Sir John Valentine Carden survives.
- Thread starter allanpcameron
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That would be interesting. Wouldn't that prevent that dash to Paris that the panzer divisions did? Or am I thinking of the wrong general?
Yes the Stukas often attacked the artillery - even as late as kasserine pass they were getting away with it with 90% of Stuka attacks made against artillery units
Well, its logical
Guns do the most damage, and they are out in the open and not able to get away fast - primary target.
Second would be infantry, again little protection and unable to get away fast
Last would be armour - a much harder target, and they have an annoying tendency to drive around making them hard to hit.
Guns do the most damage, and they are out in the open and not able to get away fast - primary target.
Second would be infantry, again little protection and unable to get away fast
Last would be armour - a much harder target, and they have an annoying tendency to drive around making them hard to hit.
21 May 1940. 16:00hrs. Wailly. France.
allanpcameron
Donor
21 May 1940. 16:00hrs. Wailly. France.
D Company, 7th Bn Royal Tank Regiment, hadn’t got the message to turn back to support A Company and the Battalion HQ in the fight at Warlus. They had continued following the line of pylons that had brought them to the railway, which had been the original start line. Without orders to the contrary, the thirteen tanks (three A12s and ten A11s), of the Company headed towards Wailly, with the intention of carrying on towards Ficheux. As battle was entered, communication within the Company broke down, so that the tanks advanced either as three-tank sections, or more commonly, individually.
On arriving at Wailly the British tanks once more stumbled into a German column. This time it was Oberst Georg von Bismark’s 7th Rifle Regiment that had the misfortune to meet the British tanks without preparation. The Wehrmacht troops responded quickly, getting their 37mm anti-tank guns into position, but the fire from the Infantry tanks, combined with their thick armour, meant that other than a few tanks whose tracks were hit, there was nothing that the Germans could do to stop them.
It was the 7th Rifle Regiment that 7th Panzer Division’s commanding officer, General Rommel had come to find. He needed them at Acq to force a crossing of the river Scarpe, but they were still almost 15km from where they needed to be. Rommel had found one of his howitzer batteries just to the west of Wailly, and here he had finally been brought up to date about the situation. From Acq, Oberst Rothenburg had informed him of what had happened to II Battalion of the 25th Panzer Regiment. Rommel immediately ordered Rothenburg to turn around and engage whatever French or British forces he found. The 6th Rifle Regiment’s burning vehicles were clearly evident on the road between Wailly and Agny, and now his 7th Rifle Regiment was being put to the sword.
Rommel’s diary: “Half a mile east of Wailly we came under fire from the north. One of our howitzer batteries was already in position at the northern exit from the village, firing rapidly on enemy tanks attacking southwards from Arras…As we were now coming under machine-gun fire and the infantry had already taken cover to the right, Lieutenant Most and I ran on in front of the armoured cars towards a battery position. It did not look as though the battery would have much difficulty dealing with the enemy tanks, for the gunners were calmly hurling round after round into them in complete disregard of the return fire. Running along behind the battery lines, we arrived at Wailly and then called up the vehicles. The enemy tank fire had created chaos and confusion among our troops in the village and they were jamming up the roads and yards with their vehicles, instead of going into action with every available weapon to fight off the oncoming enemy.”
“After notifying the divisional staff of the critical situation in and around Wailly we drove off to a hill 1km (north)west of the village (Ferme du Belloy), where we found a light anti-aircraft platoon and several anti-tank guns located in hollows and a small wood, most of which them totally under cover. The leading enemy, among them three heavy, had already crossed the Arras-Beaumetz railway and shot up one of our panzers. At the same time several enemy tanks were advancing across the railway line towards Wailly. It was an extremely tight spot, for there were also several enemy tanks close to Wailly on its northern side. The crew of a howitzer battery, some distance away, now left their guns, swept along by the retreating infantry. With Most’s help, I brought every available gun into action at top speed against the tanks. Every gun, both anti-tank and anti-aircraft, was ordered to open rapid fire immediately, and I personally gave each gun its target. With the enemy tanks so perilously close, only rapid fire from every gun could save the situation. We ran from gun to gun. The objections of the gun commanders that the range was still too great to engage the tans effectively were overruled. All I cared about was to halt the enemy tanks by heavy gunfire. Soon we succeeded in putting the leading enemy tanks out of action…Over by the howitzer battalion also, despite a range of 1200 to 5500m, the rapid fire of our anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns succeeded in bringing the enemy to a halt and forcing some of them to turn away.”
