Fox & The Rat: Day 2 Battle 2 - Guns of Navarone (Sort Of!)

 0200 hours 11/10/1942

Location - Western Desert; Undisclosed location west of Benghazi, Libya

Roster: Lieutenant Tonkin

Sergeant Wilson

Troopers Crabtree; Flashman; Carstairs; Godfrey; Cooper

Moonless night.  Anti-tank gun emplacement.  Unknown number and quality of DAK sentries.

Sub-unit of L Detachment led by Lt. Tonkin charged with destroying an anti-tank gun emplacement in preparation for a breakthrough by the main column.

The intelligence was a heavily defended anti-tank gun emplacement was positioned roughly in the front centre of the attack zone.  This was defended by an unknown number of DAK Gendarmerie and sentries as well as a series of mined areas.

Lt. Tonkin led the majority of the force from the north-east/east - only Sgt. Wilson approached from a northerly aspect.  Lt. Tonkin & Pte. Cooper approached the defended zone along a dried up wadi while Pte.’s Carstairs and Godfrey approached from the east making the most of the undulating sand dunes with Crabtree and Flashman to their right parallel to the the line of the wadi.  The broad [lan boeing Lt. Tonkin and Sgt. Wilson, who were carrying the charges, would breach the perimeter, while the remainder would take up covering positions in the north-east/east zone to provide protective fire to facilitate a speedy exit for Lt. Tonkin and Sgt, Wilson.

The Jerry guards proved frustratingly unwilling to patrol away from the north-east corner of the perimeter but were seemingly unaware of the creeping Tommies blocking the route favoured to breach the perimeter.  Lt. Tonkin took the initiative by outflanking the barbed wire and minefield directly from the east to approach the gun emplacement unseen.  He despatched an unsuspecting guard at close quarters and hid the body before the alarm could be raised.  Fortunately, although Jerry patrolled in front of the gun emplacement they must have been distracted by something in the rear lines and were looking behind them.  This allowed Sgt. Wilson to scurry across the front of the perimeter - initially unsighted - heading for a gap in the barbed wire and a clear route to the gun emplacement.

Lt. Tonkin managed to get right up to where the intel chaps had specified the gun emplacement was only to find……it was further back on a south-west trajectory!  Bloody Intel Boys!  By this time Jerry’s carrots had kicked in and Lt. Tonkin had been spotted.  He managed to get cover behind some sand bags affording some protection from the DAK officer approaching directly from the south and miraculously shrugged off a burst of automatic fire.  This reprieve was short lived as a single sentry approaching the Lt. from the north shot multiple times and eventually took Lt. Tonkin down.  In the best traditions of the British Army leading from the front and not asking his men to do something he was not willing to do himself.

In the meantime Cooper, Carstairs and Godfrey had managed to take out some DAK sentries who had wandered outside their perimeter hunting the SAS.  Crabtree and Flashman accounted for the DAK officer while Sgt. Wilson avenged Lt. Tonkin and despatched his craven assassin!  The way was clear to the gun emplacement……

Sgt. Wilson crawled his way to the anti-tank gun and successfully placed and detonated his charges……Boom!  Everything was ringing and blurred - if hadn’t been 0200 hours it would have been pitch black too.  The fuse was too short, Sgt, Wilson had been floored - he was battered, alive but in the bag!

The remaining troopers used the confusion to make an orderly withdrawal and Lt. Tonkin, who ultimately suffered nothing more serious than an MP40 sting, also managed to crawl away and avoid endless sauerkraut with Sgt. Wilson.

This was a qualified success but L Detachment were lamenting the loss of Sgt. Wilson and were fired with desire to get him and Pte. Fraser out of whatever forsaken stalag they were locked up in.