1944 Campaigns Operation Totalise and Walchern Island

Both of these campaigns had significant Canadian involvement. Thus I can do some more research on upcoming actions

More Universal Carriers

I plan to paint up two of these for the 2nd Canadian Division, one for the 4th Canadian Armored, and one for the 3rd Canadian Division. All these versions are Plastic Soldier Company from the UK. They were pretty easy to build, if you can match the parts with where they should go.

 A new universal carrier with crew and passangers. They are now having a coat of paint dry on them. 

Plastic Soldier Review box. The spooky looking picture is one my family had taken back in 1996, prior to my departure to South Korea. Sadly, it was the last family portrait of us all, due to my parents getting divorced, and my mother being killed in a car accident at Easter, 2014.

The shot was taken at Sherbrooke Village in Nova Scotia. My father and I wore our Pictou Highlanders uniforms, his was of a Lieutanant and my uniform was that of a band corporal. Both uniforms were originals from the First World War, which were going to be thrown out in the garbage. The lady called my father to see if he was interested. We got the uniform coat, blue patrol jacket, an original MacKenzie kilt.

Point Defense: Walchern, Holland 1944

 Trevor indicates that he wants that unit to move. Trevor and my son were the Germans. For this game, the Germans were holding this fortified town. The German troops were from 1SS Panzer Group, and the remainders of whatever Panzergrenadier divisions and Luftwaffen were still in the area.

While I was the Anglo-Canadian force sent to attack Fort Hendrik. The British were made up of the 43rd Wessex Division, the 51st Highland Division, the 2nd Canadian Division, the 3rd Canadian Division with support from the Second Canadian Armored Brigade, and elements of the 4th Canadian Armored Division. 

This gatehouse was one of the objectives. The orange bunker was the third while the tower in the shot below was the other objective. This gate house was to change hands three times. 

The British Wessex Division move up in support of the 51st Highland Division. For the first three turns, the British handled the attack, capturing the first line of trenches and drawing the fire from the gatehouse.

Finally, the 9th Canadian Brigade, which had the Stormont, Dundas and Glenarry Highlanders, with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada on the walls, while the North Nova Scotia Highlanders held the trenches below.

 The Queens Own Rifles of Canada and the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa held the gate against another rush of SS troops.

By the end of turn five, the remaining British troops formed up for a final push. 

The Germans, reduced to one SS battalion, eventually left, leaving a few Werchmacht, and Luftwaffen troops to give themselves up as prisoners. The SS were made up of Dutch nationals who didn't want to be handed over as traitors to their own countrymen.

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.