Mind the Gap : May 1940 : Battle for France

A lot has been going on in the Dungeon (household) over the last few weeks, which as usual is just a poor excuse for not getting round to blogging. I have had two walking trips (Roman Forts in the Lake District and Offa’s Dyke) which will be of interest to followers and at least two battles which I need to record. Having been away for two weeks painting progress has been limited but the best news is I have now officially retired …….. ”surely you are too young” I here you murmur , well I am finishing slightly early but the time is right and I am filled with a desire to enjoy life to the full. I may not be rich but my wife can always do without those extra shoes. Ok that was a joke and retirement has gone to my head.

Anyway onto the action way back three weeks ago when I was working (last retirement joke out the way) we were looking for a simple evening battle and Wargames Soldiers and Strategy came up trumps again in June/July with a number of scenarios based around the early war German invasion of the Low Countries. A couple of these focus on the counter attacks by the British along the Ypres-Comines Canal in late May 1940. The details are well covered in Joe Bilton’s article but from a historical perspective these short counter attacks bought the British time to withdraw towards Dunkirk.

The first of the two scenarios is a fairly simple probe/breakthrough setup so with some minor adjustments for my collection and the terrain we were good to go.

The published scenario has the battle longways but I felt this would be too tough for the British, the Germans from the 61 Infanterie-Division are dug in on the left, they have some artillery but no armour. The British a mix of Royal Engineers, Black Watch and some armour from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars will counter attack from the right, their objective to break through.

We randomised half the Germans to be dug in the rest would arrive from turn two

Germans immediately wheel on additional artillery to bolster the defence line

One squad of Germans are sent to hold the farmhouse

The British Royal engineers sweep on to the battlefield, with a single Vickers tank

Assuming speed is key the British run across the open ground

More German infantry are brought up to plug the gaps

..and the British are caught in the open, but there are still gaps in the German line

Frustratingly for the British the Germans manage to immobilise the Vickers

The battle is now focussed close to the farm

British drop smoke to effectively block the view of the Pak 34

Things are not looking good for the British as they have taken heavy casualties getting across the open ground

But then a squads attempts to break through at the farmhouse where the Germans have been distracted

The furious fight in the centre continues the British distracting the defenders and buying time

Even the British commanding officer is captured but it might be a ruse

The British make a rush for the farmyard and in a fury of hand to hand combat push the German defenders out the way

With one final turn the remaining British infantry hop the wall for the win. Well we gave them a minor victory as they had broken through but as is often the case it had cost them

A great battle and an interesting period, I am considering a few French forces for my Norwegian battles so we might play a few more early war French scenarios in the future

Some of you love a landscape so here is one of the Lake District during the last heat wave

One of my retirement projects is to walk as much of the remaining Roman roads in the local area, there is a small stretch close to the A66 near Stainmore so I took my daughter for a picnic, it is only small section as the main road has covered the original in many places. But the romans took the high road in this location and the road is down below. There is also a small Fortlet at this location. Poorly preserved but you can easily see the outline and configuration.

The Fortlet at Stainmore, presumably a staging post from the main fort down at Borough

It is close to the summit at Stainmore which is marked by a small marker stone. This as legend would have it marks the burial site of Eric Bloodaxe although source all seem to point to it simply being the marker post between the two regions.

Finally a trip to Brough….not to see the castle which we have been to many times

But a well earned ice cream 

Thanks for popping by next up a big ACW battle

🙂 Matt