The Battle of Hythe played 24th Sept & 2nd Oct 2021 at Mikey's establishment is part of John's ongoing 20mm Sealion campaign.
Wek One same a small force of Home Guard overwhelmed by the arrival of a significant German amphibious force who began landing on the British left flank, this avoiding an extensive sea wall that covered the centre and right of the British positions.
On the British right flank, upon the sea wall, was stationed an old WW1 naval gun to be used for costal defence. Unfortunately it had very limited ammunition and this was fully depleted after two turns and the rest of week one of the game involved the extraction of these artillery crewmen to enable them to be used in future defence lines.
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| Left flank of British lines, town of Hythe and the main German landing zone |
In the photo above can be seen one of the two British pill boxes deployed along the shore line, the central one that is in view, was manned by an MG team whilst the second one - out of sight on the extreme left flank, remained unmanned - this allowing the invading forces an easy ride to the shore line.
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| German armed trawler, providing close support covering fire for invasion fleet |
The German assault launches and barges were protected by an armed trawler and the whole invasion was guarded from the skies by the Luftwaffe.
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| Luftwaffe on CAP duties |
On the right flank of the British lies was there local HQ and Field Hospital, due to the bias of the German invasion being to the left - these played little part in the game.
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| British Field Hospital |
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| Close-up of some of the transport pressed into service by the British at the field hospital |
As already noted the Home Guard occupied and defending Hythe were quickly overwhelmed at great cost to themselves, Week one ended with a relief column just arriving on the board, in the centre of the British lines, key to this was the occupation of a bunker complex by artillery spotters who established a link to a battery if two 18lber guns who began indirect fire at the start of Game Week #2.
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| Centre/Right of British rear lines, the relief column began to arrive just to the left of here in Week Two, with the observation bunker just to the right, allowing a good view on the beach. |
British artillery opened up immediately on the main landing barges approaching the shoreline, with hit son both vessels from the outset. With little other movement possible by the British as they slowly arrived in the rear areas, it was evident that Hythe had already largely fallen to the German onslaught.
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| One of the FOO teams from the British relief force |
Further shelling by the British 18lbers bought additional success, with one of the landing barges severely damaged and the second one sunk on the beach head. This was also fortuitously carrying the German HQ assets and causing the remaining elements of the HQ unit to scurry to the cover of teh sea wall to regain their composure.
As the landing barge sank an 18lb shell landed squarely on top of a recently emerged Amphibious tank, luckily the shell bounced off, but the tank was marked for future reference and crucially delayed in deploying to land activities.
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| German armour in Hythe |
Meanwhile the position in Hythe further deteriorated with, with German tanks entering the town and infantry units passing house to house. It became clear to the British relief force that they had arrived too late to make a decisive difference. With the option of throwing themselves against the enemy forces for little likely gain or retiring to the nearby Military Canal where more extensive defendable positions could be found, they opted for the later.
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| German infantry flanking around Hythe's built-up area on extreme British left flank |
Back with the 18lbers and they came knocking again, taking out the delayed amphibious tank on the beach and then a couple turns later taking out a second amphibious tank as it tried to exit the beach and get on to more 'terra firma' ground. Great shooting from these guys!
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| The British start to pull out |
Nonetheless, orders were given to pull out as fast as possible and the British troops executed this swiftly and efficiently, despite a last turn strafing run by the Luftwaffe and then quiet. The Germans had landed and the British retired to form a secondary defence line where greater support would be available.
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| On the move back to better positions |
Thanks to John for running the campaign and to Mark for umpiring the game with his WW2 rules and knowledge of the period.
