Battle for the Crag
Penon de Velez de la Gomera, March – April 1922
An earlier version of this article appeared in the magazine of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargames (SOTCW) The Journal
Penon (crag) de
Velez de la Gomera is a small offshore island located 119 km (72.7 miles)
southeast of Ceuta. It is a steep
rock island with a length of 400 meters northwest-southeast and a width of up
to 100 meters, and a height of 80 meters above the sea, it covers about 19,000 square
meters in total. There is another smaller island linked to its larger neighbour
by a wooded bridge. The islands are situated only 85 meters from the Moroccan
shore and can be easily reached by foot at low tides.
Initially
captured by Spain in 1508
when an expedition under the command of Pedro Navarro was sent to destroy the pirates who
populated it, and who were constantly attacking and looting the coast of Southern Spain.
The expedition was successful and Spain captured the Penon, but they
lost it again in 1522 after a successful Berber attack, in which the whole
Spanish garrison was slaughtered. In 1564, after some failed attempts, the
Spaniards re-conquered it and they have retained control of it ever since,
despite having been besieged on several occasions.
The main
island is covered in the remains of ruins from centuries of fortifications,
built one on top of another. There is little or no plant life and no source of
fresh water, though the Spanish built good cisterns. The island was for many
years used as a penal colony with prisoners forced to work for mining and
farming interests on the Moroccan mainland.
The Riffi attack – March 22, 1922
The Penon was
garrisoned by a company of men from the Regiment de Infantries de Africa No68
commanded by a captain. The garrison also had two small cannon and one machine
gun. Apart from the garrison there were also a number of prisoners and
civilians on the Penon including wives and families of officers.
After dark on
March 22, the Riffi using small boats silently approached the small island.
They managed to scale the rock without being spotted and then without warning
swarmed over the parapet and attacked the soldiers stationed there. The
garrison was alerted by gunfire and rushed to man the main defences, just in time, it was low tide and the Riffi were
attacking the main island from the shore. Other Riffi tried to cross the
connecting bridge between the two islands or fired at the defenders from their
vantage point. The Riffi main
attack was beaten off, but the captain was killed and several members of the garrison also
casualties.
Things were so grim that orders came down for the civilian families and seriously wounded were to be evacuated off
the Penon by naval submarine! The mission fell to Lieutenants Casimiro Carre Chicarro & Francisco Regalado Redriguez, respectively commanders of submarines Isaac Peral (American built) and B-1 (one of the first home built Spanish boats). The two boats slipped into the bay at night and docked at the Penon, they managed to rescue 66 people the first night, then slip back in and rescue a further 37 the next!
Two photos of El Isaac Peral alongside the cruiser Cataluna
Officers and men of the B-1
The situation on the Penon got
steadily worse with the defenders under constant rifle and occasional cannon
fire until early April (actual date not clear) when volunteers from La Legion chosen by lottery from
the best shots among the various companies where transported aboard the
steamship Bustamante by sea from
Melilla.
El Bustamente (colourised and enhanced)
Once the relief party arrived: Lieutenants – Jose Martinez Esparza and Alfreez Diaz
de Rabago with one sergeant, six corporals and forty-four legionnaires. They immediately took over the defences moving into the forward positions on the rock. The next morning the legionnnaires launched a direct frontal assault on the smaller island driving the Berbers off at bayonet
point. With the arrival of the legionnaires upon the Penon, the enemy’s ardor
diminished and although they continued to harass the defenders they never again attacked in force.
Period photo with Lt. Esparza centre front.
The Game
For
the purposes of our game, we decided to ignored the civilians and start at the
point where the Riffi were already occupying the smaller island and are making
their final all out attack. The Spanish garrison was alerted and had called for
reinforcements which were on the way by ship.
It
was decided that the ship with the Legion reinforcements would arrive by sea at
1D6 turns + 5 (much to the boys horror a 6 was rolled).
My representaion of The Crag
Spanish defenders
HQ
Captain, lieutenant, NCO, radio operator, 3 runners
Reduced Rifle company
2 – 9 man platoons (rifles, 1 grenade each)
Support weapons
65mm mountain gun + crew (12 rds)
Hotchkiss MMG + crew
Riffi attackers
Main body (attacking from the beach and island)
4 -5 groups of warriors – 10 men each (rifles &
knives)
2 fishing boats
Each with 7 warriors (rifles & knives)
Reinforcements
El Bustamante armed trawler/gunboat
Armed with a 4pdr & 2 Hotchkiss MGs
Half company La Legion
Officer, NCO, standard
2 – 8 man platoons (rifles, 2 – grenades)
LMG team
The Bustamante arrives just in time!
The
game was a very close run thing, the Spanish defenders fire was unlucky, whilst
the Riffi (me) kept rolling 6s. The Spanish slowly withdrew along the island,
but were out of officers and virtually wiped out just as El Bustemente arrived!
The ships crew used their MGs and 4pdr to good effect as the legionnaires
scrambled ashore. Once ashore the battle-cry "Viva la Muerte!" was
shouted and the two platoons with colours flying launched a bayonet charge into
the remaining Riffi.
We
played the game using 20mm figures from my collection. The Infanteria No.68 were
mostly British Zulu War figures from Newline Designs with some Bandera and
Irregular SCW. My Legion figures are a mix of Bandera, Irregular, Barcino and
BUM SCW figures. My Riffi are Blitz Goumiers and Bandera/Irregular SCW
Regulares with various plastic Arabs. El Bustamente is the Britannia Miniatures -
Armed German Trawler, the crew are a mix of WW2 Kreigsmarine and Russian Naval
Marines from Kelly’s Heroes; the Riffi fishing boats were Britannia British
Naval Dorys.
Sources
The Betrothed
of Death by Jose E. Alvarez
The Spanish
Enclaves in Morocco
by Robert Rezette
Article by Adolfo Ortigueira Gil in Serga No20 (Nov/Dec 2002) -
Evacuacion en el Penon (Spanish text)
An AAR plus photos of our game can be found here:
https://baberonwargames.blogspot.com/2012/07/penon-de-velez-de-la-gomera.html
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