The Purist Combat Memoirs

[The Purist]

Here I shall record for posterity the events about to unfold on the field of battle. I think it only natural that I do so, a proper and Christian act if there ever was one.

I know,... I feel your anxiety,...worry not, it is something I must do for the Empire.

Turn one moves have been submitted and now I await the results.

[KG_Norad]

You do us proud sir.. :cry: I salute you. Give em hell!

[The Purist]

:whist:

<checks for dirt under fingernails>

:hmmm:

<looks, again, at watch, then up and down line of tanks,...waiting>

:(

<fluffs up field pack and stretches out on top of turret>

:bored:

[yohajin]

Victory is the objective, and I'm all about securing objectives, but above all that...

May We, the Light Brigade, conduct and account for ourselves well in this tournament.

Yohajin :cool:

[The Purist]

:crosseye:

Contact!!Multiple dust plumes on the horizon!!! Moving slowly,...anticipate contact, multiple tanks, 30+.

Drums,...drums in the dark. They are coming. :angry:

[yohajin]

No quoting Tolkien!! :D

[The Purist]

Enemy light tank spotted, appears to be an American light tank.

Platoons 1, 2 and tank #3 from 3 platoon have target in their gun sights. Waiting on order to -

<to be cont'd :surprise: >

[The Purist]

- FIRE!!!

AP shot flies from nine 75mm guns and streak towards the British tank. A shot strikes home and sparks fly as the round penetrates the turret. The tank slips into a fold in the ground and disappears from sight. Is it alive?...or dead? No one on the German side of the battlefield can say yet.

More light tanks appear. German guns swivel and take them under fire, a Crusader dies. This is obviously a probe by light recon elements sent to unmask the German guns. Killing the scouts will blind the enemy to counter moves by the panzers and allow the springing of the real trap. More panzers roll up into prepared positions and prepare to add the weight of their shells to the barrage.

Suddenly, to the rear of the British recce forces large plumes of dust rise into the air. Are the British commiting their main force? The German commander lowers his binoculars and nods slowly.

"So be it." He whispers.

Judging from the amount of dust being hurled into the air it looks like a rush up the middle over the high central plateau. The commander glances at his map and does the mental count one more time. 20 tanks and tank destroyers cover the plateau from the right, 15 tanks in and around the hollow, 8 tanks on overwatch on the left.

"Let them come." He says aloud as he raises the binoculars once more.

[The Purist]

Oberst Apfelstrudel was perplexed. Despite large quantities of dust being thrown into the air the British tank force seemed to be hesitating and only a few light tanks had come forward to engage. Not for the first time, however, was he to curse the Stuart light tank and its nasty little gun. The remainder of the British armour seemed to be sliding to the left behind the central plateau.

Three of the American light tanks had exposed themselves to his front over a twelve hundred meters away. They were barely visible from their hulldown positions and devilishly hard to hit because of their small size. Nonetheless, one was burning merrily, black oily smoke coiling into the sky.

"Six, this is One, report!"

"Six here, Herr Oberst." That would be Beerstein, he sounded a bit frazzled. His platoon had moved forward about 400 meters and had taken up positions in the lower ground to bring fire further out on the right.

"My number three is hit and burning, am trying to knock out the English light tanks 900 meters to our front. The bastards are small and hard as hell to hit."

As Beerstein's last words echoed from his headphones Apfelstrudel saw a green tracer fly from a nearby Mark IV's muzzle and streak across the space between the two enemy forces. The round struck home on the front of the target tank and he felt himself tense in anticipation. Instead of the hoped for explosion the light tank simply rolled backwards out of sight. It appeared for the moment that six platoon had the only contact with the small enemy force on the right.

"Four, this One. Shift left and take position on the high ground to the left and behind Six. See if you can help them clean up the English light tanks."

"One, this Four, moving now, out."

"Good", thought the German commander, Lowenbrau can help Beerstein finish off the light tanks, cover the main plateau in the the British centre and help support the left hand platoons as well. Speaking of which, he had not heard much from the platoons operating on the left since they arrived on the objective.

