- Joined
- Sep 10, 2008
- Messages
- 2,718
21 May, 1943 -- The First Airborne Invasion of France
Dear Martha,
Im fine dear, though Im sure you've read in the papers about France already. We may have lost that battle, but we're far from losing to Hitler. Things didnt go as expected at all for us, we thought that half of the division dropping, and 3 Infantry Divisions coming out of Netherlands we'd be able to push to Paris quickly, and gain a stronghold on the mainland of Europe. We dropped in the early hours of May 5th, and were supposed to land near Reims, but instead we were about 2 miles off and landed near a small town called Anvil. The town, as it turns out, was a key supply point of German Armor, and it served as Head Quarters for the 1st Gebirgsj?ger Division. The whole damn city was in ruins from Luftwaffe bombings earlier, and the German's have just built roadblocks amongst the ruins. We were already hurting pretty badly from the failed dropped, and we also lost a few sticks before they even had a chance to jump from Anti Air. We gathered up what men we could and set up for the attack on anvil. Our initial plan was for 3 prongs of attack. I would lead my squad down the main road, The Commander would take his men through the larger buildings, and the General was gonna take his men around the left side of the town, through some of the smaller buildings.
We were moving up some rubble to a door when I stopped, I looked back, they were all pretty young, all privates that I scrounged together. I told them to listen up, and stay on me, we started moving through the hotel slowly. I turned a corner and saw a German guard, I guess he hadnt expected us to come through that way because I was able to raise my garand quicker than he could raise his weapon, thankfully. We moved down the stairs, hearing gunfire above us. We were hoping that was the Commander's squad. We moved into a small hallway, which had been bombed out. I was still on point when a German automatic opened fire. A soldier pulled me back, out of the way of danger, but was hit himself. Luckily one of my quick shots, a guy called Mini cause of his short stature, was able to put down the enemy with a single shot. I checked over the injured troop and pulled him back. I told the other two that they'd hook up with the commander and push with them, that I had to get the hurt guy out. I returned to our makeshift HQ where I saw the Medic's already taking care of our injured. I did what I could to pitch in and help.
About an 20 minutes later the commander came back with what was left of his squad, and the two men I attached to him. 5 or 10 minutes after that, the General came back too. We had to reorganize and re-attack. We gathered up who was still standing and tried the same attack, but the German defenders had shifted their defense around a flak cannon and the hotels on the right side of town. We pushed again, but our second attack just cost us more lives and we pulled back. By then word had come through the the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Infantry Divisions had been pushed back. We retreated into the Netherlands at the cost of a little over a third of our active troops in the Netherlands.
15th August, 1943 -- The First German Invasion of North Africa.
Dear Martha,
We pushed the German's out of North Africa, for now. The place they decided to attack was called Argentan, the French had built in 1930 as french railyard for North Africa, and as a sort of "Home Away From Home" for the Foreign Legion regiments serving in Morocco, not a bad idea. They made the city as french as possible in the middle of Africa, it was quite an astounding job, really. It wasnt really a town or a city, just a major rail station, and the buildings were mostly for the workers and the French Soldiers taking leave there.
The German's decided they wanted the rail yard, so their first course of action was to bomb the hell out of it. They completely demolished the train yard, and one of the tunnels leading out of the village. At first we thought they wouldnt want it, and we were on the verge of pulling out ourselves, the village literally served no purpose now, unless they wanted to waste the time rebuilding it. However on the 6th of August we got reports of the German's moving toward the town. We were fresh from the failure of France and had mostly new troops in Africa. We set up defending the main hotel, the rails on the left of the village, and the back near our Head Quarters and our Bridge. My squad was on the rails, we were mostly rifles against and we had our sniper. A quiet man, Im not quite sure he is American, to be honest. I think he moved to America, then when war broke out, enlisted, he was a crack shot though and was there when it counted. I also had a Finnish soldier with us, he just happened to be in this Miniature Argentan when the German's first attacked, he volunteered to help us defend and we graciously accepted. I also had a soldier named Sean, straight from Bootcamp to Africa with us, I also had another soldier who, unfortunately, was killed in action, he was a wild one though. I couldnt have asked for a better squad, they performed magnificently and we didnt lose one inch of the rails to the attacking Germans.
