Patton's Raid

[Dittohead]

There was some discussion on a Kelly's Hero's type campaign some time back and I think General Patton's mission to free his son-in -law from behind enemy lines would be a good one. The Book is called Raid (the untold story of Patton's secret mission) It's written by Richard Baron, Major Abe Baum (the Task force commander), and Richard Goldhurst.

Task force Baum was tasked to penetrate 50 miles behind enemy lines with a force consisting of 53 Vehicles and 294 men. No precise OOB given in book but consisted of light tanks, shermans, tank destroyers hakftracks and jeeps. Started end of March 45

The breakout battle is pretty similar to KHero's but with more fighting.

They faced SS cadets with lots of PF and other scraped together units.

They finally met their demise at Reussenburg when they parked on a tank range. oops. And probably in the only occurence on the western front there happened to be five Ferdinands at the Panzer Lager. Also five tiger tanks were involved. All US vehicles destroyed. No chance against Ferd's and tigers.

Tony

[Keith]

Yes I read about this in an US Army book titled "The Last Offensive". That source referred to the German AFVs as being part of a SP Gun Battalion. I suspect these vehicles were really Stugs or perhaps JPzIVs or JPzVs. I really doubt they were Ferdinands at this late in the war (Spring 45'). It could be an interesting Operation I suppose, but as you said their objective was not to hold ground, but rather make a lightning raid behind enemy lines, free the POWs, and make it back. Might be difficult to model this.

It really was a half-baked idea that cost the lives of many American lives to rescue really one man -Patton's son-in-law. Kind of "Saving Private Ryan" scenario. Of course the whole column was wiped out and captured!

[killmore]

Stalin refused to trade his captured son for german general. He said he is not going to exchange General for private.

[:USERNAME:]

I believe Ferdinands were around even during the Berlin fighting.

Lewis

[jgdpzr]

Great idea, Dittohead!

I have an edition of the After the Battle series that has an excellent, in depth piece on this raid (sorry don't have the edition# as it is at home and I'm at work) I'm not sure, but there is probably enough there to form a pretty decent OOB. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to tackle some of the engagements from this operation. These would be PERFECT for the scale and scope of the game. I'm glad you reminded me, I'm going to check the magazine out when I get home.

I thought the only German armor in the area were Hetzers, but I could be wrong.

Well, I just confirmed that, according to After the Battle, the only German armor were seven Hetzers. The article did say, however, that many American accounts wrongly say that Ferdinands and Tigers were used at various points in the drive to or from Hammelburg. Seems like another case of any German armor being labeled as sporting an 88. Also, according to this article, not all US vehicles were destroyed. Several Shermans and Stuarts survived but were captured and used in a subsequent defense of Hammelburg.

Within this raid, there are a number of interesting engagements that could be modelled. I would think setting up a scenario in which an American convoy just had to exit a certain part of the map by a certain time would be a good way to start. HMMM, methinks I might have a good idea of the first battle I will try to build.

[This message has been edited by jgdpzr (edited 06-07-2000).]

[Dittohead]

Yea, the book does say captured or destroyed. My Bad. At one point the book gives the strength at 43 vehicles. -13 tanks, 3 assault guns(105mm) shermans and 27 halftracks.

Although in the book the ferdinands are described as an 88mm on a panther chassis, which of course is a Jagdpanther I Don't think they would confuse the shorter barrel on a hetzer for an 88 or much larger Tank. Since both Baum and Baron were part of the task force and were very experienced they should know what they see. Plus the Ferds are more fun then hetzers.

Their attack on Gemunden was real cool, especialy going through the train yard. I can see oddball now having fun.

Tony

[jgdpzr]

I'll give you the part about Ferds being somewhat cooler than Hetzers. But, I think I might have to go with After the Battle in terms of what was actually there. The reason is fairly simple: the author accessed German sources for his information about the German forces in the area. I would trust this for validity over the memories or AARs of US soldiers who were renowned for mistaking enemy vehicles (not specifically referring to Baum and Baron). Plus the author makes specific reference to the accounts of Ferds and Tigers being inaccurate. In every instance I am aware of, when the accounts conflict about German weaponry in a given battle, the Germans are able to make the better case. I guess because it was their stuff. But hey, I'm not trying to make a big fuss about it. It will still be a great operation to model, Ferdinands or no Ferdinands.

BTW, if you're interested, the volume # is 91. Excellent read with numerous photos, maps, and eyewitness accounts. It also contains a very detailed OOB, with a slightly different vehicle count than what your source states. Also, it states that the SP 105's are M7s, not M4s. It appears as though the author did extensive research.

Since its clear this operation interests you, I'd strongly recommend the issue if you can get your hands on a copy. This issue also contains much shorter articles on Smolensk and the mutiny in the Cocos Islands. I'm going to look for "Raid," as it also sounds like a good read.