大象传媒

A Private soldier鈥檚 view of the last major battle of the Second World War in Germany at the Teutoburger Wald, 28th March to April 8th 1945, compiled by Ray Griffiths.

This story is told through first hand knowledge and of taking part in the action as a member of 鈥淐鈥� Company of The 1st Battalion The Herefordshire Regiment, having joined this Regiment as an 18 year old infantry 鈥渧irgin鈥� soldier at Haacht, north of Brussels in March 1945.

Eye witness accounts by survivors of the action by other parties from the 1st Herefords and of the 3rd Monmouthshire Regiments are as accurate as nearly 60 years of distant memory can be. These are ordinary 鈥渙ther ranks鈥� observations which, together with passages from books written mainly by officers, compiled with the knowledge from officers meetings (鈥�0鈥� Groups) and from War Diaries of the relevant days鈥� movements and actions, written by the various Regiments Commanding Officers. These diaries, together with maps of the area, current at that time, were perused and analysed; all these enabled the picture of the battle to be recorded in greater detail than in the earlier post war days.

The Allied land and air forces had fought their way slowly across the occupied countries of Europe from 鈥楧鈥� Day 6th June 1944 to the borders of Northern Germany during February 鈥� March 1945, where they gathered for the final assault.

Up to this point the German forces had put up stiff resistance and many battles had ensued, these are well recorded in our history books. The names of cities, towns and areas such as Normandy, Caen, Falaize, Antwerp, Arnhem, the Bulge of the Ardennes and other forest features ring out in our memories and our records.

The 11th Armoured Division and all its associated Armoured and Infantry groups had traversed across the French, Belgian and Dutch countryside, through the Spring, Summer and Winter months of 1944 and rested near Brussels where re-enforcements to the Armoured and Infantry regiments joined them in readiness for the final assault into Germany. No more would the Division be releasing the European nations from the oppression of occupation by the German forces but would shortly be part of the Allied forces entry into Germany where the retreating German forces were now formed in well prepared defensive positions and were expected to offer fierce resistance.

For a short time the new recruits from England settled in with the Belgian families accepting them into their homes. Now and again, though, the peace and quiet was broken by the never to be forgotten sound of the German terror weapon, the flying bomb or 鈥渄oodle bug鈥�. These frightening missiles with the distinctive sound of their jet engines passed overhead at frequent intervals en-route towards the port of Antwerp and sometimes towards England. It was when one heard the engine cut out that everyone held their breath and waited while the missile dived to the ground and exploded.

On the early morning of 24th March 1945 the sound of many aircraft was heard overhead and the most awesome sight of hundreds of aircraft appeared all over the sky, heading towards the East. Many of the aircraft were towing gliders and all were marked with the white symbol of the Allied forces. At the time we were unaware of their destination and it was not until later that the report came through that upon this historic Saturday the air assault across the Rhine had begun. Soon it would be our turn to break out of the bridgehead at Wesel, secured by these glider-borne troops and begin our sojourn into the German hinterland.

The new Comet Tank was received with great enthusiasm by the Armoured Regiments and with its extra speed and larger caliber gun was later to be proved a great success. The previous format of the campaign during the early days was for the supporting infantry to accompany the armour on foot or in their soft sided troop carrying vehicles (TCVs). This generally meant that it was a 鈥渃atch up鈥� situation. It was therefore decided that the infantry would, where applicable, travel on the rear of the tanks, thus making the armour more secure and the infantry not so foot sore, a tactic which proved to be most successful.

The major units within the 11th Armoured Division were the Royal Armoured Corp, comprising the 3rd Battalion Royal Tank Regiment, 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 15/19 Kings Royal Hussars and the Inns of Court. The Infantry units within the 159 Infantry Brigade were the 1st Battalion The Herefordshire Regiment, the 3rd Monmouthshire Regiment, the 4th Battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry and later the Cheshire Regiment. All these were additionally supported by Signals, Engineers and Sapper units and the complete Division bore the insignia of The Black Bull (a black charging bull with red hooves set upon a yellow background) with great pride.

Crossing into Germany

After a short period of training where the infantry learned the new tactics, how to get on and off the new tanks and the tank crews familiarized themselves with their new equipment, the Division moved from the Brussels area and headed for the German border and the first major obstacle, the River Rhine.

The assault by the 6th Airborne Division, by air to form a bridgehead on the eastern side of the river at Wesel during the later days of March 1945 was successful and enabled the construction by the Engineers firstly of a pontoon bridge, formed by interlocking raft-like boats together and later a more stable Bailey Bridge.

