John Kettler Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Was hunting for material on the 2-inch Mortar when I found this, which is a quite good account of the unit, via a look at one John Crook, an officer in the Hallamshires. Grogs will be fascinated to know the Hallamshires were the first British unit to successfully use APDS in combat. This was against Panthers, and the gunner involved got the Military Medal. http://www.irdp.co.uk/JohnCrook/normandy.htm Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Have now read the piece in toto. It is part of a much larger site chronicling the war history of John Crook. Normandy is simply the last part. This chunk was a real education to me on Normandy in general and the British experience there in particular. Casualties among the Hallamshires, during 33 days of continuous combat, were horrendous, mostly the PBI, and the piece brilliantly depicts the horrors, psychological trauma and excesses (massacres of POWs by both sides) of the campaign. After reading it, I have to say that I think CMBN, for all my troubles with learning to play it, never mind well, does a really good job of capturing many of the key aspects of the fight. I find the bocage so confining that I turn off the trees in order to be able to see, and that dread feeling of being on the verge of eaten alive by an unseen foe, then being thus eaten, is something I can relate to quite well, as I can to the trauma of sudden, vicious encounters, though my soldiers are but virtual. I unhesitatingly recommend this fabulous piece of historical research to all of you. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'm gobsmacked not one person, let alone a CW grog, has so much as uttered a peep about this juicy Normandy discussion of an infantry unit in 33 days of continuous action. An incredible read awaits! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Ill bite. going to read it now =) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Ack. really long. scratch that. I searched for sabot but it just briefly mentions it. no details of the engagement... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Sublime, Share your frustration on lack of details of that engagement, but I thought the admittedly long article was a superb depiction of an infantry battalion's experience in Normandy. May I recommend you read it a bit at a time? Am sure you'll find it most rewarding. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaeger Jonzo Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Great link John, thanks a lot. I have just recently finished reading 'The Polar Bears' book (49th Inf Div) and it was a fantastic, fascinating, but also harrowing read. I thoroughly recommend it as a great book covering a British infantry divisions combat through Normandy against crack ss troops, and then Holland in 1944. It is amazingly detailed with hundreds of first hand accounts from the men in the action at the sharp end. I wish one of the clever campaign designers off here would recreate all the actions mentioned in these accounts ala the 15th Scottish campaign. Though i wonder how demoralising it would be see your companies systematically chewed up and decimated. One action alone mentions two platoons wiped out in hand to hand combat!, proving just how ferocious the fighting was. The book certainly sets the scene and mood for CW module action in CMBN. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_prince Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Great link John. I've read about halfway through so far and it certainly paints a vivid picture of life on the front in Normandy. The attrition suffered by the Hallamshires is particularly sobering. Thanks for sharing this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Interesting snippet in the text re Montgomery: "It was always his plan that the British-Canadian armies would draw and exhaust the panzer divisions to enable the break out of the US armies. When the plan was realized and ahead of the anticipated schedule, Eisenhower as Supreme Commander, egotistically took over command of the field armies. It was after he took over that the Allies failed to end the war by Christmas 1944. Historians continue to argue somewhat bitterly that had Montgomery remained in command of the Allied armies, there would have been a successful punch-through into Northern Germany and the Western Allies would have reached Berlin before the Soviet Red Army." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Interesting snippet in the text re Montgomery: "It was always his plan that the British-Canadian armies would draw and exhaust the panzer divisions to enable the break out of the US armies. When the plan was realized and ahead of the anticipated schedule, Eisenhower as Supreme Commander, egotistically took over command of the field armies. It was after he took over that the Allies failed to end the war by Christmas 1944. Historians continue to argue somewhat bitterly that had Montgomery remained in command of the Allied armies, there would have been a successful punch-through into Northern Germany and the Western Allies would have reached Berlin before the Soviet Red Army." Only Berlin? I thought we would have liberated Warsaw as well? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 jaeger jonzo and black_prince, Glad you enjoyed and found found it valuable and insight producing. Erwin, I do not know whether our already overstressed supply lines could've handled the load. Also, wasn't it Montgomery who took his time capturing the Scheldt Estuary? Until he did so, Antwerp was unusable. sburke, We very nearly liberated Prague. Does that count? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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