Caesar's Camp, Scenario 6: Counter Attack at Villers

The Stuka raid had left two buildings in Villers in ruins and burning, but also channelled the British patrols into the West side of Villers. As a consequence, the Germans appeared to get the upper hand in the patrolling, exposing a path around the East side of the village. The British only managing to gain one small lodgement Jump Off Point, to the West side of the road, in the centre of the village.

The Germans soon pressed red section around the South East side of the church, flanking the entire village. The German sniper also took up a commanding position, in the church tower, soon reporting the presence of a British infantry section in the farm house, near the central cross roads.

While the German red section pressed on to the SW, the Germans reinforced with green section and wheeled in an IG.18 gun, to start dislodging the British infantry in the farm house. After a few rounds, the farm house structure was threatening to collapse, forcing the British blue section out into the street, where they were forced to take tactical cover behind the hedgerow. 

The Germans then deployed yellow section, in the copse to the North of the church, to try to dislodge the British red section, located behind the hedgerow, in front of the farmhouse. However, the British then revealed a Vickers MMG, in the upper story of a building further down the street, which engaged the German yellow section, rapidly causing two causing two casualties in the German yellow section.

Meanwhile the Germans deployed blue section to the NE of the village, with the intention to infiltrate the village from the East, but they appear to have become disorientated in the smoke, from the earlier Stuka raid and thus did very little! The German green section, deploying to the East of the church, then appeared to indulge in a little marching practice, wandering up and down the street, presumably looking for a press photographer?

At this point, Platoon Sergeant Hugh G. E. Balles decided to take matters into his own hands. Calling forth red section, he leapt over the hedge and led red section on a mad dash for the church. Once inside, he set the bren gun onto the German yellow section, behind the church, wiping out the remaining LMG team and wounding the section leader. At the same time he ordered the rifle team up into the church tower, to capture the sniper, who then seems to have accidently fallen from the tower, with a hand-grenade in his pocket, down onto the IG.18 gun below! An award of a VC has been applied for, for Sgt Balles for this heroic action! (The Germans subsequently claimed that 3 double 6s on the trot, was against the Geneva Convention!)

What appears to have happened next is a bit unclear. It is thought that the German red section, still in the smoke from the burning building, at the South end of the village, appear to have mistaken the firing from the church, as yellow and green sections seizing the farmhouse. They then attempted to storm the building where the Vickers MMG was located, only to find the ground floor garrisoned by 8 pioneers, from the Norfolks. In the ensuing vicious hand-to-hand combat, the entire German red section was wiped out, from the loss of 3 pioneers and 2 Vickers crew members. The dying words of the German platoon sergeant Beschwörer were reported as, “Well that was a lot tougher than expected!”.

At this point, the German platoon leader Altrich (still not yet deployed) decided to call for a withdrawal.