In the early hours of May 10th, almost 20,000 German
paratroopers dropped into the Netherlands to prepare for the
German advance. One of the goals of the German Army was
the capture of the Dutch government at the Hague. To that
end, multiple bridges needed to be captured – among them
the bridges over the Hollandsch Diep – a water barrier nearly a
mile across. At 0400, German fighters strafed the anti-aircraft
positions near Moerdijk, while bombers attacked the Dutch
garrison at Willemsdorp. Twenty minutes later, II Battalion
of the Fallschirmjäger Regiment 1 dropped on both sides of
the river in an attempt to secure the bridgehead until relieved
by 9th Panzer…
I put on a small game at Marc's house tonight – Scenario 1 from my book "In the Clutches of Eagles"
We used Marc's excellent kit – although we had to substitute for some of the Dutch troops, as we don't have 3 battalions of Dutch. (And we used British order covers).
A view of the battlefield looking north
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And another looking south
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The Dutch 50mm guards the bridge approaches
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The Willemsdorp Defense Group scans the skies for incoming enemy aircraft.
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While the Southern Defense Group (including a 6-veld infantry gun) guards the road.
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Unbeknownst to the Germans, the two stands in the building in the foreground are dummies.
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5 and 6 Kompanie FJ Regiment 1 land north of the river among the buildings in Willemsdorp. Dutch machinegun fire combined with broken shoulders and arms from landing in and among the buildings eliminate one of the platoons of 5 Kp, while the rest consolidate their positions.
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Meanwhile 7 and 8 Kp land just to the west of Moerdijk
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5 and 6 Kp begin to clear Willemsdorp
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7 and 8 KP move to take positions flanking Moerdijk
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The last vestiges of the Dutch defense of Willemsdorp succumb to the German attack, and 5 KP takes the bunker complex from behind.
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8 Kp swarms the AAMG in Moerdijk
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While 7 Kp has cleared the Vickers position
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Responding to the frantic telephone calls for help, 1st Battalion of the 28th Regiment arrives from the north.
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While the southern defenses begin to arrive at the outskirts of Moerdijk.
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They are joined by the forward elements of the 6th Border Infantry Battalion from Breda, who arrive on bicycles
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The Dutch infantry arrive at the outskirts of Willemsdorp.
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5 Kp pushes across the elevated railroad to take the last objective, the north edge of the railbridge.
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Elements of the Southern Defense force are pushed back in disarray by German fire.
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The rest of the Border Infantry move into Moerdijk, pushing 7 Kp back Shaken out of the town. However, the firepower of the weapons company will allow the Germans to repulse any further attempts to clear the town.
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The Dutch are closing in on Willemsdorp…
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While 5 Kp is wiped out by the valiant Dutch defenders.
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At the end of the game, although the Germans held Moerdijk and the southern end of the road bridge, they were unable to hold on to the northern side of the river.
It was a close run game, and had a couple more dice rolls gone the German's way, it could have been a German victory :)
experiments to find a better way to mount aircraft for wargaming.
