Primosole Bridge campaign?

[Jaeger Jonzo]

I had really hoped there would be a British/commonwealth campaign for this epic action within either the Sicily or Gustav releases but sadly one hasnt materialised, other than a campaign from the German side.

Is there any proposal to do one in the near future from BFC or any of you talented creators on here? It would make for an excellent campaign considering the units involved, with airborne elements from both sides and the British DLI assault, as well as Italian armoured cars. Sadly i lack the talent or time to create one myself. I assume the map from the German campaign could be used?

There is a lot of information available for this action from both Para and infantry related articles on various websites.

British airborne overview:-

On the 9th July 1943, the 7th US and 8th British Armies were poised to invade Sicily in what was, until the Normandy landings of June 1944, the largest amphibious assault in history. Shortly before 19:00, the first of 144 aircraft, each towing a glider carrying men and equipment of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, took off from their bases in Tunisia, North Africa. These troops were to spearhead the British invasion by capturing the vital Ponte Grande bridge, near Syracuse, in the hours before the seaborne landings took place.

As the combinations approached Sicily in darkness, however, strong winds and poor visibility gradually fragmented their formation and many aircraft lost their bearings as a result. When the Italian anti-aircraft batteries opened fire some of the American aircrews, completely unused to combat conditions, panicked even though the fire was too far away to be of any threat to them. A few turned back to base with their gliders in tow, others simply cut them adrift over the sea, in extreme cases at heights of just several hundred feet and 6 miles out to sea, giving the men in the gliders no hope whatsoever of reaching land. 73 of the 144 gliders landed in the sea, though most of these were a consequence of the difficult conditions, which would have challenged even the most experienced of aircrews. The gliders possessed a natural buoyancy in the wings which kept them afloat for some hours, however the fuselage sank beneath the waves almost immediately, and the first moments after ditching were ones of desperation as men struggled to get out of their craft before they went under. Most managed to do so, though many were so far out to sea that they could not swim for the shore and so had no option but to cling to the wreckage for up to 10 hours until rescued in the morning. Of the 1,730 men of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, however, 326 drowned.

Only 56 gliders reached Sicily and were, for the most part, scattered anything up to 30 miles from their intended landing areas; just 12 came down on or within a respectable distance of them. The majority spent much of the following day roaming southern Sicily in small groups, involving themselves in numerous skirmishes with Italian troops until they finally reached the Ponte Grande Bridge or else met up with the 8th Army formations moving inland. It had been intended that a company of 120 men of the 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment would carry out an immediate raid on the bridge to secure it until reinforcements arrived, however only a single platoon of 30 men were in a position to do this. Their commander, Lieutenant Withers, decided to capture the bridge with just this small force. He and five others swam the Canal Mammaiabica and attacked a pill-box position on the northern bank, and having thus drawn the attention of the Italian garrison, the remainder of his platoon rushed across it from the other side. Taken completely by surprise, the Italians quickly laid down their arms and surrendered. The bridge had been captured without loss.

Such a small force could not hope to hold the bridge indefinitely, but they were reinforced by small parties from various units within the 1st Airlanding Brigade which arrived throughout the early morning, although their numbers never exceeded 87 men. The Italians were swift to counterattack the bridge, but their efforts were clumsily executed and easily brushed aside. As the morning wore on they became more organised, and the small British perimeter and their numbers were gradually reduced by accurate shelling and mortaring. By midday, the British were extremely low on ammunition and were having great difficulty in keeping at bay the Italian troops who were edging ever closer to their positions. At 15:15, having run out of ammunition and done all that they could to defend the bridge, long after the time that the seaborne troops were expected to relieve them, the British, only 20 of whom were unwounded, were forced to lay down their arms. They remained prisoners for only 90 minutes, however, and were set free when the 8th Army's advance overtook them. Just over an hour after resistance at the bridge had fallen, the relieving British troops reached it and, with the help of a handful of glider troops who had evaded capture, quickly retook it.

The bridge had been taken intact, but through no fault of their own the landing of the 1st Airlanding Brigade had been a complete disaster. They had suffered 605 casualties; only a minor proportion of which had been as a result of enemy action, the vast majority had either drowned in the Mediterranean or were injured in hard landings.

