Stonecutter

Watching the last turn, I was certain the ATG was finished when the panzer brought the main gun to bear and then started MG'ing them. It was tense waiting for the crew to stop cowering and finally take aim and shoot. Well worth the wait at the end though!!

"Crash harbour, crash harbour. Get those bloody vehicles out of here!" Larouche screamed as he spurred the drivers on to get the vehicles away and perhaps salvage something. In addition, he knew having a carrier loaded with ammunition getting brewed up in his vicinity was a recipe for disaster as the ensuring explosion and shrapnel would cause far more damage than a few artillery or tank rounds. "Keep working, dammit, bring that gun to bear!" Larouche watched as the gun crew moved frantically to swing their barrel around. They still had over 90 degrees to go when a sinking feeling stuck in the bottom of his throat as he watched the panzer roll up the hill toward them. Too late, he thought, with a little more time they could have done it but it is too late, there isn't time. Again, everything moved in slow motion as the panzer raised its barrel and took aim at the gun crew from a range of less than 200 metres. The flash, blast and ensuing burst were all in shocking clarity but the crew was still there, now only a few degrees away. Miraculously, the 75mm HE round had plowed in and exploded in the muddy soil, covering everyone in sloppy mud but leaving the six pounder and its crew unscathed. A carrier chose that moment to race in front of the panzer, drawing the gunner's attention away as he sought an easy kill. The 75mm barrel tracked the carrier like a cat playing with a mouse and fired, sending a round through both sides of the carrier and causing a cook off in the rounds stored inside. Again, the ripsaw of the coax and hull machine guns filled the air, cutting down an assaulting group of recce scouts and sending sparks off the ATG's gun shield. The turret again began to traverse toward the six pounder and its crew, the panzer crew now realizing their folly. The bold recce crew had bought some time with their lives and Larouche hoped it wasn't in vain. It was a deadly race and Larouche cheered as the crack of the six pounder came first, sending its metal penetrator tearing into the panzer and hitting the ammunition inside. Secondary explosions and fire erupted from the panzer as its surviving crew jumped out, only to be greeted by bursts of .45 caliber slugs from the mortar section leader as he and his men mercilessly cut them down. At Larouche's urgings, the six pounder crew frantically spin their gun. In the back, the enemy has already fired as revealed by the start of the muzzle flash. Larouche's prayers for a miracle happen as the round strikes the ground, sending dirt and mud flying everywhere. The recce scouts buy time with their lives while the gun crew takes aim despite suppressing fire. To the right edge, the carrier catches fire after being hit. Just a few precious seconds spell the difference between life and death as the crew wins the race - this time! The steel round rips into the turret, setting off the ammunition and fuel inside. The mortar team leader and his men cut down the crew while the panzer burns.

@ChappyCanuck: Ack on the multi-player sequence. Kuderian and Snake_eye: For the multi-player game I would recommend the following: a) Kuderian - just keep doing what you are doing as we have a good system worked out. b] Snake_eye: Not sure if you have done multi-player with saves before so at the risk of repeating something you already know, here is how it works. I'll pass a turn to you with an "x" on the end so it will look like, "San Leonardo Slugfest 021x" and will save it to the Allied Saves folder. When you hit the red button to save, you will see "San Leonardo Slugfest 021x 001" in the window. Simply back up and delete the "x 001" part so that the file is named "San Leonardo Slugfest 021" and then post it to the dropbox main San Leonardo Slugfest folder.

That accounts for all the panzers I have observed. I think only one of the two to the north east has actually had a weapon disabled hit but it would be great if both had their main guns out of action. IIRC, one of them had taken 2-3 weapon mount penetrations at long range from the Sherman but still managed to get another shot off. They might be sitting in overwatch to engage at long range but as long as they aren't prowling in B Company's area I am content to leave them where they are for now.

