Revanche!
The Battle of Dompaire and the destruction of Panzer-Brigade 112
12-13 September 1944
The history
Although Panzer-Brigade 112 was of the second wave of stronger Panzer-Brigades, it had not a favourable building up. The separate elements were hastily gathered on the training grounds of Grafenwöhr in Bavaria in the beginning September and only after one week of formation and training they were on their way to Lorraine. The entire brigade was de-trained on September 10th in de vicinity of Lunéville, near Nancy.
Panzer-Brigade 112 was planned for the counter-attack in the direction of Reims, which Hitler was planning since August. But just after the arrival a crisis developed south of Nancy, when elements of the French 2nd Armoured Division broke through and encircled the 16th Volksgrenadier-Division. This threat could cause the breakdown of the entire German front south of Nancy and Colonel-General Blaskowitz of Army Group G ordered an immediate counter-attack to save the division and restore the frontline by clearing the area from French incursions. Panzer-Brigade 112 was relieved from the reserve to tackle the situation, supported by elements of Panzer-Division 21.
On September 12th the untested Panzer-Brigade 112 headed south in two columns. The western column consisted of the 1st battalion of Panzer-Regiment 29, equipped with 48 Panther tanks, while Panzer-Battalion 2112, equipped with 48 Mark IV tanks, formed up the eastern column along with the bulk of the armoured infantry.
In the evening the western column arrived in Dompaire and decided to encamp and spend the night in this village, which was situated in a valley surrounded by forested hills.
Unusually for
Germans the commander failed to perform any reconnaissance! Also for
some unfathomable reason he had his command within the village not
even attempting to use the forest in an attempt to camouflage their
tanks. Even the normal practice of patrols and outposts seems to have
been abandoned??
Meanwhile
the locals warned the French troops that the Germans were in Dompaire
and their strength. The French commanding officer Col. Langlade
decided to engage the Germans; even though his force was outnumbered
two to one in both tanks and men; he knew that he could call in
artillery and air support. He decided to block the roads east and
south to the village with the forces he had available and hold on and
await help from the US air-force. Around 8.00am Col Tower the TALO
(Tactical Air Liaison Officer) from XIX TAC joined group Massu in
order to coordinate the air strikes. The Germans got a rude awakening
when the village was attacked by the feared American P-47
fighter-bombers of XIX TAC!!
After
the initial fighter-bomber attack, the French closed on the village
in with their tanks to engage the surprised and befuddled Germans. A
second sortie of the air-force added to their part to the confusion
among the Germans, who started to grow desperate by the bombing,
shelling and firing coming at the village from literally all sides.
Lots of tanks were out of action due to hits or simply abandoned by
their frightened crews. The high ground offered the French good
observation view to direct fire from both the ground and the air to
any German movement.
The
German commander of the 1st battalion of Panzer-Regiment 29 called
his colleague of the eastern column for immediate help. This help
from the east could have reversed the fortunes in favour of the
Germans by attacking the French troops of Langlade in the rear at
Ville-Sur-Illon. But once again local French civilians came to the
help once more; Langlade was timely informed by the size and
direction of the relief force and set up a roadblock with whatever
units he had to hand - tanks, tank destroyers, recce troops and
Armoured Engineers.
This force would in a normal cases have been no match for the German column of: two companies of Panzergrenadiers and nearly 50 Panzer IVs, however the grenadiers were delayed! - Apparently they discovered a huge cache of kirsch liquor in a garage along the route! And the attacks were very piecemeal in nature and easily repulsed by the aggressive Frenchmen, supported by artillery.
During the whole day the village of Dompaire was under fire and any attempt to break out was stopped by even more intensive fire by the artillery. In the evening the 1st battalion of Panzer-Regiment 29 was destroyed. The overall losses for Panzer-Brigade 112 were terrible: around 350-500 dead with another 1000 wounded, with many taken prisoner. Of the original 96 tanks only 21 were left!
The game
I set the game based on the counter-move from Panzer-battalion 2112 on September 13. The Germans have to get substantial forces (at least 3 tanks and 3 half-tracks) off the table, the French have to stop them!
Free French blocking force
The Free French blocking detachment is based on a combination of several reports of the action that I have read.
