The Approach to Fresney le Crotteur - Fighting inland on D-Day

This scenario is a snapshot of the fighting between 69 th Brigade and KG Meyer from 352 nd Infanterie
Division and focusses on the fighting around Bazanville and Crepon, on the approaches to Fresnay le
Crotteur, where the advancing 7th Green Howards and A Squadron of the 4 th/7th Dragoon Guards
engaged German troops attempting to launch their own counter-attack.

During the first few hours of D-Day it looked as though the Omaha assault had been stopped, and the
chief concern of the 352d Division was with its right flank which was threatened by the British
penetration near Meuvaines from troops pushing inland from Gold beach. To meet this, the LXXXIV
Corps reserve, the reinforced 915th Regiment (Kampfgruppe Meyer) had been ordered to attack in
the direction of Crépon. By 1100 the division commander, General Kraiss, began to consider the
situation in his center more serious in the light of additional information on the whole invasion front.
The 709th Division opposing U.S. VII Corps was reporting strong armoured reinforcements landed
from the sea. At the same time the British were building up their beachhead. A concentration of
shipping observed off St. Laurent was thought to indicate Allied intention to reinforce what had
heretofore been considered minor penetrations in the St. Laurent area. General Kraiss concluded
(apparently for the first time) that the Allies were planning a two-pronged attack on Bayeux from
bridgeheads at St. Laurent and Meuvaines. The 2 nd Battalion of the 915th Regiment was therefore
split off from the force on its way toward Crépon and together with one antitank company (with
twelve self-propelled 75-mm. antitank guns - either StuG III Ausf. G or Marders from 352 Panzerjager
Abteilung) was attached to the 916th Regiment in the center of the division sector. The infantry
reinforcements moved into the Colleville area in the early afternoon but reported that their
counterattack had been stopped by firm American resistance and that they had suffered heavy
losses.

The body of Kampfgruppe Meyer in the meantime advanced toward the area Bazenville-Villiers-le-
Sec whence it planned to attack to Crépon. By the time it reached its assembly area at about 1730 it
found that British units from 69 th Brigade, part of 50th Division, were already in possession. The units
on the right were able to withdraw to St. Gabriel where they were joined by the ten assault guns of
the Kampfgruppe. But the infantry battalion under direct command of Oberst Meyer on the left
brushed with British forces from the 7th Green Howards and A Squadron 4/7 Dragoons near
Bazenville. Meyer was killed and the battalion lost contact with other German units for several hours,
B Company of the 7th Green Howards recorded engaging and destroying an enemy Staff Car killing its
occupants in the process, this was most likely Oberst Meyer. It seems clear that Meyer's forces made
no concerted attack, but were destroyed in small defensive actions. The German self-propelled guns
scored the only success of the day in knocking out three A Squadron Sherman tanks near Brecy (an
event that was to filter down to other units, such as the Westminister Dragoons, as a counter-attack
by '40 Tigers', the first case of ‘Tiger-Shock in the campaign when none were in the region). The
Germans had four of their tanks lost, possibly to supporting Naval fire, but also likely from enemy
armour and 6-Pounder Anti-Tank guns that had moved up with the Green Howards. Out of the entire
Kampfgruppe only about ninety men escaped. In the evening these remnants were attached to the
726th Regiment, which was ordered to establish a defensive line: Coulombs-St. Gabriel-the Seulles
River west to Esquay-sur-Seulles-Hill 64 (west of Bazenville)-the Gronde River to Asnelles-sur-Mer.
To re-fight the game we will be using Battlegroup Overlord, unsurprisingly as Im one of the authors.
However the system allows battles such as this to be refought and the differing morale and
experience levels of the two sides to be brought out through their respective Battle Ratings. The
Germans have been slightly penalised in this regard to reflect their rather disjointed attempt to
attack the British and also suffer a further penalty should the Battlegroup commander be killed.
Certainly in the actual engagement his death seems to have added to the failure of German attacks.

We thus require only two requirements for this historical scenario. Firstly, all German infantry will be
classed as ‘Inexperienced' to reflect their confusion and lack of direction at the time. This will reduce
their Battle Rating when compared to their enemy. Secondly the German player must take two chits
as normal for the loss of his Battlegroup Senior officer, but if either are not numbered chits, they
must be replaced in the pot and redrawn. The second result stands regardless of what the chit is.

The game is set at ‘Platoon' level and each side rolls 2d6 for orders plus ‘Officers'. The battle is played
as a ‘Meeting Engagement' with each side placing two objectives and 1d6+1 units starting on the
table in their deployment zones. Reinforcements arrive at 1d6 per turn from their sides board edge.

British Forces - BR43

Forward HQ (Major Bowly) - 3 figures with Jeep

Carrier Section

2 x Infantry Platoons (Elements of B Company, 7th Green Howards)

1 x 6-Pounder AT Gun with Loyd tow

Sherman Tank Troop from A Squadron (2 x Sherman M4A2 and 1 x Firefly)

1 x Sherman Crab

1 x Forward Artillery Observer

Off-table 3" Mortar Battery

1 x First Target Priority Artillery Request

German Forces - BR36

Forward Headquarters (Oberst Meyer) - 3 figures with staff car

2 x Infantry Platoons

2 x MG42 HMG

1 x Marder III

2 x StuG III Ausf G

1 x 75mm Pak 40 A/T gun with tow