The Last Redoubt, Belgium 1914 with Funny Little Wars

 Our latest f2f 54mm outing was back to 1914, and the Belgian defence of Antwerp, or at least the approaches to it. Tim ran it with his liberal interpretation of 'Funny Little Wars'.

The general layout, Antwerp and the National Redoubt are up in the top left with Russell modelling for scale. There is a canal  cutting across the battlefield and various towns dotted around. We christened the larger town on the canal Louvian.

Tim had recently scored a good eBay deal on a load of model railway buildings, and really lovely they were too. They really enhanced the look of the battlefield. Here is 'Louvain' with a few civilians scattered about, anxiously looking eastwards where Beastly Germans might be.

The National Redoubt. No, those aren't Airfix coastal gun emplacements but a carefully modelled Belgian fort. I was designated as overall commander of 6th Mixed Brigade and had my HQ here along with a company of Carabinieri and the mighty 40cm fortress battery. There are a couple of field batteries in evidence, I would allocate those to the front line units.

A nunnery nervously awaits the Germans, there was a monastery on the other side of the battlefield.

The Teutonic horde! An entire German Reserve Corps with two divisions of four Regiments and a reserve brigade of two Regiments. The Corps also had a cavalry regiment and seven field or howitzer batteries.

Pete and Lloyd commanded a division each while Simon was Corps commander.

The mobile element of 6th Mixed Brigade. A Cavalry Regiment supported by cyclists, a battalion of Chasseurs and a detachment of Minerva armoured cars! Russell commanded these - I assigned them to a mobile screening role well forward.

The infantry component was two small battalions of infantry with an MG detachment plus a mobile field kitchen (!). I assigned both field batteries to support them.

This force was the pivot of manouvre, holding both Louvain and one of the villages behind the canal which we had further fortified with inundations to act as a strongpoint.

We had to designate three objectives, the Germans then secretly assigned points values to them. We selected Louvain, the flooded village and the outskirts of Antwerp.

Close up of the fort with my personal figure manning the ramparts. I had a lengthy list of personal objectives which included giving as many press briefings as possible to emphasise the 'plucky; nature of our defence. Another was to appear to support the forward units, while actually amassing as many resources as possible for the defence of Antwerp...

Lloyds division came marching on down the main road in column, and then diverted off the highway across country (assume minor roads).

This was followed by Petes division which came straight down the highway in march column. It really looked quite menacing. The German Corps HQ with its howitzer batteries was further back, and there was no sign of the Reserve brigade. Unfortunately Lloyd had forgotten the German cavalry, so we used dismounted cavalry figures as scout squadrons. These busied themselves visiting the various settlements and engaging in beastly behaviour.

Russell meanwhile had conducted a masterful mobile defence and withdrawn across the canal, before marching north to defend the this canal crossing - the same one Lloyd was approaching. The Minerva was extremely mobile and reached the bridge long before anyone else.

The Germans deployed into fighting lines as they were sprayed with MG fire from the armoured cars. Their return fire was shrugged off by the vehicles armour, although the German field batteries can just be seen deploying in the distance.

The armoured cars brave defence allowed the Chasseurs and Cavalry to move into position. A ring of steel around the bridge!

Meanwhile the Germans were lining up for a frontal assault on Louvain, their two leading Regiments covered by artillery and MGs. The Belgian field batteries were hotly engaging the Germans now.

A bit of an overview, the flooded village is to the right and the Belgian artillery can just be seen to the bottom left of the inundations.

Sadly the defenders of Louvain didn't hold out for long as they were outnumbered about 8:1 and the town fell. Petes Germans fought their way through the town.

This brought them into cannister range of the Belgian guns. Instead of matchsticks, they got to fire Party Poppers at this range, and John got to fire two salvoes. Just look at the streamers all over those massed Germans...

The close range artillery fire shredded the Germans, and although they struggled to maintain their position for a while, the writing was on the wall for these two Regiments.

A German aircraft surveys the battlefield! The miracle of AI photo editing has removed the arm holding it....

One of the great things about playing at Tapton Hall are the lunches. I was going out in the evening, I 'just' had this very nice Shepherds Pie with gravy, cabbage and broccoli.

After lunch the massacre resumed, more close range cannon/Party Popper fire.

Followed up a cavalry/cyclist charge!

Which largely put Petes boys to flight. This division was finished now.

With most of Russells troops now in the centre, Lloyd finally managed to cross the canal on the left, while Petes artillery pounded the flooded village. This inflicted losses on the defenders and knocked out one of the field batteries. The Field Kitchen can just be seen in the foreground falling back to Antwerp.

Having crossed the canal, Lloyds Germans started marching right to relieve the pressure on Pete. This put their marching columns right across the front of the mighty Fortress artillery, personally directed by me, in the awed presence of the world press.

Hopefully you can see the German columns in the distance. Closer than it looks for matchstick cannon.

Much of Russells cavalry and the Minerva was now reinforcing the flooded village, which was still holding out. Lloyds first Regiments can be seen lined up along the highway, but flanking fire from the fortress had thinned their numbers considerably.

Back in Antwerp, the surviving Field Battery is set up on the highway, while Russells Chasseurs and busy digging in between the fortress and the outskirts of the city, awaiting the arrival of the British Naval Division.

The Germans clearly weren't going to take the village with the force they still had available. The Reserve Brigade never turned up at all, and with that we called it a day.

Most of us had achieved at least some of our personal objectives but when we totted up the Victory Points, it was a draw!

I think the Belgians can be quite pleased with that, and although I didn't capture it in pictures, the mobile force spent the game charging around all over the place, very heroic.