"B Company, hit the dirt and dig in! Those panzers aren't stopping for merde!" Larouche screamed the order as loud as he could. He watched as Quinn's platoon went to ground behind him in the woods and six platoon huddled inside the remains of two small buildings on the other side of the road. The enemy had finally realized how undefended the crossing was and was pushing hard toward their position. The ripping sound of the hull and coax machines guns of the two MkIV panzers was nearly constant as they accelerated toward him and B Company, filling the air with a hail of death at anything that moved. "ATG, two panzers about to cross the road three hundred meters to your front." Larouche shouted at the 6 pounder crew and pointed to the east where the rapidly approaching enemy were about to cross the road. The crew remained cowering behind their gun shield, allowing the enemy an easy crossing of what should have been a prime kill zone. Cursing again, Larouche approached the crew and shouted again. After finally getting their attention, he raised his voice in a harsh barking tone that would have done any sergeant major proud. "Get up and get that gun into action. It's us or them and trying to hide won't save you." Seeing the menacing figure before them, it was clear to the gun crew that this Lieutenant intended to deliver on the last part of his orders personally if they didn't act and they quickly loaded the gun and began angling it toward the enemy. Larouche continued to watch as the panzers easily tore through six platoon. A desperate or perhaps merely foolish rush by six platoon's new commander, Lieutenant Martin, drew the attention of both enemy vehicles long enough for them to engage. The twin booms of the main guns were so close that he could feel the concussion and there was nothing left of Martin in the ensuing blast. Here and there, a few brave souls raised their heads to take some shots at the lagging grenadiers but for the most part B Company was pinned down. A sudden shout from Quinn indicated that the enemy panzers were splitting up and going around the woods. Catching a glimpse of the MkIV firing its way north along the road, he yelled again at the gun crew. "Get ready, enemy tank moving right to left on road about to hit the intersection, get ready to shoot!" For a moment, the crew seemed to hesitate as they fingered their rifles but they suddenly leaped into action and rotated the gun toward the crossroads without giving Larouche a second glance. Looking to his right, Larouche saw Dolan with his bren gun casually pointed in the gun crew's direction and surmised what had happened. Nodding his thanks to Dolan, he backed into the woods and waited. A few moments later, the rumbling MkIV moved into the intersection and was greeted by a hail of small arms fire from all directions. The grinding sound of the pivoting tracks was interrupted by the crack of the six pounder, followed almost simultaneously by a loud explosive strike and flash as the armour piercing round easily penetrated the turret armour and knocked the panzer out of action. As the black clad crew bailed out of their vehicle, Larouche watched the remainder of six platoon open up on their now helpless former tormentors with a vengeance. Yelling again to the gun crew, he pointed behind him to where the other panzer was in the low ground and watched as the crew laboured to traverse the gun almost 180 degrees. One down, one to go, thought Larouche. Glancing at his watch, he realized that only 22 minutes had passed since first contact. Perhaps the number was significant to the "other" regiment but, as an Acadian, Larouche felt far more at home with the RCR and had no regrets about not joining his Quebecois cousins. "Sir, sir, there is something on the radio." Larouche accepted the the headset from his signaler and listened carefully. "Two, this is Tango,....mud,...minutes. Hold on!" The broken transmission gave Larouche hope, they might live to see another day after all. Despite the garbled words, Larouche had heard the protesting roar of a Sherman engine pushed to the limit in the background. "Unknown Tango call sign, this is Two. Enemy panzer at crossroads, two panzers 1000 metres east north east on left side of small woods. Two more panzers 1000 metres north west on road, heading south. Hurry, over!" Dropping the headset, Larouche searched for anything that could help him buy more time. The 22 minutes had already cost B Company dearly and he wasn't sure they could afford even another five minutes at this rate. He needed a small miracle but how and with what? As he pondered this conundrum, a memory of something important taunted him at the edge of his awareness. That Tango's voice was somehow familiar,..... Panzers roam with impunity through B Company's area. The winter weather and repeated shelling reduce the cover offered by the woods. MG fire easily keeps five platoon hugging dirt! Under the watchful eye of Larouche, the ATG crew take aim while six platoon distracts the panzer with small arms fire. The blinding flash and explosive burst as the armour piercing shell blows through the turret armour at point blank range, knocking the tank out of action. The MkIV crew bails out of their stricken vehicle while six platoon takes aim, seeking vengeance against their foe.

