PHASE II. PHASE III

PHASE II

(See sketch No. 2)

BOWLER proved to be a small and unexciting village, its only importance being that the main road from Lobsterburg crossed the Raspberry River there by a steel girder bridge.

The river was a sluggish stream about 40 feet wide. The east bank, on which was situated the village, was high and firm, but on the west side the ground was low and marshy, the marsh extending for some 300 yards from the river, the road to Fiddleton crossing the marsh by an embankment.

A good road ran parallel to the river on the left bank to Koln and Homburg, distant I O and 8 miles respectively.

The shops were all in the Lobsterburg road. The residential houses faced the river; these latter were somewhat back from the road and had small gardens in front of them, the gardens being enclosed by a low brick wall about 3 feet high, with an ornamental iron railing on top.

On arrival Smith held a council of war, which his platoon sergeant and the corporal in charge of the antitank gun were invited to attend, the guide being incorporated as a co-opted member.

Sergeant Bass was the proud possessor of a D.C.M., a M.M. and a large corporation, the two former being gained by gallantry during the Great War, the latter by constant and diligent attention to detail in the bar of the Sergeants' Mess. A sergeant in 1918, he was still a sergeant in 1930. On one occasion he plucked up courage to ask his C.O. why he was always being passed over for promotion and referred to his creditable war service. "Oh yes," replied the C.O., "we all know what you did during the Great War, but what have you done since the Great War? I can tell you--nothing, except support the bar in the Sergeants' Mess."

However, although not in favour with the senior officers, the possession of two such honourable war decorations gave him a certain amount of glamour in the eyes of younger soldiers, and Lieutenant Smith was inclined to regard him as one who, although perhaps somewhat unreliable in peace, nevertheless had proved himself a giant in war, and would do so again.

Corporal Wads was young and inexperienced; he belonged to the generation which did not drink beer, but spent its pay on tea, lemonade and buns.

Lieutenant Smith himself had but two years' service, most of which had been spent in a small garrison town. A youth with average ability, he had been "wet nursed" ever since he could remember, and this was the first occasion on which he had ever been left "on his own."

Such, then, was the composition of the Aulic council which was about to decide upon the defence of Bowler Bridge.

Sergeant Bass, in view of his war record and age, was the first to be asked his opinion.

"Money for jam, I calls it ! There is only the one bridge 'ere, and this dago bloke says there ain't no fords anywhere, and no bridges between 'ere and Koln on one side and Homburg on the other. I suggest, sir, that you put the gun on the bridge and that the rest of us gets a bit of breakfast and a rest."

Corporal Wads had no comments to make on this suggestion. He did suggest that some obstruction should also be put on the bridge; this, he explained, would make any hostile car pull up and give them a chance of getting an easy shot.

The guide, beyond confirming that the river was not fordable anywhere, had nothing to add.

Smith applied his mind to the problem, and the suggested solution appeared to him to be good and sufficient.

He therefore ordered the anti-tank gun on its vehicle to move down to the near end of the bridge; the two rifle sections to collect carts, farm implements. &c., and to make an effective road block at the far end of the bridge

It was discovered that the Post Office was on the Lobsterburg road, and that next door to it was a fairly decent inn with a big courtyard and good outbuildings.

One man was detailed to sit in the Post Office, and the remainder of the platoon was collected in the courtyard of the inn, and preparations for breakfast started.

At 6.30 Smith, taking the platoon sergeant with him, started off on a tour of inspection. He found that the two rifle sections had finished making the road block. It consisted of two country wagons drawn across the road and a couple of harrows thrown down to fill the gap between the two carts.

The vehicle carrying the anti-tank gun was in position just on the bridge, able to command the road by firing between the two carts.

The two rifle sections were ordered back to the inn for breakfast. Having directed Sergeant Bass to see that breakfast for the crew of the anti-tank gun was sent to them, Smith returned to the inn well satisfied with his inspection and confident that any armoured car which appeared would " get it in the neck."

On arrival at the inn, he found that the faithful and thoughtful Pinchin had procured for him an excellent feast consisting of an omelette with rolls and butter and a liberal supply of delicious coffee.

War was not a bad sort of show after all, and there were advantages in being out on your own. The good old Raspberry River was a good egg: the blighters would have to cross it by the bridge, and wouldn't they get a surprise if they did come; he sincerely hoped they would, there would be a certain amount of kudos for the defender of Bowler Bridge. Yes! he certainly hoped they would come.

AND THEY DID !

