Gothic Line AAR

[hellmutt]

Small showers and a cloud streaked sky greeted us on Friday afternoon as we arrived to setup camp. The sun poked out at us a few times as we setup tables, clothing racks, tents, flags, and sorted out the ton of WWII gear we brought. Amazingly we never got more then 5-10 minutes of small showers the entire weekend, apparently that deal we struck with the weather man seemed to work out. People started filtering in around 1400 and it was a slow but steady stream up until 1100 when 9 NWATT players arrived from Yakima after driving around in the dark for a couple more hours then needed! At night, rural Washington all looks the same, long roads with tall trees on either side!



After we got players checked in and equipment issued to those who needed it, we settled down after the long afternoon of setting up 5 US Army Arctic tents and one GP Small as well as prepping the camping area and raising the colors. The camp looked great and everyone did an awesome job putting together impressions. Everyone got their WWII names, there was Lt. Stan Baker, Major Dick Tewilliger, Col. Steve "Bucky" Sanders, 'Slim', 'Wetnap', 'Buck', 'Tank', 'Tiny', "Jumping Jimmy" Johnson, 'Rusty', 'Junior', Henrich, and a variety of others. Col. Bucky entertained the US troops with a variety of really great stories as the Germans setup their main camp site and re-enforced their defensive positions. Friday was really about getting into the mood, several people including myself, Remf and Koz brought period music and radio broadcasts that helped define the atmosphere of the event. Stash (Jumping Jimmy) brought a mail call bag with some great stuff in it, including a letter from my pa. . " Dear Son, I am writing this letter slow 'cause I know you don't read too fast. . ."


Jeff High arrived with a 37mm anti-tank weapon, mortar and Willies Jeep from the military vehicle club on Saturday morning around 0630 waking me from a restful slumber in the "command tent". I crawled out of my bag and greeted him as he came into the camp. He came fully ready to go with a set of HBTs, jeep hat and airsoft grease gun, which I understand took out a few Germans over the weekend! A little later, Jim Horn made it out with an ambulance that the Germans kept full and running back and forth to the field hospital that had been setup. It was truly awesome to have out these Military Vehicle club members bring their equipment out. They added so much to the event and I think everyone had a better time because of it. Washington is a really great place with a lot of amazing people.



Wake up on Saturday morning was 0700 and the rest of the participants filtered in until around 0800. 0900 started tactical training lead by Josh "Lt. Stan" Warren. The participants learned authentic US WWII tactics including arm and hand signals, basic formations and squad attacks. This was followed by LMG and MG crew drills which were later worked on for speed between mission one and mission two. Our local British commander was kind enough to drive in and give us a few pointers on how to use and work with the weapons. After this command elements went to the map and were briefed on their overall mission to open up the main Highway which was likely being protected by an anti-tank weapon. The first phase was to secure Dog sector so they could set up a field hospital as all causalities had to be taken to a CCP (Causality Collection Point) and then moved to the field hospital before returning to action.


The platoon decided to try to take the main path to the road then hook north to move to secure the area. Plans were briefed and back-briefed, movement was rehearsed and the platoon moved out. Within 2 minutes they took heavy German contact to their front and chaos ensued. Staring down the barrel of a MG42, 1st squad setup their 1919 and returned fire. Those who remembered their training stayed alive long enough to medevac those poor bastards who forgot how to "Get down!". After re-consolidating their forces, 2nd squad moved through the rough terrain and flanked the enemy MG position lead by Lt. Stan. They threw 2 grenades and smoked the German team which allowed 1st squad to sweep through the objective and setup left flank security. As 2nd squad moved towards the area where the hospital need to be, a shot rang out and took down Lt. Stan. As the rest of the troops were ordered to "get down" - the British commander ran up to the long Fallschirmjager shot him a couple of times and then bayoneted him to death! After the sniper was dispatched, 1st Squad leader Kyle "Junior" Olsen moved up his squad to setup the field hospital. The mission medic Justin really got a work out! He bounced between Squad 1 and 2 and really saved a lot of guys! Luckily Lt. Stan just got hit in the fleshy part of the arm and was able to return to duty almost immediately.



