In the days following the rupture of the German lines south of Luxembourg and the subsequent cut-off and surrender of two complete German divisions, Axis forces were sent reeling eastward toward Germany in the face of triumphant Allied armies.  Attacking from the Southeast, the British Expeditionary Force found itself on the second day of the war attacking the industrial heartlands surrounding the German city of Dusseldorf. 

The focus of the attack was on the northern suburb of Ratingen but a short battalion comprised of a hodge-podge of units was sent into Dusseldorf itself, which was defended by only a skeleton force of German naval troops.

Detailed to this task was a small squad from The Royals, 4th Brigade, 2nd Division of the BEF.  One A13 cruiser and a handful of troops armed with rifles and a single Bren light machinegun were all that could be spared, and as the rest of the attacking forces headed off to the north, the small team dug in grimly to the bright chirping of birds and light winds whistling in the trees.

Guard towers covering east and west along the river road anchored the defense, and an A13 parked hull-down behind the railroad topped dike adjacent to the slow-moving river.  Two men were detailed to cover the river in case of a crossing and overwatch the A13 from the west, while the Bren gunner and the remaining rifleman positioned themselves on the right flank on the south side of the rail bed.  For a half hour the squad listened to the distant sound of gunfire to the north and the painfully slow progress of the attack against the north docks coming across the radio, hoping against hope that the Germans would somehow overlook the position.

Then they came.

Shells exploding in their midst announced the opening of the German counter-attack launched from the outskirts of town.  An unseen anti-tank gun lobbed HE and AT rounds toward the infantry and the cruiser.  The Bren team atop the rail berm scurried frantically back and forth, ducking in and out of cover trying to spot targets without becoming them.  Beneath the arcing tracer shells from the shattered hulks of buildings, they spotted something they dreaded worse: the scuttling grey forms of approaching German infantry.

The chatter of the A13 coaxial MG opened up first, followed shortly by the Bren, both firing at 400 yards and dropping the ill-fated point men of the German attack.  The other German infantry ducked into a line of trees and kept coming.  The ATG began to range the A13 and forced it to pull back out of the firing line.  It was down to small arms to hold the docks, and the Bren grew hot and ran low on ammo as it systematically saturated the bushes and trees the enemy advanced along.  A brave effort by a rifleman under fire resupplied the Bren just in time.  Another rifleman rushing to reinforce the gun's position was cut down only feet from cover.  But the other rifle and the Bren continued to chew up the advancing Germans.

The assault ended almost as quickly as it began... the few remaining enemy troops crawled back toward town through the bushes, and the anti-tank gun was spotted and its crew riddled at long range, leaving it abandoned on the field.

Their faces blackened with powder and uniforms grimy with the dirt they had hugged for cover during the five minutes of fighting, the Royals cheered as word came across the radio that the north docks had finally been taken: Dusseldorf had fallen.

Submitted by ''Ish"

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