Devils with Wings (23 page)

“Come forward and get a feel for the weight,” he advised.

The troopers gathered round touching and picking up the devices. “This is going to take some carrying,” said Leeb struggling to pick up the fifty-kilogram dome.

Rhodes intervened, separating the two parts of the explosive device. “It can be broken down into two, each part weighing approximately half of the total.”

“That’s better,” concluded Leeb, picking up the device again, “but it’s still bloody heavy, how long to reassemble, Feldwebel?” he queried.

“They can be carried to the target by the web carrying handle, and once there can be assembled in about twenty seconds, by screwing the two sections together. You then detonate it with a ten second delay, sprengskapsel, a number eight igniter, inserted into the top of the charge.”

Max turned to Paul and whispered, “We’ll need to find a simple way for the men to carry that thing to the target. They will need to keep their weapons at hand; we can’t afford to have half an assault troop carrying and not able to defend themselves.”

“You’re right Max,” agreed Paul, “we’ll also need to practice assembling the larger charge on top of the target, in double quick time!”

“The smaller charge is a single piece?” piped up Fischer

“Yes,” responded Rhodes, “and it’s ignited in just the same way as its larger brother.”

“One thing I do need to add, the larger of the two has to be handled with care. It is of a delicate makeup, and if handled too roughly could have a dampening effect on its potency.”

As a group they got used to the weight of the devices, assembling the larger one and going through the process of setting the fuses.

“Right, enough of looking, let’s take it outside and let a few of them off. These are expensive bits of kit to make, so we’ll be joining the other group for this demonstration, if someone could bring the small and large hollow charges?”

Leeb picked the larger device, one in each hand and exclaimed, “God these are bloody heavy, I hope we don’t have to run far with them.”

“Stop whinging Leeb,” called Fischer, “pass one here and get on with it.”

They left the building and joined the other group on the ranges to see a live explosion of this new super weapon.

On completion, they were once again settled in the trucks to take them back to their overnight barracks, to return to Hildesheim by train the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, they would be having a lesson in construction, Max’s favourite subject.

By the end of the day, they were fatigued and also slightly deaf from the blasts of the numerous devices they had exploded during the day. This had been a real hands on session, not just an introduction, and they had been setting up and initiating explosions all day. If handled correctly they would add real value to their mission, handled carelessly, they would kill the handler.

On the return back to the camp, Paul and Max shared the cab of the truck, much to the delight of Leeb and Kienitz, who shared the second cab, Fischer having been too slow and losing out.

Max leaned towards Paul, who was sat on the window side of the trucks bench seat, and whispered, so the driver wouldn’t be able to overhear, “It’s all well and good seeing those explosives being set off, but they’re not much bloody use blowing a dent in the ground!”

Paul was equally perturbed by the demonstration; the instructors had been given explicit orders not to explode the device in the way it was intended, on an armoured cupola or concrete structure. They had in fact exploded it on the ground. Although it made an impressive sound and shook the ground beneath them, leaving only a shallow crater, they didn’t actually see it punch through concrete or steel.

“I agree Max, I will speak to Oberleutnant Faust on our return.”

They both fell into a silence after that, not wanting to say too much in front of the driver, but also the warmth of the cab, the rhythm of the journey, slowly lulled them both to sleep. All soldiers, the world throughout, take any opportunity to sleep. In combat, they never knew when that luxury would be theirs.

The driver looked across at them, the burly sergeant and the rangy officer slept as if they hadn’t a care in the world. It’s alright for some he thought, and then returned his gaze to the road to concentrate on the real task of the day, driving his military vehicle on military business.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Between nineteen thirty five and nineteen thirty nine, the Czechoslovakian government built a network of fortifications along its border with Germany and Hungary.

The purpose being a defensive countermeasure against a potential threat from the ever rising belligerence of Nazi Germany.