Sous Groupement Minjonnet
HQ staff with Command HT, 2 Jeeps
Artillery Foo (Jeep), FAC (Jeep)
Recce cavalry troop (1st Spahis Marocain)
Jeep w/.50cal (Bazooka team,,deployed .50cal HMG), Jeep w/radio, M8 A/C
Tank Destroyer company (Regiment Blinde de Fusiliers d`Marine)
2 x M10
Tank company (12th Chasseurs d`Afrique)
3 x M4
Elements of 13e Bataillon du Génie (13th Armoured Engineer Battalion)
2 platoons with: 10 figs each (one has a bazooka team, the other a flamethrower team) The engineers have some anti-tank mines. Both platoons carried in half-tracks
AT section
57mm AT gun plus halftrack tow & crew
Battery of M7 Priest 105mm
Battery of M4HTMC 81mm mortars
Sortees from a P-47 Thunderbolt with 2 x 250lb bombs and cannons – appears over the table every 4 turns!
German forces
Elements of 2112 Panzer-Battalion
Battle-group HQ
CO + staff, Sdkfz251/3, Kubelwagon, Artillery FOO in Kubelwagon, SDKFZ11 mitt 20mm
Tanks
Now I am well sort of NWE German tanks, so for this game I have subsituted in my 7th Panzer Regiment (10PD) panzers and a Stug III
HQ with: 1 x Panzer IV
1st company with: 3 x Panzer IV
2nd company with: 3 x Panzer IV
3rd Company with: 2 x Panzer IV, 1 x Stug III
Panzer Grenadiers
Company HQ with
CO, 2IC, panzershreck team, RTO, sniper, NCO carried in a SDKFZ251/10
4 platoons each with:
10 figures (LMG, panzerfaust) carried in 251/1
Heavy company with:
1 x SDKFZ 251/2, 1 x SDKFZ 251/9, 1 x SDKFZ 251/21, SDKFZ 251/7 with 10 fig engineer platoon
SP artillery battery
Can be directed by infantry HQ or FOO, enters the table on turn 12
2 x Wesp SP 105mm
Photo includes the FOO team which enters with the battle-group HQ
My Table
German kampfgruppes
To make things a little more interesting I decided to divide the overall German force into three mixed kampfgruppe and then randomly decided which of the three routes each would take, this makes it more difficult for each gruppe to support another.
KG1 - Force HQ, 2nd Panzer Company, 1 panzergrnadier platoon, Pioneer platoon (Route "B")
KG2 - Command tank + 1st company, 1 panzergrenadier platoon, Sdkfz 251/21 (Route "A")
KG3 - All remaining Panzergrenadiers and support weapons commanded by the HQ, 3rd panzer company (Route "C")
French deployment
The French had to cover all three routes, so split their forces as follows half of one unit of FFI were positioned well forward on the left, they planted their demolition charge in a culvert under the route “C”. The recce squadron was also well forward with its command Jeep acting as FOO for the off table M4HMC mortars, the armed Jeep dismounted it`s .50cal and set it up to cover the retreat of the squadron`s Bazooka team which was hidden on over-watch in ambush on Route “B”. The French engineers laid their mines across route “B” where it had to turn because of the high cliff (where farm 1 was situated); the engineers themselves were deployed as infantry further back. The two M10s were deployed in ambush covering Routes “B” and “A”, the French 57mm also covered Route “A” the artillery FOO was also placed near there so he could direct fire across the table from the high ground. The French held their three Sherman back to cover against any German breakthrough.
French HQ
Turn 1 & 2 The German`s advance down all three routes, there is no firing from the French.
Turn 3 the French FOO calls down his artillery across the lead Panzer on Route “A” the gunners are spot on and the tank is knocked out!
Seeing this following vehicles crash through fences and walls to get off the road.
But the French are prepared for this and the recce RTO calls down mortars which knock out the lead 251 claiming half it`s occupants also!
Turn 4 a P-47 arrives over the table, the TAC-air team direct it towards route “B”
On route “B” the lead panzer is ambushed by the recce Bazooka team, but they must have panicked because they miss the tank at point blank range!! The panzer promptly obliterates them with cannon and MG fire!
