germans made it no easier, with their continuous shelling, and the doogle bugs were a nuisance. We could actually see them launching the doogle bugs from the other side of the river.
It did seem a long time before the assault on Arnhem came off (4 ½ months in fact). My section once again, on a recci’ were to the left side of the Company advancing forward, in fact we carried on for a good distance, as all was quiet, or so we thought. We reached a building on the left side of Arnhem, and saw a section of Germans running across from the other direction. We made our way forward, leaving our carriers in a pretty safe position. We had at this point excellent observations, and were starting to get worried when we saw a few Germans to our rear, and a few ran towards a pill box at our front. I radioed back to HQ to request tank support as we had found ourselves surrounded.
After a short while a squadron of tanks arrived and blasted the pill box, and the Germans made a hasty retreat. That was the only experience I can recall of Arnhem. Our next move was to carry onwards towards Ede, we saw no further action, and shortly afterwards the war ended.

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