Opening Moves

^{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.

1930 hrs Sunday 12th August 1945, Altstad, Hamburg, Germany.

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.