Panzer Angst Mein Arsch! – March 1919
It is March 23rd 1919 and Germany is in a state of siege. Following the Armistice on the Eastern Front and the Treaty of Brest Litovsk the Germany Army used the additional forces to reinforce their defences in the west. Consequently the Allied (French, American and British) attacks on the German Army in the west over the summer and autumn of 1918 were largely resisted with only a few breakthroughs which were largely sealed off. However, one of the more successful ones involved a combined French/British attack to the south of Luxembourg which pushed all the way to the German border east of Metz and nearly 15 kilometres into Germany.
While Germany has largely held her ground, nightly aerial attacks from the Allied air forces have caused considerable damage to towns in the western half of Germany. Faced with damage to industrial plants and a shortage of steel the War Cabinet acted with the radical solution of cannibalising the largely redundant pre-dreadnought warships to sort the steel supply problem while moving many of the factories to the eastern part of Germany and producing some badly needed armoured vehicles there.
It is March 23rd 1919 and Germany is in a state of siege. Following the Armistice on the Eastern Front and the Treaty of Brest Litovsk the Germany Army used the additional forces to reinforce their defences in the west. Consequently the Allied (French, American and British) attacks on the German Army in the west over the summer and autumn of 1918 were largely resisted with only a few breakthroughs which were largely sealed off. However, one of the more successful ones involved a combined French/British attack to the south of Luxembourg which pushed all the way to the German border east of Metz and nearly 15 kilometres into Germany.
While Germany has largely held her ground, nightly aerial attacks from the Allied air forces have caused considerable damage to towns in the western half of Germany. Faced with damage to industrial plants and a shortage of steel the War Cabinet acted with the radical solution of cannibalising the largely redundant pre-dreadnought warships to sort the steel supply problem while moving many of the factories to the eastern part of Germany and producing some badly needed armoured vehicles there.
wo troops of 3rd Tank Regiment (B & D) are on the outskirts of Saarbrucken pushing towards the town and the vital bridge there over the River Saar.
Troop (B) is on the left with supporting infantry 1 section per tank. It consists of 3 MkIV tanks Phobos (Lt. Henderson), Horsa (2Lt Hartington) and Brisbane (Sgt McQuarrie)
D troop with similar infantry support is on the right It consists of 3 MkIV tanks Doncaster (2nd/Lt. Wilford-Heaton), Daventry (WO2 Ibbotson) and Devizes (Sgt. MacGregor)
Saarbrucken, the River Saar and the Hohenzollern Bridge are about a mile away to the east.
Troop (B) is on the left with supporting infantry 1 section per tank. It consists of 3 MkIV tanks Phobos (Lt. Henderson), Horsa (2Lt Hartington) and Brisbane (Sgt McQuarrie)
D troop with similar infantry support is on the right It consists of 3 MkIV tanks Doncaster (2nd/Lt. Wilford-Heaton), Daventry (WO2 Ibbotson) and Devizes (Sgt. MacGregor)
Saarbrucken, the River Saar and the Hohenzollern Bridge are about a mile away to the east.
March 23rd West of Saarbrucken, Rhineland, Germany. ‘B’ & ‘D’ Troops 3rd Tank Regt.
Lt. Henderson called for a forward advance with the tank on the road slowing to not outpace the others. He stressed the need to keep a very sharp eye out and to concentrate on ahead adding that the Boche are bound to be defending the river strongly.
As B troop moved forward they came under fire from entrenched infantry and saw a gun crew frantically manhandling a 77mm field gun into a firing position.
The two flanking tanks halted and fired as the middle one ‘dashed’ up the road at 4 mph to try to outflank them. Horza scored a direct hit on the infantry and Brisbane suppressed the field gun.
He then signalled the infantry to check the house while the other tanks advanced but as he did so he noticed the enemy gun crew had started manhandling the field gun around again and ordered the crew to fire at it. As the gunners fired at it, the engine of Phobos ground to a noisy halt. In the comparative silence Lt. Henderson heard the gunners fire at the field gun once more and saw the crew abandon the gun and flee. The mechanics immediately began working on Phobos’ silent engine.
Over on the right a German A7V tank appeared directly ahead and a 77mm shell scored a fiery line trailing sparks along the left hand sponson of Doncaster but the combined fire of all three tanks hit it in reply and it juddered to a halt pouring smoke. Conscious of his close encounter with a fiery death, 2nd Lt Wilford-Heaton temporarily ‘lost control of his nerves’ and the troop halted beside an abandoned trench system while he staggered out of the tank and threw up noisily and messily.
As B troop moved forward they came under fire from entrenched infantry and saw a gun crew frantically manhandling a 77mm field gun into a firing position.
The two flanking tanks halted and fired as the middle one ‘dashed’ up the road at 4 mph to try to outflank them. Horza scored a direct hit on the infantry and Brisbane suppressed the field gun.
He then signalled the infantry to check the house while the other tanks advanced but as he did so he noticed the enemy gun crew had started manhandling the field gun around again and ordered the crew to fire at it. As the gunners fired at it, the engine of Phobos ground to a noisy halt. In the comparative silence Lt. Henderson heard the gunners fire at the field gun once more and saw the crew abandon the gun and flee. The mechanics immediately began working on Phobos’ silent engine.
Over on the right a German A7V tank appeared directly ahead and a 77mm shell scored a fiery line trailing sparks along the left hand sponson of Doncaster but the combined fire of all three tanks hit it in reply and it juddered to a halt pouring smoke. Conscious of his close encounter with a fiery death, 2nd Lt Wilford-Heaton temporarily ‘lost control of his nerves’ and the troop halted beside an abandoned trench system while he staggered out of the tank and threw up noisily and messily.
