Rhine 1945

The Wings Of War

The previous page was: "45 Cdo Operation Crocodile"

Early 1945 brought hope and optimism of a possible quick advance. At the beginning of February there was unsusally fine weather with days of clear blue skies; and the terrain was firmer than might have been expected for that time of the year. It was a good oman for the Allies.

In the Early days of March, No.45 and 46 R.M. Commandos, who with No.3 and 6 Army Commandos were formed as the 1st Commando Brigade. They were employed as the spearhead troops which was to play the leading part in the advance of Montgomery's 21st Army Group.

The 21st Army Group's crossing of the Rhine was named 'Operation Plunder'. Trained in L.V.Ts. Mark II and IV and in stormboats manned by Troop 1, of the Royal Marine Engineer Commando, all were ready for the advance to commence.

The Commando's first objective was the town of Wesel on the east bank of the great river. At this point the Rhine is nearly 400 yards across and the current always runs faster in the Spring.

The first crossing was made by 46 R.M. Commando, in L.V.Ts. followed by 6 Army Commando in stormboats. 45 R.M. Commando were to follow later.

The crossings were to be supported by Lancaster bombers and an artillery barrage, 46 R.M. Commando was given the task of forming a bridgehead through which the remainder of the Brigade would pass through.

45 Cdo Operation Crocodile

Crossings At Night Was Essential

The crossings were made by night because they would have been almost impossible by day and speed was of the essance for the success of the operation. The preliminary bombing and the artillery bombardment were most effective, and, although one craft was hit as it beached, 46 R.M. Commando encountered little serious opposition in the actual crossing.

The first line of enemy trenches was quickly over-run, and machine-gun posts dealt with. By following right up behind the artillery barrage the Troops of the Commando were able to sieze all of their objectives, that were outside the town.

B Troop, which had suffered casualties when its landing crafe was hit by a shell, was in serious danger from its own artillery barrage when one section advanced too far forward.

Marine James Hazel M.M.

It was then that Marine James Hazel, performed a gallant action which won him the military medal. Ordered to bring his section back, he ran forward immediately and at that moment a salvo from the barrage fell all around him.

With no regard for his own safety, he had ran forward and ordered the section to withdraw. On its return two men were found to be missing. Again Marine James Hazel ran forward into the barrage, located the men who had been wounded and then assisted them back to safety.

Very soon the planned bridgehead was firmly established; while 6 Army Commando passed through on its way to Wesel, the rest of the Brigade were pouring ashore as fast as craft became available to carry them.

Heavy Bombers Were On Time

Then punctually, at 10.30 p.m. a force of 250 Lancaster heavy bombers arrived over the town of Wesel, and in a quarter of an hour had reduced it to ruins.

During this fierce assault, troops of the Brigade were not more than 1,000 yards from the dropping-line - a record - for close-support bombing - and as the last bomb dropped, 6 Army Commando entered the town, followed closely by 45 R.M. Commando and 3 Army Commando.

Considering the weight of the bombs that had been unloaded on them, the Germans put up a stubborn resistance; but the Commado troops were too strong for them. Major-General Deutsch, their commander, fought to the end until he was killed; with his pistol still gripped in his hand.

During the fighting Lieutenant-Colonel W. N. Gray, D.S.O. R.M. the C.O. of 45 Commando was wounded, and Major A. L. Blake, R.M. assumed command.

Meanwhile, 46 R.M. Commando, under Lieutenant-Colonel T. M. Gray, M.C. R.M., was able to thin out from the bridgehead and take part in the assault on Wesel. Long before dawn all four Commandos were established in defensive positions in the town.

Niederrheinlaendische Messe

Wesel besides being the scene of an unusual fair known as the; Niederrheinlaendische Messe, has a curious connection with Egnland. In the famous St. Willibrod's Church, one of the finest Gothic buildings along the lower Rhine, there was until the war, a marble tablet recording that Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, son of Richard Bertie and Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, was born there in 1555.

The Parents were Protestant exiles who had fled from the persecution of Queen Mary, Queen of Scotts, and were permitted by the mayor of the town to take up their quarters in the church which was then unused.

In 1945, the Marines took their quarters in Wesel without asking and found cover wherever they could, though not in churches. 45 R.M. Commando established themselves in a factory that had escaped serious damage from the R.A.F.'s bombing.

Retaliation Was Swift

Soon after first light on 24th March, the Germans began to shell the positions of the Brigade and maintained their fire during the day from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. The Commandos received no artillery support, because during this period a "no fire" order was in force because the 18th Airborne Corps were due to land on the high ground at the rear of Wesel.

In the early hours of the 25th March, repeated counter-attacks were made on 45 Commando, and were beaten off with heavy losses to the enemy. Mopping-up operations continued during the day, but by evening all resistance had ceased and the town was reported cleared of any enemy.

During the night of 25th/26th the bridge across the river was captured and in the morning the Brigade's transport was brought across. Both R.M. Commandos suffered remarkably small casualties, the heaviest loss being when one of the landing craft was hit on the first crossing.

Moving On Up Country

On 4th April, the Brigade with 3 Army Commando leading, took the large town of Osnabruck, in just a few hours, and here partly due to the R.A.F. bombing only twelve casualties were sustained.

The chief task of 46 R.M. Commando which took over the policing of the town, was to stop the widespread looting both by forced labour personnel liberated by the town's capture and by the German people themselves.