As Acting B Company Commander, I endorse the arrival of Shermans and won't complain about them getting mud on the newly built bridge

Crouching behind some trees with his men in the copse by the crossroads, Larouche watched the approaching panzers with some trepidation. To his front, what remained of the crews for the two six pounders worked furiously to get their guns deployed in time behind the low stone wall. Time, thought Larouche, it is all about time. If we had moved the ATGs only a few minutes earlier they would be engaging right now and my men would be safe. He laughed to himself at this last thought. He had seen too many good men die as he and the rest of the division fought their way up the Italian boot to think that there was any safety in war, there was merely a reprieve from death and destruction. Almost to punctuate this thought, a large enemy shell chose that instant to hit the corner of the woods, obliterating the mortar crew that had just set up there. Simultaneously, rounds from the panzers started coming in as they spotted and engaged the ATGs. One scored a direct hit, shredding the remaining crew into a gory mess over the mangled metal while another round strayed off path and caught the corner of the house near Dolan. The moment was frozen in Larouche's mind in frame by frame clarity. He could see the 75mm's path through the air, the HE round striking the corner of the house, the spread of lethal fragments and the shock wave and shrapnel striking the ground around Dolan and one of the new replacements for the platoon. With painful slowness, he remained fixated upon Dolan dragging his wounded comrade into the woods. "Sir, those panzers are shredding us, we've got to get some cover." On the edge of his consciousness, Larouche could hear the words and wondered who was speaking. He he felt himself being dragged down to the ground as another round burst by the wall, it's fragments passing through the air where he had been just moments before. "Sir, snap out of it! We've got to do something or we are all going to be chewed up like filling for a tortiere!" The sight of Dolan's face brought Larouche back into reality with a sharp jolt. "Your right, Dolan, thanks." Larouche spoke softly as he and Dolan shared a moment of understanding that only those who have been to war can truly appreciate. "Mortars, smoke that hostie de gap by the crossroads so the 6 pounder can get set up. Quinn, pull your men out of the buildings, they're death traps. Get behind them and take cover in the ditch by the road." Larouche peered toward the rolling metal monsters coming from the east and breathed more steadily as he heard the steady firing of the remaining two-inch mortar crews. As the smoke rounds landed and obscured the gap, it bought the ATG crew precious seconds without suppressing fire that allowed them to finish laying the gun trails and align the business end of their weapon toward the enemy vehicles. The rattling fire of a couple bren guns and rifle shots bounced off the turret of the nearest Mk IV over 400 metres away as Quinn's men tried to take out the crew commander before moving into cover. Focusing his binos on the dust behind the panzers, Larouche caught site of a few grenadiers rising and dashing forward as they tried to keep pace. Grabbing the radio, he quickly switched to the battalion net and depressed the switch. "Golf three-four, this is two, fire mission over." "Golf three-four, fire mission, over." "Two, fire mission. Grid six-one-five, eight-seven-three, radius one hundred, harass for fifteen, over." "Golf three-four, fire mission. Grid six-one-five, eight-seven-three, radius one hundred, harass for fifteen, over." "Two, this is Golf three-four, fire mission in figures six. I have the target under observation, over." "Two, acknowledged, out!" "Niner, this is two, over." "Niner, send over." "Two, five enemy panzers and unknown infantry moving toward crossroads from approximately five hundred metres to the east. Enemy have the crossroads zeroed in with heavy artillery, suspect 150mm. Advise all stations to remain clear of crossroads as area is under continuous observation and fire. Niner, we need those Tango call signs immediately!" "Niner, acknowledged. Tango call signs are enroute, ETA figures ten. I'll encourage them to hurry, out." Larouche returned the mike to his radio operator and carefully slid forward toward a shell scrape at the edge of the woods. He certainly wouldn't want to be the tankers on the receiving end of Colonel Chappy's "encouragement" as it would undoubtedly involve a stream of his legendary, linguistic lashings. So long as it prodded those zipperheads along a little more quickly, he didn't care. He knew the Colonel understood how precarious his position was and how critical the bridgehead would be to the entire Ortona operation. The Colonel would do whatever it took to get the tankers here sooner and now he turned to see what he could do to buy time so that their arrival could be put to good use. Time, again, Larouche thought, I need to buy more time. The remaining 6 pounder crew cringes in fear under the fire of the approaching panzers. Only a few metres away, the remains of their compatriots are only too clearly visible in the heap of scrap metal. A mortar crew quickly drops smoke into the gap in response to Larouche's orders. The combined efforts of the mortars screen off the gap, buying time for the ATG to finish setting up. When the smoke clears, the mortar crews hope that the ATG can keep the panzers at bay as they are only too aware of how vulnerable they are without any tanks of their own in support.

