The Silencing of Merville
Scenario
This event is another history-based Comrades in Arms' WW2 event and follows the lesser known actions at Merville Battery in Normandy on D-Day +1.
The event takes us to the morning of 7th June 1944 when No 3 Commando, who had landed at Sword Beach the previous day, were tasked to re-take and silence the guns of Merville. The battery had been attacked the previous day but had been retaken by the garrison and was re-shelling the landing beaches.
The game will require guile and tactics as well as brute force and fire power. Motor bikes, vehicles and push bikes can all be usefully deployed. The British will have to navigate the Normandy countryside with mobile Germans troops everywhere and meet the withering fire power of the well entrenched battery garrison. It is hoped this game will, like no other game, make full use of the awesome and well-fed spitting 'Spandau'. The British forces have a poor line of supply so will have to be economical and resourceful.
In the real battle on the 7th June the British over-ran the battery only to lose it later in the day. How will our event pan out?
Sides
British:
No 4 Troop, No 3 Commando, 1st Special Service Brigade
No 5 Troop, No 3 Commando, 1st Special Service Brigade
German :
1./ Artillery Regiment 1716, 716th Infantry Division
3./ Grenadier-Regiment 736, 716th Infantry Division
4./ Grenadier-Regiment 736, 716th Infantry Division (formally Ost-Batallion 642)
Site
Close Action's Grafton Park near Kettering
Date and time
10am to 6pm Saturday 2nd August
Cost
£45 payable by £25 deposit or in full
Player age
Comrades in Arms events are for over 18's only (at the time of the event)
Camping
Yes, hardstanding and flat grass alongside car park
The event starts at Le Plain on the morning of the 7th June with No 3 Commando having crossed the canal and Orme bridges. With un-flooded land in front of them they need to travel North towards the Merville battery. There are two roads that define the boundaries of their designated planned assault. One circles to the right past Breville and the other to the left past Hauger.
The waiting German forces, now mobilised, consolidated and organised, are well aware of the extent of the local invasion. Plans for the Atlantic Wall are holding up, harassing and slowing progress of the enemy only to trap or repulse them as they try to pick their way through flooding and few roads. Progress is easy from the East, and yesterday's raiders of Merville not only failed to totally destroy the battery, they also missed the bulk of the garrison locked underground in their shelters. The area is criss-crossed with telephone communication. There is no shortage of small arms ammunition and resupply of troops and materiel is fair, considering the previous months of air bombing. Movement of man power is severely restricted from outside the area due to disruption of the rail network, and of course the Panzers are sorely missed. However, ambushes, traps and strong points have all been prepared and so members of the 716th Infantry should have the upper hand from the start.
The Commando are on foot as jeeps and personnel carriers are yet to make the shore in any great numbers. Their pockets and bergans are brimming with all the grenades, gammon bombs and ammunition they can carry. They have a radio man in each troop and sappers who carry limited amounts of 808. And they have one of the few mine detectors in the area, the airborne forces having lost all of theirs the previous morning. With no resupply, no back up and no detailed knowledge of the area or its lurking dangers the commandos will have to rely on teamwork and stealth, complicated by the need for speed and brute force.
Note that this game is not 'make believe'. We are closely following history - an actual event that happened on June 7th 1944. The site we are using closely replicates the actual area and you are being commanded by characters that led the real action.
Nos 4 & 5 Troop each consisted of 50 men so what we will try and do is give 3 Commando 100 'lives' over the course of the day. There will be no constant regen and trotting back and forth into battle. 3 Commando had no back up plan or additional resources. 4 & 5 Troop have NO IDEA of the layout of Merville or detailed knowledge of the area (unlike 6th Airborne who had planned for their action on 6th June for months previously). 4 & 5 Troop have a difficult and challenging job ahead of them.
5 Troop are only carrying arms and ammunition, 4 Troop are better equipped but nothing that could be described as 'ideal'.
While no less challenging in many ways, the Germans at least have local knowledge and resources plus, vitally, reinforcements to hand. They have the advantage of fixed bases and positions, giving the security of defence, and also manoeuvrability over a wide area - the double whammy.
For those interested in how events actually worked out take a look at No 3 Commando's diary and reports (about halfway down the page are detailed reports of the Merville action that clearly show how messy and confused real action is): http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/war_3cdo.htm