"Seven, this One. What is your situation?"

"One, this is Seven. My Gott forsaken gun has been hit and is out of action. We've engaged and knocked out three tanks, two Stuarts and a Crusader. My number four reported seeing one of the new Amerikaner mediums, a General Sherman, I think it is called. Other than that, these Englishers are playing this very coy. Over"

"Understood, Seven, withdraw your damaged tank to the assembly point."

Apfelstrudel knew that Leutnant Hausfrau would displace his most junior tank commander and take over that tank. The dissappointed junior commander would then take the damaged tank to the rear.

"Eight, Nine, move in close and make sure you give Seven close support, I suspect the English to hit your side hardest. Five, stay put and give long range support. Ten, continue to hold extreme left."

Scanning from left to right the German commander knew his positions were good. The right flank was covered by 8 of the Marders and, now, eleven Mark IVs all covering the low ground to their front. Scooting along the left side of the long, broad ridge dividing the battlefield was another Marder and two more Mark IVs. They were moving to secure the low ground to the right of the large stand of palms near the objective. The objective itself was occupied by eleven Mark IVs with eight more lending support from the rear and left flank.

As the guns of his tanks continued to boom and send armour piercing shot towards the British, Oberst Apfelstrudel again raised his binoculars and scanned the horizon for the main British force.

[The Purist]

The path of the tracer streaking across the open space between his tank and that of his British opponent seemed almost beautiful to Beerstein. It seemed to take an inordinately long time for the shot to arrive and though he fully anticipated the hit, its impact startled him just the same. The sound of the impact set his ears ringing and it felt as if some angry giant had struck the tank with a massive hammer. A quick glance down into the turret showed him that all was well and his gunner looked back him with a nervous smile. The radio operator stood ready with another 75mm shell ready to slam it into the breach once the current round had been ejected.

"Ok, Karl, take him. Range 875 meters,....fire".

The Panzer IV rocked slightly as the breach recoiled and Beerstein watched his own tracer streak back along the same path that the incoming British shell had travelled. The trajectory was nearly flat and the shot struck home on the armour plate to the right of the main gun on the light British tank. There was a slight, barely noticable flash before the entire vehicle seemed to mushroom outwards. The turret pitched up on the blast a foot or two then slammed back onto the top of the burning hull.

"Good shot!! That's got the bastard!" Grabbing the turret override Beerstein swung the turret slowly left and right searching for another target. There were none in his line of sight.

"One, this is Six. All enemy targets in view have been destroyed."

"This is One, Six. Good, stand by." The colonel did not see the small British tanks demise as he was concentrating on movement on top the plateau in the center of the British position. First one then a second Stuart tank had taken up position among some palm trees that stradled the road running over the center of the large, flat hill. The first had been struck and rolled backwards out of site. The second, fully hulldown, was trading shots with his 3rd Platoon on the Germans far right. Brave, if somewhat foolish.

No sooner had he finished the thought when he saw two rounds strike the front of the British tanks turret. The small tank ceased returning fire and Apfelstrudel thought he could see movement near the tank. A survivor? It mattered little, another enemy was out of action.

"Seven, this is One, report." Silence.

Seven, this is One, come in!" This time a voice answered that he did not recognize.

"One, this Seven-Two. Seven is changing tanks, we are engaging some more light tanks and have spotted some sort of assault gun and more medium tanks to our front. Eight and Nine are moving into position with us. Over"

"This is One. Confirmed, Seven-Two continue to engage. Out."

Scanning to his left Apfestrudel realized that he could not see much of what was happening on the left from his position so far on the right. It appeared from the numbers currently engaged that the British were indeed slipping to their right and avoiding his long range fire base on their left. While he had hoped to hold his present positions and shoot the British apart from long range it appeared the British were not to be very accomodating.

It was time to alter the plan.