That was a great day out, very enjoyable, and while it may not be 100% historically accurate, captured the flavour of the period very well. Lovely toys too, a pleasure to push them around.

I have been to... South Africa

After visiting Reunion and Madagascar, our cruise wended its way west until we made landfall in South Africa. We called in at a number of ports with the longest stay being in Cape Town. As before, I'll mainly do historical stuff.  I'll also just say up front, that it is a real tragedy that towns and cities in South Africa is essentially a no go area for tourists on foot due to the high level of street crime, and as we generally like to walk around places instead getting a taxi from one 'safe' area to another, that rather coloured our experience. Anyway... 

Mossel Bay (mussel bay), a few hundred miles east of Capetown on the southern coast, and site of the first Portuguese settlement. There is a fabulous museum with a number of different buildings scattered around the site. There are also a lot of very good vineyards nearby. Ahem.

Centrepiece of the museum is a reproduction Caravel, based on the one which landed here in 1485. I find it astonishing that people could travel such vast distances in such tiny ships, and with no decent maps.

The ship museum was stuffed with things including these nice reproduction outfits, navigation instruments etc

And lots of old maps, showing the evolution of western knowledge of the globe. This one is from the sixteenth century and apart from missing out Australia, it is pretty accurate.

Part of the complex were the 'Munroe Cottages', built in the early nineteenth century by British/Scottish settlers. They have thatched roofs and wouldn't look out of place in the northwest corner of Scotland.

I really enjoyed visiting Mossel Bay, and unusually, it was one of the few places you could walk around and not have to get a taxi from one 'safe' place to another. 

I'm not going to bother with anything about Durban, Port Elisabeth or Richards Bay. We mainly went for the safaris. so didn't see much historical stuff although we did do a city tour of Durban and went to the Botanical Gardens which were very pleasant.

Last stop was Cape Town, which also has a huge crime problem, but some parts of the city centre and waterfront are relatively safe.

This made me laugh, a 'pirate ship' for harbour cruises. It is just like the one in Bridlington. I suspect there is one in every port.

There was a French frigate moored in the harbour. The crew were rolling up the awning over the helicopter deck.

A very interesting ship was moored behind our ship. This is a nautical diamond mining ship. They mainly operate off the coast of Namibia and essentially strip mine the ocean floor looking for diamonds. I never even knew such a thing existed.

We did manage to get out and about to see some sights, being ferried from one safe place to another.

First up was Signal Hill, just above the harbour and with great views of Table Mountain. Originally this had a ships mast and cross trees to hang signal flags off it. There is also (still) a 12pm signal gun which goes off every day.

Right in the centre of Capetown near the main railway station is the Castle of Good Hope. A fabulous star fort, originally built by the Dutch but later taken over by the British. It has a moat, separate bastions and is set up as a large museum.

Originally it fronted onto the sea, but since then land along the coastline has been reclaimed.

It is huge, this is just one of the courtyards. The buildings are a very pleasing honey/ochre colour.

Unlike my Irregular fort, the embrasures are properly sighted to fire along the bastion walls.

The other courtyard, the Dutch style is fairly obvious. Most of the buildings had three levels, horses on the ground floor, stores on the 1st floor and accommodation on the top floor with gantries to haul supplies up to the first floor. All very Amsterdam. The large archways are rooms for storing carriages. 

As it was so close to sea level, the fort had a flooding problem and the powder magazine had to be moved from its original location. It has two fresh water wells though, fed from Table Mountain.

There is a very nice representation of the original view from the front of the fort. Now there is a large road and multiple railway lines!

A model of the original layout of the fort.

And later when it was rebuilt and extended. You an see the original shoreline in the top left.

There are various uniforms in the military museum.

Seventeenth Century Dutch infantryman.

A Pandour.

And some very smart British! I love the coat colour on this mannequin.

Mortar man with a smart leopard print hat.

And some sort of Dragoon I believe.

There were quite a few models of Dutch warships.

And various types of musket.

And some more.

The old Governors rooms are very well preserved. Despite the stifling heat, they were actually (relatively) cool and airy.

A box bed. I first saw one of these in Amsterdam. How on earth you are supposed to sleep in it, I don't know. I guess you get used to anything. 

There is a nice memorial to significant nineteenth century African figures.

King Cetshwayo.

There is an interesting reproduction of the an etching of the original Dutch colony, and you can see the limited extent of the land compared to the modern city. Unfortunately I think the image has been reversed at some point as the Signal Hill and the Lions Head are on the right side of the bay, not the left, and Table Mountain is also the wrong way round.

And as we were in South Africa, yes we did see some animals....

A lone male. He was pretty big.

White Rhino! Fabulous, we saw quite a few of these. They have been saved from being hunted to extinction by being corralled in game reserves.

Zebra

Giraffe

And everyones favourite, Pumba or Warthog. These were very unafraid in the more dense bush, but in more open savannah parks were very nervous as they are easy meat for Cheetahs in the open. We did see some Cheetah, Water Buffalo, Hippos etc too but no Lions I'm afraid. 

That was a nice way to round things off, but I don't think we'll be back. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice webpages has more stuff on crime in South Africa than a whole bunch of deeply dodgy other places put together. You do wonder how much of it is self reinforcing - no-one walks as it is dangerous, but it is dangerous as no-one walks etc. Judging by a despairing thread from Cape Town which popped up on Reddit about how to stop your garden taps being stolen, I think it probably is an actual concern. A real shame as the scenery, climate and wildlife were fabulous.