Opening Moves

A rough wooden structure suitable for a few men to cross at a time ran across to the back of the Rathaus from the end of PostStraße. None of the officers would acknowledge the flimsy structure as a complete and proper bridge, much to the initial chagrin of Richardson, whose men had laboured long and hard to construct it from available wreckage. The humour of the running gag had brought a little light relief to command meetings the last two days, and Richardson now played to his audience in the role of indignant ‘Father of the Bride’ as the structure became colloquially known.

The left flank of their position hung onto the Binnen-Alster, a lake that provided a formidable barrier to the advancing Russians, forcing them to move around and into the positions occupied by Llewellyn Force.

This flank was the responsibility of the battered Fallschirmjager, now supported by a machine gun section from the Manchesters. 1st and 4th Kompagnies were the largest and Perlmann had the 4th on the Jungfernsteig and the 1st backstopping on the Reesendamm, with 2nd forward between Plan and Hermannstraße and two platoons of the 3rd Kompagnie pushed right up to the junction of Bergstraße and Monckebergstraße. The remaining half-platoon of 3rd and a full platoon from each of 1st and 4th provided the German reserve Additionally, the surviving two Sherman’s of ‘B’ troop from the Yeomanry were secreted in GroßeBleichen, ready to move out should forces move up the BallinDamm.

Another two tank unit, ‘C’ Troop, was secreted in piles of rubble along the Alsterarkaden on the opposite bank to and level with the RathausMarkt. ‘D’ Troop was on the edge of the RathausMarkt, covering the approaches up HermannStraße, Reesendamm, and Plan.

‘A’ Troop was positioned to cover the approaches to AdolphsBrücke and finally, the Squadron HQ’s four tanks remained in hiding on the AlterWall south-west of the Rathaus.

Most of the Royal Welch’s transport was the other side of the water, guarded by a handful of lightly wounded men.

‘A’ Company had been severely reduced by the last two attacks, and so was bolstered by the pioneer and admin platoon’s from the Welch’s support and Headquarters companies respectively. The combined group defended the ruins stretching from the Stadthausbrücke to the Exchange Building.

‘C’ Company, less a platoon held in reserve near the AdolphesBrücke, defended the next block to just short of the Rathaus.

Again, less a platoon dedicated to reserve duties, ‘D’ Company defended the Rathaus and immediate area. Their reserve platoon policed the 555th’s ‘Bride’ from rubble bunkers on the AlterWall.

The battalion 6-pdr anti-tank guns were spread out between the defending Welch, covering junctions and approaches.

The mortar platoon was established just off the north end of the AdolphesBrücke, plenteously supplied with ammunition and a good fire support plan for when the Russians started it all up again.

The members of the carrier platoon who had survived a pitiless artillery strike two days beforehand were drawn up in buildings on the JungfernSteig facing the Binnen-Alster.

Battalion HQ was established in the north-west corner of the Rathaus.

The 71st had also suffered badly, and now ‘C’ Battery’s troops had only 2 guns each, of which only two were the lethal 17-pdr’s. These were stationed, one each, to cover the partially destroyed Stadthausbrücke and the intact AdolphesBrücke.

The other four, all 6-pdrs, had been dispatched to the north side of the battleground with orders to dig in to cover routes of approach and to get more ammunition, as most of their supply had been distributed amongst the Welch’s AT guns.

The 71st’s missing Battery commander was found by the Welch’s mortar men, floating face down in the canal, placing command responsibility firmly on the shoulders of the younger Ramsey.

1630 hrs, Sunday 12th August 1945, Altstad, Hamburg, Germany.

Soldiers around the world had learnt that time milestones were important marks in military affairs, and tended to sharpen their awareness on hours, quarters, and halves.

Experienced men saw the second hand clicking towards 4.30 and took a firmer grip on whatever it was they would do their killing with that day. The moment came and went with nothing more remarkable than the squeal of a diving seagull until the banshee wail of Soviet rockets took over the defenders senses. The rockets, joined by artillery and mortars shells, fell on the allied troops all along the northern edge of the Mönckebergstraße.

Two short platoons of Fallschirmjager from the already greatly reduced 3rd Company were immolated in a storm of high explosive and then crushed by falling masonry as the previously damaged buildings between Mönckebergstraße and Hermannstraße collapsed.

Seven men struggled through the barrage, choking on the dust, trying to find safety. Two Black Watch privates dashed out and led the confused men into the relative safety of a sandbagged position on the edge of the Rathausmarkt.