The Benes Wall consisted of heavy defensive fortifications, such as casemates, bunkers and artillery emplacements, and smaller structures, such as pillboxes, anti-tank ditches and other tank counter-measures.

By September nineteen thirty eight, Czechoslovakia had built two hundred and twenty six heavy fortifications and ten thousand smaller ones. It was the larger fortifications that Hauptman Faust had in mind to use to provide an additional, more realistic, training medium for Group Granite.

The fact that the French had assisted in the building of the Benes line would also help to give a better understanding of the construction of Fort Eben Emael.

The group was transported, by Junkers transport aircraft, to an airfield in the town of Pardubice, about ninety kilometres east of Prague. On arrival, they were transported by military transport to a small village called Babi, just north of Trutnov.

There were a number of casemates made available for them to train on and assault Group Granite was split across three of them to allow the soldiers the best opportunity to practice.

The casemate allocated to Paul’s platoon, was a huge affair, with three embrasure-sporting weapons of various kinds.

The front of the highly camouflaged blockhouse had three embrasures; one directly to the front and one splayed either side, off at an angle of about forty-five degrees.

Paul, Max and his three Troop Commanders approached the behemoth, astounded by its size and solidity.

“The best approach,” observed Fischer “is round the back. I hope the gliders land us exactly where we want them to.”

“Yes,” agreed Leeb, “if they land us in front of it, then we are deep in it, he concluded.”

“Right gentlemen,” Paul intervened, “I want you to have a good scout around this bunker, inside and out, including the observation cupola on the top and any entrances and exits. Once you’ve seen enough, we will set up some scenarios assaulting the casemate, to practice, one assault troop at a time. Understood?”

They all nodded in the affirmative.

Paul turned to Uffz Fischer, “I want your assault troop to prepare a direct frontal assault. You have smoke grenades with you?”

“Yes sir, we have plenty.”

“Good, I will leave it up to you how you want to approach this, but you will need to carry the dummy fifty and twelve and a half kilogram explosives with you. Anything else will be live, understood?”

“Ok sir, we’ll get on it right away.”

He went to walk away, but Paul quickly stopped him, “one more thing, we will do a critique once all four assault troops have had a go. Ok Fischer, carry on.”

Fischer left the group and went to join his troop and pass on Paul’s instructions.

Paul then turned to Leeb; “I want you to attack from the rear, again using the dummy explosives.”

“On our way sir,” he responded, leaving to gather his men.

“Max, I want you and Kienitz to attack from the half front, attacking the angled embrasure that is the same side as the entrance point.”

“Explosives again sir?” enquired Max.

“Not your team Max. Have Geyer and Rammelt completed their full flamethrower training, because now is an opportunity for them to put it into practice?”

“We’d better be last then sir, it is the last place they would want to enter once we’ve fried it,” said Max with his usual lopsided grin.

“Makes sense,” agreed to Paul, “see to it Max.”

“I’ll go and round up my guys.”

Paul walked over to his assault troop and called out their names.

“Obergefrieter Konrad, I want you to take the troop around the bunker. Get a good look at the embrasures and the general layout. When you’ve done that, I want you to pull together an assault plan for attacking the fort from the left side as we are looking at from the front, understood?”

“Yes sir,” responded Konrad, snapping to attention as he did so.

“Right you lot, get your gear together, we’re going sightseeing.”

The troop, designated as assault troop two, gathered their gear and followed Konrad to the structure dominating their immediate vicinity.

Obergefrieter Konrad was normally the number two of Uffz Fischer’s troop in its conventional organisational structure. Paul believed him to be a very capable soldier, and the most promising to one day take over from Fischer as troop leader.

This was an ideal opportunity to give him his head and test him while, thought Paul; he hadn’t got his troop commander looking over his shoulder.

Paul checked that all the assault troops were making their way to the bunker complex and followed them in.

Concrete steps led down to a heavy steel door, pushed back on its hinges by the preceding paratroopers who had left it open.

