West Wall - Holland 44

[MikeJ19]

Time to look at the next Operation for the 1st Canadian Army. Things are going well in the Breskens Pocket, but it will be a couple more days before the Germans are completely destroyed.

The 1st Cdn will be getting the 3rd Cdn Div shortly. It has been fighting to the South clearing the Channel Ports, so they are not coming in fresh.

Currently, the Army has four divisions in the AO - 2nd (Cdn), 4th (Cdn) Armd, 52nd (BR) Inf and the 1st (Pol) Div. All of these units have been engaged in combat over the last week. Their supply situation is better than a lot of the units in the 2 Br Army.

Depending on the progress in clearing the remaining Germans along the coast goes, I will have to leave at least a brigade South of the Scheldt.

There is a lot of swampy ground in the lead up to and on the islands North of the Scheldt. This is going to slow down my attack.

I’m looking at swinging two divisions (likely the 3rd (Cdn) and 4th (Cdn) Armd) onto the Walcheren Islands. The 2nd (Cdn) and the 52nd (Br) will advance inland to clear the area to the West of XII Corps. The 1st (Pol) Div will be the Army reserve.

If the 101st is available, I will use them on the western Walcheren island to secure the supply source.

I’m thinking right now of the operation starting between 5-7 Oct.

[Nicholas Bell]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19

I forgot to mention that one of my units got a little mixed up and decided to blow up a bridge!!!

They were attempting to disarm charges placed by the retreating Germans and the process went awry.

Enjoying your reporting as always. Lack of comment does not reflect lack of interest.

[MikeJ19]

Nicholas,

Damn, so that is what happened. They should have left it to the experts.

I'm glad you are enjoying the AAR.

Have a good day!

[MikeJ19]

Here is some information on the battles on the last turn.

[MikeJ19]

Here is the situation on the morning of the 28th. Three full days before launching my next major Operation.

Things continue to go well for the Allies. My overall supply has dropped by 5%, but that is not stopping our progress. The 1st Canadian Army continues to mop up the remnants of the German defence near Breskens. The Germans left now are all along the coast. They will be mopped up over the next few days. The Poles have cleared a lot of the Germans North of Antwerp. The 2nd and 4th Cdn divs are going to rest and recover for a couple of days, preparing for their attack on the Walcheren Islands.

To the East, I continue to move units around a little to get them into location for Operation Greenhouse. The 7th (US) Armd Div has arrived and will move North today. D-day for the Op remains 1 Oct.

The 101st is heading quickly to the coast, well those units with a movement allowance above 1.

The Germans had a very quiet and quick day. They did send more units into the Hellmond area and launched one attack – as outlined in the previous post.

[MikeJ19]

Here is a look on the morning of 1 Oct.

[MikeJ19]

Here is a look at the Corp plans for GREENHOUSE. XXX Corps had to make some last minute adjustments as I had failed to move 49th Div far enough forward over the last two days. So, they will be the follow on force.

[MikeJ19]

Well that was fun. Operation GREENHOUSE started with the 82nd AB Div dropping in between the Maas and Waal rivers and were able to capture bridges over both rivers. At little to the West, and the lead elements of XII Corps have found little German presence near their initial objective, they may capture the bridge today.

The Germans have reinforced West and South of Hellmond.

The battle to finish off the Germans along the South shore of the Scheldt is progressing slowly and with more casualties than I would like to the 52nd.

Yesterday, the lead elements of the 3rd Cdn Div arrived . Today, the rest of the division arrives along with the lead elements of the 51st Div. The 51st arrives near the SW corner and will likely be used to attack towards Venlo along the South side of the Maas River.

It should be a fun day!

[MikeJ19]

Here is a look at the XII and XXX Corps.

[MikeJ19]

VIII Corps

The Germans have reinforced this area significantly over the last few days. They have also been aggressive, trying to push the Brits back in the three areas highlighted on the map.

VIII Corps was supposed to launch today, but I have decided to postpone this by 24 hours. Like I have done elsewhere, I forgot to move the divisions forward, actually I was thinking that they would be launching on 03 Oct. No big deal, 3 Oct is a going to work.

11th Armd and 7th (US) Armd will move into position to attack tomorrow. 11th will attack North with the Canal on their left flank. The Americans will head towards Venray before turning North.

The 50th and 3rd Divs will hold their current positions, partly flank protection and partly to get stronger (fully supplied).

The newly arrived 51st will attack along the South bank of the Maas River heading towards Venlo.

[MikeJ19]

Morning has arrived on a rainy day in Holland.

[MikeJ19]

Supply has been my main enemy and preoccupation throughout this scenario. It has slowed down my attacks and limited my progress. I think that now, it has stopped my forces completely.

Taking a look below, the supply line stops, for the most part on the road from Tilburg to St. Hertogenbosch. North of that point and most of my units are receiving no new supplies. I’ve looked at the manual (really) to clarify the implications.

The scenario sets the overextended level at 0. The manual states that this means that in this scenario, no units will qualify for being overextended – whew! So, I will not face desertions – this also explains why the German units that have been cutoff for over a week are not slowing shrinking from desertions.

However, it still means that my forces are not getting supplies.

[MikeJ19]

Here is a look at where the units are...

[MikeJ19]

Here is the plan for VIII Corps. They are going ahead with an attack.

[MikeJ19]

The main effort is going to switch to the liberation of the Walcheren islands in the hope that an available Antwerp will help with the supply situation.

[MikeJ19]

Here is some information after my last round of combat, before handing over to the Germans.

[MikeJ19]

It is another cloudy and wet day in Holland.

[MikeJ19]

Near the end of my moves, the battle in the SE corner.

[MikeJ19]

Here is the situation on the morning of the 5th.

[MikeJ19]

Another day passes...