Kimber VanRy | 17 Aug 2014 9:31 p.m. PST |
Check out Brooklyn Wargaming for the I Ain't Been Shot Mum scenario at Saint Lambert-Sur-Dives 1944. link
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Tin Soldier Man | 17 Aug 2014 11:13 p.m. PST |
Great looking table. What make are those buildings? |
Kimber VanRy | 18 Aug 2014 6:03 a.m. PST |
Most of the buildings are from Mark IV Miniatures and painted by me. The two shops at the far right are from Games of War and there are a couple shops from Miniature Bulding Authority mixed in. There are lots of pics via the links below. Here's info on my Mark IV buildings: link Here's info on all my terrain suppliers: link
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Rod I Robertson | 18 Aug 2014 12:03 p.m. PST |
Looks like a lovely game. Major Currie and the South Albertas would honoured to be paid such a fine tribute and the Argyles and Lincs would be proud too. Well done! Cheers. Rod Robertson |
FlyXwire | 18 Aug 2014 12:15 p.m. PST |
Sweet looking terrain – good tree stands tutorial on your blog! |
idontbelieveit | 18 Aug 2014 2:05 p.m. PST |
Nice. I'd like to do something set here using Chain of Command and 28mm. Do you know of any good guides to Canadian uniforms? |
Rod I Robertson | 18 Aug 2014 6:09 p.m. PST |
idontbelieveit: Try this site or the on following: link or link Rod Robertson |
idontbelieveit | 19 Aug 2014 9:28 a.m. PST |
Thanks Rod. That first link is excellent and I've learned a lot from it, but it still leaves me with some unanswered questions. There are photos of Canadian troops with a kind of square patch on the shoulder below the shoulder flash. In surviving uniforms these are diverse colors. I have no idea what that means. I've seen a photo of an argyll with one of those that is square in a kind of teal color. Did every soldier have that, or did it denote something for particular soldiers? Same battle dress has shoulder flash on both shoulders. Was that standard? Answers to questions like that is what I'm looking for. |
Rod I Robertson | 19 Aug 2014 12:35 p.m. PST |
idontbelieveit: Are these what you mean? These are from the First World War and as far as I remember did not appear on WWII uniforms.
Rod Robertson |
Rod I Robertson | 19 Aug 2014 12:41 p.m. PST |
idontbelieveit: Perhaps these are what you're referring to. They are not square but they are on the upper shoulder at clavicle height. link Rod Robertson |
Rod I Robertson | 19 Aug 2014 1:06 p.m. PST |
idontbelieveit: I am having trouble figuring out which badge/patch you mean. Do you mean the divisional patch sewn just below the regimental badge? If so for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of the 4th Armoured Division had a green badge with a tan maple leaf. see below: link Rod Robertson |
idontbelieveit | 19 Aug 2014 1:45 p.m. PST |
Yes, I guess it's the divisional patch. I hadn't seen that info. That's good! Here is one of the uniform pics, the second one from the top is from the argyll and sutherland: link |
Rod I Robertson | 19 Aug 2014 4:01 p.m. PST |
idontbelieveit: Having looked at your photos, I think the divisional patch is very faded or someone incorrectly sowed on a third division patch and it faded somewhat. The Argyll patch should be the same as the Foot Guards patch above the photos you referred to. Rod Robertson |
idontbelieveit | 19 Aug 2014 6:19 p.m. PST |
Yeah. I'm sure there's lots of slight variations based on what's available. But I think I know what should be on the uniform now. Thanks for the pointers. |
Jemima Fawr | 26 Aug 2014 3:25 a.m. PST |
Hi Rod, The Canadians were still using that system during the first half of WW2 and it was seen on the uniforms of 2nd Division in Dieppe, but it had gone by they time they deployed to Sicily in 1943. I was in St Lambert last Thursday (smack on the 70th Anniversary) and there's now a very nicely restored 2cm flak gun there as a memorial, which wasn't there last year. |
Rod I Robertson | 26 Aug 2014 6:51 a.m. PST |