It was night when they attacked, the first wave was split, one group going up the rails toward my squad, the other group going down the right side of the village. They must have planned to go when it wasnt sweltering, because they had flash lights, when it turns out, was the cause of their deaths. During the first wave their rocketeer came out way, he was taken down either by the Finn, or by Sean, but I pressed up against the wall, shrouded in darkness. I saw the silhouette of a Wehrmacht soldier and shot. I heard the pang of his helmet. Then I saw another, and shot against. After that I saw no more. It was rather quiet for us after that, but we did hear shooting on the right and inside of the hotel. After about a 30 to 40 minute engagement, it quieted down. The Commander, now called Maverick amongst the men, had supply runners give us water and ammo. About two hours later, the second German attack started. This time my squad was prepared, we set up in the shadows, watching a road, and one up in the window of the hotel, ready to call out when our grenades would be most effected. Between The Finn, Our Sniper, called Bloodshot now, and myself, we were able to pick off one or two of their troops before they could cross down and get into position. Then my trooper in the window called out and a shot rang out. I found out after the attack that he had been shot and killed by a German Rifleman. They didnt risk losing more men on the rails. Instead they pushed toward the hotel, getting ready to move through a large hole in the wall. I told my men to stay guard and moved into the hotel kitchen, where the hole was. I was completely covered by the shadows. They didnt even see me, and I had two very visible Germans in my sights. When I shot the first one, the second one froze, I assume he was confused, and before he could recover I shot him too. It was here that their Flashlights betrayed them. As they would get close to the edge of the hole, their lights lit up the edges of the wall, so I knew which side they would be coming from. I tried to use the element of surprise as much as I could, it was a gutsy move, but it worked. As they would creep closer I would round the corner and shoot. It seemed to be working, I heard German's screaming and scrambling. Then they threw a grenade at me, I ducked behind the counter and it exploded. My ears were ringing, but as I set my rifle up again, they came around the corner and I was able to shoot them as they walked into the funnel of death. Not long after that they pulled back, ultimately leaving the ruined railyard to us.
The following day we got word that the Free French Army, and the British troopers in Africa had done their job and the German's were retreating completely. About a week later the French came into Argentan and started rebuilding, a waste of troops in my opinion, but.. when your country is under the rule of someone else, maybe you hold onto what you can?
Dear Martha,
Im fine dear, though Im sure you've read in the papers about France already. We may have lost that battle, but we're far from losing to Hitler. Things didnt go as expected at all for us, we thought that half of the division dropping, and 3 Infantry Divisions coming out of Netherlands we'd be able to push to Paris quickly, and gain a stronghold on the mainland of Europe. We dropped in the early hours of May 5th, and were supposed to land near Reims, but instead we were about 2 miles off and landed near a small town called Anvil. The town, as it turns out, was a key supply point of German Armor, and it served as Head Quarters for the 1st Gebirgsj?ger Division. The whole damn city was in ruins from Luftwaffe bombings earlier, and the German's have just built roadblocks amongst the ruins. We were already hurting pretty badly from the failed dropped, and we also lost a few sticks before they even had a chance to jump from Anti Air. We gathered up what men we could and set up for the attack on anvil. Our initial plan was for 3 prongs of attack. I would lead my squad down the main road, The Commander would take his men through the larger buildings, and the General was gonna take his men around the left side of the town, through some of the smaller buildings.
We were moving up some rubble to a door when I stopped, I looked back, they were all pretty young, all privates that I scrounged together. I told them to listen up, and stay on me, we started moving through the hotel slowly. I turned a corner and saw a German guard, I guess he hadnt expected us to come through that way because I was able to raise my garand quicker than he could raise his weapon, thankfully. We moved down the stairs, hearing gunfire above us. We were hoping that was the Commander's squad. We moved into a small hallway, which had been bombed out. I was still on point when a German automatic opened fire. A soldier pulled me back, out of the way of danger, but was hit himself. Luckily one of my quick shots, a guy called Mini cause of his short stature, was able to put down the enemy with a single shot. I checked over the injured troop and pulled him back. I told the other two that they'd hook up with the commander and push with them, that I had to get the hurt guy out. I returned to our makeshift HQ where I saw the Medic's already taking care of our injured. I did what I could to pitch in and help.
