Mezzeh, Syria, June 1941

Mezzeh

Syria June 19th 1941

History

The Indians of 5^th Brigade arrived in Mezzeh on June 18th and after heavy fighting took the town, Lt. Col. Calvert-Jones decided to hold there and set about defending the place against possible Vichy counter-attacks from Damascus with the remains of his exhausted two battalions by building barricades across roads and semi-fortifying buildings. Unfortunately for the Indians – 3/1st Punjab Regiment and 4/6th Rajputana Rifles, during the advance towards Mezzeh their support and transport elements had somehow got ahead of the advance and run into a Vichy roadblock position which destroyed most of the trucks and valuable equipment they carried including food, water and ammunition and vitally their 37mm Bofors anti-tank guns! 

Meanwhile Vichy Col. Le Couteulx who after his success at Kuneitra was now following his orders and withdrawing northeast towards Damascus. 

For those who have forgotten my version of the Kuneitra battle is here:

 https://baberonwargames.blogspot.com/2018/01/french-counter-attack-at-kuneitra.html 

The colonel found his force behind the Indians, he was immediately ordered to mount a counter-attack and clear the road. Also and most unfortunately for the now trapped Indian battalions, an attack planned by the Free French on Vichy positions on the Qadim heights was delayed, leaving the Indians unsupported! This allowed the Vichy to close in behind the Indians and prevent following units (in this case from 2/3rd Australian Infantry) from linking up and relieving them. 

On the morning of June 19th Le Couteulx`s troops a mix of cavalry, motorized infantry and lt. tanks supported by artillery smashed into the Indians. Amazingly they held out for nearly 36 hours, but by the midday on June 20th, except for some isolated positions across the town and the Brigade`s headquarters which still held out, almost the entire force  had been destroyed. With casualties mounting and medical supplies and ammunition exhausted, even though they could here the sounds of fighting south of the town where the Australians were battling to breakthrough; Col. Calvert-Jones surrendered the HQ. Only a small number of officers and men escaped capture and made thier way back to the advancing Australians. The Australians finally fought their way into Mezzah arounf 19.00, only to find the town empty and abandoned except for the dead.

This battle along with the earlier one at Kuneitra effectively removed the entire Indian 5th Brigade from the Allied order of battle!

The Game

Obviously this would be quite a large game, so I decided to fight just a small piece of it.

One Punjabi company defending its part of the town centred upon a mosque and the old police station building Vs a mixed Vichy force of Senegalese and Circassians supported by a couple of R-35s, a couple of armoured cars and a truck mounted `75.

Punjabi

HQ

4 infantry platoons with:

10 men each inc Bren team

Support platoon

Officer, NCO, 3 ammo bearers, 2 x AT rifle teams, 2” mortar team, Vickers team

Reinforcements (turn 8)

Stragglers - 5 Indian riflemen arrive having slipped through Vichy lines from another part of town.

Air support (turn 12)

A single Hurricane fighter-bomber arrives over the table and can deliver one bombing run and then a strafing run on any targets of opportunity before returning to base.

Special game rule

Molotov Cocktails – each infantry platoon grenadier has 2 petrol bombs,

Vichy

Company from 17th Regiment Senegalese Infanterie + 80mm mortar team, MMG team (in trucks)

2 Circassian platoons plus MMG team (horse mounted)

2 platoons cavalry du Levant (horse mounted)

2 x R-35 tanks, 2 x Dodge-Laffly armoured cars. 1 x 75mm mle 1897 montee

Reinforcements (turn 12) down the road from Damascus

2 platoons of 24^th Mixte Regiment (in trucks)

1 x R-35, 1 x Renault UE “Coloniale”

My table

Pétain Parque

Initial dispositions

To be fare I allowed the Indians to face the oncoming French threat. The French decided to use both roads, splitting their Senegalese down each, with R-35s down the left and the armoured cars down the other. The cavalry moved down the right, the Levant Specials moving in towards the road whilst the Circassians moved through Pétain Parque in a wide flanking manoeuvre.

Indian positions within the town, they held a fare few infantry in reserve and tried to cover all approaches with their support weapons and Brens.

The first couple of turns saw a general French advance, the Senegalese searched outlying buildings. The Circassians split either side of the cemetery.

Turn 3 the leading Senegalese in the centre are hit by fire from the Indian Vickers! The Senegalese mortar team moving into a covering position, lose two men to rifle fire and the remaining gunner flees back behind the nearest wall abandoning the tube, the levant cavalry also lose a man to a Bren gunner!

Turns 4-5 The Levant cavalry split, half dismounting in the cover of the parque wall, the rest riding across the road to get into cover (they take a few more casualties). The French `75 montee targets the Bren team killing a couple of men, forcing the gunner off his rooftop perch!

In the centre the Senegalese Support platoon NCO rushes with a couple of ammo bearers to recover the 81mm mortar! One of the Dodge-Laffly A/Cs had an AML50 turret with 37mm gun, this tried to engage the Vickers (little effect).

One the left the Senegalese come under fire and take casualties, the lead R-35 tries to suppress the Indian defenders with its 37mm to little effect.

In this photo you can see both R-35 and Dodge-Laffly shells failing to dislodge the defenders

At the end of turn 5 the lead Circassian platoon dismounts and advances on foot

Turn 6 General firing continues, the French `75 destroys the house where the Bren team were, but the gunner escapes with his weapon just in time!

You can just see the Bren gunner running around the corner in this shot

The Vickers team decides to move off its exposed roof (just in time) and the Senegalese NCO recovers the mortar.

Turn 7 on the left the Senegalese have managed to flank the Indian blocking position and wipe it out through combined LMG, rifle, VB grenades and 37mm fire!

In the centre with the threat of the Vickers and Bren removed, the Senegalese and Levant cavalry move forward only to be hit be rifle and 2” mortar fire!

Turn 8 The Indians get reinforcements in the form of half a platoon of stragglers, the company CO quickly orders them to the far left, where it looks as if the Circassians will break through!

In the centre one group of Senegalese is pinned by accurate rifle fire, but the `75 montee quickly eliminates the threat!

On the French left the R-35s now lead the advance, one is hit by a Boys AT rifle which fails to penetrate! Return French fire is ineffective. 

But an Indian grenade thrower makes a heroic action roll and lobs a petrol bomb onto the nearest R-35 and whilst NOT knocking the tank out, I rule a morale check for the crew – which they fail abandoning their singed but other wise intact tank!

On the French right the Circassians are advancing out of the parque they roll some impressive dice and clear every Indian in their path!

The Senegalese and Levant cavalry are only able to shelter in cover as any attempt to move results in casualties from well positioned Indians!

Turn 9 The Boys AT rifle once again hits an R-35 and once again fails to penetrate! This time however the gunner is killed by concentrated return fire. The Indian grenade thrower again makes his heroic action roll and attempts to lob another petrol bomb, unfortunately he roll a double 1 and I rule he drops the bottle and immolates himself – a sad end to a brave soldier!

Everywhere else the fighting continues, the French armoured cars are now beginning to add their fire in support of the stalled infantry/cavalry. In an attempt to counter this the Indian Subaltern gathers the company reserves and moves out.

Turn 10 the stragglers arrive on the Indian far far left just in time to catch a Circassian platoon in the flank! The Indians roll some superb dice and cut the Circassians to pieces, effectively stopping their advance.

On the Indian right the Senegalese move past the R-35s to protect them from further close assaults, but are immediately caught in a crossfire from a Bren and the re-positioned Vickers!

The French centre is still stalled, though the armoured cars are beginning to weaken the Indian defences.

Turn 11 On the Indian right the remaining R-35 wipes out the Bren team, but the Vickers still prevents any infantry advancing further.

In the centre the French mortar finally wipes out an Indian position! But they are still stalled by others.

Turn 12 the RAF arrive over table, but also arriving from Damascus is a fresh French column

The Hurricane targets an R-35 in the open and destroys it!

French VB grenades wipe out the Vickers team, the Senegalese now have a free run into the market square…

Turn 13 the Hurricane circles around and attacks the newly arriving French column, it shoots up a truck, but now out of fuel returns to base.

Fighting continues in the centre, but the Senegalese on the Indian right bring flanking fire on some positions causing heavy casualties!

With the arrival to more armour and fresh infantry on the Indian left and the right flank collapsing; I felt this was a good point to call it a day.