The last cup of coffee was finished, and a cigarette lighted, when the unmistakable sound of a machine gun could be heard from the direction of the bridge. Smith listened in vain for the sound of the anti-tank gun. Rushing into the street he almost collided with Sergeant Bass, who, whatever his many failings might be, was not lacking in personal courage; he was thoroughly imbued with the maxim of marching towards the sound of the guns. Together they ran for the bridge, but had hardly reached the corner when they saw an armoured car about to turn round it. Some instinct of self-preservation prompted them both to dart into an open doorway, just in time to escape a burst of fire from the car's machine gun. The car swept on down the road and almost at once another burst of fire was heard. Looking out of a front-room window Smith was horrified to see that a number of men of his platoon had also rushed out of the inn and had been caught by the fire from the armoured car. He made a rush for the doorway, but was seized by the burly sergeant: " No use going out now, sir, you can't do any good and you are certain to get killed."

"A good thing if I am," replied the wretched Smith. "I have made a beastly mess of this show. I can't stay in here and watch all my men being shot."

Fortunately, the enemy car, pleased with its work to date, appeared to have urgent business farther along the road. Smith dashed back to the inn followed by the sergeant, to find that two men had been killed and four wounded. These were carried into the inn, the gates leading into the courtyard were shut and Smith then proceeded to dispose his platoon so as to defend the inn and its outbuildings. He found Sergeant Bass full of useful suggestions about this: here was a matter which he did understand.

Hardly had the preparations been completed when a second car arrived. It was greeted with a burst of Lewis gun and rifle fire which it did not seem to appreciate, as it quickly backed out of the road and round the corner | again.

Srnith at last had time to think--and his thoughts were not pleasant. He had certainly failed, but could not make out how the cars had got across the bridge. He appealed to Sergeant Bass: "What can have happened to Corporal Wads and his beastly anti-tank gun? It does not appear to have fired at all. It is impossible to get down there to find out with those damned armoured cars dashing about. I thought he would be all right."

"I can't think, sir," replied the sergeant; " but then, I never 'ave 'ad much use for those lemonade and tea swilling young fellers."

What the end was going to be, Smith could not think. If he ever did get out of it, which appeared doubtful, he wondered what his C.O. would have to say to him, or the Adjutant or old " Pink Gin," his Company Commander. He had certainly let them all down and was sorry for that, besides being very sorry for himself.

Suddenly more machine-gun fire was heard from the east, and the original armoured car was seen coming back at a great pace, firing backwards along the road. As it passed the inn it was given a good burst of fire from the defenders. Hardly had it passed when two loud reports were heard and the car was seen to swerve on to the pavement and crash into the wall of one of the houses. It was followed by two other armoured cars which were unmistakably British, and, after a short interval, two more.

Seeing that the enemy car was completely wrecked, the two leading British cars carried straight on to the cross-roads. The second pair stopped outside the inn, Sergeant Bass, with a couple of men, being just in time to secure the prisoners from the enemy car before they could be claimed by anyone else. On inspection it was found that the enemy car had two burst tyres, caused by Lewis gun and rifle fire.

Smith was not sure whether he was pleased or not to see his Company Commander getting out of one of the cars.

He shortly decided that he was not.

"Well! what have you been doing?" was old "Pink Gin's" opening remark. "How the devil did those cars get here?"

"They came over the bridge," was all Smith could say.

"But I thought you were sent here to prevent them getting over the bridge. Where is your anti-tank gun?"

"I don't know, sir," replied Smith, who then proceeded to relate all he did know.

On hearing the story, the Major conferred with the commander of the armoured cars, who reported that the village now appeared to be clear of the enemy.

The Major then took Smith to the bridge to find out what had happened there.

They found the anti-tank vehicle with gun complete and apparently undamaged. Corporal Wads, with his arm roughly bandaged, and two of the crew were inspecting the gun and carriage; of the remaining two members of the crew, one had been killed and another wounded.

Corporal Wads, who only had a slight flesh wound, explained briefly what had happened. Shortly after Smith and Sergeant Bass had completed their inspection breakfast had been brought to them. They sat down by the side of the road to eat it, leaving one man in the vehicle as a look-out. When they were about halfway through breakfast the man at the gun shouted that two enemy cars were coming; at almost the same instant the cars opened fire with their machine guns and the man at the gun was killed.

Corporal Wads and the other three men rushed towards the gun, but two of them were hit, so they all jumped down the bank off the road, where they were under cover.

They saw a man get out of the leading car and hitch a drag rope on to one of the country carts, and the car then pulled it clear. The two cars then crossed over the bridge. They could not do anything, as they had left their rifles in the anti-tank gun vehicle. He wished they had taken their rifles out with them so that they could have shot the man who got out of the car to fix the drag rope.

