jtcm

Well, i've just seen "Cross of Iron". An (anti)war movie of the 70's, with lots of effects one can like or find annoying (e.g. the end, with the children singing as everything falls to bits; open ending, Coburn's laugh); I liked it. The politics are also typical, i think, of the "German anti-war narrative", Landser narrative, with the bad officer, the weary colonel, the amoral, earthy, invincible corporal, etc. But Peckinpah does frame this with images of civilians cheering Hitler, and a slideshow at the end of civilians being hanged by Germans; the sort of images that made up the Hamburg exhibition of 1995 or thereabouts (Krieg der Vernichtung), the one which caused a fuss. Much better movie than the Hollywoodesque and incomprehensible "Enemy at the Gates". The level of accuracy in the equipment, etc, seemed remarkable, at least to my untrained eye, and for the period; T-34s (well, with 85 rather than 76mm guns-- is thar right for spring 1943 ?); the 3x scope on a sniperized Moisin-Nagant captured in the outpost the German recon overruns in the first scene; lots of PPSH-41, including in German use; 20mm quad defending against infantry; teller mines against tanks; Russian ATR used against infantry, and so on. But also little details: German soldiers singing; homoerotic, though not homosexual, behaviour between soldiers bonding; a glimpse of Russian soldiers in a truck, with their shaved heads; the Russian women soldiers, with what looked like a female politruk or NKVD officer. Especially striking was the uniforms on the Germans in the first few scenes: of course, the combat soldiers' uniforms contrast with M. Schell's character's well tailored uniform; but also, there is a great variety in the frontliners' uniforms: caps, helmets, helmet coverings, what they wear under the tunic, and, especially, the different rates of fading of various bits and pieces-- looked exactly like some of those WWII colour footage or photographs. Did Peckinpah serve in WWII ? Nice eye for these details. Anyway, I found the movie quite gripping.

Tonight at 12.00, in the UK: Peckinpah's Cross of iron is showing on TV. I;ve never seen it, but heard that it's worth seeing.

Unteroffizier Baer is told: keep your Panzer IV here, in the wood next to your companion, and watch out if any Tommies come towards the village. We're soon going to find out if the village is clear, and if so, Division will be moving some heavy stuff up. So Baer waits. Esch is in his tank next to him but Esch never talks, so Baer looks ahead. On the map you could see where the road leads through the village but here you can only see the plain dotted with trees and outlying farm houses, the isolated chapel, the village with its church. In France at least the roads were well defined: tall poplars or wide plane trees, lining them for kilometer aafter shady kilometer. To Baer's left the Hetzer is moving into place in a stand of trees, on a hill, and a PzIV to keep it company; in ths middle the is a dip in the land, shielded by some woods, and the light armour, a Lynx and a Puma, have hidden. These start inching forward. Nothing much happens. Baer stares out. he looks through his binoculars and sees nothing. The Lynx and the Puma have each gone to a side of the woods that gave them cover, and Baer watches them. They report nothing. "Panzer". Esch spots it first, the Sherman roaring across their field of vision. He drops down in the turret, and turns to engage. "I'm hit' "Bail out !" Esch's Panzer is knocked out, by an armoured car firing 40 mm, good shooting. Baer concentrates on the Sherman, which has starting inflecting its course to present its thicker front armour. "Tank, 12h30, behind the stone wall, engage". His crew is experienced, working snappily through the standard procedure, and the Sherman soon brews up. What now ? How many more Shermans ? The light armour is gone: the last thing heard from the Lynx was that it had seen the Sherman and was preparing to take it under flanking fire; the Lynx is now dead. The Puma also does not respond. On Baer's left, the Hetzer and the PzIV have moved forward, towards the crest of their hill, to engage whatever might come forward. No one thinks of falling back yet, even though reports are filtering back to division: movement made to contact, armour. The Tommies obviously want this village too. British tanks surge forward: they have filtered past and through the village, using it for cover, one of them speeds towards the Hetzer and the Pz-IV. Baer spots it and detroys it, before his surprised comrades can react. The Hetzer is soon destroyed by a flank shot, the PzIV tries to move forward to a hull down position but is destroyed by a British Heavy tank. Baer orders his crew to engage the British tanks, which are speeding forward: he stops one as it is manoeuvering past the dip in which the Lynx and puma had sheltered before reconnoitering the village. The other has come so far forward it is abreast of Baer's position. "Tank, nine o'clock": Baer destroys this one too. His spirits are up: "Move out !", he shouts. The British Armoured Car is still in front of him: he disposes of it quickly, as he moves into the village. Something is spotted on his left: he moves towards it. A Challenger tank, at a range of 120m, point blank. "Keep moving !" The Challenger is on the top of a hill, its 76 mm gun pointing directly at Baer's PzIV. The range is now about 80 m. Surely Baer's men cannot miss ? But the British tankers get their shot in first, and Baer's men bail out. ***** Well that's one version of what happened. Allied minor victory. I hope my opponent doesn;t mind me posting this. It was good fun but confusing: view 1 only, no scrolling, only scoping.