Jemima Fawr: Speaking of St. Lamberts sur Dives, I have a question for you. How robust was the small bridge near the Chateau de Quantite? I have read varying descriptions that it was only a foot bridge for agricultural workers to a substantial bridge which light unarmoured vehicles could use. This is one of the routes Hauser used to get his paratroopers accross and I have a skirmish scenario set around the the chateau where Lt. Arkle Dunlop and an under-strength composite platoon of Lincs/Argylls supported by some South Alberta tanks are being swamped by a mixed bag of Germans. My sense is that it was only a foot bridge due to a description from a friend of mine who runs battlefield tours around Europe. But it can't hurt to get a second opinion. Cheers. Rod Robertson |
Jemima Fawr | 26 Aug 2014 10:56 p.m. PST |
Yeah, I think it was a foot bridge, though I've never seen a photo of it. The only vehicular crossings in the area are generally believed to be the bridges in St Lambert and Chambois and the ford at Moissy. That said, the Vire isn't exactly the Thames. It's probably about 20 feet wide and 3-4 feet deep at it's widest and deepest points. Enough to drown a vehicle, but eminently crossable by infantry. |
Jemima Fawr | 28 Aug 2014 4:00 a.m. PST |
Hi Rod, I had a look through my books last night and it would seem that the bridge at the Manoir de Quantite was passable to tanks. One French source specifically describes it as such. This seems to be borne out by several descriptions of two passable bridges in St Lambert; La Manoir de Quantite presumably being the second bridge after the St Lambert road bridge. The foot bridge mentioned in a number of accounts was at the Moulin de St Lambert. Several German units and senior officers, including Paul Hausser, had a nasty surprise when they arrived at the bridge (which was marked on their maps as a vehicular bridge) to find it only passable by infantry in single file! The other crossings, as mentioned above, were the Moissy Ford and the bridge in Chambois. Thanks to Currie VC's heroic actions, the Moissy Ford was the only crossing available to the Germans for quite a while, hence the massive concentration of destroyed vehicles in that small area. When you visit, it is deeply shocking to see just how small this area is. With the Canadians holding St Lambert and the joint Polish/US force at Chambois, the Germans were funnelled through a miniscule gap, only a couple of hundred yards wide. On top of that, everything is overlooked by the Polish-held high ground at Mont Ormel and the large Norman keep in Chambois. |
Rod I Robertson | 28 Aug 2014 6:09 a.m. PST |
Jemima Fawr: Passable to tanks you say!?! That is a surprise. I thought it might be strong enough to be used by cars, light trucks and farm tractors but never did I read it was passable to tanks! That is interesting news. In my scenario it is passable to trucks and halftracks but not tanks. I guess some revisions are in order! So I am conflating two bridges around the Chateau de Quantite into one it seems. That's good to know. I know the foot bridge was located north-northwest of the Chateau and I believe the farm-bridge was locate south or south-southwest of the Chateau. The location dichotomy always puzzled me and now at least that is solved. I discovered that the Chateau de Quantite is up for sale and if you have a spare 850,000 Euros rattling around in your pocket it can be yours! Thanks for the feed back and it seems I shall have to do more digging to find a definitive answer. I am aware of how limited and tiny the area was having visited in the early 1970's but I was too young to have given a fig about the Chateau then and I have lost all the photos and slides which my father took at St. Lambert. Doh! Cheers and Good Health! Rod Robertson |
Jemima Fawr | 28 Aug 2014 6:22 a.m. PST |
If I'd realised I would have got you a sales brochure there last Thursday… ;) |
Rod I Robertson | 28 Aug 2014 6:34 a.m. PST |
It's way out of my price range! |
Rod I Robertson | 28 Aug 2014 12:38 p.m. PST |
I found an interesting discussion of the battle and the geography of the area on line, but it is in French. It is quite detailed and has cleared up some of the misunderstandings I have had about the lay of the land and the battle. Enjoy! link Rod Robertson |