Opening Moves

His crews loved him all the same, recognising the hurt in him alongside the extraordinary abilities of the natural born leader. They strove to be the best they could be, partially because memory told them they had needed to be and partially to make their leader proud of what he had made them into.

If the hated Germans rose again, then the heavy tank platoon commanded by Junior Lieutenant Vladimir Stelmakh would walk tall on the battlefield and give such an account of itself that his name would eclipse that of his forebears.

However, he knew that the German was a vanquished foe and that he would never take his men into glorious combat, and for that, he was both sorry and happy, for Vladimir was a coward.

Chapter 26 – THE PARATROOPER

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

Abraham Lincoln

0705 hrs Monday, 30th July 1945, Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, French Alsace.

He was twenty-five and home was a thing of distant memory for Captain, Acting Major, Marion J Crisp of the 101st US Airborne Division. It would have been even more distant if his application to join the newly formed 13th US Airborne Division had been approved, for that unit was being prepared for the invasion of the Japanese homeland. That would be no brief encounter and certainly no picnic.

However, others had been chosen in his stead and so he was now resigned to either joining the slow but steady stream of US service personnel returning to their own country after service overseas or remaining on the continent policing the remains of Europe.

Neither seemed a rosy prospect.

Crisp had joined the army to fight, for he saw across the Atlantic the Nazi threat to his country, if not realistic now then certainly for the future. With the Japanese attack had come a focus elsewhere. He resolved to seek transfer to a combat unit destined for service in the Pacific until the formation of the paratrooper units caught his eye and assaulted his senses with tales of glory, action, élan and professionalism and he was hooked.

After completing his training, Crisp was given his platoon and he took them across the Atlantic to train and prepare for combat. Billeted outside the small Berkshire village of Hungerford, close to the Wiltshire border, Crisp brought his men up to and beyond excellence. Skills were honed in manoeuvres through the green fields and country lanes of England. His utter professionalism and drive pushed him to the forefront of a unit of similar professionals and his silver bar came quickly.

It was as a First Lieutenant that he made the jump on D-Day with the 501st Airborne Infantry, Charlie Company, 101st US Airborne Division.

On that bloody day, he had earned his Silver Star rescuing under fire the dying pieces of a man that had once been his Captain, and leading the remnants of the company in successful action against a German paratrooper force. Paratrooper fighting paratrooper always carried a special meaning and ferocity, and that combat had left him with less than half the men he had jumped with still on their feet. His first purple heart was nearly the last award he received for the bullet that creased his head would have ended his life if it had been an inch to the left.

Acting as infantry for many weeks after the initial assault, his paratroopers engaged the cream of Germany’s forces, and gave good account of themselves, in particular dealing roughly with the 17th SS Panzer-Grenadiere Division and, in turn, receiving a mauling at the hands of the 2nd SS Panzer Division.

After being withdrawn to England for recovery and the integration of reinforcements, some lunatic had come up with the nightmare plan of Market-Garden and again he dropped with his men into German territory. Fate dealt him a heavy blow, and he was unfortunate to break his leg on landing. He never fired a shot during the operation and never saw a German. His company went forward to battle once more with SS panzer troops but this time fought only to a bloody draw.

He returned to the unit before his leg had properly healed and just in time for the move forward to Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. It was here that the Distinguished Service Cross was earned. During an engagement with the 9th SS Panzer Division the young Captain, still inhibited by his aching damaged leg, ran, crawled, and stumbled through a storm of fire to successfully destroy three German panzers with his bazooka, and crowned that with using a discarded MG34 to destroy a German platoon outflanking his own position.