Lofoten War Museum, Svolvaer

Although we went to a few museums on our recent trip to Norway, I only visited one dedicated war museum. This was the Lofoton War Museum in Svolvaer on the Lofoten Islands. Svolvaer was one of the main targets of the WW2 Lofoten raid as there were oil storage tanks there and some of the shipping in the harbour was sunk too..

It is quite a small museum, made up of various private collections.

But fairly easy to find due to the sea mine (complete with anchor gear) outside!

1940 era Norwegian equipment and skis. 

Norwegian 1940 uniform, a sort of grey green with mid brown leather equipment. 

A SS trooper in winter uniform. Oddly he is wearing a grey panzer wrap jacket. There were quite a few SS uniforms of various types on display, private collections tend to go in for a lot of that sort of thing.

Assorted Germans in 1940 campaign uniforms. A Luftwaffe signaller and  a pair of Gebirgsjager. One of them has a Bergman MP18. Which you could actually handle!

And uniforms of various Allied and Norwegian troops from 1940.

A resistance radio set which apparently has an insert of cut out caricatures of various Nazi bigwigs. Probably not very safe to have that on display if the Gestapo came calling. 

U Boat crewman in waterproofs. 

Various Kriegsmarine shore personnel. The guy nearest the camera is a chemical specialist in a protective suit, manning the smoke generators to hide the Tirpitz. A couple of the others are coastal artillery.

Shell casing from Scharnhorst. 

Free Norwegian forces in pretty standard British uniforms.

Norwegian Commando in classic later commando kit, Denison smock, green beret and Tommy gun. 1st Independant Norwegian Company the took part in the Lofoton raid along with 3 and 4 Commando.

Nazi Christmas decorations! 

Merry Christmas from Heinrich... the blurb said these SS Christmas baubles are very rare. 

Wartime Norway. Although there aren't huge numbers of rust red colour houses around, they are quite distinctive so I'll paint a few of those up. 

Weapons safety was a bit lax... This Bren appeared to be in full working order, although  it wasn't loaded and was (presumably) missing its firing pin. I didn't strip it to find out.

Gestapo display, festooned with swastikas. A bit tasteless tbh.

A rather nice Feldgendarmerie uniform though.

SS Nordland uniforms, the division included Norwegian volunteers among others although 80% of its personnel were German. It mainly fought with Army Group North and after being evacuated from the Courland Pocket was destroyed in the Battle for Berlin. 

Royal Navy types, including a figure in a very sturdy duffle coat. A proper WW2 era duffel coat is so thick it almost stands up on its own. 

RAF pilot with a Lysander control panel. Not seen one of those before. 

A closer view of the panel.

RAF uniform with a Beaufighter panel. I've not seen one of those before either! The partially restored Beaufighter at Duxford was still in pieces last time I was there. 

KMS Blucher , sunk in 1940 a few days after being sent on its first operational mission during the invasion of Norway. A pair of Norwegian coastal gunners behind.

617 Squadron bits and pieces, more related to the attack on Tirptiz than the dambusters raid.

Glass bottle from Tirpitz. 

And a nice model of Tirpitz itself. 

German infantryman in later winter gear with Sami Hiwis and a pack-reindeer.

One of the few surviving original U Boat shields. From a sub operating off the northern coast, (U-505?) - for some reason the shield was transferred before the sub was sunk. That is a very big polar bear. 

There was a fair bit about Russian troops which made a nice change. These are dummies of prisoners doing construction work. A good number of prisoners were captured on the northern Russian front.

A lovely Maxim gun and a very good study of that ever so mysterious 'Russian Green' that their equipment was painted.

German motorcyclist in a water proof coat.

A Madsen LMG! You don't come across those very often. This one was in a display case so I couldn't fiddle around with it.

Russian aircraft and aviation personnel uniforms.

A couple of doughty looking Resistance fighters. All ready to clear away the Flak for 633 Squadron. 

And just hanging on the wall, an M1 carbine! Never handled a real one of those before, a lovely little rifle, very underrated and staple of baddies in 'The Man from UNCLE'.