The Major took Smith aside: "Look here, young man, you have made a pretty good mess of this show. It is lucky that they sent a section of armoured cars to visit the bridges and that we arrived when we did. I got permission to come with the cars as I wanted to see how you were all getting on. I told you to use your common sense. The arrangements you made could hardly have been worse. Why on earth did you stick up your anti-tank gun in its vehicle to be a cock-shy ? You know that the vehicle is not properly armoured, and one would think it would be obvious, even to you, that when an armoured car is approaching a possibly dangerous place some cove will have his finger on the trigger of the machine gun, and that he will let drive the moment he sees the road block. You can't hope to compete with people in an armoured vehicle unless you have some pretty good protection yourself.

"Ever heard of surprise? You have! Well, try to hide your gun so that you have a chance of springing a surprise. What do you imagine you were given a whole platoon for--to sit and have breakfast in the inn?

Had the Colonel thought that one anti-tank gun was enough for the job he would have sent only an anti-tank gun. If you had hidden some of your men in these houses they could have prevented the crew of the armoured car getting out and so removing the road block.

"I have to go off now with the Armoured Car Section, which has to return to Lobsterburg, after visiting Homburg and Topper.

"I suppose Sergeant Bass was partly responsible for your dispositions. Don't rely too much on your subordinates; think for yourself. Old Bass is a gallant old beer-swiller, but that is about all.

"Put yourself in the other chaps' place and think what you would do.

"Here, have a cigarette and don't be downhearted; you are lucky to get another chance. Try to make the most of it, and profit by the lessons you have learnt."

PHASE III

(See sketch No. 3)

THE first thing to be done was to re-make the road block. The corporal in charge of the section detailed for this job had a brain-wave. He sent a man to find some wire, and when it came he lashed the two wagons together, also the farm implements, thus rendering it more difficult for the road block to be removed.

Smith looked about for a suitable spot for the antitank gun. He thought of putting it in one of the houses facing the river, but it was found that the height of the window-sill rendered it difficult and that a wooden floor did not make a very suitable platform.

He finally decided upon the garden. The brick wall separating it from the road would supply excellent cover, and a few sandbags on top would give good head cover. It was found later that the sandbags were rather obvious, but, by removing a few shrubs and plants from neighbouring gardens, the whole affair was well camouflaged.

But Smith had ceased to place too much reliance on the anti-tank gun, and the fate of the enemy armoured car had brought it home to him that Lewis gun and rifle fire were not entirely useless against armoured cars.

What was it old "Pink Gin" had said? Oh yes! "You can't hope to compete with people in armour unless you have some pretty good protection yourself."

He also remembered what Corporal Wads had said about being able to shoot the man who got out of the armoured car if they had had rifles. Good idea! Why not put a few men in the woods to shoot anyone who got out of the car in order to remove the road block? A suitable spot was found downstream of the bridge amongst the trees, where there was some undergrowth. The men must be protected, of course! So a little work was dug and head cover provided with sandbags, the whole being carefully concealed. A lance-corporal and two men were considered sufficient for this post.

Now, what to do with the rest of the platoon; there did not appear to be anything for them to do. However, in order to strengthen the defence, one Lewis gun section was posted in one of the houses, where it could command the bridge and the road block. The rest were sent back to the inn, to which Smith shortly returned.

Owing to casualties some re-organisation was necessary. A couple of men were lent to the anti-tank section, and one of the rifle sections was temporarily disbanded.

On reviewing the situation, he felt satisfied that his arrangements were better than his previous ones, but, having had one nasty jar, he was not nearly so full of confidence on this occasion.

Try as he would, he could think of no way of making the position more secure. Nevertheless, he was somewhat worried about those two and a half sections which were still doing nothing except holding the inn.

Taking out a pencil, he proceeded to jot down in his notebook the causes of his previous failure and the lessons he had learnt:--

1. The anti-tank gun had been left in the open

Lesson. Concealment is always important.

2. The anti-tank gun having failed there was no one to guard the road block.

Lesson. (a) Always try and have two strings to your bow.

(b) A road block is no good unless it is guarded; if it is not, the cove will get out of his vehicle, hitch on a drag rope and pull it away.

3. A man in an armoured car with a machine gun is a nasty customer; he appears to have lots of ammunition and to use it freely.

Lesson. Men guarding road blocks must be concealed and, if possible, provided with cover from fire.

There seemed to be lots of other things that he had, or should have, learnt, but somehow it was not so easy to put them on paper. That useless young ass Wads was not prepared when the armoured car appeared; he and his men were all having breakfast. True, he himself had also been at breakfast. Dammit! Napoleon or some such expert said that a man could not fight on an empty stomach.

