Retaking Ypenburg Airfield


Ypenburg Airfield, Holland, May 10, 1940: After repelling the German probes on 
the southern edge of The Hague, a counterattack to retake the airfield was organized. 
The initial assault by two companies of the Grenadier Guards Battalion and a company 
and a half of recruits from the 4th Depot Battalion was pinned down in open ground by 
heavy machinegun fire and Luftwaffe strafing. Just when it looked as if the attack 
would fail, an accurate barrage of 75mm fire from the 2nd Battalion of 2nd Artillery 
Regiment began to fall. Heartened, the troops rose and once again advanced towards 
the field which was covered with still smoldering wreckage of JU-52's destroyed in 
the morning attack.

Game length: 6.5 turns

For the Dutch to win they must capture the airfield and surrounding buildings
For the Germans to win they must hold the captured airfield

Dutch: Squads, MMG's, LMG's, AC, OBA
Germans: Squads, HMG, MMG, LMG's, ATR, mtr's

Boards: #14, #43

Aftermath:The bombardment forced the Germans to abandon their machinegun positions 
in the control tower and set several hangers on fire. The Dutch pushed forward 
aggressively and the defenders began to waiver. Pushed out of the airfield's buildings, 
the survivors continued to resist amid the wreckage and bomb craters on the field. 
Captain Bottger, commander of the 3rd Company of grenadiers, inspired his men by walking 
about upright calmly giving orders while smoking a cigar until killed near the end of 
the battle. At the end of the day, practically all the German paratroopers and airlanding 
troops that landed around Ypenburg Airfield were killed or captured.

Source: Unknown