“Although we were under very heavy fire from the tanks during this action, the gun crews worked magnificently. The worst seemed to be over, and the attack beaten off, when suddenly Most sank to the ground behind a 20mm anti-aircraft gun close beside me. He was mortally wounded and blood gushed from his mouth. I had had no idea that there was any firing in our vicinity at that moment. Now, however, the enemy started dropping heavy gunfire into our position in the wood. Poor Most was beyond help and died before he could be carried into cover beside the gun position. The death of this brave man, a magnificent soldier, touched me deeply.”*
Three of the five (three tank) sections in the Company, flanked by the 59th and 86th Light Anti-aircraft batteries and elements of the 42nd anti-tank Battalion, personally led by Rommel, were set on fire or had their tracks knocked off. The pompoms on the A11s managed to silence a number of German guns in exchange. The last two sections, including the three A12s overran the howitzer battalion and continued onwards making the withdrawal of the 7th Rifle Regiment into something of a rout. Without infantry however, the six tanks weren’t able to take prisoners, only destroy whatever vehicles or guns that they encountered.
These six Infantry tanks continued in the direction of Ficheux, unaware of what had befallen the rest of their Company. The SS Totenkopf Division was moving to the west of 7th Panzer Division’s line of advance, protecting the open left flank. With Rommel now back in communication both the SS and the Luftwaffe were called on to come to the support of the 7th Panzer Division. Elements of the Totenkopf Division took up positions on the ridge than runs between Ficheux and Mercatel. When the British Infantry Tanks ran into the 37mm guns of the anti-tank battery, a couple more of the tanks were knocked out through the loss of tracks, but the rest simply overran the German guns and gunners, sometimes literally.
Having put the enemy to flight, the senior officer, Lieutenant Tom Craig signalled for the other surviving tanks to pause. Looking around it was clear that the six tanks were on their own. Ammunition was dwindling, and their fuel tanks were emptying fast. Craig decided to turn back. The original objective, the River Cojeul, was still about two miles ahead, but with thickening enemy resistance, and the situation regarding fuel and ammunition, Craig decided that they should head back in the direction of Arras. As they did set out, they started coming under fire from German batteries nearer Mercatel, including an anti-aircraft battery of 8.8cm Flak guns. The result was that only three tanks made it to Agny to join up with C Company of 4th Bn RTR. Twelve out of the fifteen tanks of D Company 7th Bn RTR had been destroyed in the action, though of the thirty-nine tank crew members, only twelve were missing, believed killed or captured. Due to their sacrifice, 7th Rifle Regiment of 7th Panzer Division had been hit hard and scattered, as well as some causing some casualties among the SS Totenkopf Division.
Italic text differs from OTL
*Quoted in both Arras counter-attack 1940 and Frankforce books mentioned previously.
The difference here is that it is only D Company 7th RTR which suffers so heavily, not the whole battalion. OTL of the 88 tanks of 4th and 7th RTR that started the operation 60 were abandoned or knocked out by the end of the operation. Here, HQ and A Company 7RTR lost 7 against the panzers at Warlus, D Coy has lost 12, B Coy is still complete. 4 RTR's HQ, A and D Companies were mostly wiped out OTL at Beaurains. TTL they only lost three tanks to the guns on Telegraph hill. So at this point First Army Tank Brigade is still a going concern.