Just checked and it is 1010. I couldn't see before as I cut the compass out of the screen shot.

Actually, Dolan's luck did hold, it was the rifleman beside him that got smoked by that stray 75mm HE round! Somehow, I don't think anyone else in the platoon is going to be leaping at the opportunity to stand next to Dolan - too much like wearing a red shirt on an away mission.

One hour 31 minutes remaining. I am uncertain when the clock started but as turn 24 just got posted, I would imagine we are ~11 minutes in.

Lieutenant Larouche took a few moments to calm himself by taking a few deep breaths. The loss of the company commander was a shock but he knew he had to display an air of confidence to the men if they were to maintain cohesion. He listened intently to the sharp barks of the Mk IV's main guns repeatedly engaging the immobilized Sherman and contemplated how best to protect the critical bridgehead that had been established. With no tanks, no anti-tank weapons and no gun tractor to tow the damaged 6-pounder into place, the options for dealing with the approaching panzers were extremely limited. Discerning the sound of a jeep near the crossing site, he peeked through his binoculars and espied 2IC Delta Company, Captain Harris. Grabbing the radio again and changing to D Coy's frequency, he pressed the switch. "Four bravo, this is two, over" "Four bravo, send over." "We need your zulu vehicle to move that asset to your front, it's a little heavy to push where we want it, over." "Two, I see your ass-et and it does look quite heavy. Maybe you should lay off the pasta and it wouldn't be so tough to move. I'll drop by and see what I can do, four bravo out." Larouche chuckled as he switched back to his own frequency and yelled out orders to 4th platoon. "Dolan, we're getting a jeep to move that 6-pounder, courtesy of Captain Harris and Delta company. We're going to set it up somewhere along that stone wall near the road. Split up your section and find the best spot so that it can cover those panzers coming in from our east." Dolan took a few moments to split the squad and issue orders. Larouche watched as the section moved forward and winced when another heavy German artillery round landed near Dolan. As the dust cleared, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Dolan wave back at him, laughing - that Irish luck had held yet again and Larouche sincerely hoped it would keep on holding. Running to the edge of the woods, he got hold of Quinn and ordered him and the rest of his platoon back to the woods. There was no point leaving them out in the open and he would need a reserve if they were going to hold the crossroads. A few moments later, he greeted Captain Harris and thanked him for the loan of the jeep. To Larouche's surprise, Harris happily parted with his jeep and added, "I tell you what Larouche. We've got a spare PIAT in one of our brens and I think it might do a wee bit more good here. The only caveat is that you'll have to send someone to pick it up - we don't provide PIATza delivery!" he laughed. Groaning at the pun, Larouche finished bringing Harris up to date on the tactical situation in the area and laid out his defensive plan, including the elements of the PLDG that were in their location. "If you can keep those armoured cars on the west side of the woods, they can engage the enemy infantry that is trying to come at us from the north without exposing themselves to those Mk IV's." "I don't think I'll have any problem convincing those recce guys to keep out of the way of those 75 AP rounds after what just happened to that Sherman on the rise behind us. Let's just hope the rest of Trois Rivieres gets here soon or we'll have to handle this party all by ourselves! " Giving Larouche a reassuring pat on the shoulder, Harris jogged off to sort out the PLDG cars while Larouche continued to get B company into position and set up to defend the crossroads. Captain Harris and his team screech to a halt by the 6-pounder to loan them his jeep. Dolan's luck holds as he nearly buys it when a German round explodes right by where he was headed. . Dolan checks out the damaged wall while also looking east to see if he can spot the panzers. . B Coy setting up with PLDG armoured cars hiding from the enemy panzers/using the woods as cover.

