At 04.30 hours on 9 April 1945, Danish born, Major Anders Lassen MC** and his ten-man SBS patrol set out on a diversionary raid on the north shore of Lake Comacchio in north-east Italy. Their tasks were to cause as many casualties and as much confusion as possible, to give the impression of a major landing, and to capture prisoners.
No reconnaissance had been possible, and the patrol soon found itself on a narrow road flanked on both sides by water. Lassen led the way until they were challenged by a sentry from the side of the road. They tried bluffing their way through, and when it seemed like they had been compromised, Lassen decided to overpower him, but as he moved forward machine guns opened up from two separate positions.
Lassen, who had been awarded the Military Cross three times and was known as “The Terrible Viking”, threw a grenade and returned fire along with the rest of his men. The sentries soon surrendered, but machine-gun fire continued from a well-concealed placement a few yards further along. Lassen charged the position, throwing a grenade as he ran towards it, and with the machine gun silenced he pressed on.
Ignoring a hail of bullets from two more machine guns, he raced forward to engage them under covering fire from the remainder of the patrol. Throwing more grenades, he silenced the position which was then overrun by his men. Two enemy killed, two captured and two more machine-guns silenced. But by this time the patrol had suffered casualties and its firepower was considerably reduced.
Still under heavy fire Lassen reorganised his men and brought their fire to bear on the next position. Moving forward himself he threw more grenades and then went forward to within three or four yards of the position to order the enemy to surrender. While shouting at them to come out he was hit by a burst of Spandau fire from the left of the position and fell mortally wounded, but even whilst falling he managed to throw his last grenade, wounding some of the defenders, enabling his patrol to charge in and capture the position.
For his “magnificent leadership and complete disregard for his personal safety in the face of overwhelming superiority” Anders Lassen was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
His citation added that his “high sense of devotion to duty and the esteem in which he was held by the men he led, added to his own magnificent courage, enabled Major Lassen to carry out the tasks he had been given with complete success.”
Anders Lassen VC, MC and two bars, was 24 years old when he was killed, and is buried in the Argenta Gap War Cemetery, Italy.
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