Suddenly he had a brain-wave--why not arrange for a look-out to give warning? After all, the wretched men could not be expected to sit all day with their fingers on the trigger.

Smith jumped up and went in search of Sergeant Bass, to whom he explained the "brain-wave." Bass was good enough to agree that the idea was a bright one. A discussion followed as to where the look-out had better be placed. Sergeant Bass suggested a few hundred yards down the road, with orders to fire his rifle in the event of any enemy coming along.

At first Smith thought the suggestion a sound one, but after further thought came to the conclusion that there were objections to it. In the first place, the bridge was visible for about 400 to 500 yards along the road; the look-out post would therefore have to be a longish way out. Moreover, the country was very open and flat, even where it was not marshy. It would not be easy to find a place for the look-out post there, and if the post was seen by the enemy he would probably do it in. A river is a jolly good obstacle against armoured vehicles, and Smith was not anxious to commit men out into the blue if it could be avoided.

"Well, sir," remarked the sergeant, "I don't see any look-out towers knocking about here."

Smith had an idea--" What about the church?"

So to the church they both repaired and found it to have a square tower easy of access. From the top of the tower a view of the country for some miles could be obtained. No vehicle could approach to within two to three miles of the bridge without being seen from the tower. The only question remaining was how the lookout man was to give the necessary warning if any hostile vehicles were seen.

The platoon sergeant had a useful suggestion--why not rig up an empty oil tin and give the look-out man something with which to beat it ?

Accordingly, the remainder of the rifle section which formed the post near the bridge was detailed as a look-out post on the church tower, with orders to keep a keen watch on the Fiddleton road and give timely warning of any enemy seen.

A trial proved that a small iron bar beating a kerosene oil tin made more than enough noise to warn every one concerned.

It was 10.00 hours when these arrangements were finally completed and Smith returned once more to the inn.

His next task was to arrange for half-hourly visits to each post, he and the platoon sergeant taking it in turns. At about 10.30 he was just starting on his first visit when the alarm was sounded from the church tower. In less than a minute he was on top of the tower, where the excited sentry pointed out to him four armoured cars approaching the bridge, the two leading cars about a mile to a mile and a half from it, the remaining two some 800 to l,000 yards behind.

Although intensely excited, Smith realised that he could not have a better spot from which to watch events; he had made his plans and must now wait and see them put to the test.

The cars came rapidly on until the leading one had reached the bend in the road some 400 to 500 yards from the bridge; here it stopped for a minute or two. Smith feared that it was going to turn back, but suddenly it came on, and when about 300 yards from the bridge, the rat-tat-tat of a machine gun could be plainly heard and the strike of bullets could be seen on the road all round the block.

Bang! and after a few seconds, bang! went the anti-tank gun.

"A bull's-eye, by Gad!" shouted Smith. "Good lad, Wads!! "

A bull's-eye it certainly was. After the first shot the car stopped, and the second caught it fair and square as it started to reverse. A third and fourth shot missed, but the fifth registered another hit. Meanwhile, the second car, judging discretion to be the better part of valour, made off as quickly as it could, joined the remaining two cars and rapidly disappeared with them.

Wild with delight, Smith quickly climbed down from the tower and hastened to congratulate Corporal Wads and his gun team.

It was found that one of the crew of the armoured car had been killed and the rest wounded. The car itself had been knocked out of action for all time.

At last there was something good to report--the bridge held, an enemy car knocked out and no casualties suffered. A different story from that of the early morning, when disaster had only been averted by a wonderful stroke of luck.

On getting through to Lobsterburg he found that the Adjutant was not in the office, but the Colonel was, and that august person was not only pleased but quite complimentary, which was more than could be said of the Adjutant when he reported the previous encounter.

"Well done, Smith," said the Colonel; "tell your lads that I am quite proud of them, but don't relax your vigilance. So far you have only had to deal with reconnaissance vehicles. The enemy is evidently taking considerable interest in Bowler Bridge, so he may make a more determined effort later. The Brigade will be starting from here at about 2 o'clock, so you may expect us to arrive about midnight."

Another tour of inspection to give the Colonel's message to every one and to warn them not to relax their precautions. A special word of praise for Corporal Wads.

"Well done, Wads. I am glad you held your fire as long as you did; you would not have bagged that car if you had fired too soon." Smith felt quite the experienced and successful leader.

Back in the inn again, he called Sergeant Bass into the sitting-room.

"Sergeant Bass," he said, "this is, I think, an occasion --most decidedly an occasion. Do you ever drink beer?"

"I do sometimes," replied the sergeant, with a grin.

"Well, let us see what this old inn can produce."

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