We are currently waiting out for the next cunning move by the Axis forces. I'll put something together once I manage to steal (oops, I mean borrow) that jeep from D Coy

Yes, Alma was the name of my tank when I was a young officer serving in Germany with the Royal Canadian Armour Corps. Alma is a small town in New Brunswick, Canada. All the tanks in my squadron were named after towns beginning with "A" since we were A Squadron. Pretty Canadian, eh?

As IanL has pointed out, a lot of Quebecois (or Acadian - French speaking folks from Eastern Canada) use words related to the church for swearing. A few of the more common ones are: "Tabernac" is tabernacle(the box/vessel for storing the eucharist), calice (aka calisse) is chalice (into which goes the sacramental wine), hostie is the host, ciboire is the cup that holds the hosts and calvaire is cross. There are numerous idioms, permutations and combinations of these words that are used and while it may seem an odd way to swear for English speakers, the English obsession with sex for cursing is equally odd for Francophones.

"Tabernac!" Lieutenant Larouche cursed loudly as he watched two heavy rounds land near the central crossroads, killing the OC and FOO. Despite the frantic efforts of some of Montplaisir's soldiers to stop them, a bren carrier and passengers went racing north and were ambushed by German infantry. Quickly looking around at the ensuing chaos, he immediately pressed the mike on his radio, "All stations 2, this is 2-1, Sunray is down, I repeat Sunray is down, I am taking over. We will re-org near the crossroads. 2-1, take up a position near your current locale facing northeast along the hedges. 2-2, come back about 100 meters and orient facing north. 2-1 will establish a position in the woods facing north." Quickly issuing orders for a hasty withdrawal and defensive set up for his own platoon in the nearby woods, Larouche sent a runner to the 6-pounder crew with instructions to get them moving to a position north of the woods where they could orient east facing the approaching panzers. With the immobilized Sherman already engaging the enemy tanks, the ATG might just be able to get in a few flanking shots if it could be moved to the stone wall. At the same time, his own platoon would provide covering fire against any enemy infantry that tried to approach. Finally, surveying the situation again, he turned to his radio operator and had him change over the Battalion frequency. "Niner, this is 2-1, Sunray is down, I repeat, Sunray is down. I have taken over. Enemy panzers in platoon plus, possible company strength, observed roughly 400 meters north and 900 meters east of crossroads, moving west. Enemy infantry of unknown strength 400 meters north of crossroads. Suspected enemy SP gun 1500 meters NNE of crossroads. All stations 2 currently reorienting to face enemy advance. Request immediate transport for anti-tank assets as current location is untenable, over!" Returning the mike to his radio operator, Larouche set about getting his own platoon settled while keeping a close eye on 5 and 6 platoons to monitor their progress. He could only hope that CO Chappy could squeeze some more support out the division or at least get some of those Trois Rivieres tanks sprung loose. With one damaged ATG and no PIATS, he knew his men and the rest of B Coy would pay a heavy price trying to even slow down the panzers and stopping them seemed out of the question. He knew help was supposed to be on its way but, as always, the key question was whether or not it would arrive in time.

I shall endeavour to do so now that I have Fraps!

Newly minted OC B reporting in for duty, sir! Hmmm, this type of promotion brings to mind the naval toast of the day for Thursday, "To a bloody war and sickly season." (the addendum is this leads to faster promotions)

Now would be an opportune moment for the tankers to ride to the rescue in the nick of time but I fear they are off in some Italian villa mingling with the locals and thus unavailable for military operations. Perhaps I should change the regimental motto from adsum to getsome

With regard to improving in-game accuracy there are a couple items that may help: 1) Use the best observer - the quality of the observer and their command link will be given when you click on them so try to use the best you can. Usually, a FOO is the best, followed by higher HQ and then down to platoon HQ. 2) Use longer/less intense missions - this allows you to correct the observed fire once the rounds start falling. As an example, rather than firing a heavy, 4-tube mission for a quick/short period of time, try light/medium with 2 tubes for a long time. 3) Keep the observer from being seen and/or suppressed - as you can imagine, it is really hard to worry about observing and correcting fire when you are dodging bullets/shrapnel yourself so try to keep your observers of fire missions out of harm's way if you can.