So, if you ever find yourself in Svolvear, a great little museum and well worth a visit.

Beneath the Med revisited. A new sub!

 After the great success of our last outing beneath the waves in the Italian Navy, we were raring to go again. Tim put on another remote session of 'Beneath the Waves', the solo game if Italian WW2 submarine warfare. 

There was much excitement as this time, we were allocated to the Gugliemo Marconi,  the name ship of the Marconi class of ocean going subs and a considerable step up from our previous ride which was stuck pottering around the Med.

Ship data card above. This particular beast has an impressive range of over 10,000 nautical miles and is slightly heavier armed than our previous boat with four torpedo tubes both fore and aft, with reloads for each. It packs a bit more punch than the smaller boat but still carries far fewer torps than a Kriegsmarine U Boat. Otherwise it has a 100mm deck gun with about 120 rounds of ammo and a pair of 13.2mm AA guns which hopefully we won't have to use.

The fairly standard torpedo, gunnery and enemy attack charts.

Unlike our previous run which was restricted to the Med, this boats operated quite a lot in the Atlantic so we had potential missions as far afield as the Caribbean and the coast of West Africa. Once France had fallen we would generally be operating out of the submarine base at Bordeaux.

Once again the merry band of pirates assembled. Mark was the Captain, John the 2iC, Jim took on guns and torpedoes while Jerry was the medic and I was the engineer.

I could only play on Tuesday, but Russell was joining us on Wednesday, so that worked out OK as he took over my position. 

A chart I'd not seen before covered the progress of various types of attack, but tbh the combat chart was pretty clear about all this stuff.

As with many toyless and mapless games, there isn't a great deal to see going on, it was all in our heads, but here is the log as far as it goes. Most operations took two months due to their extended nature.

July 1939 to February 1940. Boat launched and commissioned.

June/July 1940, operating along the Spanish Coast. Sank three merchantmen (12,800 tons) and escort, damaged another freighter. No damage sustained, all ammunition expended. Captain awarded the Bronze Medal. Crew no longer rated Green.

August 1940, refit.

September 1940, Weather duty in the Atlantic. Suffered an irreperable engine failure in one diesel engine and had to abort mission. While limping back to France sank one 8,000 ton freighter with four torpedoes. Evaded air attack.

October 1940. Refit and engine repaired.

November/December 1940, Atlantic patrol. Sank three merchantmen (17,600 tons) and expended twelve torpedoes. Captain awarded Silver Medal for 25,000 tons sunk in total.

January 1941, refit.

February/March 1941, West Africa patrol. Engaged  a 1,400 ton freighter with an escort and missed. Engaged by escort by escaped without a damage. A trap.... Crew awarded Submarine Badge for three completed patrols.

April 1941, refit.

May/June 1941, Weather duty in the Atlantic (again). On return trip engaged enemy convoy and sank one large freighter (9,200 tons) and expended eight torpedoes. Attacked by enemy escort and sustained damage to hydrophones, tubes 6 and 8 and to the pressure hull. Evaded enemy and returned to port.

July/August 1941, Refit and damage repairs.

And there we ended it with no less than 48,200 tons of shipping to our credit (just shy of the 50k required for another medal for the Captain). The real Gugliemo Marconi went down in October 1941 with just 17,000 tons to her credit, so we are already doing better than our historical counterparts.

As with all these 'solo' game played as teams, that was really good fun and very engaging. The repeated attacks by aircraft and escorts were very tense and felt quite relentless at times. I didn't particularly distinguish myself as a submarine engineer as I failed to repair any damaged systems at all, but at least we made it back to port each time.

Battlefield 3D Sdkfz 251/10

 After playing a few of the WRG games I was keenly away of my lack of an armed Sdkfz 251 in grey (I have various armed halftracks in three tone camo). The obvious vehicle to get was an Sdkfz 251/10, which entered service in summer 1941.

Models proved surprisingly hard to track down (rather like the US T12 75mm halftrack) but Battlefield 3D do this version with a high gunshield. I would have preferred the low version, but needs must. I had vaguely thought of getting a Zvezda 251 and doing a conversion myself with a spare Pak 36 I happen to have in stock,  but in the end I couldn't be bothered.