After thoughts

Did the Indian troops have any chance of victory? I`m not sure some of the dice rolling for the Vichy with amazing - shooting Indian troops off rooves or inside buildings! In the same vein the Boys gunner rolled to hit twice (11 & 12 respectively), but his puny weapon needed a equally high dice roll to penetrate – which did not happen.

The Indians high morale and good leadership meant they never failed a morale check, whilst the various Vichy units struggled at times to move whilst under fire.

All in all once again an interesting, different game.

British K-type landing Barges in Spanish service (some new photos and info added 09/09/2025)

 British K-type landing Barges in Spanish service

Model of K19 displayed at the Army Museum Toledo

General history

X-Lighters would make a huge difference to amphibious warfare, the craft were designed by naval architect Walter Pollock of James Pollock & Son in 1915. He was summoned to develop a suitable landing craft, taking on Admiralty input – particularly that of the First Sea Lord, ‘Jackie’ Fisher, who was familiar with Pollock’s work and saw the value of the craft in his proposed North Sea and Baltic operations.

The Navy demanded a self-propelled vessel suitable for transporting men, supplies and heavy equipment to shore in an opposed landing. The X-Lighters were designed in just four days, and Pollocks also oversaw their construction. The craft became known as ‘Black Beetles’, due to their black-painted construction, low profile and landing ramp that, when deployed, resembled a stag beetle’s horns.

Orders for 200 were placed and their production given high priority. The 105ft craft displaced some 160 tons and were 21ft across the beam. Each had a distinctive hinged ramp over the bow, which dropped down to disembark infantry. This enabled a platoon to be landed within seconds, while the remainder could filter through in the following minutes.

Although a common design, variances were tolerated to enable smaller yards to maintain swift production. The first X-Lighter launched in April and the Royal Navy received its initial vessels in June, with all delivered by August. With the initial order completed, a further 50 were produced in 1916 to smaller dimensions (98ft long), 25 as stores ships and tenders, with 25 ‘dumb’ (engineless) craft – designated DX-Lighters – for towing. The building of all 250 vessels was spread across 30 shipyards.

The craft were given ‘L’ or ‘K’ numbers depending on their role, though they were officially known by their ‘X’ designation (for example, K77 was X166). Of the original 200, approximately 20 were converted into tenders or similar and one even served as a Q-ship (an armed decoy ship for duping U-boats).

X-Lighters were produced from iron and wood over a metal frame and their spoon-shaped bow and 3½ft draught enabled them to get right up to shore without beaching. Their engine fit varied, but they were unusual in that they were among the earliest small craft to use oil or diesel fuel. Swedish-made Bolinder engines were favoured as Pollocks was their British agent, but two-cylinder engines from six companies were used. Powerplant and screw fit varied between yards (and were often changed postwar) but the most powerful were capable of 7-8kts and used a single screw, while less powerful examples usually incorporated a twin screw and paired engines.

The engine room was encased at the stern with a 450-gal tank on each side. Ahead of those was space for a 16ft dingy, a 12-seat table, a stove and berth for up to a dozen hammocks. Then came the steering and compass platform, protected by an armoured screen. The troop/ cargo well was enclosed and formed 60% of the craft’s length. If necessary, fixtures were provided to secure horses and heavy equipment. At the bow there were two more 450-gal tanks, and a staircase enabled troops clamber up to the hand-lowered ramp, while a portion of the upper deck could drop to provide a stairless exit.

Up to 500 men could be transported in each X-Lighter for short periods, though lack of space was a common gripe. In safe areas, more men were often carried on top. Located amidships was a machine gun platform and shield, which poked out above the deck. Shortages meant the guns were rarely supplied and the platforms were often removed, though a transported party would be keen to lend a Lewis gun to cover their approach.

Specifications:

Displacement: 160 tons

Length: 105ft (32.2 meters)

propulsion: Bolinder semi-diesel, single shaft

Speed: 7 to 8 knots

Draft: 3.5 ft (1 meter)

Capacity: 500men + 4 crew 

Use by Spain

In the mid-1920s Spain bought 26 vessels off the Royal Navy at Gibralter, They were re-numbered K-1 - K-26. These were used as part of the massive amphibious operation at Alhucemas Bay in September 1925 which effectively turned the tide and led to the defeat of Abd el Krim`s rebellion. Most of the craft were used as troop/supply transports but some were modified to carry Ft17 tanks and land them directly on the beaches - in fact due to the nature of the rocky beaches, this never happened and the tanks had to be landed by crane once the defenders had been cleared.

