Escape from Bir Hacheim

 Time to head back the western desert for the concluding trilogy of my 'Battle of Gazala' series. This scenario is the first of the new trilogy and covers 1st Free French Brigade at Bir Hacheim. As we've already done a couple attack vs prepared defence scenarios in this mini campaign, I thought I'd go for something more mobile and do the French breakout.

Briefly, after destroying 150 Brigade and defeating Operation Aberdeen, Rommel determined to fully clear his supply lines by destroying the French box at Bir Hacheim on the very southern end of the Gazala position. Throughout early June, more and  more Axis troops attacked the French and on 10th June an attack supported by 200 aircraft and elements of 15th panzer division threatened to overrun the position.

The French were ordered to break out that night and link up with 3rd motorised brigade which had pushed as far south as it dared. So, we have the outnumbered French attacking (!) and the dispersed axis units trying to stop them. As usual, I'll run this with my One Hour WW2 adaptation of Neil Thomas's rules.

Battlefield from the east. Bir Hacheim is off to the southwest. The main features are the large rise centre left, the big area of bad going in the top right. The 'road' is just a desert track but the French need to get at least half their force off the track exit in the north east corner. They come on in the southwest. Afficionados of Neil Thomas will no doubt recognise this as One Hour scenario 25, 'infiltration', but as with so many OHW scenarios, it fits the shape of the battle very well.

The mighty Axis forces encircling Bir Hacheim! One lonely battalion from Trieste (I/65 Motorised Regiment), dug in on Point 103. There are also a couple of patrols out, as it is night, and visibility is only one hex. The sun comes up after six turns. The sun comes up pretty fast in the western desert, so there aren't any weird pre-dawn half light turns.

The Italians on Point 103. They are leg infantry as they are dug in they have sent their transport away. Mark commands these, along with being the Italian CO.

Riding to the rescue from the north are some mobile reserves, Motorised Regiment 66 from Trieste. One motorised battalion supported by a company of tanks, and another motorised battalion with attached 47mm AT guns. Tim commands these. Simon will take over on Wednesday.

And motoring up from the south, Triestes reconnaisance battalion, 8th Bersaglieri with AB41s and various Autocanone. Tim also commands these. Supporting then is a kampfgruppe from 15th Panzer Division with I/8th Panzer Regiment (Panzer IIIs) and I/155 Schutzen Regimenet - motorised infantry with infantry guns in support. Both the German units are veteran and commanded by Mark on Tuesday with Ian taking over on Wednesday. They arrive on turn 6.

Finally all the Axis support stuff. A battalion each of German 105s and Italian 75s, they can only support their respective armies. There is also a virtual air fleet, Bf 109s, Stukas, Ju 88 and SM79s. The aircraft are grounded until the sun comes up. Last but perhaps most important, two supply columns (both large resin Peter Pig Lancia lorries).  

And here are plucky heroes of 1st Brigade Francais Libre, commanded by General Koenig. They left a rearguard and used all the available transport to carry the wounded and what equipment they could save.

1st BFL. In the lead are 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 13th Foreign Legion demo-brigade. (13 DBLE). They are  both veteran assault infantry, so get a bonus at close range, and are commanded by Jerry.

Behind them is 2nd Senegalese demi-brigade (2 DBS). They have 2nd Battalion de Marche and Battalion du Pacifique. The 2nd are heavy infantry supported by the 22nd North African mortar company, while the BF are leg infantry supported by (captured Italian) 47mm AT guns. John commands these and is also overall Frenhc CO.

In support are two supply columns and an artillery battalion. The latter should be French 75mm guns with cut down shields, but I dont have those as models and I couldn't quite bring myself to use either olive green 75s with spoked wheels or light grey WW1 75s (which is what I actually have). So a 25pdr will stand in for the French artillery.

Like the Axis, the desert airforce will be grounded until daylight, but has Hurricanes and P40s for CAP and Blenheims for interdiction. I thought I'd use my Middle East scheme Blenheim for this (earth brown/green upper sides but sky blue undersides) rather than my desert one for a change.

Right, to battle!

The French had decided that 'table edge hugging' was the way to go in the absence of firm intel on the location of the Italian positions. The FFL led the way with the Senegalese behind. Obviously the problem with advancing in a long column is that it will take two turns for the rearmost element to pass the current head of the column. Well, we will see how that works out.

There was a brush with an Italian patrol on the right flank.

Aware that something was up but well out of location range, I/65 shuffled north along the ridge.

The French column swung right along a ridge paralleling the broken ground. The Italians set off into gap between the rocks and the hill. Everyone getting closer but all still out of sight.

I obviously forgot to take a crucial photo! The leading FFL unit made contact with the Italians, who called in artillery fire to slow the French up and promptly fell back to the northeast. They linked up with 66 Motorised Regiment who had just appeared from the north. The FFL had started to deploy onto a slightly wider front and the Senegalese caught up with them.

Personally I'd have only fallen back one hex as it was still dark and done the artillery+retreat move again, but the Italians wanted to assemble their forces in front of the exit hex.

Tim had originally intended to put the 66th on the ridge, but I/65 occupied one end of it so the 66th ended up split. I'd have put a unit on the exit hex, but the Italians had obviously decided on a  more forward defence.

The French column continued on its way with 2/FFL slowed by the artillery barrage. That actually worked out well as it allowed 3/FFL to draw adjacent. The Senegalese were still trailing behind in a column. They were all still out of sight of the Italians.

Up on the ridge the two Italian battalions started digging while II/66 moved forward a hex to straighten the line. Putting them in the wadi was an option, but with such restricted visibility the Italians wanted to keep their units closed up.

In the absence of anything better to do the Italian LOG replenished the artillery.