D Company, 7th Bn Royal Tank Regiment, hadn’t got the message to turn back to support A Company and the Battalion HQ in the fight at Warlus. They had continued following the line of pylons that had brought them to the railway, which had been the original start line. Without orders to the contrary, the thirteen tanks (three A12s and ten A11s), of the Company headed towards Wailly, with the intention of carrying on towards Ficheux. As battle was entered, communication within the Company broke down, so that the tanks advanced either as three-tank sections, or more commonly, individually.
On arriving at Wailly the British tanks once more stumbled into a German column. This time it was Oberst Georg von Bismark’s 7th Rifle Regiment that had the misfortune to meet the British tanks without preparation. The Wehrmacht troops responded quickly, getting their 37mm anti-tank guns into position, but the fire from the Infantry tanks, combined with their thick armour, meant that other than a few tanks whose tracks were hit, there was nothing that the Germans could do to stop them.
It was the 7th Rifle Regiment that 7th Panzer Division’s commanding officer, General Rommel had come to find. He needed them at Acq to force a crossing of the river Scarpe, but they were still almost 15km from where they needed to be. Rommel had found one of his howitzer batteries just to the west of Wailly, and here he had finally been brought up to date about the situation. From Acq, Oberst Rothenburg had informed him of what had happened to II Battalion of the 25th Panzer Regiment. Rommel immediately ordered Rothenburg to turn around and engage whatever French or British forces he found. The 6th Rifle Regiment’s burning vehicles were clearly evident on the road between Wailly and Agny, and now his 7th Rifle Regiment was being put to the sword.
Rommel’s diary: “Half a mile east of Wailly we came under fire from the north. One of our howitzer batteries was already in position at the northern exit from the village, firing rapidly on enemy tanks attacking southwards from Arras…As we were now coming under machine-gun fire and the infantry had already taken cover to the right, Lieutenant Most and I ran on in front of the armoured cars towards a battery position. It did not look as though the battery would have much difficulty dealing with the enemy tanks, for the gunners were calmly hurling round after round into them in complete disregard of the return fire. Running along behind the battery lines, we arrived at Wailly and then called up the vehicles. The enemy tank fire had created chaos and confusion among our troops in the village and they were jamming up the roads and yards with their vehicles, instead of going into action with every available weapon to fight off the oncoming enemy.”
“After notifying the divisional staff of the critical situation in and around Wailly we drove off to a hill 1km (north)west of the village (Ferme du Belloy), where we found a light anti-aircraft platoon and several anti-tank guns located in hollows and a small wood, most of which them totally under cover. The leading enemy, among them three heavy, had already crossed the Arras-Beaumetz railway and shot up one of our panzers. At the same time several enemy tanks were advancing across the railway line towards Wailly. It was an extremely tight spot, for there were also several enemy tanks close to Wailly on its northern side. The crew of a howitzer battery, some distance away, now left their guns, swept along by the retreating infantry. With Most’s help, I brought every available gun into action at top speed against the tanks. Every gun, both anti-tank and anti-aircraft, was ordered to open rapid fire immediately, and I personally gave each gun its target. With the enemy tanks so perilously close, only rapid fire from every gun could save the situation. We ran from gun to gun. The objections of the gun commanders that the range was still too great to engage the tans effectively were overruled. All I cared about was to halt the enemy tanks by heavy gunfire. Soon we succeeded in putting the leading enemy tanks out of action…Over by the howitzer battalion also, despite a range of 1200 to 5500m, the rapid fire of our anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns succeeded in bringing the enemy to a halt and forcing some of them to turn away.”