This is a resin print with just two parts - the entire halftrack is a single piece print and only the gun is separate. The mounting lug for the gun is tiny, but hopefully I put enough glue on it to keep in place.

This model is perhaps a bit cruder than some of the other B3D models, but I guess it depends on the master STL files. It is still a nice model though, and miles better than eg my SDD 251 which is a just a big lump of crudely cast metal. I suspect that given the fine-ness of the detail, the STL is aimed at larger scale prints.

The tools and doors etc are nicely moulded though. I added the crew myself (none are provided). The standing commander/gunner is a a PSC Sdkfz 251 MG gunner, while the seated bloke is Peter Pig. I was in such a painkiller addled state with my back when I painted this, that I accidentally painted the seated guy as an American! And was then a bit puzzled why I had a spare US crewman apparently wearing a German gas mask tin. I just repainted him.

The external stowage (tarp wrapped around a helmet) is from the mass of stowage in the PSC Sdkfz 251 kit box. The gift which keeps on giving.

This got the same paint treatment as the Pz III and Pz IV. VJ Panzer grey wash over a Humbrol Sea Grey base with a drybrush. The wash has actually worked really well on the wheels, but I picked out the tools with a pin wash. Otherwise I just added a couple of balkan crosses and it is good to go, another useful addition to my ever expanding 'grey' fleet, I've even got a scenario in mind for it. 

The '45 with Dominion of... Part 2.

 A couple more engagements from the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion using Dominion of the Claymore etc. in 2mm. This time it is Clifton Moor and Falkirk Muir. The former is notable for being the last land battle on English soil.

First up Clifton Moor, which was fought in December 1745 on the road between Kendal and Penrith (the modern A6?) as the Jacobites retreated north to Scotland pursued by the Duke of Cumberland. This isn't one of the supplied scenarios so I designed this one myself, based mainly on Cassells 'Battles of Britain and Ireland' rather than the somewhat dismissive wikipedia entry.

 Cumberlands force consisted entirely of Dragoons and Mounted Infantry, and rather conveniently three Regiments (3rd, 10th and 11th) formed his front line dismounted, while the second line was two mounted regiments of horse and another 1000 Mounted Infantry which all translated neatly into six units.

The Jacobites under Lord George Murray had Glengarry Highlanders and the Edinburgh Regiment and held the village of Clifton as a rearguard, but as Cumberlands force approached, Prince Charles despatched two more Highland Regiments to aid the defence, Macphersons and the Stewarts of Appin. So the Jacobites had three units of Claymores and one of Line Infantry.

Battlefield from the south, the River Lowther is on the left and the Jacobites occupy Scalebarrs Hill (right) and Town End (left) with Highlanders while the Edinburgh Regiment is back in Clifton looting the village. Lord George Murray is back with his HQ and baggage train.

Cumberland reckoned the position was 'one of the strongest he had ever seen' as the entire position was fronted by enclosures and boggy ground, so I gave all the Jacobite units a Defence advantage. The Glengarries in Town End were actually set as an ambush and could put flanking fire across the front, so I rated them as 'Ambushers' instead of Claymores. 

Cumberland has a front line of three Line Infantry (dismounted Dragoons) with two more cavalry and another Line Infantry in reserve. These guys are all average and his HQ and baggage train are behind.

The action opened as historically with Cumberland making a direct attack up the road. This ended in catastrophe as the Glengarries ambushed the unfortunate 3rd Dragoons, they were replaced by one of the mounted Regiments, who in turn were routed by the Glangarries as well! Dear me. Ambushers get to fight first (even before muskets), but only hit on a 5+. The Glengarries rolled hot dice.

Cumberland then switched to the right flank and attacked Scalebarrs Hill. The musketry had no effect on the Highlanders and their countercharge routed the 11th. They were replaced by the other mounted Regiment.

Both sides now focussed on Scalebarrs Hill, and in heavy fighting the Appin were routed but so were Cumberlands cavalry. The Edinburgh Regiment took over but Cumberland had no reserves now.