Several days later, on the 13th July 1943, the British undertook a second airborne operation in support of the 8th Army. This was carried out by the 1st Parachute Brigade, veterans of the Tunisian campaign, and their objective was Primosole Bridge, spanning the River Simeto near Catania. Their flight to Sicily proceeded much more smoothly than the 1st Airlanding Brigade's had, but things began to go wrong just as they reached the island and a few of the aircraft strayed into the airspace above the Allied fleet. The Navy had long been in the habit of assuming that any aircraft that came within range was an enemy, and so they opened fire, shot several down and threw the remainder out of formation. Enemy anti-aircraft guns increased the confusion as the aircraft began their final approach to Primosole Bridge, and again the nerve of some of the American pilots broke and they dropped their parachutists anywhere. Only 295 of the 1,856 men of the 1st Parachute Brigade were rallied at their respective rendezvous points, but nevertheless these threadbare elements quickly formed up and went about their business. Captain Rann, having gathered together 50 men of his 1st Battalion, successfully captured Primosole Bridge, having taken the Italian garrison unawares. Elsewhere, Lieutenant Frank of the 2nd Battalion, with just 28 men, attacked the high ground to the south of the bridge which dominated the surrounding area, and not only captured it but also took 130 prisoners. These positions were soon consolidated by what other elements of the Brigade had been able to assemble.

The British soon discovered, however, that German paratroopers had unexpectedly arrived in their area during the previous day, and these elite soldiers fought hard to drive them off the bridge. The 2nd Battalion, on the high ground to the south, were not in serious danger of being challenged directly as their position was a strong one, but none of their support weaponry had been recovered after the drop, and so German machineguns and mortars, to which no reply could be made, pinned them down throughout the day and made life very uncomfortable. The 1st and 3rd Battalions on the bridge, amounting to just 164 men, did not begin to feel any particular enemy pressure until midday. Their positions were heavily shelled throughout the afternoon and German infantry threw numerous attacks against them, but all were beaten off. As had occurred at the Ponte Grande bridge several days earlier, a lack of heavy weaponry and a shortage of ammunition was a far greater impediment to their defence than their slender manpower, and consequently the Brigade began to yield ground. At 17:05, by now perilously low on ammunition and in danger of being overwhelmed, the paratroopers abandoned their positions to the north of the bridge and tried to make a stand on the southern bank. The Germans followed up this withdrawal but were beaten back by the British fire, now mostly coming from captured enemy weapons. Accurate shelling and machine-gunning continued to systematically weaken their position into the evening. At 19:15, German troops were seen to be crossing the river downstream in numbers that the Brigade had neither the ammunition nor the strength to repel, and so, having held it against considerable odds and long after the expected arrival of the 8th Army, the decision was made to abandon the bridge and join the 2nd Battalion in the hills to the south.

The vanguard of the ground forces arrived just half an hour later, having been badly delayed in severe fighting further south. They relieved the Brigade in its positions and, after their first attempt to capture the bridge was bloodily repulsed on the 15th July, they successfully took it at first light on the following morning. The 1st Parachute Brigade returned to North Africa, having suffered some 295 casualties.

The DLI action to relieve the paras:-

PRIMOSOLE BRIDGE

During the night of the 13 July, 1943 part of the 1st Parachute Brigade was dropped in the area of the Primosole Bridge which stretches across the River Lentini in Sicily. It removed the demolition charges placed there, however, many of the troops had been dropped wide of the target and consequently only a small force was available to hold the bridge against repeated German attempts to recapture it. It was, therefore, essential for troops of the 50th Division to reach the Bridge sometime during the 14th or at latest by nightfall As 69 Brigade had so far borne the brunt of such fighting as there had been during the advance, 151 Brigade now took over from them. The three Durham Battalions set out on a forced march of some 25 miles, the 9th Battalion DLI leading, followed by the 8thDLI and then the 6thDLI. By afternoon the 9thDLI Battalion was well over half way and by dusk, together with 4 Armoured Brigade, it was within a mile of the bridge.

The paratroopers had bad news to relate. All day they had fought back repeated counter-attacks with success, but at about 7.30 pm, just two hours before the arrival of the 9th Battalion, lack of ammunition had forced their sadly depleted force to withdraw in the face of another counter-attack. With demolition charges removed, of course, the bridge could not be blown and the paratroopers were near enough to prevent the enemy planting any more. But the Battalions of the 151 Brigade were too tired after their forced march to fight a battle that night and the Brigadier decided to postpone any such attack until the following morning. It was not the Italians with whom they would have to deal but Germans of the 3rd Parachute Regiment, most of whom were veterans of the Crete and Russian campaigns and all of whom had been flown from the Italian mainland only a short while before. The country round about the Primosole Bridge is flat and open. The road running north from Lentini runs along the ridge and from about 1,000 yards south of the bridge a good view is obtainable not only of the bridge itself but also of

