Hands Up at Haneshof WTO (id:#67212)

(Schwerpunkt #25 ID: SP297)   [next]   [previous]

Haneshof, Germany 1945-03-05 (4 others)

Overview:

Operation Blockbuster was in full swing and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division was advancing east from the Hockwald Forest toward Xanten. In support of this, Lieutenant Colonel "Swatty" Wotherspoon' s South Alberta Regiment was conducting a reconnaissance mission along the road from Labbeck to Veen. Sergeant Fred Freeman with 3rd Troop and a platoon of Argylls were to occupy a group of farm buildings known as Haneshof. As Sergeant Freeman and his Argyll passengers approached, they noticed that a building in Haneshof was flying a white flag. Unbeknownst to the Canadians, fallschirmjägers armed with panzerfausts and a machine gun were luring their prey into a fiendish trap. Suddenly, they opened fire on the Canadians. The Argylls quickly dismounted and began clearing the buildings as the Alberta's Sherman tanks fired high explosive rounds and machine guns in support. Within a short time, the Argylls had taken thirty-five Germans prisoner. Just as the Canadians thought the skirmish was at an end, two more Grüne Teufel (Green Devils) who eluded capture emerged with a panzerschreck from the building flying the flag. The Germans fired and knocked out two tanks. The round that knocked out Trooper Albert Denning' s tank, caused an eight-inch piece of armor to scab off its interior, slice into his face and lodge just below his left cheekbone. Denning's tank began to bum, but he could not escape because the 75mm gun was blocking his bow gunner's hatch. Despite being seriously wounded, he managed to crawl over and exit through the driver's hatch. Another panzerschreck round brewed up a second tank. Adding to the mayhem, a German anti-tank gun hidden in some woods opened fire, destroying a third Sherman. Simultaneously, a machine gun in the flagged building resumed firing at the Argylls. This treachery so enraged the Argyll platoon leader that he drew his pistol and charged up to that building whereupon, a savage burst of fire promptly killed him in the doorway. Shortly thereafter, the remaining Germans surrendered. The South Albertas sustained two killed (including Trooper Howard Neff, the loader on Denning' s tank) and eight wounded. Twenty-four Argylls and unhorsed troopers climbed aboard the one remaining Sherman for a somber ride back to Labbeck. Trooper Denning recovered from his ghastly wound after 16 weeks in the hospital.

Defender: German (Fallschirmjäger Panzerjäger Bataillon 6, Fallschirmjäger Regiments 17 and 18, Fallschirmjäger Division 6)  

Errata (source)