Monday, 3 November 2014

Operation Switchback, The Schelt October-November 1944

Ian and I had two Bolt Action games over the Japanese long weekend. I decided to run a campaign based on the Canadian operations around the Schelt estuary on the Belgian/Netherlands border in the autumn of 1944.

The Canadian position was made up of holding a bunker captured from the German defenders on Walcern Island. The Waffen SS then made an attack to regain the position.

This was the second battle. The first I forgot to take pictures but basically was the Canadian Third Division pushing inland. In that action the 7th and 8th Brigades attempted to break the German defensive line. Having lost all their armor, the Canadian withdrew.

The Germans counter attacked on their bunker which the Canadians had held onto. The Germans advanced in a large column rushing up the road, then spreading out. The Toronto Scottish mortars attempted to keep the Germans at bay. The Second Anti-Tank made their first appearance by fielding a 6pdr Anti-tank gun pulled by a Universal Carrier.

The South Sasketchewan Regiment also gained additional troops. The Black Watch, what was left of them, held the garden wall while another Bren gun team held the bunker.
The Canadians had also dug three entrenched positions, but Ian decided to use a bulldozer to smash each bunker, which was then cleared by an SS MG42 team, and some other SS infantry. The Toronto Scots used their Stens to eliminate the SS MG42 team, but were then taken out in turn by Panzer II tanks. The RCA officer called in an artillery strike. This took out a few SS units, a further RCAF airstrike was then called in which hit the SS rear units hard, but failed to eliminate most of them. Ian spent most of a turn patching them all up, while using his tanks and infantry to clear out the Canadians.
More Switchback actions to follow.

No comments:

Post a Comment