The French conducted a frontal advance on the Italians. The FFL are in the lead with the Senegalese now deploying but lagging behind. They might have been better off sidestepping the FFL to get one of the Senegalese into contact as well in order to even the odds.

In turn the Italians opened fire on 2/FFL with their northern two units while I/66 (with the M13s) finished digging in.  2/FFL took three hits but being veteran, remained in good order.

The sun finally came up....

And so did the Desert Airforce who attempted to bomb the Italian supply columns but was seen off by the Luftwaffe.

With the sun up the French went for broke, 2/FFL laid down covering fire along with the artillery while 3/FFL close assaulted I/65. The Senegalese moved into contact further south (I haven't moved them yet).

The French rolled astonishing numbers of 5s and 6s and rolled over the unfortunate Italians. I've still not moved the Senegalese yet, and in all the excitement I realise I'd made a mistake - I should have resolved the assault AFTER the Senegalese moved. There is a strict turn sequence for a reason, but I forgot. Apologies to the players.

The Reggia Aeronautica rolled up and bombed the French supplies, shrugging off attacks from Hurricanes.

I think this is what is meant by 'confused fighting'. The Axis concentrated all their fire on the breakthrough including artillery and Stukas. The veteran legionaries survived but became disorganised.

In great excitement, the mobile reserves from the south arrived. 8th Bersaglieri in the lead and 15th Panzer chugging along behind. The gap between the depression and that little patch of rocky ground is a real bottleneck for motorised movement, a problem for the Axis, less so for the French.

A big air battle over the Axis supply lines. Despite fighter support, the Blenheims are driven off.

The French supply 3/FFL while everyone else focusses on I/66 Motorised. Artillery and fire from the Senegalese disorganise them. 2/FFL moves around the rear, still a bit battered. I'd have put an infantry unit into the rocky ground to stop the German reinforcements coming up the track, but the French are very focussed on fighting their way forward. 

The Axis resupply I/66 while hammering 3/FFL who become disorganised despite their veteran status. 8 Bersaglieri nip off to the ridge in the east and shoot up 2/FFL, inflicting just enough damage to disorganise them again. 8 Bersaglieri is lightly armed and unarmoured, but is very mobile and can move and fire.

Unsurprisingly 15th Panzer rolls down the track and makes it through the defile but under the guns/ZOC of the Battalion Pacifique. Shame the French hadn't blocked the road further south.

Breakthrough! 3/FFL pushes on through the Axis barrage while the Battalion du Pacifique overruns I/66, supported by the Battalion du Marche. 2/FFL is resupplied. There is a huge gap in the Axis line now, and crunch time for the Axis command. Shoot or manouvre?

The Luftwaffe bombs the French supply line and there is a lengthy debate among the Axis commanders (fine, as if they get this wrong they are going to lose). In the end they opt for a high risk strategy of firing with II/66 instead of pulling back to cover the exit hex, while 15th Panzer simply manouvres around the desert flank and occupies the track east of the ridge. The Germans do call in some artillery to cover the move however. 8th Bersaglieri runs around to the west to link up with II/66.

The gamble pays off and II/66 along with  the last of the Italian artillery ammunition (the Stukas are being bombed up this turn), manages to take out the battered 3/FFL. Three shots needing 3+ to inflict two hits, so a reasonable chance based on 'wargamers odds'. 

And there we left it for the night. The French have the central position and outnumber the enemy on either flank, but the French artillery has just run out of the shells (as has the Italian). The Germans have lots of ammo though. There is also something left for Ian and Simon to command tomorrow, which is always a bonus.

Lets see if the French can pull this off.

In a do-or-die move both battalions of the Senegalese DB push northwards, while the remaining FFL occupy the hill. The French are hoping the Germans will forget to park a unit on the exit hex in all the excitement.

The Axis respond with an Italian air raid on the French supplies.

And then fire everything in range at the leading French unit, including the freshly bombed up Stukas. 

The Senegalese become disorganised and the Italians press in from the west to hem the French in more closely. In a cunning move, while the panzers fired, 155 Rifle Regiment mounts up and motors around behind the tanks to end up on the exit hex.

The Desert Airforce fights its way through to bomb the Italian supply line.

And once again massed Axis firepower hammers the leading French battalion.  This time it disintegrates under the weight of fire. 8th Bersaglieri manouvres around to the south to pin the FFL in place. 

In a heroic manouvre, the Battalion de Marche overruns II/66! It was shot in by the FFL and last French artillery ammunition. Obviously this both takes out an Axis unit and gets it closer to freedom. Sadly that was the end of Simons command.  

 

The Axis response is pretty brutal, the Bersaglieri motor back north and massed fire wipes the victorious French infantry out. The break up into small groups and head north. With just one formed unit left, the French can't achieve their victory conditions now. Left isolated on the ridge, the last FFL battalion also breaks up into small groups and heads out through the big gap in the Axis lines.

So, a pretty thumping Axis win, although they lost half their force doing it. I think it was actually quite a bit closer than the final result indicated. As I mentioned in the narrative, I think there were a couple of critical moves which diminished the French chances with misplaced units. Perhaps the biggest mistake was allowing the Axis reinforcements a free run up the track, as the three French units actually attacking did a fine job of smashing up poor old Trieste.  The Axis might have been better off defending around the exit hex rather than in front of it, but of course hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Many thanks to all the players for taking part in such good spirit and contributing such impressive hats. irl the French did manage to break out and escaped across the desert in a celebrated feat of arms, which did much to raise spirits in the 8th Army as a whole after a series of drubbings. Of course celebrating what in any other army would be a disastrous defeat is very British. More adventures in the desert to come, but we may have some diversions elsewhere in the meantime.