The Marder II had reached the forward slope of the plateau and was sliding into a position to support the three platoons on the objective and overlook the dead ground to their front. This tank-destroyer would need close support soon or it could be overwhelmed by a sudden rush.

"Six, this is One. Move left over the ridge and occupy the forward slope of the plateau. Back up 'Pfennig-One' and deny the English the hill."

If the English were not going to take advantage of the high ground he would make what use of it if he could. The thought suddenly occurred to him that if the British continued to concentrate in the dead ground to their right, he might be able to stretch out pincers on either side and envelop them.

"Ten, this One. Push forwards and see if you can work around the Englanders right flank. Don't get crazy but see if you find an opening."

"Three,...push forward on the right and see if you can flank the plateau. You and Six may be able to destroy the British left."

Throwing open the hatch and standing upright in the turret, the German commander flipped open his map as he reached a decision. He would try to out flank the British and catch them in the low ground. If this was to work he would need to shift his main weight from his right foot to his left.

"One-Three, follow me. One-Two, One-Four, follow in one minute, we move to Fives position. Two and Four stay put and cover Three and Six."

On his order his driver backed the panzer off the rise and then turned left heading for a small rise occupied by four Panzer IVs some thousand meters to the left. As the tanks rolled through the low ground in between, Oberst Apfelstrudel laid out his plan for encircling and destroying the British tanks force in front of him. Time and luck could net him a crushing victory. He could not keep himself from smiling as he wondered whether he had the time,...or the luck.

[The Purist]

Hauptmann Lowenbrau cursed as he grabbed the turret override and swung the Mark IVs turret through a 60 degree arc. His left hand flew to his throat microphone as he spat out a warning to his platoon.

"British Shermans cresting on the plateau! Platoon, engage!"

He settled the graticule on the first of three tanks coming into view.

"Gunner, engage. Driver, back us down into a hull down position"

Flipping the commanders radio switch to the company net, Lowenbrau passed on the warning to the other three platoons working their way forward on the right. Looking to the left and the right he could see the other three tanks of his platoon responding to his warning. The turrets on the Panzer IVs swung in unison as the platoon switched from engaging a pair of self-propelled guns a thousand meters away to the more immediate threat to their front.

Throwing open the turret hatch Lowenbrau poked his head out of the tank and raised his binoculars to make a quick scan of the area. To his rear, Two Platoon was still in overwatch on the small hill near the palm trees on the right. As he watched all four Marders let loose a volley but he did have time to watch the fall of shot. To his far right and forward about 300 meters, two tanks of Three Platoon were just gliding into hull down positions where they could fire directly into the flank of the advancing British tanks. The other two tanks of the platoon were lost to sight behind the palm trees but he could just make out the boom of their guns and the flight of the high velocity shells streaking over the low ground.

Five hundred meters to his front, Six was just arriving at the base of the hill the British tanks had emerged upon. They had been sent there to support Pfennig-One, a Marder attached to the battalion HQ that had raced forward and was now placing fire on the British positions on the left. The Shermans were now behind and to the right of Feldwebels Faust's position and Six had arrived "in the knick of time", as they say.

"Pfennig-One, this is Four. Watch out behind you on the hill, British heavies are on the move."

Feldwebel Faust had just enough time to acknowledge the warning message before his gunner fired a round at a light tank down in the low ground. At almost the same instant the light tank fired at a target behind the palm trees to Faust's left. Faust watched as less than a second later the 75mm shot struck the Stuart tank and it erupted into flames.

"Pfennig-One, this is Pfennig-Two. Pfennig-Three has been hit, they are abandoning the tank."

"Acknowledged." Time for grief will come later.

"Driver reverse, right 90 degrees and put our nose facing up the road but keep us off the heights."

As the German push on the right was dealing with the sudden appearance of more British armour, other Germans were busy dealing with a changing situation on the left side of the battlefield. Oberst Apfelstrudel was feeling somewhat anxious as he shifted from the right to the left side of the battle. Strung out behind his command tank were the four Marders that made up One Platoon, they and he, were currently out of visual contact with the enemy and he was more than a little impatient to reach the hill where he could see number Five platoon salvoing rounds at an unseen enemy over the heights to his right.

