The Second Battle for New Inn Green : Operation Sealion

Before Christmas the German Fallschirmjagers had failed in the early hours of S day to take New Inn Green. A dispersed parachute drop in the darkness had prevented them from adequately concentrating their forces quickly enough and the British had been able to hold the strategic cross roads. German orders have been passed up the line however that the cross roads must be taken by the end of day one to secure the bridgehead and prevent further allied reinforcements being brought into the Hythe and Folkestone Areas.

To this end troops from the 21st Infantry Regiment who landed at dawn near Hythe have been pushed forward up the A20 to support a second attack, the local German command are hoping that the now reinforced Fallschirmjagers will push through the British defence. Of course during the lull in fighting the British have been reinforcing their position and have called up reserves. Rather than hold the cross roads itself the allies have pulled back to a defensive hedge line just to the north of the A20.

We played a fairly straight forward envelopment scenario from the bolt action rule book, giving the Germans 6 or 7 turns to break through. The pressure was on as fresh troops continue to land on the Hythe beaches ........they need this cross roads secured !

The British defensive positions around 12:30am on S day, they have cleared away the debris from the first battle and have dug in along the hedge rows to the north of the village. Allied reserves will be entering from the north mainly down the B2068 from Canterbury.

The Germans have managed to bring significant additional troops up from the beaches. Including the first Panzer IV to rumble across Kent!

Despite an initial bombing run by the Luftwaffe the troops advance cautiously using what cover they can from their own tanks. 

The allies are at this stage still dug in with hidden deployment.

Further west the Fallschirmjager have regrouped, but they are also reluctant to push ahead in the open, whilst they haven't yet seen the allies they know they are there, instead they choose to advance through the buildings and back gardens using cover where they can. A Pak 36 has been set up on the road to cover any advance.

The first allied reinforcements arrive.......two Bren Gun carriers (of course😀) these charge down the road looking for targets, not realising that the British are dug in at the hedge they head for the cross roads ! The third carrier is delayed and doesn't turn up for several hours.

As the Carriers head south towards the cross roads they can see the advancing Germans in the distance, they pause to decide their options

They immediately come under fire down the street but luckily the incoming fire is poorly aimed and only whistles past harmlessly. German infantry are now in the main street pushing forward.

German PzIVD advances slowly and cautiously forward, perhaps they have already realised that the allies have no weapons on hand that can penetrate the Panzer armour.

In the trees a Vickers looks on slightly forlornly, firing its,machine gun at the following infantry hoping the Panzer doesnt see it, luckily the Panzer is more intent on breaking through the British defence line and recognising the British tank is no threat ignores it.

The heavily armoured Panzer breaks out into the open ground north of the A20' German infantry are still advancing using the tank as cover, the battle at the far side of the village is less dramatic with only sporadic engagements.

The thin line of British infantry supported by machine guns dug in along the hedge open fire, but their only hope is to slow the advance as they have no weapons capable of impacting the Panzer.

We use a random event generator and at this critical moment the British orders were intercepted...........and the Vickers Tank was ordered to head west along the A20 towards Folkestone ! The cow simply can't believe it is being left undefended !

The British infantry are beginning to feel the ground shake..........

.....and as soon as the German infantry is in a position to assault the British defence line the breakthrough is achieved.

The remaining British infantry and Carriers are brought over to attempt to close the gap but despite them pouring fire across the hedge it has little impact on the veteran german Fallschirmjager who are in the second wave of the German advance. In the distance the Pak36 can be seen burning having been hit by a lucky mortar round earlier in the battle.

Major Matt Johnson looks on at the remnants of the British line and calls a general retreat, recognising that the Germans have broken through and can't now be held at this line. Jumping into the nearest Carrier he pulls his forces back towards Canterbury to regroup.

Another excellent hard fought battle, the Germans gained a minor victory but it was clear they had broken through. The Germans had concentrated almost all their forces in one sector which was appropriately schwerpunkt. The British had no answer to the Pz IV something the Major needs to feed back up the line quickly. Next scheduled Sealion battle is an all day affair at the end of January 😀