Piercing the Peel ETO (id:#66900)

(ASL 11a - Doomed Battalions (4th Edition) ID: 49)   [next]   [previous]

Gannap, Holland 1940-05-10 (87 others)

No balance information available

Overview:

Between the German frontier and central Holland flows the River Maas, and it was vital for the German 6th and 18th Armies to get across this natural barrier and the Dutch defensive line just beyond it swiftly. The Dutch defensive line – the so-called “Peel Line” – was composed of MG bunkers and artillery casemates fronted by an anti-tank ditch, wire and mines; while not impenetrable, it was certain to slow the German advance while the Dutch mobilized. To avoid delay and given that the German High Command was enamored of daring missions to keep the blitzkrieg rolling, it was not surprising that a plan evolved to sneak trains carrying German troops over the Maas bridges, penetrate the Peel Line, and take it from the rear. At 0200, well before the opening of hostilities, German Abwehr troops in the uniform of Dutch MPs seized the railroad bridges at Gennap. The armored trains rolled across and five miles further to the Peel Line. Here they encountered the first resistance at 0637 as they steamed over the bridge spanning the anti-tank ditch. Through heavy fire but with few casualties, the trains proceeded another half mile before stopping. The Germans, unhindered by the enemy, then calmly detrained and organized for the attack.

Defender: Dutch (30th Infantry Regiment)  

Errata (source)