There are a number of errors that can creep into any artillery mission that come from different sources of both technical and human error. Unlike today where artillery can be laser guided, all WWII artillery was "dumb" and thus could not correct for any errors from the spotter, the gun itself firing the round or wind or any other number of issues. Here is a quick summary of some of the main errors for guns/mortars that would be in use in CMFI: 1) Range - this was the best guess of the observer and the spotter, who could often be several miles/km away from each other. 99.9% accurate means that a gun firing at something 10 km away will still be off by 100m even if everything else is perfect. Also remember that both the observer and spotter may have been under fire and/or had their vision obscured. 2) Wind - the longer the range, the longer wind can affect an artillery/mortar round and hence the greater chance for error. Wind at the ground level can and does vary greatly from wind at altitude where the projectile is firing both in direction and speed. Thus if the shot was fired thinking the AVERAGE wind of 20 km/h from exactly North and ended up being 30 km/h from 10 degrees off, this could easily cause the round to miss the target by a large margin. This is particularly true for mortar rounds since they are fin stabilized and thus the fins can catch more wind. 3) Map and Survey errors - the maps used in Italy were notoriously erroneous and caused a large number of errors. Again, combine this with human error in estimating precisely where they are on the map and it would be easy to be off by 100m or more (no GPS precision). If the start point and end point are in error, only luck results in the round actually landing on target. 4) Quality control and consistency - Guns, rounds and their gunpowder charges were being mass produced and were then shipped overseas under fairly rustic conditions. Humidity, scratches, some damage would add to inconsistencies from manufacturing to once again create more errors. Similar to election polling results which are +/- 3% 19 times out of 20, artillery has a similar consistency/probability control assigned to it. If the error was similar to these polling results, then 19 out of 20 rounds, on average, would land somewhere within 300m of the intended target even if everything else was PERFECT! Now, toss in extra humidity which slowed the burning or a barrel that had fired hundreds of rounds and was significantly worn from a factory fresh version and the round would be slower, resulting yet again in more error. These are but a few of the errors that are possible and the most common/significant. When mortars are firing with a direct line of sight, it is far easier to correct for all errors since the range is much shorter and they can quickly and easily adjust for any error and the errors that do occur are far smaller in scope (i.e. a 3% error at 200m is only 6m whereas it is 300m when the gun is 10 km away from the target). Hope this helps.

OC A Sqn, Trois-Rivieres reporting in for duty. I will be conducting a personal reconnaissance of the area of operations for the next month to get the lay of the land. Apparently, the Germans are attempting to smuggle important Renaissance artwork out of Florence and thus I will base my efforts out of there. Furthermore, local intelligence reports that the Germans are taking a page from the Bilbo Baggins dwarf smuggling handbook and will be hiding the priceless artifacts inside of wine barrels. Accordingly, I will be searching all wine barrels in Tuscany and will not rest until they are all empty!

I tried to keep the lessons learned to the three most important points my opponent and I discussed. From his perspective, a few other things he could/should have done better were: 1) More aggression - he didn't really grasp his numerical/artillery advantage at the start state or the dislocation of the German panzers in the scenario until it was far too late. If he had pressed really hard during the first 10 minutes, he might have been able to break out into the open area before I had my defence fully established. 2) Artillery Smoke - He could have used smoke (heavy arty and/or the 2" mortars) to cover his move or block my LOS. Either employment would have allowed his forces a much easier time of gaining a foothold or entirely bypassing/negating much of my defence. 3) His Flanking attack - the timing was not well coordinated with the main effort. If both attacks had occurred at the same time, my forces would have been spread very thinly. As it was, I was able to reposition several tanks and almost a platoon of infantry to deal with each attack in sequence.