The platoon setup security on their right and left flanks and then the Germans began the counter attack! Probing down the main highway, Germans pushed in on 1st and 2nd squad troops that were guarding the approach. They quickly stopped the German probe and setup a static line and got glass on the German MG bunker just at the top of the road. Meanwhile back at the field hospital, Germans began pouring out of the woods but were quickly and violently repealed by the medics and drivers! It was an awesome sight to see the troops search out the Germans and send them limping back to their more fortified positions!

After setting up the field hospital and taking out the German defenses in the area, and identifying the next German position, the platoon accounted for all their men and then moved back out to their base camp for a brief after action review and more training and more mission prep. The first mission had been a great success. Everyone knew their job and their orders and everyone executed them well. There was a lot of sitting on the line for some of the folks but to their credit everyone followed orders to stop at their phase lines and held - even though there were no more counter attacks. It was really spectacular to see how much discipline was displayed.



The Germans, after loosing their first bunker position, quickly began to prepare for the next battle. They knew this one would be violent! Around the corner from where US forces had stopped on their phase line, was a series of bunkers with interlocking fields of MG fire and mine fields on their left and right flanks with tangle wire protecting the front face of the bunkers. The US's only option was to come across the death zone and flank from the bunkers weak left side. And that's just what they did! Germans mowed down US solider after US solider but they kept pouring it on! Eventually they were able to get a squad sized element on the weak side and began the pressure that would allow the US to fire in mortars. The mortars started taking out the tangle wire but it wasn't enough to take out the bunker. The consent din of MG fire rained down on the US forces who called in for artillery support. A 37mm cannon was brought out and fired on the bunker 2 or 3 times before killing the remaining Germans in it. One was killed inside the bunker and a couple of stumbled out dazed and were quickly riddled with automatic fire from the Americans 1919 MG. It was an amazing site to behold as the US troops rushed the bunker though the smoke and haze left by the artillery and mortar attack. There were plumes of smoke at least 25 feet in the air as the US rushed in to take bunker.


Rain began to drizel in a bit as the German units fell back to two different bunkers on the left and right hand sides. US troops tried to maneuver through the mine fields to left but were greeted by German snipers in the woods and a MG34 pointed down the long axis of the intersecting roads. Germans did the best they could to cover the advance and took out hordes of Americans as they pushed the positions. Finally a flanking team lead by Lt. Stan flanked the German MG pit and put the Americans at the border of their phase line. Then they switched their sights on the larger mission: securing the highway.



As teams moved on the earlier sighted MG position in Dog sector, they realized there was a PAK40 there! It fired twice and took out an American tank that was coming up the highway to take out the MG pit. With only two avenues of approach (one was opened up when they took the larger German bunker position) they bounced back and forth between the two trying to exploit the weak side. Problem was, neither side was weak enough! So they decided to split their forces and attack from both roads! The outcome was bloody but it was also a victory for the Americans who were able to disable the PAK and open up the highway for armor and other vehicles.

Again, the platoon consolidated and moved back to their base camp for a well deserved meal and some relaxation before beginning their night patrols. The newly captured positions needed to defended in 2 hour shifts and two patrols were sent to capture Germans to pump for intelligence. Lt Dan lead one patrol and Col Bucky lead the other. It was slow moving through the pitch black night and the patrols were super sensitive to every bump and creak in the woods as they made their way through the dark. The sense of urgency and the pump of adrenalin kept everyone going. The missions resulted in not one but two captured Germans.



"Gutten abend, Deutsche soldaten - Kommen Sie heir, bitte. Haben Sie ein Bratwurst fur mir?" went the call out side the German camp. "Ja! Ja! - Ich habe!" the reply came. The German solider came toward me as I ducked into the bush to avoid his torch light. He stumbled right into my patrol with first squad. They quickly grabbed him up and we all ran double time back to camp where we would put him in the pit with the one called "Eke". We interrogated the pair for about 40 minutes before Lt. Stan took them out in the woods for a "cigaretten". Bap! Bap! Bap, we heard the pistol report. Stan came back with the statement "Those cigarettes will kill ya!"