the country beyond it. The bridge was four hundred feet long with a superstructure of iron girders about eight feet above a sluggish reed-bordered river. North of the bridge were two small farms, one each side of the road, each consisting or two or three buildings and a barn. The road beyond the bridge could be seen running absolutely straight, between two lines of poplars, towards Catania. North of the river are thick vineyards, dotted with olive groves, to a depth of some four hundred yards; beyond them lies open country. Nothing, however, could be seen of the enemy positions nor of a sunken road some few hundred yards north of the river; indeed such cover as there was lay all on the enemy side of the bridge for the British side was completely flat and open. Both the 8th and 9th Battalions tried to snatch a few hours rest during the night. The 6th Battalion was still some way behind, after clearing un at Solarino, and did not arrive until later on the 15th. But at 4 a.m. the 9th was attacked by some Italian Armoured cars which penetrated as far as Battalion Headquarters before being halted. The Battalion antirank gunners quickly came into action and soon put an end to this desperate Italian bid from which there were fewenemy survivors.

Sharp at 7.30 a.m. the 9th Battalion attacked as planned, supported by the fire of two Field Regiments. But the companies advancing over open ground were heavily machine-gunned before they reached the river bank and lost a number of men. Only a few platoons were able to cross the river and where they did so, ran into heavy resistance from Germans concealed in the vineyards and lining the sunken road which hitherto no one knew existed. Many were drowned in the river as they crossed. After fierce hand-to-hand fighting the Battalion's precarious hold north of the river was finally broken and those men who had gone across were driven back, leaving their dead and wounded behind them.

After this first encounter it was clear to the Brigadier that the bridge was a tougher nut to crack than had been hoped. Although a further attack by the 6th Battalion was planned for later in the day news had been received from Corps Headquarters that there was no immediate urgency for the capture of the bridge provided that a proper footing was secured on the far side by the 16 July. Another daylight attack would be suicidal; so the 8th Battalion's attack was postponed and timed to take place by the light of the moon at two o'clock the next morning.

The Battalion was fortunate in having the help of Lieutenant-Colonel Alastair Pearson - CO of the Parachute Regiment - in the operation. The information he provided was invaluable, and he offered to lead the attacking companies over the river at a crossing place he knew of, some hundred yards upstream from the bridge. Two companies were to cross here, then move back towards the bridge and when once they had captured it, the rest of the Battalion was to cross over it.

For an hour and twenty minutes before Colonel Pearson guided "A" and "D" Companies across the river the guns put down concentrations upstream of the bridge and a squadron of tanks and a platoon of machine-guns joined in the overture. For the last ten minutes every gun was concentrated on the area of the bridge. Then at 2.10 a.m. the two companies waded the river at two points fifty yards apart. Once across, the thickly planted vineyards made movement difficult - it would have been difficult enough by daylight - and platoons had to shout their numbers to maintain contact. However, the unexpected form of attack took the Germans by surprise and when the companies reached the bridge only a few of them were encountered. So far so good, wrote David Rissik in his book "'The DLI at War". Both companies established themselves across the Catania road, though "A" Company had to run the gauntlet of Spandau machine-gun fire to get there; and once in position visibility was limited to only a few yards due to the thickness of the vines, shrubs and tall grass for it was the middle of the growing season. Constant vigilance was needed to keep the Germans at bay.

Now it was the turn of the rest of the Battalion to cross the bridge. Colonel Lidwill, who was with the leadingcompanies, had arranged a number of alternative signals for bringing up the Battalion; but when he got back to the bridge every one of them broke down. The mortar flares had got separated from the mortars; the wireless sets had got "drowned" during the crossing, and an R .E. Carrier with a wireless received a direct hit as it reached the bridge. Just at the critical moment, however, a War Office observer turned up at the bridge riding a bicycle. It was rather like a fairy tale but the C.O. dispatched him back to the Battalion to tell it to come forward at once.

Night fell and the Brigade prepared to deliver the coup de grace. Ibis was the task of the 6th and 9th Battalions who, shortly after l.30 am, forded the river upstream from the bridge area where the 8th had crossed the night before. They had little difficulty in crossing; but once on the far bank they encountered savage resistance from the German paratrooper who stood and fought it out until they either shot down their assailants or were shot down themselves. Movement was not easy through the vineyards and companies got split up in the thick undergrowth. As they fought their way forward in the moonlight they cleared up opposition in their path but inevitably left pockets of resistance on their flanks. "B" Company of the 6th Battalion, under Captain Reggie Atkinson, had just such an experience. Once in the vineyards it met intense automatic fire from the Germans in the sunken road and cleared tie Germans from it. Then they struggled on, using bayonets and grenades, to a position beyond it on the left of the Catania road. There, approximately one platoon strong and entrenched in a shallow ditch and a large shell crater, Reggie Atkinson and the remnants of his company were able to engage any Germans tying to advance up the road to reinforce the bridgehead and, what is more, to prevent any in the bridgehead from withdrawing from it. At dawn the Germans managed to infiltrate back into the sunken road and for a time they made things difficult for the Company; but for three and a half hours the enemy were kept at bay and finally driven back. This gallant action very materially influenced the course of the battle.

"A" Company of the 9th Battalion was less fortunate. It started out only two platoons strong and almost at once came under heavy fire. The advance was not made any easier by loose telephone and barbed wire lying among the vines; but the Company pushed on towards the main road and captured a machine-gun post and took three prisoners; by which time the Company Commander, Captain Hudson, found he had only fifteen men left. Heavy fire was then opened on this small party from their rear. So they began to withdraw towards the main road. As it got lighter, fire was opened on them from the road itself, but Hudson, recognising the Commander of another Company advancing on the far side of the road, managed to attract his attention and signal to him to attack the post on the road.

This they both did but were halted by very heavy fire. Hudson then found himself both short of ammunition and with only seven unwounded men left so he ordered them to make their way back to the Battalion as best they could. He himself was wounded and was soon afterwards taken prisoner. At about 6 a.m. the Germans counter-attacked with tanks, but the attack was broken up by shell-fire; and shortly afterwards both the 6th and 9th Battalions reported they were well beyond the bridge, At 7 a.m. some Sherman tanks crossed into the bridgehead and broke through the grapevines shooting at everything in sight. The effect of this added support was felt at once. The sunken road was quieter than for 24 hours and gradually white handkerchiefs began to appear in increasing numbers along the length of it. The Germans had had enough. By mid-day all resistance had ceased; over 150 Germans had surrendered; and their dead on the ground numbered over three hundred. The area around the bridge was a regular hell's kitchen; it was littered with smashed rifles and automatics, torn pieces of equipment, bloodstained clothing, overturned ammunition boxes and the bodies of British and German dead. It was a scene of terrible destruction and telling evidence of a bitter struggle in which neither side had asked or given quarter. There can have been few better German troops in Sicily than those who held the bridge. They were Nazi zealots to a man, but they fought superbly well and as their Battalion Commander was led away to captivity, Colonel Clarke of the 9th Battalion quietly shook him by the hand.

Apart from the British paratroopers the brunt of the fighting had fallen on the 8th Battalion who owed much to the conspicuous leadership of their C.O., Colonel Lidwill, and to the countless deeds of individual heroism that occurred over the period of the battle. But when at the end of the fighting the three DLI Battalions counted their casualties they had lost between them five hundred killed, wounded and missing.

Six regiments were awarded the Honour which the Durhams, Parachute Regiment and the London Scottish elected to

carry.

There were even Italian units involved, and use made of AA guns (practicality mentioned in another thread on here!:-

Lance Cpl Stanley Seymour Rose 9DLI Immediate Military Medal

One the night of the 14/15th July 1943 whilst the battalion was resting preparatory to making a dawn attack on the Primosole Bridge near Catania,seven Italian armoured cars suceeded under the cover of darkness,in penetrating to Bn HQ area.Here one 6pdr anti tank gun of which L/Cpl Rose was the layer,was sited in an open position on the side of the road.In great danger of being hit by the enemy Oerlikon guns who were firing in every direction.L/Cpl Rose held his fire until the nearest armoured car was only 30yds off.With his first shot he knocked it out.Then he was wounded.In great pain he continued to fire his gun until a second armoured car was destroyed andthe remaining ones routed.L/Cpl Rose had shown exceptional coolness and bravery in the most difficult circumstances.It was due to the sucessful handling of his gun that the enemy force was beaten off before they could inflict real danger to the Battalion

[Lethaface]

Nice history, it'll get me into context for the German Primosole campaign!

Would be nice if someone makes a commonwealth campaign for this (and easier given the maps are already there), but at 4 GL campaigns I don't think dissapointment about the number of stock campaigns is justified.

