Matthew, thanks for sharing this small diorama here.
What you show us, is (in my humble opinion) a base to start from.
The wooden fence : a good idea, it gives an impression of the heat of a battle that's going on, the running German completes it in a nice way I can almost smell the .50 machinegun fire.
The way the damage looks is too similar I think, you can add a couple of bullet holes too, it takes seconds to make them by drilling.
Paint work : as said by Scott, a wash would give the fence something extra, more depth.
I'm looking forward to seeing this one in a next stage !