About an 20 minutes later the commander came back with what was left of his squad, and the two men I attached to him. 5 or 10 minutes after that, the General came back too. We had to reorganize and re-attack. We gathered up who was still standing and tried the same attack, but the German defenders had shifted their defense around a flak cannon and the hotels on the right side of town. We pushed again, but our second attack just cost us more lives and we pulled back. By then word had come through the the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Infantry Divisions had been pushed back. We retreated into the Netherlands at the cost of a little over a third of our active troops in the Netherlands.
15th August, 1943 -- The First German Invasion of North Africa.
Dear Martha,
We pushed the German's out of North Africa, for now. The place they decided to attack was called Argentan, the French had built in 1930 as french railyard for North Africa, and as a sort of "Home Away From Home" for the Foreign Legion regiments serving in Morocco, not a bad idea. They made the city as french as possible in the middle of Africa, it was quite an astounding job, really. It wasnt really a town or a city, just a major rail station, and the buildings were mostly for the workers and the French Soldiers taking leave there.
The German's decided they wanted the rail yard, so their first course of action was to bomb the hell out of it. They completely demolished the train yard, and one of the tunnels leading out of the village. At first we thought they wouldnt want it, and we were on the verge of pulling out ourselves, the village literally served no purpose now, unless they wanted to waste the time rebuilding it. However on the 6th of August we got reports of the German's moving toward the town. We were fresh from the failure of France and had mostly new troops in Africa. We set up defending the main hotel, the rails on the left of the village, and the back near our Head Quarters and our Bridge. My squad was on the rails, we were mostly rifles against and we had our sniper. A quiet man, Im not quite sure he is American, to be honest. I think he moved to America, then when war broke out, enlisted, he was a crack shot though and was there when it counted. I also had a Finnish soldier with us, he just happened to be in this Miniature Argentan when the German's first attacked, he volunteered to help us defend and we graciously accepted. I also had a soldier named Sean, straight from Bootcamp to Africa with us, I also had another soldier who, unfortunately, was killed in action, he was a wild one though. I couldnt have asked for a better squad, they performed magnificently and we didnt lose one inch of the rails to the attacking Germans.
It was night when they attacked, the first wave was split, one group going up the rails toward my squad, the other group going down the right side of the village. They must have planned to go when it wasnt sweltering, because they had flash lights, when it turns out, was the cause of their deaths. During the first wave their rocketeer came out way, he was taken down either by the Finn, or by Sean, but I pressed up against the wall, shrouded in darkness. I saw the silhouette of a Wehrmacht soldier and shot. I heard the pang of his helmet. Then I saw another, and shot against. After that I saw no more. It was rather quiet for us after that, but we did hear shooting on the right and inside of the hotel. After about a 30 to 40 minute engagement, it quieted down. The Commander, now called Maverick amongst the men, had supply runners give us water and ammo. About two hours later, the second German attack started. This time my squad was prepared, we set up in the shadows, watching a road, and one up in the window of the hotel, ready to call out when our grenades would be most effected. Between The Finn, Our Sniper, called Bloodshot now, and myself, we were able to pick off one or two of their troops before they could cross down and get into position. Then my trooper in the window called out and a shot rang out. I found out after the attack that he had been shot and killed by a German Rifleman. They didnt risk losing more men on the rails. Instead they pushed toward the hotel, getting ready to move through a large hole in the wall. I told my men to stay guard and moved into the hotel kitchen, where the hole was. I was completely covered by the shadows. They didnt even see me, and I had two very visible Germans in my sights. When I shot the first one, the second one froze, I assume he was confused, and before he could recover I shot him too. It was here that their Flashlights betrayed them. As they would get close to the edge of the hole, their lights lit up the edges of the wall, so I knew which side they would be coming from. I tried to use the element of surprise as much as I could, it was a gutsy move, but it worked. As they would creep closer I would round the corner and shoot. It seemed to be working, I heard German's screaming and scrambling. Then they threw a grenade at me, I ducked behind the counter and it exploded. My ears were ringing, but as I set my rifle up again, they came around the corner and I was able to shoot them as they walked into the funnel of death. Not long after that they pulled back, ultimately leaving the ruined railyard to us.
The following day we got word that the Free French Army, and the British troopers in Africa had done their job and the German's were retreating completely. About a week later the French came into Argentan and started rebuilding, a waste of troops in my opinion, but.. when your country is under the rule of someone else, maybe you hold onto what you can?
Last edited by a moderator:
