British commandos and French resistance attack the railway gun installation...
---oXo---
The commandos with their guide have arrived by the perimeter fence.....
On the other side of the railway gun installation, the resistance group is moving up the railway line (they have placed charges in two places along the line) ....
The commandos wait for a patrol to go past and then make a cut in the perimeter fence, they go through....
The resistance are also through the perimeter fence...
The commandos reach the gun turntable and start to set charges....the German patrol heard something and moved slightly closer...
The German patrol comes a bit closer and think they see a movement, they move up cautiously.....
The resistance are walking straight into a German patrol, the dog starts barking, one of the soldiers has seen them and fires a shot in the air to raise the alarm the other fires at them but misses ....
More Germans run out of the barracks building moving towards the Resistance group...
With the alarm raised German soldiers on the perimeter patrols move towards the nearest sound of gun-fire by the turntable...
The Resistance are now exchanging shots in the dark with the Germans and some are in hand-to-hand combat...
By the turntable, commandos trade shots with the Germans.....
A couple of the Germans are hit and go down. So far the commandos have laid charges at each end of the turntable and in the nearby equipment hut.
The resistance have lost a couple of men... it looks like they will be surrounded....
However two of the resistance fighters have found their way through and head towards the railway gun...
The Germans close in on the commandos by the turntable, but a group of three move off...
Germans and commandos are fighting hand-to-hand...
Three commandos reach the ammo store....
Meanwhile the Resistance are struggling to deal with the Germans ....
The Germans get the upper hand, and close in on the remaining resistance fighters...
The remaining resistance fighters have been eliminated or captured by the Germans, one gets away though...
Two of the resistance who had evaded the Germans, set charges in a supply dump, while some Germans move up to protect the railway gun...
Germans moving towards the railway gun are caught in a burst of machine gun fire from the Resistance and go down...
the Resistance set a charge on the railway gun...
The remaining commandos near the turntable are overwhelmed by the Germans...
The Germans search for the resistance fighters near the railway gun...
The resistance fighters evade the Germans in the dark and make their escape...
With no Germans around the commandos set a couple of charges on the railway gun....
The remaining commandos then make their way to the rendezvous point for extraction...
---oXo---
The Germans searched for charges after the fighting stopped, not much luck in the dark. As soon it was light they were about to start searching; but in the pale early morning light, the charges that had been laid went off, at the turntable....
on the railway gun .....
The ammo store explodes sending debris everywhere..... leaving a big hole in the adjacent railway line; the blast derails and damages the diesel shunter.
A good nights work by the attackers, the installation will be out of action for a long time...
---oXo---
Notes
1. Forces
- Germans:
- at the installation: 2men on the main gate, 6 men in the barracks ; perimeter guards four 2 man teams, 2 sentries on the railway gun, inner patrol with dog 2 men (patrols central area), 1 man in the watchtower. [21 total];
- reinforcements from local garrison by truck 8.
- Attackers: 7 commandos + 1 resistance guide; 8 resistance fighters [18 total]
2. Casualties: Germans 11; Commandos 3, Resistance 6.
3. Charges laid and damage inflicted...
Turntable 3 charges [8] Badly damaged, major work needed to repair
T/Table Equipment room. 1 charge [2] Minor damage
Supply dump 1
Supply dump 2
Supply dump 3 1 charge [2] Minor damage, small amount of supplies destroyed.
Ammo Store 2 charges [10] Kerboom ! flattened, large crater and lots of debris
Railway Gun. 2 charges [8] Disabled, major work needed to repair
Diesel Shunter. 1 charge [5] De-railed and damage to engine
Approaching Railway Line. 2 charges [10] Two sections of line damaged, needs replacing