“Although we were under very heavy fire from the tanks during this action, the gun crews worked magnificently. The worst seemed to be over, and the attack beaten off, when suddenly Most sank to the ground behind a 20mm anti-aircraft gun close beside me. He was mortally wounded and blood gushed from his mouth. I had had no idea that there was any firing in our vicinity at that moment. Now, however, the enemy started dropping heavy gunfire into our position in the wood. Poor Most was beyond help and died before he could be carried into cover beside the gun position. The death of this brave man, a magnificent soldier, touched me deeply.”*
Three of the five (three tank) sections in the Company, flanked by the 59th and 86th Light Anti-aircraft batteries and elements of the 42nd anti-tank Battalion, personally led by Rommel, were set on fire or had their tracks knocked off. The pompoms on the A11s managed to silence a number of German guns in exchange. The last two sections, including the three A12s overran the howitzer battalion and continued onwards making the withdrawal of the 7th Rifle Regiment into something of a rout. Without infantry however, the six tanks weren’t able to take prisoners, only destroy whatever vehicles or guns that they encountered.
These six Infantry tanks continued in the direction of Ficheux, unaware of what had befallen the rest of their Company. The SS Totenkopf Division was moving to the west of 7th Panzer Division’s line of advance, protecting the open left flank. With Rommel now back in communication both the SS and the Luftwaffe were called on to come to the support of the 7th Panzer Division. Elements of the Totenkopf Division took up positions on the ridge than runs between Ficheux and Mercatel. When the British Infantry Tanks ran into the 37mm guns of the anti-tank battery, a couple more of the tanks were knocked out through the loss of tracks, but the rest simply overran the German guns and gunners, sometimes literally.
Having put the enemy to flight, the senior officer, Lieutenant Tom Craig signalled for the other surviving tanks to pause. Looking around it was clear that the six tanks were on their own. Ammunition was dwindling, and their fuel tanks were emptying fast. Craig decided to turn back. The original objective, the River Cojeul, was still about two miles ahead, but with thickening enemy resistance, and the situation regarding fuel and ammunition, Craig decided that they should head back in the direction of Arras. As they did set out, they started coming under fire from German batteries nearer Mercatel, including an anti-aircraft battery of 8.8cm Flak guns. The result was that only three tanks made it to Agny to join up with C Company of 4th Bn RTR. Twelve out of the fifteen tanks of D Company 7th Bn RTR had been destroyed in the action, though of the thirty-nine tank crew members, only twelve were missing, believed killed or captured. Due to their sacrifice, 7th Rifle Regiment of 7th Panzer Division had been hit hard and scattered, as well as some causing some casualties among the SS Totenkopf Division.
Italic text differs from OTL
*Quoted in both Arras counter-attack 1940 and Frankforce books mentioned previously.
The difference here is that it is only D Company 7th RTR which suffers so heavily, not the whole battalion. OTL of the 88 tanks of 4th and 7th RTR that started the operation 60 were abandoned or knocked out by the end of the operation. Here, HQ and A Company 7RTR lost 7 against the panzers at Warlus, D Coy has lost 12, B Coy is still complete. 4 RTR's HQ, A and D Companies were mostly wiped out OTL at Beaurains. TTL they only lost three tanks to the guns on Telegraph hill. So at this point First Army Tank Brigade is still a going concern.
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Ooof! So the Germans have now had one Panzer brigade chewed up, as well as an infantry regiment getting mauled, along with the destruction of several artillery and AA positions AND damage to SS Totenkopf's armoured units. And the British have met up (finally) with their infantry and AT guns and no longer wandering around the French countryside.
A bloody nose for the Germans. Not enough to turn the tide of the war but plenty of lessons for the British Army to learn about how they handle their armour and hopefully a bit more confidence for British tank crews that they can go against German guns and have the weapons they need to take them on.
No, but the map above shows that the 5th Panzer is advancing on the HQ and A Company of 4th RTR in Beaurains, but unlike OTL this time around it's taken up defensive positions supported by infantry and artillery units rather than attacking.
That isn't going to go well for the 5th Panzer.
That isn't going to go well for the 5th Panzer.