"Seven, report."

"Seven here. Eight and Nine are now in support and we are secure on the objective. Nine enemy tanks are dead to our front but the British are pushing along the rise to the right. We have sighted perhaps six to eight tanks and self-propelled guns moving on or near the heights. We are engaging now, over."

"Good, continue to engage but stay on the objective. Do not get drawn out by the movement on the hill. Out".

"One, this is Ten. We seem to have attracted the anger of our British friends. I am now engaged by seven enemy tanks, my number four is dead. Time for us to play hide-and-seek."

"Acknowledged, Ten. I'll send Five to help you out once I have effected their relief. Play tag with them for now and see if you can work around their right. Out".

If everyone does what they are told they would win this engagement handily. Apfelstrudel could feel that the British were reaching the breaking point and that balance would soon tip in his favour. When Lowenbrau breaks the British left, he could then swing around the open flank and annihilate the remnants of the British formation.

"As long as no one does anything stupid." The thought went unfinished in his mind as he rolled on to the north.

[The Purist]

Six Sherman and two Grant tanks came roaring over the hill in front of Six Platoon as it slid into position at the bottom of the rise. Lowenbrau felt sick to his stomach as he watched the tanks of Six Platoon die one after the other in an exchange of armour piercing shot until all three remaining to Leutnant Beerstein lay wrecked in the face of the British charge. It was with no small amount of glee that he watched as his own platoon as well as Two and Three cut the British charge into a smoking ruin. One by one the British tanks burst into flames or rolled slowly to a stop, survivors scrambling to get out of the way of danger only to be cut down by machine gun fire.

Feldwebel Faust's view of the British charge was from a range of little more than 80 metres. His Marder poked it barrel over the top of the hill to the west of the road just as the British tanks rolled into view. Amongst the exploding shells, billowing dust and flaming wrecks he an his crew managed to make two kills from nearly point blank range. The 75mm gun of his tank destroyer cut easily through the thin flank armour of the British mediums. He wondered if the British crews even saw his tank before they died under his gun. Six of the eight enemy tanks on the hill were wrecked and the remaining two were lost among the smoke and dust. He turned to his left to see Pfennig-Two slide into position on his left as they prepared to push further forward to clear the hill.

Sitting in his own turret Leutnant Hausfrau was also amazed at the carnage being dealt out by the German panzer battalion. In the space of two minutes the eighteen Panzer IVs that made up the company with which he fought had killed fourteen British tanks and still they came. Shermans, Grants, Valentines, a monsterous heavy tank and a new type of self-propelled gun, both of which he had never seen before, were swarming over the northern face and lower slopes of the large hill to his front. The German tanks, laying in hull down positions in an arc from the west and over the high ground to the north poured rapid fire into the British troops spread out in front and below them. One after the other the British tanks were dying, some quietly, others in thunderous explosions and flying shards of steel.

The German commander lowered his binoculars and marvelled at the bravery of his British opponent. His company and platoon commanders had reported the destruction of nearly 30 enemy tanks and still they came on. Oberst Apfelstrudel had just ordered his last reserve platoon, number Five, forward to support the centre of the line. One Platoon's Marders were now coming in behind to take over the covering position in the rear. He was pleased with the course that the battle was taking but any elation was tempered by the fact that seven of his own tanks were out of action.

This battle was not over yet.

[The Purist]

Suddenly the fighting on the right side of the battlefield ceased and all that Lowenbrau could hear when he opened his hatch was the low growl of tank engines and the crackling of flames from his number two tank. He had not heard the explosion that killed his platoonmates as he was so intent on destroying the last of the British armour on the hill. Quickly he ordered his own and Number Three Platoon to advance before the British could plug the hole. As his tank pulled away from the burning wreck he cast a quick glance at the hulk and felt,...nothing.

