Inspirations
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 12:31 am
I've been struggling to find a title for this thread (and if anyone comes up with a better one then I'm sure the Mods could be persuaded to alter it[:)]), I was planning on doing this last week after the 'No Patton' thread crashed but lack of a title hindered me.
Anyway, enough of my waffle! What war stories or people etc. 'inspire' you? Doesn't have to be in a wargaming sense but can be in daily life - can be trivial or vital, context isn't necessary, I'm just interested in 'stories' and 'personalities'[:)]
One of my personal favourites is the story of Leftenant-Colonel Terence Otway and the attack on the Merville Battery during the D-Day landing. It was deemed essential that the battery be neutralised due to its commanding position over the 'Sword' invasion beach. As such, the plan was to first have 100 Lancaster bombers hit the battery with 4000lb bombs, then Otways battalion of 750-odd men would attack with variety of heavy weapons to be glider landed, finally, as Otways men attacked three more gliders filled with troopers were to crash-land right on top of the battery.
Now, there is an old military aphorism, 'no plan ever survives contact with the enemy' and I doubt whether there are too many better examples than this. As dawn, and the landing, approached, Otway and his men lay close to the battery under machine gun fire. Of his battalion, only 150 had made it to the objective, the gliders carrying most of the heavy weapons had been lost, the bombing raid had failed and the glider-borne attack troops ended up scattered, away from the objective (one ended up back in England having parted company with its tow early). Yet somehow, Otway and his men managed to take the battery and prevent it from firing on the landing beaches.
Anyway, enough of my waffle! What war stories or people etc. 'inspire' you? Doesn't have to be in a wargaming sense but can be in daily life - can be trivial or vital, context isn't necessary, I'm just interested in 'stories' and 'personalities'[:)]
One of my personal favourites is the story of Leftenant-Colonel Terence Otway and the attack on the Merville Battery during the D-Day landing. It was deemed essential that the battery be neutralised due to its commanding position over the 'Sword' invasion beach. As such, the plan was to first have 100 Lancaster bombers hit the battery with 4000lb bombs, then Otways battalion of 750-odd men would attack with variety of heavy weapons to be glider landed, finally, as Otways men attacked three more gliders filled with troopers were to crash-land right on top of the battery.
Now, there is an old military aphorism, 'no plan ever survives contact with the enemy' and I doubt whether there are too many better examples than this. As dawn, and the landing, approached, Otway and his men lay close to the battery under machine gun fire. Of his battalion, only 150 had made it to the objective, the gliders carrying most of the heavy weapons had been lost, the bombing raid had failed and the glider-borne attack troops ended up scattered, away from the objective (one ended up back in England having parted company with its tow early). Yet somehow, Otway and his men managed to take the battery and prevent it from firing on the landing beaches.
