Merville Battery

[proberts]

i have just returned from a week in Normandy visiting all the landing sites (du hoc is awesome) batteries, bridges etc but one place took my interest the battery at Merville,and the British assaault on it, i can remember playing this in SPWAW some time ago but cannot find it can anybody remember what it was called and where can i get it.

regards
phil

[IBTyrone]

ORIGINAL: fmphil

i have just returned from a week in Normandy visiting all the landing sites (du hoc is awesome) batteries, bridges etc but one place took my interest the battery at Merville,and the British assaault on it, i can remember playing this in SPWAW some time ago but cannot find it can anybody remember what it was called and where can i get it.

regards
phil

Hi Phil.

Lucky dog. [;)] Must be nice to holiday in Normandy. I just got back from Gibraltar, but I think I'd take your experience over mine. There's a lot of history there.

My main man Mau Fox did a scenario on the Merville battery called "The Devil at 4 o'clock." That may have been the one you played. It's available over at the Depot, but you have to be a member to download files. He may have uploaded it to Wargamer so you might want to try there as well. The Depot link is:

http://www.spwaw.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3732

Hope this helps.

[proberts]

ib tyrone

thanks for the prompt reply it was indeed this scenario, to walk on this site then play the game is a sobering experience the casemates at Mereville are huge affairs surrounded by open ground to assault this the way they did is truly amazing.Casemate no 2 has been ripped apart on one side the forces must have been immense.Casemate no1 is a museum and intact.

regards
phil

[Mau Fox]

Ciao phil!

I am glad you liked that scenario. And I am glad about your feelings about it as well.
I tried to reenact the conditions of that intense fight.

Mau Fox. [;)]

[maniacalmonkey]

I did a 5-day tour of Normandy battlefields with my dad a few years ago - very impressive. We saw the Merville battery too. I'll need to have a look at that scenario!

Did you visit Omaha Beach? Of course you did [;)]. I remember driving up from the beach promenade into the town, at what I think was the Dog 1 exit (where the 29th ID memorial and the 5th Ranger plaque are). I looked to my left at the old bunker overlooking the beach and, as we passed it, a machinegun port came into view - utterly invisible from the front of the buker. You couldn't see it until it was too late. That gave me the cold shivers - I wondered for how many soldiers that same sight had been their last. The cemeteries - Allied as well as German - were shocking too. I was 19 at the time and most of the people buried there were younger than me. Seeing the immense scale on which these kids fought and died was very sobering.

All in all a very impressive and emotional experience. Sorry to hijack the thread for a bit but I couldn't resist [;)]

[IBTyrone]

Hardly a hijacking, Maniacalmonkey. Thanks for sharing. I do need to get there someday.