Hi Wild Bill: I think your scenarios are excellent: learned, literate, elegant and surprising. I really enjoy playing them. This was the first time i played Paderborn. i blundered forward into a big surprise (Tigers ? on the right ?), pulled in my assets from the left, only to get another shock (more Tigers on the left ?), and the day was only saved if at all) by individual exchanges of fire. So I dreamed up this AAR, with a slightly big-picture-ey sort of officer, and the determinig factor, the close range intervention of the Jacksons, being a decision of the tankers themselves. Dunno how realistic that would be... But i tried to keep it a little vague and general, like memories might be. And finally, I tried, a little, to do something else, though i'm not sure what-- by imagining a slightly overenthusiastic and oblivious magazine and journalist, maybe make fun of my own case of "hedgerow envy". best wishes jtcm

WWII Enthusiast Magazine: Thanks to the both of you for agreeing to talk to us about your experience in the engagement near Paderborn. Capt. Sandler: Not at all. Sgt. Luzzato: You bet. WWIIEM: Just as a reminder: Capt Sandler commanded the company on that day in April 1945, and you, as Sgt Luzzato, were in command of one of the M 36 Jacksons in that column, correct ? L. Yep. S. That's quite right. WWIIEM: So we're quite lucky to have two viewpoints on that action. [To Sandler] Could you describe what happened on that day ? S. We were ordered to strike eastwards, and seize high ground above a crossroad, in order to effect the link with the Second Armored Division. We were told to keep to road open, and destroy any enemy opposition. WWIIEM. And what was the composition of your force ? S. Let's see, I seem to remember 4 platoons of tanks, with a couple of Greyhounds [M8 37 mm armed Greyhounds, see fig. 1, Editor] and one 76 [M4A3 armed with 76mm cannon, Ed.] in each platoon, three or four Jacksons [M36, 90mm armed Jackson tank destroyers, see fig. 2, Ed.] to cover us-- L. Three, it was three S.-- right, three Jacksons, a section, and then this company of armored infantry, mostly in halftracks [M3 halftracks, Ed.], with a few trucks. WWIIEM. And what was the quality of the troops ? S. Pretty good overall-- L. Some real experienced guys, then you had some of these guys who'd just come in as replacements-- S. Generally a very decent level of combat power, as far as I can remember. WWIIEM. Well, they certainly performed well in the action. Can you tell us what happened exactly ? S. As I said earlier, we were instructed to seize this crossroad, at the end of a stretch of long, straight road between trees [se fig. 3, Ed.]. I ordered a platoon of tanks, with one Greyhound and one platoon of infantry, to go down that road quite fast, and occupy the high ground above the cross road, and set up good firing positions. The other tank platoons secured the flanks, and the rest of the infantry held back in reserve. WWIIEM. But it didn't work out that way, did it. L. Hell no. S. Near the cross roads, the advance party came across some infantry, and stopped to open fire. At that moment, several heavy tanks-- L. King Tigers, Tigers, Panthers, a real menagerie. S. Several heavy tanks of the enemy appeared, and wiped out the advance party with close range fire. Fortunately, the infantry had taken refuge in some woods, and they stopped the enemy infantry from making any progress, especially thanks to the fire of the halftracks' machine guns. I also had sent an artillery FO [forward observer, Ed.] with the infantry, and he called down some 105 from division onto the German tanks. WWWIIEM. How did you react ? S. Aggressively. I reacted aggressively, as I'd been taught. I sent one armor platoon down the road, one platoon to hook on the left, one platoon on the right, and I moved the rest of the infantry forward. L. And the Jacksons, we got moving up from their position on the left rear flank. S. Right, I brought up the Jacksons on the left. Things got rather messy at that point-- L. Boy you can say that, Captain. S. --because both flanking platoons, on the left and the right, ran into trouble. On the right, the Shermans got into a firefight with the Tigers, and three out of four got knocked out. The 76 survived, though. On the left, the platoon ran into another group of German heavies, and they soon got knocked out too. The surviving 76 on the right got into a duel with the heavies on the left, since the ground was higher on both sides of the road, they had line of sight to each other. But generally this was a really close range slugfest. WWIIEM. What happened then ? S. Some German armor started moving down the road-- a Tiger and some form of half track, i think-- and they were taken under fire by the platoon I'd sent down the middle, to cover the road [Editor: see fig. 3], and our boys knocked them out. On the left flank, the Jacksons moved forward, more or less on their own, although i would rather have seen them hang back in overwatch-- L. So we just went forward to this stand of trees where the Shermans had bought it, and started firing away at the Kraut tanks, and they knocked out two Jacksons real quick, but I brought mine forward, and I blew away one of them Tigers, then I popped smoke and fell back, and i went forward again and took out another Tiger, and so on. I took out four Tigers, just like that. The range was, oh, under three hundred feet. Closest I'd ever seen a Tiger. S. One of the Shermans from the center decided to join in, he tried to sneak behind the remaining Tigers, but he was destroyed by enemy fire. L. I should have gotten a medal. Except I was killed by mortar fire the following week. I was 22. S. Yes, I remember that. Myself, I went on to have a long career as managing director of a canning plant, back in Northern California, before my fatal heart attack during a golfing holiday in Scotland, in 1991. L. You don't say. I never played golf in my whole life. WWIIEM. Anyway, getting back to the exciting events around Paderborn. Could you elaborate on the "butcher's bill" of that day ? (cont'd p. 86).