21 May 1940. 17:00hrs. Arras, France.
allanpcameron
Donor
21 May 1940. 17:00hrs. Arras, France.
Throughout the day the Luftwaffe had been overhead fulfilling their planned sorties on Arras and the immediate surrounding areas. Now that General Rommel had called for assistance, any movement by tanks or infantry was now subject to attacks by Stukas.
At Duisans the 8th DLI were caught in the open. Major English described it: “The attack went on for about ten or fifteen minutes and each plane seemed to drop five or six bombs, one at a time. There was quite a bit of our transport on the road. The attack was almost unopposed, and we had an Ack-Ack platoon with HQ Company and they had one truck with Bren guns mounted on tripods and a gunner was firing from this truck until the truck just in front of him was hit. He then took cover. The actual damage was slight. They damaged three trucks and about ten men were wounded in the two forward companies and Battalion HQ, but the morale damage was very considerable. It was the first time we had been in action and we were subjected to this terrifying aerial attack and everyone was absolutely shattered. After a few minutes the officers and some of the NCOs collected themselves and said, ‘Right, we must get on with it,’ but it was very difficult to get the men moving – we had to kick them into position and the effect was very considerable. As the campaign went on we were frequently dive-bombed and by the second time and certainly by the third time the chaps realised that the bark of the Stuka was very much worse than its actual bite, and we began to take very little notice of them – casualties were caused, but the morale effect had gone.”
One of the Royal Artillery officers had a close encounter with fighters as the battery was setting up: “Near Dainville, about a mile and a half from the area that was to be occupied by our battery position, two French tanks were drawn up stationary on the road alongside a small copse. As I approached, five Messerschmitts wheeled around, one behind the other, in preparation to attack them. The tanks had seen the planes, and were just closing their turrets. I guessed what was coming their way, and hoped to get past in time to avoid getting a share of it. But I was too late. Just as I came abreast of the tanks the first plane was beginning its dive right overhead. ‘Jump for it’ I yelled. I shot out of one side of the truck as my driver and wireless operator took a headlong leap out of the other. I scrambled into a hedge-less ditch by the roadside just as the German machine guns began to spray the road. My ditch was so shallow that I could only partly conceal my head. Bullets whizzed in front of my face. When they smacked the dry earth at the edge of the ditch puffs of dirt spurted up, half-blinding me. Every now and then a bullet flew so close that the blast hit me in the face like a punch, and I touched myself to see if I had been wounded, and was quite surprised not to see blood on my hand. For nearly ten minutes the fight went on, the planes circling around a hundred feet up and the tanks firing back at them. When silence came I poked my head up gingerly out of the ditch.” When he got back to the gun positions his bullet riddled vehicle excited much interest.
While the artillery battery itself had moved into their hide, much of the transport was still on the move, the Battery HQ and Gun Position Party were spotted by a squadron of nine Stukas. “We saw them coming at us in flights of three. The circled around overhead and on the second circle formed a line to make their dive…straight at us, with a nerve-shattering scream that rose to a crescendo the neared they came. At about five hundred feet from the ground, three bombs, like a clutch of black ostrich eggs, dropped from the pane. The also seemed to be coming straight for us.” The British troops had made a wild rush for cover, but once the bombs had fallen and the Stukas departed, the only damage was a punctured tyre on one of the trucks.
At Beaurains, the Stukas hit the crossroads where C Company DLI were passing through, causing some killed and wounded. The survivors were heartened to see one Stuka crash and burn. One of the A11 tanks had managed to get into a position on a slope where its pompom gun had been able to elevate enough to hit the dive-bomber at the bottom of its dive. The shaken survivors of C Company DLI joined the tanks of B Company 4th Bn RTR in blocking the road from Tilloy-lès-Mofflaines.
A large crater on the road back at Achicourt had been holding up the motor transport of the 6th DLI, including the anti-tank guns, but this had been filled in sufficiently for these much-needed reinforcements to arrive in position alongside the rest of 6th DLI and 4th Bn RTR.