He managed to rally one of the infantry who went on the right flank, then the Hanoverians attacked the Highland centre to no effect. The Glengarries once more made no mistake and routed their opposite numbers. Cumberland was in trouble now.  

Although one last attack by Cumberland did rout Macpherson, the Glangarries poured flanking fire into the redcoats and the Hanoverian centre collapsed. With all their rallies used, Cumberland was defeated. A historical result.

I tried it again but this time rated the Glangarries as a Claymore unit instead of Ambushers. The action this time started on the right, to no effect (lots of 1s and 2s!).

Next round Cumberland attack the right and the Glengarries the left. No effect, again. Well, the battle was fought in the dark, in the rain...

Same again, this is getting boring now.

In a shock development next round, both the Glengarries and Appin were routed, with no loss to Cumberland! The Edinburgh Regiment took over the Appins place. The Jacobites managed to rally one unit and put it back into Town End.

Cumberland attacked again and made no mistake, routing both the Edinburgh and Appin regiments. Game over for the Jacobites.

Historically although the Jacobites won, they just withdrew overnight so Cumberland was able to pursue his advance the following day.

I enjoyed that scenario and it worked well I thought, I particularly enjoyed experimenting with the Ambusher type units. It was good to have at least one historical result too, as the second game was marred by extreme dice, pretty much all 1s or 6s with little in between.

The other battle I did was Falkirk Muir which is one of the provided scenarios. It took place in 1746 as the Jacobites besieged Stirling Castle after winning the battle of Inverurie (covered in Part 1). An army under Henry Hawley marched up from Edinburgh to lift the siege.

Battlefield from the south. Stirling is a few miles north, and Falkirk is in the bottom right corner (the village model does indeed feature a Kirk). Otherwise the battlefield is bounded by a river on the left, 'Hawleys Enclosure' on the centre right and Torwood to the top right, There is actually a marsh southwest of the enclosure, and Hawley managed to bog down all his artillery in it prior to the battle.

Strangely the forces are very similar to Clifton, the Jacobites have three Elite Claymores and one Elite Line Infantry (the Franco-Irish Brigade) in reserve. As before, I swapped Elite status for a Defence advantage to better reflect the Scots high morale.

Hawley has two cavalry and three Line Infantry. The front line consists of cavalry and two infantry with the rest in reserve. The infantry on the right is Cholmondleys Brigade, who fought ferociously and are rated as Elite and Disciplined(!). The reserve infantry are our old pals the Glasgow Militia.

Fighting broke out in the centre and right, to no effect.

Right and left this round, in a shock development, Chomondleys Brigade is routed! (the Jacobites threw a 6). The left flank is indecisive. The Glasgow Militia take Chomondleys place.

Left and centre. The left is indecisive but the Hanoveran centre routs, to be replaced by the other cavalry unit. Still no Jacobite losses!

The Glasgow Militia fire ineffectively, but the Highlanders finally rout the Hanoverian left. 

Hawley manages to rally an infantry unit to fill the gap.

The Glasgow Militia manage to finally rout one of the Highlanders and the Franco-Irish Brigade fills the gap, but the Hanoverian centre collapses as the Jacobites counterattack.

It is pretty much game over after that. The Hanoverian right fails to rout the Franco Irish, and the Highland centre flanks the Hanoverian left and routs it. With no rallies, that is game over for Hawley and a historical result.

As before, I thought I'd give it another go.

This was a very different run. Cholmondley routed the Highlanders opposite and then on the left flank both the Highlanders ran but the cavalry vanished from the battlefield in pursuit. The Jacobites managed to rally a Highlander who filled in their right flank.

In fierce fighting Cholmondley routed the Irish while the Highland centre routed the Hanoverian infantry there. Cavalry filled the gap. 

With no rallies left, it was soon over for the Jacobites and the rest of their army was routed. Most certainly not a historical result and a hard won victory for Hawley. Medals all around for Chomondleys Brigade!

I really enjoyed both those games and I particularly enjoyed designing the Clifton scenario. These short games capture the essence of the event and really bring history to life.