"Three, this is Four. Push hard and wide down the right side but be careful, there are still a pair of self-propelled guns skulking behind the low ridges to your east. Two, keep your eyes open and follow us two vehicles at a time. Move now, out."

His own platoon would crawl along the ridge and cover Three from the left as well as hunt for any targets that showed themselves. Flipping to the command frequency, Lowenbrau reported the breakthrough to the battalion commander.

Oberst Apfestrudel climbed out on top of his turret and stood on its top while he raised his binoculars. He could just make out two British heavies, one moving into the low ground on the left the other sitting still amongst the wreck of three other tanks. A thousand metres to the rear of those he could make out the dust trail of two more medium tanks and the commander of Pfennig-Two reported he was engaging another self-propelled gun hidding on the far left. Along with a possible two more vehicles on the far right he figured the British had about seven effective vehicles left, but he suspected a few more were lurking in dead ground he could not see.

Calculating the grim accounting of battle the German colonel knew he had lost eleven of his forty-three tanks with another damaged and pulled out of the line. The kill ratio was slighty better than 3:1 and he was tempted to order his battalion to hold their positions and spare them further bloodshed. The temptation quickly passed, however, as he knew that the battle was not truly won until the enemy had been completely driven from the field or had surrendered. While things looked positive he was not yet willing to declare victory as the British might yet have force enough to tip the scales. Unlikely, but the Gods of war are fickle beings and he was determined not to risk their intervention.

Opening his microphone he ordered the remaining four tanks of Seven and Nine Platoons to shift right and maintain the security of the objective. Eight Platoon's three remaining tanks were to hold it positions and engage anything that came into view. Five Platoon was still moving to the central ridge and would be in position in the next two or three minutes to back up the objective or reinforce the right hand pincer. Finally, Ten Platoon was still probing bit by bit out on the far left attempting to form another arm with which to encircle the surviving British.

He suddenly felt very tired as the adreniline left his blood steam and he craved an opportunity to find a place to lie down and sleep for a very long time.

[The Purist]

The last two British heavies had been knocked out along with another self-propelled gun on the right. The battle had become a mopping up operation but that did not remove the danger of casualties from individual tanks lurking in the dead ground.

Lowenbrau was standing in his open hatch now, binoculars scanning in every direction. All four platoons of his company were now rolling forwards but he was concerned that individual tanks were getting too far ahead of the main body.

"Three, keep your formation tight don't get too spread out. If you stumble across any enemy tanks lurking about we don't want to fight them one on one. Two, hang back and cover us as we secure the hill and clean up the right flank".

He scanned to the left where he could see the dust plumes of Five Platoon, switched to his company to replace the loss of Six, as they raced by in the low ground to the left, heading for the hill to his front. His own platoons three tanks were still moving along the central ridge and he would use both platoons to secure the plateau.

Oberst Apfestrudel was now wearing a large smile indeed. The British attack looked as if it had indeeed been broken and he planned to exploit the victory to its fullest. All his armour, except for a few tanks to secure the objective, were moving forwards. Orders from above were secure the breach until infantry arrived to plug the hole and then withdraw into reserve. The British offensive was only days old and they had plenty more tanks where these came from. German reserves, as always, were painfully thin and losses very much harder to replace. He pushed the worries about fuel, ammunition and spare parts to the back of his mind for now and let the cool desert morning air flow about him as his command tank rolled through the desert.

[The Purist]

As his tanks rolled slowly over the top of the rise, Apfestrudel saw a man standing in the middle if the road by a stand of palms. As the tank rolled up the man held a dirty white cloth on a branch above his head, this battle was now truly over. A quick message to the rear had medics and ambulances moving forward to care for the wounded.

The British colonel, his left arm and side swathed in bandages, tried to stand as Apfelstrudel approached. He waived him back down on the tarp that was his temporay litter as he pulled his canteen from its holder and held it out to the enemy officer.

"My men?" the officer asked?

"Are being cared for now, as we speak". Replied the German.

The British officer noded, accepted the canteen and took a small drink of the water.