Not knowing what had happened to D Company, Lt-Col Heyland had brought his surviving HQ and A Company tanks, along with B Company back from Warlus towards Dainville. At the request of Lt-Col Bean, Heyland had ordered B Company to Duisans to give the 8th DLI some support as they hardened their positions against possible German attacks. He would remain at Dainville with the surviving tanks to act as a mobile reserve.
Once more General Martel and Brigadier Pratt met with one another. Martel was angry at Pratt’s order for the 4th Bn RTR to hold in place at Beaurains. But it was becoming clear to him that further progress with the original plan was impossible. The decision now had to be made. Should they order both columns to retrace their steps and return to Vimy Ridge now, or wait until after dark, when the attacks from the air stop? It seemed that both columns, reunited with their infantry were in fact in very good defensive positions. Word had arrived that the 365th Battery (92nd Field Regiment RA), which was meant to have supported the right column had finally made its way through the hordes of refugees and was setting up between Maroeuil and Anzin-St Aubin. Once they were in position, and hopefully able to communicate with the right column, it would again give 7th Bn RTR and 8th DLI the artillery support that would make their position more secure. Lastly, General Martel had been in contact with his opposite number at the 3e DLM who affirmed that his chars would continue to harass and destroy the Germans for the rest of day, only withdrawing after sunset. That confirmed for the two British officers that the order to hold in place was to remain, but the order to withdraw to Vimy Ridge would be given so that it could be done under the cover of darkness.
Italic text differs from OTL.
The direct quotes again come from Arras counter-attack 1940. Op cit.
Throughout the day the Luftwaffe had been overhead fulfilling their planned sorties on Arras and the immediate surrounding areas. Now that General Rommel had called for assistance, any movement by tanks or infantry was now subject to attacks by Stukas.
At Duisans the 8th DLI were caught in the open. Major English described it: “The attack went on for about ten or fifteen minutes and each plane seemed to drop five or six bombs, one at a time. There was quite a bit of our transport on the road. The attack was almost unopposed, and we had an Ack-Ack platoon with HQ Company and they had one truck with Bren guns mounted on tripods and a gunner was firing from this truck until the truck just in front of him was hit. He then took cover. The actual damage was slight. They damaged three trucks and about ten men were wounded in the two forward companies and Battalion HQ, but the morale damage was very considerable. It was the first time we had been in action and we were subjected to this terrifying aerial attack and everyone was absolutely shattered. After a few minutes the officers and some of the NCOs collected themselves and said, ‘Right, we must get on with it,’ but it was very difficult to get the men moving – we had to kick them into position and the effect was very considerable. As the campaign went on we were frequently dive-bombed and by the second time and certainly by the third time the chaps realised that the bark of the Stuka was very much worse than its actual bite, and we began to take very little notice of them – casualties were caused, but the morale effect had gone.”
One of the Royal Artillery officers had a close encounter with fighters as the battery was setting up: “Near Dainville, about a mile and a half from the area that was to be occupied by our battery position, two French tanks were drawn up stationary on the road alongside a small copse. As I approached, five Messerschmitts wheeled around, one behind the other, in preparation to attack them. The tanks had seen the planes, and were just closing their turrets. I guessed what was coming their way, and hoped to get past in time to avoid getting a share of it. But I was too late. Just as I came abreast of the tanks the first plane was beginning its dive right overhead. ‘Jump for it’ I yelled. I shot out of one side of the truck as my driver and wireless operator took a headlong leap out of the other. I scrambled into a hedge-less ditch by the roadside just as the German machine guns began to spray the road. My ditch was so shallow that I could only partly conceal my head. Bullets whizzed in front of my face. When they smacked the dry earth at the edge of the ditch puffs of dirt spurted up, half-blinding me. Every now and then a bullet flew so close that the blast hit me in the face like a punch, and I touched myself to see if I had been wounded, and was quite surprised not to see blood on my hand. For nearly ten minutes the fight went on, the planes circling around a hundred feet up and the tanks firing back at them. When silence came I poked my head up gingerly out of the ditch.” When he got back to the gun positions his bullet riddled vehicle excited much interest.
While the artillery battery itself had moved into their hide, much of the transport was still on the move, the Battery HQ and Gun Position Party were spotted by a squadron of nine Stukas. “We saw them coming at us in flights of three. The circled around overhead and on the second circle formed a line to make their dive…straight at us, with a nerve-shattering scream that rose to a crescendo the neared they came. At about five hundred feet from the ground, three bombs, like a clutch of black ostrich eggs, dropped from the pane. The also seemed to be coming straight for us.” The British troops had made a wild rush for cover, but once the bombs had fallen and the Stukas departed, the only damage was a punctured tyre on one of the trucks.
At Beaurains, the Stukas hit the crossroads where C Company DLI were passing through, causing some killed and wounded. The survivors were heartened to see one Stuka crash and burn. One of the A11 tanks had managed to get into a position on a slope where its pompom gun had been able to elevate enough to hit the dive-bomber at the bottom of its dive. The shaken survivors of C Company DLI joined the tanks of B Company 4th Bn RTR in blocking the road from Tilloy-lès-Mofflaines.
A large crater on the road back at Achicourt had been holding up the motor transport of the 6th DLI, including the anti-tank guns, but this had been filled in sufficiently for these much-needed reinforcements to arrive in position alongside the rest of 6th DLI and 4th Bn RTR.
Not knowing what had happened to D Company, Lt-Col Heyland had brought his surviving HQ and A Company tanks, along with B Company back from Warlus towards Dainville. At the request of Lt-Col Bean, Heyland had ordered B Company to Duisans to give the 8th DLI some support as they hardened their positions against possible German attacks. He would remain at Dainville with the surviving tanks to act as a mobile reserve.
Once more General Martel and Brigadier Pratt met with one another. Martel was angry at Pratt’s order for the 4th Bn RTR to hold in place at Beaurains. But it was becoming clear to him that further progress with the original plan was impossible. The decision now had to be made. Should they order both columns to retrace their steps and return to Vimy Ridge now, or wait until after dark, when the attacks from the air stop? It seemed that both columns, reunited with their infantry were in fact in very good defensive positions. Word had arrived that the 365th Battery (92nd Field Regiment RA), which was meant to have supported the right column had finally made its way through the hordes of refugees and was setting up between Maroeuil and Anzin-St Aubin. Once they were in position, and hopefully able to communicate with the right column, it would again give 7th Bn RTR and 8th DLI the artillery support that would make their position more secure. Lastly, General Martel had been in contact with his opposite number at the 3e DLM who affirmed that his chars would continue to harass and destroy the Germans for the rest of day, only withdrawing after sunset. That confirmed for the two British officers that the order to hold in place was to remain, but the order to withdraw to Vimy Ridge would be given so that it could be done under the cover of darkness.
Italic text differs from OTL.
The direct quotes again come from Arras counter-attack 1940. Op cit.
Sunset is approx 8:30 pm from what I can work out, so 4RTR is going to be hunkering down for about four hours or so. Will the Germans have a go before then or wait for the morning to have another go?
If 4RTR and supporting units successfully withdraw back to Vimy Ridge, what is going to happen to the Canadian Memorial there? Nothing happened OTL, but there was a lot of concern on both sides about damage to the Memorial.
Interesting to see the Matilda I claim a Stuka scalp. Wonder if that will have any effect on development of a SPAAG.
If 4RTR and supporting units successfully withdraw back to Vimy Ridge, what is going to happen to the Canadian Memorial there? Nothing happened OTL, but there was a lot of concern on both sides about damage to the Memorial.
Interesting to see the Matilda I claim a Stuka scalp. Wonder if that will have any effect on development of a SPAAG.
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