Canadian paratroopers in CMBO. Remember CMBO? ;)

[Gpig]

ello.

I've been looking for some ideas for re-creating some Canadian Overlord (and beyond) battles and came across this article about a hitherto unkown unit (at least to me) of the

British 6th Airborne. You can check it out at the Canadian Airborne Regiment home page

http://members.tripod.com/TimothyCoderre/default.htm

Look under "History." I've also included a snippet of the article below.

I know there are no Canadian Airborne Troops in Combat Mission, but a cool scenario could be cooked up by either using the regular Canadian infantry and just "pretending"

they're airborne troops, or using the British airborne troops (since the Canucks were equipped as and under command of the British 6th Airborne. I'm guessing the latter would

be more "factual." But it'd be missing the Canadian flavour.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to someone verifying this info for me. Also, if anyone has any idea if the actions undertaken by these units were indeed of interest. (I suppose they

could have been HO-HUM . . . )

Here is part of the article;

While the Canadian parachutists completed their training in the United States, discussions were underway in England about the employment of this new unit. The Battalion would

be part of the Canadian element in the United Kingdom, but under command and equipped as a British parachute battalion in the 6th Airborne Division.

The Battalion's first taste of combat was the Normandy invasion. Late on June 5th, 1944 they took off with fifty aircraft carrying the troops and equipment heading for France. In

addition to the troop's fighting equipment each man carried a knife, toggle rope, escape kit, with French currency, and two 24 ration packs totalling 70 pounds.

Following a massive bombardment of the invasion area, the British forces were to land in the eastern sector on the beaches west of Ouistreham, their objective was Caen. The

6th Airborne Division's mission was to protect the left flank of the British sector. The First Canadian Parachute Battalion was to protect the flanks of the 3rd Brigade's operational

area. Their tasks were as follows:

- Secure and protect the 3rd Parachute Brigade DropZone by destruction of an enemy Headquarters at Varaville and any other enemy in the area;

- Destroy bridge at Varaville by H plus two hours and cover demolition until relieved by 1 SS Bde (Special Service?) not before H plus five hours;

- Destroy bridges at Robehomme by H plus two hours and cover demolition;

- Cover move to and assault on battery (at Merville) by 9 Para Bn from interference from south; and

- Seize and hold area road junction (where the 3rd Para HQ would be).

Sounds interesting to me. I've got no idea where these areas are in France (well, I've got SOME idea). But it shouldn't be too hard to find it on the map.

Later

Gpig

P.S. there's also a cool article at the CAR homepage about the FSSF (FIrst Special Service Force), also known as the "Devil's Brigade." (Remember the movie?)

[CanuckinDixie]

An intersting site. thanks for posting the link.

[Breakthrough]

The CANUCK CMBO Webpage has a scenario depicting an action by the 1st Can Para Bn on 6th June.