Thanks, glad you liked it ! Since i'm not good at actually winning CM battles, i thought I might use it to dream about battles

Dear Tom I hope your OK we spent the last week refitting in the rear Im not allowed to say where Ten days ago we were beat up pretty bad by the Krauts We were supposed to occupy this village called [CENSORED] at a cross roads under a ridge with some woods four five shermans travelling down the road and us infantry marching along under the cover of a wooded copse copse as the lieutenant said Hes always talking fancy to show us he went to yale you know the type what a [CENSORED] Anyways we were going in pretty relaxed seeing as recon had told us the area was clear But when we got near the cross road we started taking mortar and mg fire so our tanks starting getting exceited and firing at the woods above the cross road and all of a sudden couple stugs pops over the ridge and shoot up the tanks just like that We should of pulled back but the Old Man he thought we should go aheard and take the cross road and dig in that was a big mistake Well he's dead now because we ran the whole length of the wooded copse towards the village at the cross road and of course the Krauts were waiting for us they greeted us with plenty mg fire and shifted the mortars onto us with plenty tree bursts So much for that [CENSORED] wooded copse And the Stugs started firing into us too so we pulled back pretty quick you can believe me The Krauts had worked a party onto our flank they came at us from the right that's when the captain bought it. C company came down the road at this point but they got shot up pretty bad we're luck they didn't pursue us anyfurther. it was a real [CENSORED] Say hi to Jackson and Mr and Mrs Wright i miss you all. Someone stole the German watch I was going to bring you but dont worry i shall find another. But i wont be writing for a little while since we move out tomorrow. Dont worry i am fine. Your faithful brother

We are pleased to report that we have managed to breach the Westwall, to a depth of over a hundred meters, in spite of skilful and tenacious German resistance. We also achieved the aim of inflicting severe and morale lowering ammunition depletion among the enemy, and our men gave a fine display of fighting spirit and steadiness under fire, only breaking when absolutely necessary, after repeated exposure to small arms and direct artillery fire. Indeed, for green troops, several units behaved surprisingly well. Several bunkers with anti-tank assets were located, confirming reports from a previous failed attack in this sector. In spite of continous anti-tank fire, which eliminated one tank (fortunately only the 105mm support Sherman) a strong enveloping element (including an engineer platoon along with flamethrower support) was launched on the right side of the battlefield. It managed to secure a foothold on the right flank, thus opening the possibility of rolling up the line of bunkers defending the hill in the center of this sector. Unfortunately, during manoeuver, fire from the bunkers, and a mistimed 155mm barrage fired a little too wide, inflicted some losses on the flanking element (mostly support elements such as bazookas, flamerthrowers and mortars, so that the strike force remained largely intact). A freak lucky potshot from a bazooka type weapon, fired at extreme range from the German position, also put our Sherman Crocodile out of action, as it was manoeuvering into a flanking position. This at least had the effect of relieving the enveloping element of a factor for delay, since the Crocodile was progressing only slowly in a copse at the foot of the dominant hill. Undaunted, the infantry forces pressed forward in wooded terrain, but stumbled into unexpectedly strong resistance on the part of the enemy. In reaction, attacks were launched in other sectors of this front, namely the central and the left sector, with tank and mortar support. These attacks were conducted as classic frontal infantry assault, in the finest tradition, and elements of one of these attacks actually managed to reach the German positions, in spite of the loss of the supporting Sherman and withering machine gun fire. These attacks successfully achieved their aim of decoying and confusing the enemy as to the main axis of our offensive. While the main thrust by the flanking element on the right was fighting its way forward, several enemy units, which had probably fallen back during our 155mm barrage, reemerged to take our flanking element in the flank. As all infantry assets were either engaged or recovering from the frontal attacks against the enemy line, the enemy's flanking units were resolutely engaged by the command unit of the company. Armed only with pistols, carbines and Garand rifles, the Major and his command unit engaged and drove off several squads of Volkgrenadier, though they ultimately were overwhelmed and a squad pulled from the firing line to rescue the Major came too late. We wholeheartedly recommend that the major be considered for a posthumous Medal of Honor. The enemy rashly counterattacked our flanking element: one unit of Volkgrenadier came close enough to eliminate the Company's last bazooka team, but was successfully driven off after that. One Engineer Unit, though severely reduced in the firefight and under fire from several directions, actually fought its way to one of the anti-tank bunkers, and destroyed it with satchel charges, before being repelled with losses and engaging in precipitate, though agressively conducted, withdrawal in the face of enemy fire. In conclusion, our company has carried out its duty, by "doing its utmost to raise hell with the enemy". We have left this sector of the "Siegfried Line" reeling with the blows we dealt it, and, if not reinforced, it will fall like a ripe fruit if another effort is directed at it. Our only complaint is that the air force gave us only desultory support, and is directly responsible for our planning and fighting spirits not achieving even better results.