"One hell of a morning." The Englishman said.

"Indeed."

[The Purist]

German OoB-

all Marders and Pz IVG are early models

1 Ind; Marder II (Veteran), 4 kills
2 Ind; Pz IVG (Regular)
3 Ind; Pz IVG (Regular,)KIA, 1 kill
1st Platoon; Marder II (Crack) 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4. Platoon made 1 kill (1-4)
2nd Platoon; Marder II (Crack) 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4. Platoon made 2 kills (2-1, 2-4)
3rd Platoon; Pz IVG (Veteran) 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4. Platoon made 1 kill (3-2)
4th Platoon; Pz IVG (Veteran) 4-1, 4-2KIA, 4-3, 4-4. Platoon made 3 kills (4-2, 4-4 (2))
5th Platoon; Pz IVG (Veteran) 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4. Platoon made no kills
6th Platoon; Pz IVG (Regular) 6-1 KIA, 6-2KIA, 6-3KIA, 6-4KIA. Platoon made 5 kills (6-1 (2), 6-2 (1), 6-4 (2))
7th Platoon; Pz IVG (Regular) 7-1, 7-2KIA, 7-3, 7-4KIA. Platoon made 7 kills (7-2 (4), 7-3 (2), 7-4 (1))
8th Platoon; Pz IVG (Regular) 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4KIA. Platoon made 11 kills (8-1 (4), 8-2 (2), 8-3 (4), 8-4 (1))
9th Platoon; Pz IVG (Regular) 9-1, 9-2, 9-3KIA, 9-4. Platoon made 3 kills (9-1, 9-2, 9-4)
10th Platoon; Pz IVG (Regular) 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4KIA. Platoon made 2 kills (10-2, 10-3)

As noted, Platoons 1 thru 5 were all Crack or Veteran crews but managed to score only 7 of the 40 kills at the cost of one of their own. One wonders if the quality was worth the points or whether it would have been better to increase the overall size of the unit.

Platoons 7, 8 and 9 and the 3 independants, 15 vehicles, all but one 'Regular', were the troops that rushed to the objective area and adopted defensive positions. From hulldown positions and with 'Shoot and Scoot' tactics these tanks scored 26 of the 40 kills. Five of the 15 tanks in this group became casualties.

Six Platoon died in the midst of a heavy British charge but still managed to kill 5 enemy tanks. Finally, 10 Platoon, acting as left flank guard, then left pincer successfully harrassed the British right killing two enemy tanks for the loss of one of their own.

Total battalion losses amounted to 11 PzKw IVG.

Overall,...I'm not fully convinced of the efficacy of using the stand-off methods as opposed to closer ranged shooting from hulldown positions. Granted, terrain and enemy tactics played a part in the successful conclusion of this battle and stand-off shooting may be the best method in more open or flat terrain.

The opposing force consisted of 45 tanks and self-propelled guns.

1 Valentine IX (KIA)
5 Churchill IV (all KIA)
12 Stuart IV (10 KIA, 2 gun damaged)
5 M3 Grant (all KIA)
12 Sherman III (all KIA)
10 M7 Priest (7 KIA, 3 gun damage).

The British commanding officer (from hospital) was kind enough to offer the following words,

"I sent my recon element of Stuarts ahead towards the objective and held back my main force of Churchills, Shermans, Grants and Priests until I could determine the enemy position. This was a mistake in retrospect as his (the German) armour was able to take advantage of the delay and advance on the objective. I advanced my armour on a broad front and was picked off at range by his (German) now stationery tanks. The Shermans once again lived up to their Ronson nickname..."

"The German commander made a correct assessment of the situation and wasn't tempted to move against me unnecessarily."

I suppose it would appear as such from the British side but as the numbers above show the range was actually a lot closer than it appeared. Most British tanks were knocked out at ranges of less than 700 metres.

submitted, 26 October, 1942

Baron von Apfelstrudel, Oberst
II Battalion, 5th Panzer Regiment, Panzer Division 21.