Kingfish Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 On August 6th / 7th the British XII forced a crossing of the Orne opposite the towns of Grimbosq and Brieux. Counterattacked by Kampfgruppe Wunsche, the Brits were pressed back towards the river, but eventually held thanks in large part to their artillery support. A good account of the battle can be found in "Steel inferno", which provides good OOB info on Kampfgruppe Wunsche. What I need to know is what other units were present. Which German unit(s) defended that section of the Orne river line prior to KG Wunsche's arrival? On the British side I know that the 176th infantry brigade was involved, as was the 107th & 147th R.A.C. (reference this site) Any others? Thanks in advance 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Måkjager Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 tut tut tut Sergio.... u do have a habit of cast wide and forgetting about the fish that lurk near by The History of the 12th SS-Panzer Division HJ by Huber Meyer states that the 89.Inf and 271.Inf Divisions were in the area. Give me a day to recover the data for you bud Best Måkjager 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Try this - you want the battalion war diary scan of the 7th South Staffs for August. Not much in there, other then that it must have been a nasty business indeed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 El bump-o-rino 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 El bump-o-rino 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Måkjager Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Down with this sort of thing Father Ted! Regards Måkjager 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Paul Where is that Carius quote from? You haven't been to Germany, have you? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Måkjager Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 No Andreas .. i have not been to Germany to have tea or coffee with Herr Carius I recently picked up the Christopher W. Willbeck book "Sledgehammers- Strenghts and Flaws of the Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II". The Prologue: Through the eyes of a Tiger Ace is written by Otto Carius and the last paragraph in full is as follows. "A brief word about this book: As former frontline soldiers , my comrades and I do appreciate every author who holds discipline , chivalry , and readiness to fight in esteem. I have personally given up hope that politicians who never experienced war first hand will ever realise that war is the worst of all possible alternatives" I just thought it was a very insightful observation that has application to all times and era's. Regards Måkjager 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Hey Makjager, thanks for posting that. I read "Tigers In The Mud" by Otto Carius and enjoyed it very much. How is this Sledgehammers book? Im curious now. I noticed that the prologue is done by Otto and the epilogue is by Tiger killers Viktor Iskrov(Russian) and Ray Holt(Ami). Sounds interesting. I think im gonna have to pick this one up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 The quote is a bit ironic in that Carius' commander-in-chief was a politician who did indeed experience war first hand, and was in fact a brave front-line soldier for the better part of four years. It didn't stop him from plunging the world into the largest and costliest armed conflict in human history. Not that I'm pro-Bush, either, but the whole chickenhawk thing - no matter what nation it applied to - doesn't hold much water. Combat veterans-turned-policitians seem to be just as likely to use armed conflict as a means to an end. I think a good leader should possess the ability to be cold-blooded like that, if it is in the greater interest (not just national interest but world interest). Sorry to politicize the thread, couldn't resist pointing out Carius' seeming contradiction. Certainly, the latter part of his quote is right on the money. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Not that i would know or anything, but i assume Otto, like alot of vets, get into politics to somewhat better understand the how's and why's wars are started. Since their probably thinking that they almost died in this war id like to know why it came to this and how to possibly avoid it in the future. It didn't stop him from plunging the world into the largest and costliest armed conflict in human history. Are you saying that Otto Carious was the reason WWII started? (hehe, ok i know you weren't) Or are you saying that he was a politican at the start of WWII? I think he was like 17-18 yrs old at the start of the war, if i remember correctly from his book, hardly a politician. Combat veterans-turned-policitians seem to be just as likely to use armed conflict as a means to an end. I don't recall him ever saying a blanket statement like, "all non-vet politicians are more likely to go to war than all combat-vet-turned politicians would". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 I was talking about Adolf Hitler - Otto Carius' commander-in-chief - if you reread my post. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Your right, i missed that, oops. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Originally posted by MeatEtr: Your right, i missed that, oops. No worries. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Anyone know what version of Churchills were used by the 34th armd. Brigade during this time? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Probably a mix of variants, if it was the same situation as in 31st Armoured Brigade. Normal TO&E regarding armament would be: 2x 95mm CS in Coy HQ 5x Troop with 3x 75mm Churchills ea. May well have some 6-pdr Churchills, at least early on in Normandy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 OK, one more question before I release these 2 monsters Ops for testing: did the German 271st infantry division have any StuGs or Marders in support during this battle? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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