Opening Moves

Allied Forces – B Coy, 1st Btn, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment and Battery A, 320th Glider field Artillery Btn and Elements of 307th Airborne Engineer Btn, all of 82nd US Airborne Division ‘All-American’, directly attached to British 21st Army Group.

Soviet Forces – 49th Guards Rifle Regt and 44th Guards Artillery Regt of 16th Guards Rifle Division of 36th Guards Rifle Corps, and 285th [Independent] Tank Regt and 3rd Btn, 77th Engineer Bridging Brigade, all of 11th Guards Army of 1st Baltic Front.

Corporal Liam D. O’Malley had seen a lot of combat since his first taste at Salerno in 1943. The healthy respect he had developed for the German soldier was now being mirrored by the new enemy.

Courage in the man opposite can be admired, and O’Malley had seen plenty of it that morning.

In front of his position lay the dead of two attempts to force a crossing over the Hasenburger Mühlenbach, a tributary of the Ilmenau River that protected the route around the south of Luneberg.

He and his squad were positioned on the northwest bank of the Hasenburger in a kink in the river that protect their flanks but gave them a lovely field of fire all the way to the woods as well as covering the main vehicular approach from the south-west.

Soviet infantry had emerged from the woods on both sides of that track and made a rapid assault on the bridge, falling in their scores in the first failed attempt.

Falling back quickly, they took root in the tree line, from where accurate fire was brought down upon the defending glider infantry.

The new company commander had designated the old watermill as his CP but was soon flushed out by accurate Soviet mortar fire as the building, already damaged from the fighting in April 1945, received more hits and started to burn fiercely.

‘Well,’ thought O’Malley, ‘The sarge had tried to tell him.’

Artillery fire had not been brought to bear on the strong position, something each and every man was grateful for, although their gain was C Company’s loss as a rain of Soviet shells fell upon them in their positions within Oedeme to the northeast.

The second assault, supported by a full company of Soviet mortars, had failed equally miserably but only because of the timely intervention of 105mm’s from 320th Artillery. With great skill, the 320th‘s Artillery Liaison officer dropped his shells as close as thirty yards in front of the defenders positions. One young Pfc was presently on his way to the aid station bleeding and close to death, having been struck on the head by a portion of a Soviet rifle butt blasted in his direction as the assault was stopped in a sea of shrapnel and high explosives.

The few men who struggled through were quickly disposed of and those fortunate enough to regain the woods prayed their thanks to a god few believed in.

Ammunition limitations prevented the Artillery Lieutenant from advising his battery commander to drop more artillery on the woods, but that did not stop a few 60mm mortar shells being tossed over to keep the Soviets on their toes.

The last rush had been over an hour previous and, as O’Malley figured, the damn Russkie’s were not going to go away, so they were definitely planning something more involved and undoubtedly more dangerous to him and his pals.

Captain [Acting Major] Vladimir Deniken swore loudly. The orderly was trying to be gentle but the shrapnel tear in his arm hurt like hell and her ministrations agitated the wound.

His 3rd Battalion had been badly handled in the assault on the bridge and he hated having his hands tied. Artillery would be such a help but orders were orders. A reinforcement company from 2nd/49th Regt was on its way to give him more men to achieve the rapid success required by his regimental commander.

In addition, having explained the tactical problem, the Colonel had promised tank support and it was the approach of these assets that first penetrated Deniken’s veil of pain as the orderly finished up her work.

Thanking the woman, he walked back through the woods to a tight bend on the road where his reserve company was mustered [A], and where the newly arrived T-34’s growled gently at ease under the canopy of trees. As the Captain approached the tank unit’s commander he was greeted by the sight of an infantry unit doubling across the open field in his direction.

Assigning his Starshina to direct the new troops to a rest position off to the west, he briefed his own leaders as well as the new infantry officers and the tank commanders, using a stick of chalk to draw a map on the glacis of the first tank.

The proposition was simple. Regiment wanted the bridge intact and there was to be no firing on it. American paratroopers were dug in all along the far bank, and had already destroyed the flimsy crossing point to the south-west.

^Fig#11

Deniken drew the roads, river, woods, and bridge. Adding his recollection of the American positions, he drew back from his handiwork to form a tactical plan.