The actual crossing at this point was quite exciting, unending columns of every description of transport and armour were queuing up to take their turn on the pontoon bridge. This bridge was nearly 500 yards long and creaked and strained against the supporting and restraining steel ropes, the pontoons in the strong current were swept into a great 鈥淯鈥� shape. Overhead, as night fell, the air was filled with sounds of shelling, tracers and flares, a spectacular sight.

A short time after, an American built Bailey bridge was erected and formed a more stable, although scary crossing, however, the Division advanced into the badly damaged town of Wesel, where the paths were still being cleared by the pioneers and sappers.

The town of Wesel had been heavily bombarded prior to the crossing and had been virtually destroyed and so the Division picked their way through the rubble and passed through the 6th Airborne and continued their progress into Germany. To the older and more experienced soldiers it now became noticeable that the cheering crowds, the kisses and celebrations bestowed upon them by the relieved civilians of France, Belgium and Holland had become a thing of the past; now they were faced by white flags or sheets of surrender draped from the windows of farmhouses and houses, and a desperate nation of civilians hiding in the cellars of damaged properties and by a desperate armed force of military might, ready to defend their homeland.

The Western area of Germany is bisected by many rivers and canals; these form a transport structure unique to the area, with the rivers Ems, Weser, Leine and the Elbe, and the manmade Dortmund/Ems and the Dortmund/Weser canals creating many natural barriers to the advancing forces. The destruction by the retreating German forces of the many bridges over these waters caused acute problems of delay, these being overcome by the skill and bravery of the Engineers of the Division. A three pronged attack had been arranged, with the 11th Armoured in the centre and the 7th Armoured (Desert Rats) on their left and the 6th Airborne, now relieved of their role at Wesel, on the right. At the River Ems, some 30 miles inside the German countryside, at the only bridge available, severe congestion occurred, but the 11th Armoured pressed on towards Osnabr疟ck and Hannover, both cities from which the centre of the German communications systems stemmed. When the leading groups reached the Dortmund/Ems and the Dortmund/Weser canals at Riesenbeck and Birgte (map ref 9505) on 31 March 1945 they found all the local bridges blown. From these two villages on the south western side of the canals the first sighting of the Teutoburger Wald was made, a natural thickly wooded expanse of forestry and rocky formations which rose from the flat farmland of the Westphalian Plain and extending some 30 miles East towards Osnabr疟ck.

The road to Ibbenburen

At the western end of this feature in the area known locally as Riesenbecker Berg the Ibbenburen to Munster road passed through and over the ridge, (map ref 970055), and crossed over the Dortmund/Ems canal at the Birgte bridge. A second road some 5 miles to the east also crossed the Dorenther Klippen ridge at Brockterbech; this road also gave access to Ibbenburen.

The Dortmund/Ems canal had been a vital waterway to the German economy and after repeated bombing raids by the Royal Air Force during the September 1944 to March 1945 period the water levels were so reduced that navigation by boat or barge was severely restricted. This did, however, present a moat like barrier some 20 metres wide to the advancing Allied forces and with the local bridges demolished the general advance was briefly halted.

With the armour, infantry and support groups held up on the western side of the canal in the Riesenbeck area it was essential to the plan for the bridges to be repaired. At the Riesenbecker bridge (map ref 9406) a small group of the 4th K.S.L.I. and the 3rd R.T.R. had crossed using a ferry, left intact by the retreating Germans, to form a bridgehead and to send patrols into the forest. They were followed later, upon the Birgte bridge (map ref 9505) being repaired sufficiently for the 3rd Monmouths and the rest of the 3rd R.T.R. to
cross on the 31st March1945. This important bridge was to be later known by the German populace as 鈥淭ommybridge鈥�.

The 4th K.S.L.I. patrols reported that the German forces were encamped on the high ground of the Riesenbecker Ridge and at the road bend where it ran through a tree lined cutting as it descended towards Ibbenburen. This road was blocked with cut down trees and had a significant bearing on the later role of the Divisions armour. From these positions (map ref 975055) which had been well prepared for the defence of the ridge the German forces were able to observe all the movements and actions at the canal, bridges and open farmland between the canal and the forest. The firing from the defenders was quite light with mortar and machine gun fire causing little damage. The town of Ibbenburen at the northern side of this forest feature was originally planned to be on the route of the 7th Armoured Division and was to be their objective; however, due to the delay at the River Ems and the fact that the 11th Armoured had strayed onto their centre line it was decided that this pocket of the enemy could not be left and so fate had determined that the 11th Armoured would attack over the Riesenbecker Ridge and clear up.

With the armour, infantry and support groups held up on the western side of the canals in the Riesenbeck area it was essential to the plan for the bridges to be repaired with sufficient strength to carry tanks etc across.