K23 unloading mules/horses at Alhucemas

K-18 unloading troops, these appear to be Regulares

A really nice shot of the heavily loaded K-13 on its way to Alhucemas

These men appear to be naval personel possibly Infanteria de Marina?

 Note: this is K-23 the one seen unloading mules/horses in one of the photos above!

K12 forming a pier with K-22, 24 & 23 unloading across her deck 

After the Rif War the remaining craft stayed in Spanish service. By 1936 at the time of the Civil War there were still 10 barges still operational at Cartegena. At least two: K-12 and K-26 took part in the abortive attempt by Republican forces to retake Mallorca from the Rebels. After the Republicans withdrew, the two craft were captured and became part of Palma Squadron.

This photo is of a K-type barge unloading militia at Porto Cristo, Mallorca in 1936

The Boxer Rebellion by Diana Preston (book review)

The Boxer Rebellion

By Diana Preston

Constable & Robinson, paperback, 459 pages

ISBN 1-84119-490-5 

Once again I found myself reading a book on a subject I knew the basics but had no idea about the depth of the history behind the headline.

This book is a condenced, brief history of the Boxer Rebellion with the author relying on anacdotes and quotes from letters, period interviews and books from people who were actually there as the meat of her text. The flowery descriptions and period colour really bring the text to life and take you back to the summer of 1900. The internal thoughts of the civilians, military and diplomatic personnel allow the reader to view the conflict from a number of angles - the soldier having a different viewpoint to the diplomat or the civilian; this makes the book as a whole an interesting read.

There are some good maps and quite a few period photographs.

The first thing that struck me was how little I understood the scale of the events and how much my little knowledge was influenced by the exploits of David Niven and Charlton Heston in the 1963 epic 55 Days at Peking - quite embarassing really 😁

As I`ve said I knew just the basics - the Boxers an initially small sect truly believed that the influx of Christians into China was upsetting the local gods. They managed to spread their propaganda among the rural settlements and towns gaining support as they blamed the foreigners for floods, droughts or whatever natural disaster befell that area. This eventually escalated into persecution and murder of Christian converts and priests, nuns and missionaries who converted them! The book goes a long way to explaining this in a clear, open style.

In Peking the various Western powers (and Japan) had legations just outside the Royal Palace, the various ministers knew about the Boxer troubles, but for the most part seemed untroubled and believed the Chinese Government would sort it all out for themselves - boy were they wrong!

Eventually they asked for a military guard to be despatched to protect the legations, this annoyed the Chinese further having foreign soldiers in Peking! This caused the Chinese Government led by the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi to quietly back the Boxers in their anti-Christian attacks by ordering the Imperial Army not to interfere. Things escalated, the legations became besieged, churches and other Christian sites within Peking were attacked and burned, only Peitang the North Cathedral held out! A relief column of around 2,000 men under Admiral Seymour was sent from the coast, but found itself too weak and isolated to break through and was driven back!

The Chinese Government saw this as further aggression so ordered the Imperial Army to defend the motherland from the foreign invaders, expanding the conflict further. Again I was struck by how little I actually understood about the conflict as a whole.

Eventually a larger relief force was assembled and this combined international force marched overland and saved the day!

Obviously if you have read more than the basics on this conflict, this book may add little to your knowledge, but if like me all you know is the basics, this may well be the book you need to open your eyes to the wider wargames potential of the period!

Postscript 

Some years back when I was editor of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers (SOTCW) Will Macnally and Pete Jones ran a participation game based on the siege of the legations at the Gauntlet show in Broughton, North Wales. 

Whilst I cannot find any photos of the game, I still own the Japanese contingent I painted up for it.

Imperial Guard (red bands on their hats) infantry (red shoulder boards) all by Combat Miniatures

Sailors Elheim Miniatures

Imperial Guard officer - converted Combat Miniatures standard bearer and naval officer from Elheim

Close up of the naval officer

Regular infantry officer (yellow band on hat) and Coronel Shiba (wearing the uniform of a cavalry officer - green shoulder boards and band on his hat) both by Combat Miniatures 

Regular line infantry (yellow band on hats, red shoulder boards) by Combat Miniatures