Paul stepped over a small raised edge of the frame into the dim interior, the low wattage bulbs, supplemented by the shafts of light passing through the gaps in the embrasures, were barely able to push back the darkness. One light bulb was flickering, making the paratroopers look as though they were participants in a black and white film.

The bunker was cold and it made him shiver, the damp smell invading his nostrils; it was dank and depressing.

Paul’s eyes slowly accustomed themselves to the gloom and he moved forward to the centre of the casemate, passing Petzel and Stumme, who were examining the thirty millimetre machine gun in the left hand emplacement.

The centre embrasure held a seventy-five millimetre gun, which would have been used to break up any potential assailing infantry before they could strike, or to be used against advancing armour.

At the far end of the bunker, opposite the third embrasure, with a second thirty millimetre machine gun, were a set of steps leading up to a circular armoured cupola. He headed over to it, slowly climbing the damp, slippery steps until he could see through the slits, situated on all four sides.

He looked through the front facing aperture, envisaging what the commander, probably a senior sergeant, would see.

The ground in front was clear of any trees or shrubbery, ensuring there was a good field of fire for the bunkers weapons. Paul envisaged that the bunkers on Eben Emael would have similar clear fields of fire.

Without this cupola, the bunker would be practically blind. But, it was protected by similar structures either side, with smaller, machine gun armed pillboxes, in between. A formidable target, he thought.

Hit this cupola, imagined Paul, and their sight would be severely restricted and their observations would be limited to looking through the gun embrasures. That would be difficult to achieve, as they would be pouring out a steady rate of fire if they were to be able to hold an attacker at bay.

He stepped down from the observation dome and descended the steps and walked over to Max, who was trying to peer through the right hand embrasure. Max heard him approach and turned in his direction.

“This is going to take some breaching sir,” pointed out Max as he ran his hand over the rough, deep, inner concrete skin, “this must be an arm’s length thick!”

“Perhaps the only way is to blow a hole through the top,” proposed Paul.

“I don’t think we could carry enough explosives sir, the gliders wouldn’t be able to carry that sort of weight,” replied Max gruffly, clearly concerned that maybe they were biting off more than they could chew.

Paul thought back to his briefing by Oberleutnant Faust. It would have to be some sort of special explosive to get through this lot he thought.

“The cupola up there looks pretty solid to you sir?” enquired Max, pointing to where his commander had just descended.

Paul looked back at the rusty cupola, made of solid steel and probably as thick as a man’s fist.

“Dislodging that would not be easy Max, I agree.”

Again Paul thought back to his conversation with Faust, and the picture of the cone shaped charge he had been shown. Could it really blow a hole in something like that? If that was the case, he was unable to share the information with his number two.

“You wouldn’t catch me fighting in a place like this all the same sir,” he shuddered, “It’s a death trap!”

“You’ve got to get near it first Max, then breach it.”

“I know that sir; I can now see the benefit of the gliders. If they could land us behind one of these things we would give them a nasty surprise,” said Max more cheerfully.

“Yes indeed, if we can be on top of them, in the dark, before they know what’s hit them, it would make a world of difference.”

“One of our targets is meant to be very similar to this, except it’s got three seventy five millimetre guns, and they are all forward facing,” added Max.

“Yes, a dry run on this site will definitely be good practice for us. Get the men together Max, it’s time we did some practice runs.”

Max headed off to round up the troops and Paul headed outside.

Although it wasn’t a bright day, a normal dull winter’s day, the brightness still blinded him when he exited the steel doorway leaving the dark interior behind him.

He climbed back up the steps and quickly walked to where the platoon’s trucks were parked, along with the equipment they had brought with them.

Fischer was already there, with his assault troop gathered around him, probably talking through the approach they were going to take in order to secure the site.

Paul called over to him, “how long do you need Fischer?”

“Another ten minutes sir, I just want to quickly go through a dry run.”

“Ok, you have ten minutes,” confirmed Paul.