[Jaeger Jonzo]

No disapoint in number of campaigns Supplied just that the famous bridge battle hasn't been covered yet! Considering all the ingredients for a tasty airborne assault, Italian probe, German counter-attack followed by an infantry assault against fj defence. Would be a great allied campaign as a prelude to the supplied German defence campaign.

[JonS]

No disapoint in number of campaigns Supplied just that the famous bridge battle hasn't been covered yet!

Well ... open up the editor and get cracking!

[MikeyD]

This isn't from an actual map but it is a pict of the Primasole bridge in the editor. You can't say we didn't try on the one!

[Wodin]

Looks like the campaigns are going to be shorter but a few more of them..which I like actually..4 or 5 mission campaign is just right I think.

[A Canadian Cat]

This isn't from an actual map but it is a pict of the Primasole bridge in the editor. You can't say we didn't try on the one!

I have not cracked the editor yet (it took me two days to get my computer to cooperate and install GL). Are you saying that that bridge is available in the editor? Is it a generic bridge type that was common in Italy or did you give us a unique special bridge as a prelude to things to come?

[Thomm]

... or did you give us a unique special bridge as a prelude to things to come?

This.

Best regards,

Thomm

[MikeyD]

The Premasole bride in the editor is named 'Primasole', its the last bridge choice in the selections.

[ASL Veteran]

I have not cracked the editor yet (it took me two days to get my computer to cooperate and install GL). Are you saying that that bridge is available in the editor? Is it a generic bridge type that was common in Italy or did you give us a unique special bridge as a prelude to things to come?

I think the bridge is used in the Primasole Bridge German campaign. There is a Primasole Bridge campaign that comes with Gustav Line - it's just a German campaign and not a British campaign so the bridge should currently be used by the German campaign. The original poster wants it to be a British campaign instead of a German campaign.

[Jaeger Jonzo]

The original poster wants it to be a British campaign instead of a German campaign.

Not true, I am very happy there is a German campaign, I would just love to see the prelude British campaign to it

Great photo MikeyD :cool:

[Chek]

Just as an aside CMBN Scenario organiser doesn't seem to want to unpack GLs campaigns. It is unpacking FI no problems. Thought it might have been me but as it's still unpacking FI and BN I'm assuming somethings changed in GL.

[ChrisND]

I'm uploading the campaign maps to the Repository, including the big Primosole Bridge map. It should be up later today or tomorrow.

[MikeyD]

Super-duper cool! No point in reinventing the wheel in laboriously rebuilding another Primasole map. I wouldn't mind seeing some 3rd party Primasole historical scenarios, fictional scenarios, QB maps.

[patboy]

I'm uploading the campaign maps to the Repository, including the big Primosole Bridge map. It should be up later today or tomorrow.

David Inglett has done in the past, 2 fantastic CMAK scenarios about Primosole battle, is your map inspired from his CMAK scenarios?

[ChrisND]

David Inglett has done in the past, 2 fantastic CMAK scenarios about Primosole battle, is your map inspired from his CMAK scenarios?

No, I've never played the Primosole Bridge battle in a game before. The map is based entirely on a composite of aerial reconnaissance photos, text description from Bitter Victory, and some drawn maps from other histories.

[patboy]

No, I've never played the Primosole Bridge battle in a game before. The map is based entirely on a composite of aerial reconnaissance photos, text description from Bitter Victory, and some drawn maps from other histories.

Anyway good idea! Very interesting campaign, with much fun!

http://www.paradata.org.uk/content/primosole-bridge

ps: Ah yes, I forgot to thanks battlefront team for modeled with accurately Primosole bridge

[Jaeger Jonzo]

found some good maps (just in case anyone is feeling tempted to create this campaign ;-) )

[ss11955]

It seems the AI does too good a job in defensive missions here ---- practically just sit back and watch as action unfolds--- obviating necessity of thinking about where to place your units !

[Childress]

It seems the AI does too good a job in defensive missions here ---- practically just sit back and watch as action unfolds--- obviating necessity of thinking about where to place your units !

Great minds think alike:

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=110043

Leave the player-on-defense scenarios to H2H, I say.

[Jaeger Jonzo]

'Lost Evidence' on H2 channel this weekend is on Sicily in '43, half the program covers the primosole bridge with veteran interviews and footage from the DLI and FJ. Interestingly lots of the troops on both sides are in tropical shorts, including the fallschirmjager.

[ridethe415]

3rd Mission, Foiling Faustian Campaign.

FJ defending the bridge. Haven't started it yet, need to set up the units

Set up map