9AD The Romans

It was likely that many of the officers and men of the respective Regiments assembled at this point did not know that they were looking at an area which was steeped in the Germany history books which told of the year 9AD during which the Roman Commander Publius Quintilious Varus, a relation of the Roman Emperor Augustus, was himself, with his three Legions, while sweeping across the eastern provinces of the German territories ambushed deep in the Teutoburger forests by several Germanic tribes led by Arminius, a German chief of the Cherusci tribe. The vast column of soldiers, women, children and servants were ambushed and attacked and killed among the swamps, gloom and treacherous parts of the forest. The Romans suffered a defeat of such magnitude, which greatly disturbed the Emperor and which put a stop to the expansion in Europe of the Roman Empire.

While the bridge at Birgte was in the process of repair, the 1st Battalion The Herefordshire Regiment scrambled across the damaged bridge structure and part filled canal followed later by the armour of the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry who crossed via the hastily prepared 鈥淏ailey Bridge鈥�.

These units then crossed the open farmland and assembled around a small limestone quarry (map ref 962053) situated between the forest and the canal, and to the left of the Ibbenburen to Munster road. Little was seen of the German forces in their defensive positions and from the light machine gun, mortar and rifle fire it was assumed that their numbers were few, however, it was later learnt that this number was near 3,000.

April 1st 1945 April Fools day, Easter Sunday, however one remembers this day, which was also lengthened by the British Double Summer Time change; it proved to be a difficult one. From their exposed positions near the edge of the forest the 1st Herefords had a clear view of the activities around the Birgte Bridge and watched with some trepidation the sudden appearance of several enemy fighter bombers who circled around the area and then swooped down and dropped their bombs towards the replacement bridge. The air was full of the sound of aircraft and anti aircraft gunfire, most of the gunfire from the ground forces and the infantry rifle and machine gun fire. The bridge was undamaged but one near miss luckily failed to explode.

This was also the first time we had been attacked by enemy Messerschmitt MG 262 jet aircraft and ME 109鈥檚, a surprise to all concerned. It was later noted that at least 4 of the attackers were shot down. One amusing incident was recalled in a tank commander鈥檚 diary where he reported that one of the troopers had picked up a Bren gun and was firing at these aircraft on automatic but after a while, as the weight of the gun became too heavy for him, the bullets were getting lower and lower. 鈥淚 simply ducked down into the turret of the tank and closed the hatch and left the trooper to his own little war鈥�.

On this day 1st April 1945, 鈥淎鈥� and 鈥淒鈥� Companies of the 1st Herefords moved from the protection of their slit trenches and moved into the forest towards the part of the Riesenberger Ridge, known locally as Josefs Height (map ref 975060) and also to the left of the Ibbenburen road. They climbed upwards through the dense clinging undergrowth and the closely packed trees. The armour of the 2nd Fife and Forfar were in close support up to the tree line and when it was realized that they would not be of useful support, they withdrew to their position near the canal.

The 1st Herefords had almost reached the top of the ridge when they were met with fierce resistance from the entrenched German forces. At the same time, other Companies of the 1st Herefords bringing up the rear were met with what was thought to be enemy mortar fire and heavy gunfire and all the Companies were ordered to withdraw to their original start point. A large number of casualties was suffered, including 21 officers and other ranks killed, one of whom was William (Billy) Smith, brother in law of Brian Poole; it was regrettably identified later that most of these were the result of 鈥渇riendly fire鈥� when our own support artillery and tank gunfire fell short or struck the top of the trees. The German force comprising SS officers and Hitler Youth still had command of the ridge and the road, although they too had suffered casualties.

Night time fell on this troubled day and the 1st Herefords consolidated at the edge of the forest (map ref 965055) and prepared for the next day, but were always alert for any counter attack from their fanatical opponents. As a further sufferance, it rained heavily that night; nothing makes an English soldier more fed up and miserable than rain, running down his neck, forming puddles in which to stand at the bottom of your slit trench, and soaking your boots and socks. Many were the moans of 鈥淚 only put these clean socks on 3 weeks ago鈥�.

The infantry man鈥檚 normal practice, when having 鈥渄ug in鈥�, meaning the excavation of a grave like trench, using the soil as an additional barrier on the perimeter, but more importantly a door from a house or farm building would be scrounged and laid across one end of the trench, the spare soil put on top of this and one of the pair occupying the trench would be able to rest as comfortably as the cold and wet would allow, while the other one would be on guard at the other end. Doors, however, were not available at this time.

This aspect of 鈥渢ogetherness鈥� built up an aura of companionship, camaraderie and respect for each of your comrades which stood one in good stead through the coming days when more desperate and frightening experiences occurred.

The reader is referred to a continuation of the account of the conflict in this area entitled
鈥淭he Teutoburger Wald Story 9AD and 1945鈥� Parts 2, and 3 by Ray Griffiths.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.