This was human vs human.

The Turning Point (H+40 to H+50) The defence of DP1 is hastened as panzers of 1st platoon conduct a right flanking and take out three more Churchills with short range shots. However, one Churchill proves tough and requires 7 rounds before it finally succumbs. The defence of DP1 is completed as Harzer’s 2nd platoon engages in close range fighting with grenades. Sniper Fink methodically shoots another enemy after successfully destroying an entire bren carrier squad with a well aimed grenade and burst from his spotter’s MP40. Forewarned by the scouts defending DP1C, Ulrich’s gunner gets the drop on a Churchill breaking through the hedgerow and sets the tank in flames in very close quarters fighting. With the Churchills threatening the vital ground of DP1 destroyed, the panzers of 1st platoon press their advantage against the now defenceless British infantry. FOO Rau observes the final spotting round and calls down fire for effect. He then issues an immediate warning over the Battalion combat net that rounds are incoming in two minutes. Henrichsen’s 4th panzer platoon and the scouts defending DP1C prepare to stave off the British assault for just a little longer. The 3rd infantry and panzer platoons in reserve around Manor 1 wait quietly as the battle rages just a few hundred metres away. The Churchills clearing DP1 advance to support their infantry while Giessens’ 1st platoon panzers move to flank them. The Churchills are caught offguard as Graber gets a flank shot that penetrates and stuns the crew. Two more penetrating shots later and the tank catches fire. Mere seconds after Graber has caught the attention of the Churchill tanks, Giessen quickly takes out two more enemy tanks with flanking shots at point blank range. The combat is so close that his gunner has trouble aiming as the gun sight is filled with the enemy Churchills. To the tremendous relief of DP1C’s defenders, the nebelwerfer rocket battery drops precisely on target with devastating effect on the British infantry. This is the last blow for the British attackers. Having lost half a dozen tanks, several carriers and half a company of infantry in the span of a couple minutes, they are forced to abandon the assault. Lessons Learned 1) The hedgerows provide excellent cover, concealment and protection for infantry but it is extremely difficult for tanks to fire through them. 2) Better use could have been made of British artillery to provide suppression and smoke throughout the battle. When used, the artillery proved quite effective both at suppressing infantry and inflicting casualties. 3) The timely reinforcement of DP’s using a mobile panzer reserve and the half-tracks to transport infantry proved essential in preventing British breakthroughs. Key Turning Point: The flank attack by 1st platoon panzers as it removed a dire threat and freed up other forces to stiffen the defence of the orchard and DP 1C. Hero of the Battle: Sniper Fink with 22 confirmed kills. In addition to taking out 4 crew commanders he single-handedly defended the north hedgerow by DP1 for several minutes, buying critical time for 1st panzer platoon’s flank attack.

Defending Vital Ground (H+30 to H+40) Grotz’s panzershrek team takes aim at a Churchill threatening DP1. Beside him, a Mk IV is somehow unable to detect the 5 Churchills that are less than 200m away. Grotz makes another disparaging remark to his loader about panzer crews and their "iron" brains! Grotz cheers as the warhead strikes home, destroying the British behemoth. As Grotz cheers his victory, Siebel curses while a second AP round from his main gun bounces off the Churchill’s thick hull plating. Several rounds later, his gunner finally locates a weak spot and kills the enemy tank. DP1C is shored up while the FOO registers his artillery fire mission. He informs Battalion HQ that DP1C must hold for at least another 10 minutes – information that doesn’t make Henrichsen’s 4th platoon or the scouts defending the position any too happy considering the overwhelming British forces they are facing. A brief respite allows DP1C’s defenders to catch their breath as British armour cleans out the now abandoned DP1A. The rest is short lived however as the infantry hunkers down and panzers close their hatches when heavy artillery rains down on the position only a couple minutes after it is fully occupied. While the defenders aren’t caught in the open, the incessant shelling continues to inflict casualties and keeps them suppressed. Perhaps the only consolation is the knowledge that the British infantry dare not advance for fear of “friendly fire” – precious time is being bought with their blood that may allow their own artillery to seek retribution.