‘B’ Troop have destroyed a field gun and driven off some dug in infantry while ‘D’ have ‘brewed up’ a German A7V tank.
In the meantime the two forward tanks of ‘B’ Troop came under MG and rifle fire from a pillbox supported trench system up ahead but continued to advance while Phobos fired at the pill box.
Back with ‘D’ Troop, a squad of Germans had sneaked into the supposedly abandoned trench system and a hail of anti-tank grenades landed round Daventry causing it to shed a track. The other two tanks immediately suppressed and drove off the Huns in the pillbox and the abandoned trench system and halted waited for Lt. Wilford-Heaton to recover his sang-froid.
‘D’ Troop engaging infantry in a trench system as they pass the burning wreck of the German tank.
A tough task as ‘B’ Troop encounters a wooded area with German infantry, 1 pillbox trench system with infantry and MG and a German tank crossing the railway line.
Back with ‘B’ Troop Lt. Henderson signalled with the flags ordering them to advance straight ahead, at their own side of the road. As they did so they encounter an unoccupied trench and a house with some enemy infantry who fired a few rounds and then fled.
Meanwhile Phobos crew tried their engine again but it still fails to start. Lt. Henderson considered dismounting and try to reach Brisbane but as he moved away from the tank a shell lands on the wall beside the tank informing him that some German artillery observer had spotted his immobile tank. Lt. Henderson ducked back inside and impressed on the engine men the seriousness of the situation while the supporting infantry along with the platoon HQ went to ground As if in sympathy, a shell landed in the road near Phobos but as the smoke drifted off the engine finally started and it set off once more with the infantry coming out from cover and streaming up the road anxious to be out of the artillery zone. After a few minutes at full speed of 4mph Phobos was reunited with the other two.
Over on the right 'D' troop were still halted and there appeared to be a conference going on between the infantry section leaders and the tank crews before Doncaster and Devizes set off once more with the infantry following. A few seconds later artillery shells begin to land around the crippled Daventry and the crew immediately abandoned and headed for some nearby woods.
The forward movements of both ‘B’ and ‘D’ Troops seemed to engender a counter attack from the German forces as an A7V tank and some infantry moved forward in front of ‘B’ while an armoured car attacked Doncaster and Devizes on the right.
Action all along the front as D Troop encounter an armoured car which is eventually destroyed but Doncaster has lost a track and is now immobilized. In the background a German tank is ablaze on the railway line.
Both troops returned fire and Brisbane destroys the enemy tank but Horsa was destroyed by grenades from the infantry in the woods and the crew fled leaving 4 dead and 1 wounded. On the right the armoured car’s fire caused Doncaster to shed a track and Lt Wilford-Heaton to abandon once more but the combined fire of both tanks completely crushed it in return.
The infantry in the woods were destroyed as were the infantry in the trench system. The pillbox MG continues to hold out. Doncaster’s crew open fire on the pillbox from the flank while Devizes advanced past the woods and her supporting infantry headed for the trench system. Doncaster’s fire suppressed the MG in pillbox while Devizes crossed the railway line and moved north towards the bridge’ Phobos and Brisbane continued to advance and kept the fire up on the pillbox. As they too crossed the railway line they came under fire from a machine gun in ruined house to their right. Surrounded by, and under fire from, three tanks and infantry the heroic MG crew in the pillbox finally surrendered.
Devizes and supporting infantry move along the railway towards the Hohenzollern Bridge.
Devizes advanced along the railway line to the bridge and the supporting infantry began to filter into the ruined blocks of flats beside the river while Phobos moved on to the Hohenzollern Bridge followed at a distance by Brisbane and the supporting infantry on his left. Intense fire from Devizes’ infantry support suppressed the MG in the ruined house. Devizes being closer than Brisbane Sgt. MacGregor ordered his tank on to the bridge and followed close behind Phobos and her supporting infantry. As Phobos reached the far end of the bridge an armoured car appeared at the end of the street and fired on her, narrowly missing. Phobos’ return fire scored a direct hit causing the armoured car to lurch to a halt and the crew to hurriedly abandon it while smoke poured from the turret. Simultaneously a shot from Devizes destroyed the MG in the ruined house.
Phobos plus supporting infantry and closely followed by Devizes cross the bridge under intense fire from German infantry on the nearby ruined blocks of flats.
Small arms fire from the upper floor of the ruined flats rained down on the advancing tanks and the supporting infantry took cover and returned fire. As Devizes turned to fire on the flats at the left she was hit by some anti-tank grenades and her right track was destroyed. She continued to fire and the infantry there took a direct hit before the remnants surrendered waving a white flag. Brisbane similarly engaged the infantry that had disabled Devizes and after a few moments of intense fire they and two other squads surrendered.
Victory!!! Devizes loses a track to grenades from the rooftops but destroys the German squad there. The two remaining squads surrender. Phobos and Brisbane move on. The road to Berlin is clear.
Victory – Saarbrucken, the first major town in Germany is captured by the Allies.
Losses – Horsa destroyed (4 dead 1 wounded)
- Daventry destroyed by artillery fire after being disabled (1 wounded)
- Devizes and Doncaster damaged (3 wounded) Lt. Wilford-Heaton is taken to BMH Netley.
- supporting infantry from 2nd Btn. Middlesex Regt (7 dead 13 wounded)
