Crusader (A Novel of WWII Tank Warfare) by Jack Murray (important of reading books .TXT) 📗

to do as he wasneither a driver, a wireless operator nor the tank commander. To make himselfuseful he acted as another pair of eyes on the road ahead. His peripheralvision was limited. After a while he’d lost interest in even performing thistask. Ahead of him was only dust and sand and nothing.

So this was war. Waiting at a camp followed by yet more waitingwhile driving along an empty road. He’d heard from Fischer about the battle atthe start of summer. This seemed to be another world. He almost envied Fischerhis involvement. Almost. Unspoken was the realisation that the Bavarian hadfaced death. They’d all faced death. All except him. For so long his emotionsswung wildly between eagerness and fear. Now the enemy was within touchingdistance yet all they were doing was driving around aimlessly. It was clearOverath thought this also but would not say.

More traffic on the wireless late morning revealed there was fightingto the south west at Gabr Saleh. The 21st Panzers were unable toprovide support as they’d run out of fuel. Meanwhile, Manfred’s tank, alongwith the rest of the 15th Panzers, was patrolling along a track thatwas singularly devoid of anything resembling the enemy. All of this only servedto increase the sense of frustration in the tank. Even Overath could containhimself no longer.

‘I don’t think anyone has a clue what’s going on.’

Finally, in the early afternoon the tank heard the news they’dbeen waiting for.

‘Hello, this is Neumann-Silkov,’ said the colonel of the 15thPanzer division. ‘Drive south towards Gabr Saleh. We’re to engage with theenemy.’

‘How far away is Gabr Saleh?’ shouted Kohler.

Overath checked the map. He studied it for a few seconds then toldFischer on which course they had should run.

‘It’s forty kilometres away. We should reach there before four.’

A wave of excitement went through the tank. For Manfred, it feltlike his moment had arrived. A chance to face the enemy. But who was the enemy?The Allies or his own fear. Every passing minute was bringing him closer to answeringthis question.

-

An hour later, near four in the afternoon, the men in the tankcould not just hear the sound of explosions. They could feel them.Manfred felt a thrill race through his body. Bit by bit the sound grew louder.It was clear that Kastner was now on edge. He kept glancing towards Manfredchecking to see if he would be ready. They would soon make contact with the Allies.

Overath spoke into the radio microphone.

‘Approaching ridge. Can hear gunfire. No sign of British.’

There is probably a high correlation in one’s life between sayingsomething one moment and the opposite thing happening the next. This wasOverath’s experience just then. An explosion burst on the sand less than thirtymetres away.

‘What the hell!’ shouted Kastner.

‘I think that’s the enemy we can’t see,’ said Fischer combiningremarkable coolness with just enough irritating sarcasm to earn a glare fromOverath. Moments later they heard a sickening thud against the front of thetank.

‘Too far away,’ said Kastner.

Manfred’s eyes widened in confusion.

‘Welcome to the war,’ said Fischer in Manfred’s direction. Manfredignored him and, following a nod from Kastner, was loading the gun. It justbounced off, thought Manfred. He almost wanted to laugh. He felt giddy.

‘Not very welcoming, if you ask me,’ said Manfred with just enoughcoolness to earn a smile from Kastner.

Overath was looking through his periscope and holding his hand upto indicate he did not want any shells to be fired. Then he spoke into his microphone.

‘I see tanks. I can’t make out how many.’

Another voice responded.

‘I can see at least thirty, three zero tanks. I think there aremore behind the ridge.’

This was Basler. He was in the lead tank. Manfred was furtherback, but they were now clearly in the range of the British guns.

‘Keep pressing forward. We need to take the ridge.’

This was the 15th Panzer division leader, Neumann-Silkov.

Overath looked down at the rest of the crew. His features weretight but outwardly he seemed calm.

‘You heard. Get ready to fire.’

‘Keep moving forward,’ ordered Overath, eyes glued to hisperiscope. ‘Pick a target corporal.’

Kastner adjusted the elevation of the gun.

Overath glanced down at his gunner. He and Kastner locked eyes fora moment. All around the tank they could hear the thunder of the guns andshells screaming overhead and explosions.

‘Fire when you’re ready,’

Kastner and Manfred exchanged looks. He saw that Manfred had thenext shell ready to load. The Austrian turned back to his gun, eyes glued tohis viewfinder.

Manfred felt as if he could see and hear everything around him:the chatter on the wireless, Kastner’s breathing nearby, the sound of theengine straining as the tank moved slowly up the ridge, explosions rocking theground outside.

Then the tank’s main gun fired, rocking the tank as it did so.Manfred had the breech open before Kastner could say ‘load’.

Soon the gun was pounding out shells to a regular rhythm. Manfredloading as fast as Kastner could fire them. Overath had the tank’s machine gunbeating out a deadly hail of fire. Manfred marvelled at Kastner though. Theshells were firing at an astonishing rate, but the Austrian’s movements werealmost deliberate. The aim adjusted marginally after every couple of shots. Allin the heat of battle. Bullets pinged off the tank, and something hit the frontand bounced off. Manfred heard and felt it all, but he was in a trance. Openbreech, lift, load.

Excitement, adrenaline and fear energised Manfred. Fear most ofall. How would he react under fire? The answer, he realised exultantly, was theone he’d hoped for. He was barely aware of the heat in the tank or thetiredness of his arms so disassociated had he become from his body. The tankcrew were each doing their job. Working as a unit. Their training made thoughtsecondary. They were one body, one mind, just an element of a whole greaterthan they.

-

Over one hundred Panzer tanks proceeded relentlessly up the ridgeseemingly impervious to shell and shot. The weight of tank numbers, the supportthey had from artillery and infantry forced the British to pull back. Overathcould see what was happening a few hundred yards ahead.

‘They’re pulling back. I’m pretty sure they’re pulling back.’

Manfred felt like letting out a cheer