WWII Campaign in Normandy, Operation Jupiter, July 1944

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

That Major did well. Time to get a brew on lads!
Nice report Jack, lovely buildings too!

[bigjackmac]

Yes, he followed the Battalion Commander's orders precisely 

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

We are now upon the fourth fight in Operation Jupiter, as the Chateau de Fontaine has fallen and British follow-on troops are streaming by to get to the front.  This follows the successful assault on Les Duanes Farm complex by A Company, 5th Westchesterfords North Riding Rangers of the Highland Coldshire Guards (5th WNRRHCG).  This was followed by 2nd Company of the the 457th PanzerGrenadier Abteilung Sauer und Krauthammer denying the Brit attempt on the Horseshoe Wood, though ultimately the Germans were forced to fall back due to a pending assault by an overwhelmingly large British force.  Then C Company, 5th WNRRHCG, led by Major Lemmuel and Lt Boggler, faced off against 3rd Company, 457th PzGrenSuK, led by Captain Rolfbertsen and Lt Eichtoriel, and the Brits easily took  the Chateau.

Now Major Phillips' D Company is moving past the Chateau on its way to the front, but it is suffering at the hands of stragglers from Captain Rolfbertsen's 3rd Company.  When Major Phillips' adjutant is hit by a sniper in mid-sentence, Phillips turns to his 2iC, Lt Canham, and directs him to grab a detachment of infantry and have them sweep back through the area around the Chateau, where Captain Rolfbertsen's 2iC, Lt Eichtoriel, is in directing the resistance of the stay behind troops.  Additionally, Lt Eichtoriel has gotten into contact with a nearby 88mm FlaK, who promised to support his troops as much as possible.

In real life it's 10 July 1944, and it's members of the 6th Battalion, 7th Somerset Light Infantry Regiment, 129th Brigade, 43rd Wessex Division vs 6th and 8th Companies, 2nd Battalion, 22nd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 10th SS Panzer Division.  In real life, a British Colonel was killed by an '88' shell, and snipers were making life very difficult, so 7th/Somerset LI dispatched a group of riflemen and snipers to clear the area, which they promptly did.


He's had to watch his men be torn to pieces by the German snipers and field piece, and with hot tears burning furrows down his red cheeks, Leftenant "Mad Andy" Canham (bottom center) pulls his Webley Service Revolver, dashes forward, and fires all six shots at Sniper #2 (top center)...

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/02/operation-jupiter-batrep-4-wicked.html

Still one more batrep to get written up from this past weekend, and looking to get three or four more in this weekend.

V/R,
Jack

[Womble67]

Great report

Take care

Andy

[Techno]

Great report, Jack !
(Daddy, can we have another game ?)

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Tiptop game Jack!

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it, and hope you're enjoying them.

And it's "Daddy, can we have another battle?" 

I should have the next one posted tomorrow evening, need to get the table set for Saturday morning.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

We are now upon the fifth fight in Operation Jupiter, the British assault on The Ridge.  So far the British have successfully evicted the Germans from their initial defensive positions at and around the Chateau de Fontaine, and now the Germans are falling back on their next defensive line at and around the village of Eterville.  Between the Chateau and Eterville, the 4th Company of the 457th PanzerGrenadier Abteilung Sauer und Krauthammer, commanded by Captain Eireserb and his 2iC Lt Tokapiksee, is manning an outpost line on an unnamed ridge.  It falls to Major Phillips' D Company, with Lt Canham as his 2iC, of the 5th Westchesterfords North Riding Rangers of the Highland Coldshire Guards (5th WNRRHCG), to clear the path into the village of Eterville.

In real life it's 10 July 1944, and it's 4th Battalion, Dorset Regiment, 130th Brigade, 43rd Wessex Division vs remnants of the Panzergrenadier Regiment, 1st SS Panzer Division.  In real life the Brits very quickly overran the ragtag German outpost line, encountering almost no resistance.


British (foreground) taking heavy fire, having a hard time getting off their start line.  The Firefly returns fire on the enemy emplacements on the ridge line.  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/02/operation-jupiter-batrep-5-ridge.html

Well, I'm caught up on batreps for now, at least.  Five games in and we're still going strong, having a great time.  I had a little negative look at doing this before I started, with knowing how it would keep me from making progress on campaigns I've already got going, as well as painting (all my spare time is playing and writing these up), but I'm glad I did this, the boy and I are having a great time.

More to come.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Fireflies only had 17 pounder a/tank ammo....

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Otherwise great report!

[bigjackmac]

Sorry, I'd read that the Firefly always had an HE round, even reading that one of the testers (in 1943) 'nearly jumped out of the tank' as apparently the flash and recoil of the HE was even worse than the AP (not that that makes any sense to me).  I'd read they had HE rounds in Normandy, which were up to 75% of the rounds fired there, but they were terrible, and that even when they got an improved HE round (in "Firefly vs Tiger" they called it a HEAT round, though I'm not sure I believe that either) in 1944 it was still inferior to the 75mm's HE performance.

In any case, my 76mm Shermans masquerading as Fireflies have HE rounds.  And they're supposed to be Churchills anyway 

V/R,
Jack

[Ithoriel]

You're right Jack though the HE shell was apparently not very good.

Wikipedia says:

"The 17-pounder's superior anti-tank capabilities notwithstanding, it was regarded as inferior to the regular Sherman's 75mm gun against soft targets such as enemy infantry, buildings and lightly armoured vehicles due to its lack of an effective HE round. As the war in Europe neared its close, the Allies found themselves encountering these more often than heavy German tanks. Allied tank units therefore typically refused to completely switch to Fireflies. A good HE shell only became available in late 1944 and even then was not as potent as the standard Sherman 75 mm HE shell"

However since it was a Churchill, disguised as a Sherman, pretending to be a Firefly I think we can allow a little artistic license :-)

Nice game and good batrep, as ever.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

I lie corrected! Too much flames f war in the past! Sorry.

[Techno]

Super report, Jack !

Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks fellas, and no sweat on the HE.

We got one fight in this morning: SPOILER ALERT, the boy got me!

V/R,
Jack