Opening Moves

Now he had a French General to order forward and, ever the diplomat, he considered how he would present the abject French collapse to the proud Frenchman.

0845 hrs Thursday 9th August 1945, Curau River crossings, South of Malkendorf, Germany.

Allied Forces – ‘C’ Sqdn, 3rd R.T.R. and D Coy, 8th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade and 119th Battery, 75th Anti-Tank Regt RHA and 2 Battery, 13th [HAC] Regt, RHA and 2nd Independent Machine Gun Company, Northumberland Fusiliers, all of 11th Armoured Division, British 8th Corps, British 2nd Army, British 21st Army Group, plus Horsdorf Defence Unit [Kommando Horsdorf], Malkendorf Defence Unit [Kommando Malkendorf].

Soviet Forces – 1013th Rifle Regt and 1015th Rifle Regt and 1017th Rifle Regt and 835th Artillery Regt, all of 285th Rifle Division, and 27th Guards Heavy Tank Regt of Soviet 21st Army, 1st Baltic Front.

^{Fig#12 – Malkendorf.}

Lubeck had been a bitter pill indeed, but 21st Army had subsequently made steady progress, pushing a handful of British troops before them, driving northwest. Then the call for help came from 22nd Army, halted by obdurate defence at Timmendorfer.

Swinging north, 21st Army intended to drive in the direction of Pönitz, using the River Trave as a secure right flank, before turning east and compromising the defenders of Timmendorfer with a swift rear attack.

Earlier that morning, 1017th Rifles of 285th Division had been leading the way until they were stopped dead at Rohlsdorf, bridge blown in front of their eyes and then swept with accurate and fatal artillery fire. Lacking bridging assets to continue with his planned advance, the 1017th’s Colonel requested orders.

The Divisional Commander called his artillery into action at once, replying in kind to the defenders of Rohlsdorf, at the same time swinging the 1013th Regiment westwards, looking to cross the Curau-Malkendorf bridge, and sending his reserve regiment, the 1015th, up the middle and over the Horsdorf Bridge.

Under his orders for this advance was 27th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, whose IS-II’s were a very welcome addition to his force.

The 1017th left one battalion opposite the destroyed bridge at Rohlsdorf and pulled the rest back to the south-west to form a reserve force.

The 285th Division had seen little combat in the war against the Fascists but it was a professional unit, well drilled, and its regiments adapted to the new orders immediately, swiftly closing on their allotted routes of advance.

The ground was flat and relatively featureless, marked only by the occasional knot of trees, clump of hedgerows and small depression.

Fortunately, that was enough good cover for the British commander to conceal his self-propelled guns and tanks, although most of the tanks were held back to the north-west of Malkendorf enjoying cover in the woods.

With the services of the excellent 13th Honourable Artillery Company to call on, Lieutenant Colonel Julian Fairbairn-Banks felt confident, despite his limited infantry.

^{Fig#13 – Malkendorf First Assault.}

On which subject his thoughts immediately leapt to the Germans.

Within an hour of the broadcast made by the new German Leadership, ex-German soldiers, some with their uniforms and, more alarmingly, some with weapons, reported for duty with units under his control.

For now he had organised each of them under the command of a British Officer and had them placed adjacent to and covering a bridge, the Horsdorf group of fifty-two men covering the main bridge to his centre left and the Malkendorf group, consisting of forty-four men, covering the right flank bridge, each supported by a platoon from his infantry company.

The rest of his infantry were concealed in reserve between the river and Malkendorf.

One platoon of the machine-gun company was placed centrally, able to support either or both bridges, a second platoon again in reserve, this time in Malkendorf itself.

Topping off his defences was an experienced artillery observer positioned in the church tower, ready to bring fire down on whatever the Russians threw at them.

Every one of his troops was dug in and well concealed, although he grudgingly admitted that the Germans had completely disappeared. Lessons to be learned when time permitted he told himself.

Fairbairn-Banks was a professional soldier long in service and drenched in combat experience, from his early days in the BEF through to the surrender of Germany.

He was by far the tallest man in the 11th Armoured, standing a full 6’9” in his stockinged feet. His men knew him as ‘Barney’, drawn from the barn door analogy, for he was also as wide as a rugby prop forward. His Brigadier cynically called him ‘Sniper’s Heaven’ because of his obvious disadvantages when it came to hiding under fire.

Even sat down in his Humber scout car vast areas of his upper body were visible unless he really tried hard to bend himself out of shape.