After "releasing" the German soldats, the shift rotations began. Being a Major Dick, I of course didn't pull any watch and retired to the command tent with Lt. Stan. Not 3 minutes after getting into our fart sacks did the calls start coming in. "Help! We're being attacked at the bunker!", came the calls over the radio. "Please confirm you need back up," Jumping Jimmy replied. "No, no. . . we seem to be doing okay. We can hold them". Thank god, Stan and I say to each other. 30 seconds later a desperate call comes in "THEY HAVE HOSTAGES! They say they are going to kill them if we don't give up!". . . "Roger that, we're coming!" replies Jumping Jimmy again. "No, no . . .I think we got it. We're going to be okay." the reply from the bunker comes back again. Stan is half way to getting his boots on when the final call comes in, "THEY KILLED THE HOSTAGES! We need HELP!!!"



"Okay, where are those grenades!", Lt. Stan barks. "I'm going up to that bunker, throwing two grenades and taking it back!" And by God that's exactly what happened! Boom! Boom! I heard from the camp as Lt. Stan and the others rushed in and retook the bunker! The whole thing took less then 10 minutes and we were all back in our sacks and off to La La Land. At least for a while.

All through the night, German soldiers raided the camp. At one point, one of the US soldiers peed within 5 feet of a prone German and never knew it! By 0200 the Germans were walking freely through the camp taunting us and messing with our lights and tents. All night long, they raided the bunkers and kept the Americans in the bunkers on their toes! Several US troops didn't go to bed until after 0500! It was a long and grueling night! The next day would be a hard one. . .



By 0900 Sunday the first patrols were out probing the German positions. "Zats KrayZee!" the Germans said over the radio as they were informed of the US probes! They chased down the patrols and forced them back to camp where they brought the intel on the MG positions that the Germans had setup. The US forces had lost a couple of players overnight but their morale was high and the excitement level was through the roof after Saturday night's activities. The Americans came in strong and began over running every German position they could find! The Germans tried stopping them but the momentum of the 34th Inf Div was at an all time high and MG pit after pit fell to the massive onslaught.

Finally, the Germans fell back to their last position at Hill 30 where there was a 2 floor bunker with wide fields of fire and a 360 degree view. With two MGs, two sub machine guns and a slew of KAR98s they Germans slugged it out with the US forces for 45 minutes! The US forces slowly moved their men all around the bunkers as the MG42 rung out strong, pinging off the helmets of many US soldiers! But the Germans took their causalities too! Several head shots through the bunker slots put down Germans left and right. Agonizing screams of pain and confusion poured out of the bunkers as the Americans slowly moved their way into the bunker. Finally Lt. Stan was able to get a grenade off in the bunker silencing both the screams of the Germans and the racket of the MGs. The US had won this day but this was just one battle in the Gothic Line and there would be many more to come in the months to follow . . .

The operation ended with a informal ceremony where everyone won their Gothic Line certificates and several players were recognized for their actions above and beyond the clal of duty. Those awarded were Mike Eke, Robert, Kyle Olsen, Hunter Burn, and Dan Shockley. The raffle then happened and everyone won at least one thing with several players winning a couple of different items. The grand prizes went to Daniel Bostick winning the Mauser broomhandle rifle and extra mag and Edward "TelGarot" winning the Maurshin M1 Tanker Garrand.



In retrospect, this was one of the best events we have put on. Everyone had an excellent time and hopefully learned a couple of new things. By far one of the best WWII events, if not the best we have put on. It was really neat to see the effort put forth by everyone to make a cool impression. By comparison we had 3 people with their own impressions at Battle of the Bulge, 5 people at Carentan and 15 people at Gothic Line! WWII Airsoft is really making a strong turn out. The pyro done by Warren and Eke was top notch and added to the event amazingly! The German OPFOR only had 6-8 guys at any time and they put up a huge fight against the 22-24 US forces who wailed on they all weekend long. At times I heard reports that there were 15-20 Germans attacking! All in all, an amazing weekend, with amazing people. If you missed this one, you should kick yourself all the way to the surplus store so you can pick up a kit for the next one! Battle of the Bulge in January!

[hellmutt]

A few more picts:

Few more of my favorite pics: