Colin Gee - Opening Moves

At E – Adolphesbrücke struck by Soviet artillery and drops into the canal.

At F – Last ‘D’ Sqdn Sherman knocked out by Soviet mortar fire.

Light mortars sought out and killed the anti-tank gun but the tanks still died as the Yeomanry Firefly opened up, killing three in quick succession.

A T-34 shell struck the 17-pdr gun barrel and deformed it, forcing the crew to evacuate their vehicle.

Four T-34’s now remained, spitting death from their machine-guns, bullets flying in all directions, keeping the enemy’s heads down as their own infantry reached the Markt and plunged forward.

The Russian ‘Urrah’ leapt from five hundred and fifty throats as they charged headlong into the Markt.

Fire erupted from the Rathaus and a huge audible sigh went up from the Soviet ranks as metal met flesh and bone, sending man after man to the ground.

Instinctively the waves of Russians moved to their right, away from the withering fire that claimed more lives every second.

Again the collective anguished gasp as two MG42’s and other weapons spat death from the right hand side of the Markt.

1st Lieutenant Ames, Royal Artillery, was not to be outdone and dropped his shoot on the money, wiping out a score of Russians with every burst.

It was the nearest thing to mass murder Ramsey had ever seen.

In less than five minutes, an assault force of over five hundred men had been reduced to a few witless survivors trying to scrape holes in the ruined road or sitting glassy eyed amongst the bloody wreckage that used to be their comrades and friends.

Some Soviets closed with Black Watch and Manchester firing positions in the Markt, more for the protection offered by getting close than for aggressive intent.

Swiftly the battered and shocked men were either shot or bayoneted, even those surrendering, for this was no time to be encumbered with prisoners. Once dealt with, the Scots and Mancunians went back to the business of killing at range.

The slaughter was soon over and the infantry withdrew leaving piles of corpses behind.

The 39th Tanks had been wiped out in all but name, one running tank withdrawing, its crew taking the young wounded Colonel back to the aid post to be either saved or to die in peace.

The Battle of the Rathaus ended at roughly 7.30pm, although there was sporadic firing and men died from then until night descended and the area became quiet.

The Allied camp licked its wounds and took stock of whom and what had been lost.

Young 1st Lieutenant Ramsey’s body was recovered as best could be done and wrapped in a canvas for evacuation. His battery of the 71st had suffered appallingly and would contribute very little on the morrow.

Brown of the Yeomanry still hung from his turret, it being too dangerous to do any more than watch the glowing hull grow cooler in the late evening air. Half the tanks had been lost but they had given a fine account of themselves and were still high on morale.

555th Engineers had nil effectives now, those who were not dead on the field having been evacuated over the Bride, now the sole means of communication, rearming and reinforcing left open to Llewellyn Force. CSM Richardson’s burnt body had been recovered and was removed to the west bank with those of his dead men.

The Manchesters had done well, very well. Captain Arthurs could not be found and the credit for the defence went to his second in command.

Fallschirm Batallione Perlmann had suffered modest casualties in comparison, those units that had been situated on the Jungfernsteig relatively unscathed whilst those adjacent to the Markt had been savaged badly. Perlmann has refused to be evacuated, remaining in his command post to be fussed over by the battalion doctor.

For the Royal Welch Fusiliers, it was a mixed day. Support and Admin platoons illustrated this well. Support platoon had done fine work, moving on to counter-attack within the Rathaus, sustaining surprisingly few casualties. Admin platoon had three men left standing, the rest either on stretchers or in the lines of dead arranged at the Alterwall, adjacent to the Bride.

‘A’ Coy had sustained the fewest casualties, mainly because of the Russian tactics, but the dead company commander had been very popular and would be missed.

‘C’ Coy had lost 50% of its effectives, but with a high proportion of wounded men.

‘D’ Coy had suffered the most, now with only thirty-four effectives, and too many of those absent lying dead.

The Black Watch had arrived the day before with one hundred and twenty-seven men.

Ramsey stood back as Sgt MacFarlane went through the roll call, smiling at the humour in McEwan’s voice, sighing with emotion as Young Munro did not reply to his name and imagining the faint sound of the pipes when Sinclair failed to answer the roll.

Himself included, ‘B’ Company, 7th Battalion, The Black Watch now consisted of forty-six effectives.

Dismissing the parade, Ramsey turned and looked over the Markt, sensing rather than seeing the heaps of enemy dead, knowing that they had suffered more losses than he had, but finding no consolation in the thought.

Ramsey wept, silently and stiffly, as only a man battling with his inner self can do.

For the Russians, the reaper’s bill was higher than could ever have been expected and without success to sweeten the bitterness of so many deaths.

179th Rifle Division was combat ineffective now. None of the five battalions committed had their commander, four being dead and one missing vital parts of his body, removed by grenades as he led his men forward at the Exchange. The five battalions consisting of one thousand seven hundred men just a few hours ago now mustered less than six hundred and many of those were unfit but refused to go to the aid stations.

The three battalions of 938th Rifle Regiment had done no better. I Btn had been hammered in their advance up Ballindamm, II Btn savaged as they went to the support of the under-pressure diversionary attack force, III/992nd Rifle Regt. III/938th had been the main force that blundered into the Markt, complete with companies from the 215th Rifles and the sappers of the 28th.

II Btn 28th Engineer Sappers had been pulled from the Ballindamm attack, preserved for the Markt assault and had suffered the most casualties of any battalion in the field, there being only twenty-four men left from a unit which boasted three hundred and sixty at the start of the day.

Second to them came the III/215th Rifles, which had been the opponents of Ramsey and the Fallschirmjager during their wild counter-attack. They had started the Battle of Hamburg with two hundred and ninety-nine effectives, ending with forty-seven capable of holding a weapon.

39th Guards Tanks had worked wonders and now had a total of eight running tanks, its mechanics scrounging from wrecks to make whole. Casualties amongst the crews had been less than the norm, as many had escaped back to their own lines. Their morale was shot away, lowered further by the grievous wounding of their much-loved commander.

10th Guards Mortar had been badly hit by radar-guided counter-battery fire, and the 64th Gun Artillery Brigade had been dealt with very harshly by allied ground-attack aircraft, appearing unopposed over the Hamburg skies.

Last on Beloborodov’s list were the 134th Knapsack Flamethrower Company of ninety-four men and one mad disfigured Kapitan. Simply put, there was no one left.

True to form, Beloborodov blamed the actions of the II/295th’s commander for the whole failure and was, surprisingly, believed.

He never did get the Guards Rifle Corps and 43rd Army was withdrawn from front-line action to reform.