[Cross]

These battles were PBEM against 3 different human opponents:

Lt. Col. Cross D.S.O. British Army, has survived five battles in Italy, from Oct 1943 through April 1944. Now in May 1944, he is preparing for his sixth battle.

The campaign has been quite successful so far, with four battles won by Col. Cross’ eccentric leadership; but the most recent battle was lost along with many good officers.

First Battle

The first battle was by far the most successful. A well laid plan, some friendly terrain, a bit of luck, along with the exploitation of enemy mistakes; resulted in an overwhelming victory for Col. Cross’ battalion. In fact it was such a resounding success that Col. Cross was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership in this battle. Major Ennis, of the Royal Tank Regiment, made such a large contribution to this battle -with almost no casualties in his company- that he also received a DSO.

The Paratroop regiment won a Military Cross and two Military Medals after some hard fighting and capturing a well defended hill. Another MC was won by Lt. Harrington, of the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), for single handedly defending a road, where he knocked out four German tanks and destroyed an infantry section.

Second Battle

The Second battle saw many of the same Officers under Col. Cross’ command. This was a tougher battle that hung in the balance for quite a while until the tide suddenly swung in the right direction for the British. But not before a company of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry had been trapped by a force of German armour. The OxBucks Lt. Infantry fought bravely, but with almost no friendly armoured support close by, they took heavy casualties. In one platoon only four men survived. Capt. Langdon was in the thick of the fighting, rallying his men and destroying two German armoured cars before being killed himself. For this action he received a Mentioned in Despatches, posthumously.

This battle turned in large part because of the cool actions of one NCO, Sgt. Stevenson. He commanded a 17 pounder Anti Tank gun, which was fortuitously positioned, to overlook the main German line of attack. Sgt. Stevenson racked up nine notches on his gun barrel; including at least 4 tanks, 2 armoured cars and a lorry. He was briefly considered for the Distinguished Conduct Medal, but oddly enough his life was barely in danger, so his cool and accurate fire was rewarded with a Military Medal instead.

Lt. Harrington MC of the RTR almost lost his life when he bounced a shell off a Tiger tank at 50 yards. Corp. Hackett’s tank undoubtedly saved his life by quickly coming to his rescue and dispatching the Tiger. Also worthy of mention is Lt. Shannon of the Royal Artillery, his crew lost 9 of 12 men; but despite this Lt. Shannon was able to rally his remaining men and keep his field gun firing for the rest of the battle. For this he was awarded a Military Cross.

Despite early concerns this second battle eventually resulted in a Decisive win for Col. Cross and the British.

Third Battle

The third battle was difficult. Starting badly when a German shell landed among Corp. Picton’s Para. section, wiping out the whole squad. Corp. Picton had not fought in the second battle, but had won a Military Medal in the first battle, for his part in the assault on a hill.
Another loss was Lt. Harrington MC of the Royal Tank Regiment. Harrington and his crew were machine gunned to death after abandoning their wrecked tank. This was Harrington’s third battle.
In a daring move, a large British force was able to penetrate deep into the German lines and throw the Germans on the defensive. Although this brazen action probably won the day, it exposed many lives and caused additional casualties.
Perhaps the most difficult for Col. Cross was the loss of Capt. Keyworth, a Forward Observation Officer and commander of the battalions support company. Capt. Keyworth was killed in his jeep by a Tiger tank while behind enemy lines, trying to get into position to call down artillery. He won his second Mentioned in Despatches in this his third and final battle; awarded posthumously.

A few officers from the first battle, were unable to fight in the second, but returned to serve under Col. Cross for the third battle. Only a couple of new officers came under Col. Cross’ command in this third battle. But they looked promising; notably, Corp. Valentine MM of the RTR, whose tank scored 7 kills in its first battle. And Sgt. Ludlow’s six pounder Anti Tank crew who damaged a Tiger tank and then fought off an infantry section with no support from other units.

Fourth Battle

The fourth battle saw a number of heroic actions resulting in more field awards than any other battle.
Major Ennis added a Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) to his DSO, for effective up front leadership of his armoured company, and making the opening ‘kill’ of the battle. A close range German Anti-Tank Gun almost ended Major Ennis’ war, but the gunners somehow missed. Major Ennis brought his total kills up to 6 in this his third battle.
Corporal Keyworth of the RTR also received a MiD, for coolness under fire. His Cromwell tank was damaged 5 times, and hit far more times than that, yet amazingly survived the battle.
Corp. Bufton of the Paras added a Bar to his Military Medal and has been recommended for a promotion. He was a rock at the tip of the spear, and gained excellent intel. on the location of AT Guns, tanks, a half track and infantry.
The highest award of the day went to Corporal Jaminson, in command of a Lloyd Carrier for the Support Company. With complete disregard for his own life, he drove right next to a building -knowing it contained SS troops- in order to pick up a crew from his platoon who’s Lloyd Carrier had been destroyed. The SS somehow missed Jaminson with a Panzershreck and small arms fire. Jaminson saved the lives of the crew then fought off another whole SS section. Later he played a key role defending the northern most flank of a village from a SS counter-attack. Jaminson shot up two SS sections and later carried a Para section right up to Mk IV enabling them to destroy it. For these actions he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

Fifth Battle

The fifth Battle turned to tragedy as the Battalion was scattered and overrun by a German Armoured assault. Three of the Battalions Four Captains were killed. Captain Ainsworth of the OxBucks Lt. Infantry was forced to lay low while surrounded by German forces. He was later killed when engaging the enemy; this was Capt. Ainsworth’s fourth battle. His whole company was wiped out with the exception of one man: Sergeant Saundby. The other company of Light Infantry was also completely wiped out except for 3 men.

This was Capt. Fenton’s third battle, his tank managed to knock out two Panzer IVs –bringing his campaign kills to four- before he was killed.

Lt. Col. Cross DSO was in an open field when he was attacked by two Panthers at close range. Corp. Jamison DCM was Col. Cross’ driver for this battle, and typical of Jamison he tried to rescue Cross; unfortunately Jamison was killed. Two jeeps then attempted to rescue Cross’ section from the field, one was destroyed and the other damaged. Eventually Col. Cross managed to escape on foot, but not before losing three of the six men in his HQ section.

Other losses include Corp. Valentine MM of the RTR, it was his third battle and he had racked up 8 kills. Sgt. Stevenson MM, Anti Tank gunner, his fourth battle and despite his death he still holds the Battalion record of 9 kills.

On the bright side, it was only a ‘minor loss’ and there were plenty of British survivors. Including Corp, Hackett RTR, four battles and four kills. Lt. Saundby survived and won a second MiD for action behind enemy lines in his SPAAA. This was Saundby’s fourth battle, and he now has 5 kills. 2nd.Lt. Snowdon of the Light Infantry won a MC in this his first battle. He KO’d a Pz IV and defended an objective valiantly. Snowdon and two other men in his section were the only survivors in his company.

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Cross