Route “A” a second panzer pushes past its burning mate and down the road, an M10 fires at it but the shot fails to penetrate! The Panzer spots the M10 returns fire causing light damage!
The French artillery FOO tries to redirect his guns against the new target, close but no damage.
Route “C” the German column splits – panzergenadiers left, panzers right, the French redirect their mortars towards other half-tracks but fail to hit anything this round.
Turn 5 the P-47 drops its bombs but fails to hit anything, the lead tank on route “B” wipes out the recce .50cal team, it is surprised by an M10, but the French tank destroyer`s shot fails to penetrate!
Along route “C” the Germans are spreading out, two tanks heading towards farm 3 whilst the grenadiers head towards route “B” cross country, the French throw mortars at the half-tracks but fail to hit anything this turn.
Up on route “A” the lead panzer and M10 exchange fire both hit but this time it is the panzer which fails to penetrate and the M10 causes light damage.
The French FOO zeros in his guns and a salvo brackets the damaged tank, finishing it off!!
Turn 6 The lead panzer on route “B” sees the M10 reverse back out of sight around a bend in the road, and moves forward to engage, this out flanks the French recce M8, which doesn`t wait around to be blown to bits and moves! The Panzer itself advances straight into the French minefield and is knocked out!!
The M8 finds itself facing an Sdkfz 251/9, both fire, both miss! But the M8 is spotted by a panzer on route “B” who doesn`t miss!
The recce RTO calls mortar fire onto 251/9 which brackets and knocks out the half-track
On the table right (French left) the lead panzer crests the hill above farm 3 and is immediately hit by two 75mm rounds from two French Sherman and knocked out!
Up on route “A” a 251/21 pushes up onto the crest, but is immediately wiped out by the M10 (suicidal move really)
The last two panzers decided to cut across country towards route “B” whilst a grenadier platoon dismount and move up onto the crest to pin the French.
Turn 7 on the French left the second panzer engages the two Sherman, neither side does any damage this turn, but one Sherman rolls a double 1 and suffers a jammed breach!
In the center, realising the road mined the Germans crash through a fence and move off road to their right, the lead half-track is targetted and hit by an M10 and wiped out with a splendid roll of 12 (2D6) for effect!
Also in the center the recce RTO again calls his mortars down onto a visible 251, again his dice rolling is incredible and they wipe out another troops carrier!
On the French left the Panzer IV targets the nearest Sherman (the one with the jammed breach) and knocks it out! The other Sherman lands a shell on target but fails to penetrate!
Turn 8 Another P-47 arrives over the table
On the French right the German panzergrenadiers advance across the plateau, an FFI unit awaits them.
The lighly damaged M10 moves to engage the center, the last French Sherman also moves to cover the same area.
In the center a Panzer IV moves to engage the M10 there, but misses its first shot and is knocked out in return!
The Sdkfz 11 mitt 20mm peppers the M10 (no damage) but I enforce a morale check – which they pass! The recce RTO calls his mortars down on the AA half-track and once again his dice save the day and the track is wiped out!
The tanks from route “A” have now reached route “B”, German pioneers have began clearing the minefield.
The lead tank engages a Sherman, both gunners are spot on and both tanks are knocked out!
On the French left the Panzer turns its attentions to the last Sherman, both gunners have got their respective eyes-in and both tanks end up burning!
The French artillery FOO moves into position to bring his guns to bear on route “B”
Turn 9 The P47 lays his bombs across a cluster of German vehicles
This combined with well directed artillery destroys most of them.
The last German tank engages an M10 in the center, causing light damage, but the panzer actually faced two M10s and the second one has a flank shot and doesn`t miss
The French recce RTO is wiped out by German command platoon
The FFI and panzergrenadiers are fighting it out across route “A” both sides suffer heavily, the FFI command calls for help and his reserve jump in their car and head down the road towards the fight
At this point with the Germans unable to complete their victory conditions, having only two half-tracks and no tanks left, the French claimed a strategic victory.
Vive la France!
The lords of the dice favoured the French today, though it was a tough ask for the Germans.
The majority of the German casualties were caused by artillery and mortars (which was quite historical)
