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Now they were in the water and wondering what else was in there with them. What was in the river, dead people, dead animals, oil, debris from battle, misfired ordinance, mines, sewage? Had the river or the other bank been booby trapped with mines or grenades? Was there debris sitting on the bottom to catch and snag his feet? Had to get by or through the post canal guide way on either side of the bridge laneways then clear the water’s edge on the other side. If they stayed close to the bridge, they could use the bridge stone walled entrance for cover, the trick was getting up the steep bank on the other side. Was there a maintenance ladder to help them get up? How slimy was the wall on the other side? They got across without being seen. This let them know the German defenses were just about done; the Germans had no cover fire for their position either. The banks and under the bridge were left open and exposed. The machine gun was shooting out of a window in a building next to the bridge entrance. In his own words; “We crawled up and got underneath the gun. We threw the grenades inside the gun position without being able to see where the grenades were going. We counted our grenades thrown and counted the explosions. Waited a second then took a look.” The gunners were dead when he looked and saw them. He didn’t know if his grenade or his partner’s did the job. Howard said both of them liked that idea. When you look at the pictures it is difficult to see how close Howard could have got to the gun position. There is a steep bank next to the bridge railings which they would have had to keep close to avoiding detection. How far did they have to throw their grenades? The gun position was recorded to be inside a first floor window in one report and more in the open in another. By the time Howard had taken the machine gun nest the forces on the Canadian side had rallied. As soon as the grenades went off and the shooting stopped a personnel carrier (light armoured vehicle) rushed the bridge. The two of them had cleared the way for the rest of the forces to rush in without danger. The mission was successful with a minimum of casualties and no damage to the bridge. Howard and his partner had captured the bridge to the centre of the largest city the Canadians would take in WW2. A dark cloud came over Howard’s face when I said it was lucky, he wasn’t ordered to go as 1st team. I think he had pondered that question a lot since the bridge; would he have followed the officer’s orders if he had been in the first assault team? Did the first guys out have any clue as to what was going on? What was their level of training? Howard knew them. The officer, that did the ordering to cross the bridge, was in the personnel carrier that rushed it after Howard had taken the gun. He was heralded the hero and given a medal for the smart brave work Howard did. Howard and his partner were later reprimanded by this officer for their methods. He still had a very vivid memory of the officer chewing them out. Thinking for themselves - not following a direct order and charging into the gates of hell like the Light Brigade, what kind of meatheads were leading those men? The officer probably wanted a big show to validate some personal fantasy. Lots of noise and casualties to prove how important a job he had. Instead a couple of farm boys went to cover and snuck up on the enemy like you would game. Then they took care of the problem, clean and neat with no more loss to the Canadians. I believe Howard had to defend his actions and as punishment he was not awarded the medal he should have gotten. Taking the bridge with so few casualties was a very courageous and noble act. The down side is, Howard also demonstrated the ineptitude of his officer. Everybody saw what happened. The officer lost track of his second team when they went down the bank and he started to panic. He showed no imagination just a desire to stand in the dim light of false glory at the cost of his men. A hero to me is somebody that risks their life to save or defend others. The smarter one is going about this, the better one’s chances to be a hero another day. In Howard’s case it was the supreme sacrifice and he decided to live a little longer. Every man in 8th Platoon knew Howard and his partner were the heroes that day. Howard made it so they did not have to face a machine gun on a narrow bridge with no cover and die. The bonus was that Howard was still there to do it again if need be. The officer’s incompetence was really fresh in Howard’s mind 45 years later. It was something he could not ease up on or let go of, it bothered him still. The two men killed were men he knew. After something like the bridge incident, it might be hard to trust a leader like that to not pull something stupid again. He knew he had the backing of every man in his squad and that was why he could tell us with conviction that he took the town. Howard seemed to be telling me this almost as a challenge for anybody to defy what he was saying. Howard took the Herebrug (Lords)bridge which led into the heart of the old medieval city of Groningen on April 14/1945; That was the last German defense of the town center before their final defense position in the old power station, there were no more Germans in the town, Howard and his partner had taken Groningen by themselves. Howard felt the two of them were never credited for it. As of yet I cannot find a written description of the taking of the bridge, just a note of a medal given to the officer for the taking of it. Howard’s medal. |