Pushing On At Great Speed

The Brigade crossed the Weser, and on 7th April captred the town of Leese. The next river to cross was the Aller. As a natural obstacle it was less formidable than either the Rhine or the Weser.

The surrounding country, was thickly covered with dense woods and thick undergrowth and the nature of the ground was described by one Marine: "a little bit of Burma in the midst of the bloody Reich".

The crossing of the Aller, was the fiercest battle in which the Brigade was engaged during the campaign. The main opposition came from three battalions of a German Marine Fusilier Regiment, and for the first time British Marines came face to face with enemy Marines.

Royal Marines Fought German Marines

The place selected for the crossings was opposite the village of Essel on the west bank which was still firmly in the enemy's hands. In this area there were two important bridges, a road bridge on the main road a mile beyond Essel and a railway bridge which was about a mile down stream.

As a direct assault on the road bridge was almost certain to result in its being blown up before it could be reached. The Brigade commander decided to rush the railway bridge and then attack the road bridge from the rear.

This bold plan as good as succeeded. While they were closing in they heard a loud explosion, just as 3 Army Commando approached the railway bridge, but they could clearly see that only the first span had collapsed, the rest was intact. The first span was lying on the marshy ground below it.

3 Commando rushed it under small-arms fire, they got across with only five casualties, and quickly overpowered the enemy post on the other side. The rest of the Commando then crossed over without any opposition.

While the R.M. Engineer Commando removed the unexploded charges from the bridge, all the fighting units went as fast as possible to their pre-designated positions, to await the counter-attack that would follow in the morning.

As Expected The Germans Appeared

The crossing had been made at night, and shortly after 8 a.m. on the morning of 11th April, the enemy launched a strong counter-attack against 3 Commando and Brigade Headquarters.

At this time 46 R.M. Commando who were in position behind 3 Commando, received a message to launch a full-scale attack against the road bridge. While the orders for this attack were being given, the enemy attacked A and Y Troop positions of the Marines.

It soon became clear that if, 46 R.M. Commando were withdrawn to carry out the attack on the bridge, the rear of both the Brigade Headquarters and 3 Army Commando would be left unguarded against the enemy which showed no signs of slackening.

The task of attacking the road bridge was therefore given to 6 Army Commando which had no sooner captured the bridge and was subjected to a violent counter-attack; they fought back valiantly.

As counter-attackes against its own positions had ceased, 46 R.M. Commando was sent to the assistance of 6 Commando. The move was safely carried out and the situation around the bridge became more stable.

45 Isolated On High Ground

These exciting events had left 45 R.M. Commando dangerously isolated on high ground where they were being heavily shelled, and in order to strengthen the defensive position of the Brigade they were moved to an area north of the road junction on the left of 46 R.M. Commando.

During the night a battalion of Cheshires crossed the river to support the brigade on its left flank, and the next morning a force was made up from 45 and 46 R.M. Commandos; commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel T. M. Gray, it was ordered to move back and beat through the woods as far as the railway bridge.

During the confused fighting which followed the crossing; strong enemy forces had infiltrated back into the area behind the Brigade. Colonel Gray's force, soon ran into superior numbers of enemy forces.

The advance was delayed while the artillery supporting the operation brought down a heavy barrage on the enemy's positions.

The two Marine Commandos could still not make any headway against the numbers of Germans and on orders from Brigade Headquarters were withdrawn to the line of the canal.

On the next day, after gaining information from prisoners about the locations of the German Marine Fusilier battlion's positions. The two Marine Commandos met them in the woods and they fought each other in an intense battle; with the Marines inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy the Germans made no attempt to renew the battle.

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The German Position Was Weakening

On the morning of Friday 13th April, reports showed that enemy activity in the bridgehead area was weakening. At 11 a.m. 46 R.M. Commando was ordered to capture the village of Hademstorf, which lay just over a mile west of the railway line. The village gave the enemy a vantage point over the bridge which had now been erected on the site of the demolished road bridge.

The plan of attack was a pincer movement with Y and X Troops moving through the woods on the left, and B and A Troops advancing simultaineously through the woods on the right. Z Troop was held in reserve.

Soon after entering the wood Y Troop was heavily engaged by the enemy who, firing with automatic weapons at close range from well-consealed positions, quickly inflicted casualties.

Captain Pierce, the commander of Y Troop, and Sergeant-Major J. C. Davies were killed and shortly afterwards Lieutenant D. T. Burrows was also killed while giving morphine to a wounded Marine.

As Lieutenant D. J. Beardmore, the only remaining officer in the Troop, was badly wounded, Sergeant S. Cooper took command and, rallying his men and fighting every inch of the way, led them slowly through the wood. With X Troop following up the enemy began to flee, leaving their many dead and wounded laying where they had fallen.

B and A Troops made good progress against lighter opposition; completing the encircling movement and disorganising the enemy's defences. The garison in the village surrendered shortly afterwards. The capture of Hademstorf marked the end of the battle which had raged for over three days.

During this period the Brigade had mauled severely two enemy Marine battalions, the 12th S.S. Panzer Training Battalion and an anti-tank battalion armed with 88 mm. guns. A bridge had been secured, and the whole of the 11th Armoured Division was able to pass through without any trouble.

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