Tales from the front: a semi-historical RPM UK AAR

[2001059]

Tales from the front
A semi-historical AAR for the UK, with RPM 1.03​

nation: Belgelands, 1936
version: TFH 4.02 + RPM1.03
difficulty: normal
aim: liberate europe and asia​

Part I: the Battle of France (May - July 1940)


By late May 1940, the Netherlands had already surrendered to the Third Reich and Belgium is on the verge of collapsing. The 100,000 men strong British 1st Army under the command of Lord Ironside was shipped
to Calais as the British Expeditionary Force to reinforce the Belgians who were exhausted, broken and on retreat.

The RAF was also sent to France provide air support for the BEF however they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Luftwaffe and took heavy casualties early on, by the beginning of June, the RAF forces
in France had to pull back to England for reinforcement and repairs, exposing the BEF to constant Luftwaffe ground attacks.

The British II. Corps, comprised of the 53rd, 51st and 44th Infantry Division, launched their attack from Aalst, hoping to regain control of the Belgian capital, Brussels.
Lacking in combat experience, the men were soon ambushed by the veteran of the 1. Leichte Division and 10. Infanterie-Division. Meanwhile, German infantry divisions from the surrounding areas were sent to attack
the headquarters of the II. Corps in Aalst.

The British were forced to halt the attack and fall back to their positions in Aalst

After 4 days and night of fighting, having faced twice their numbers, the II. Corps were ordered to pull out of Aalst and fall back to Kortrijk, defending the headquarters of the BEF and the backs of the I. & III. Corps

5 June 1940, German forces advanced towards the British positions in Gent, spearheaded by the 9. Panzer Division.
2 days later they were stopped, for the meantime.

Early July 1940, since the Battle of Gent, the Germans had drawn their attention elsewhere and broken through the French lines further down South, the chances of stopping the Wehrmacht seemed grim
and the danger of the BEF being encircled became increasingly prominent. All BEF troops in France were to pull back to Dunkerque and to hold until evacuated.


31 July 1940, the BEF, battered and exhausted were finally evacuated and shipped back to England. With the British gone, the fighting dragged on for another 2 months until the French surrendered to Hitler.

 

[Gormytorysh]

BAM! Instant action . Although I do not mind, a little introduction would be great to see what your starting point is and what your goals might be. Is that possible?
Nonetheless, I'll tag along to see where this is going!

 

[2001059]

BAM! Instant action . Although I do not mind, a little introduction would be great to see what your starting point is and what your goals might be. Is that possible?
Nonetheless, I'll tag along to see where this is going!

thanks, basically what I'm planning to do is write a chapter/part for each campaign so there will be a focus on land combat, plus maybe a couple of letters written by fictional characters in between to give a bit more immersion.
the goal of this game though, is to liberate europe and asia as the UK, depending on how strong the Soviet Union is in this mod.

 

[2001059]

Part II: East African Campaign (June 1940 - March 1941)


While everyone's attention were drawn to France, the British forces stationed in East Africa were given the order to liberate the Italian controlled Abyssinia and Somaliland. So as to
relive the pressure on Egypt, and more importantly, the Suez Canal

2 June 1940, the British East African Army, 60,000men strong, comprised of mainly local militias and colonial light infantry, deployed along the borders in Southern Sudan and Kenya
pushed into Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland.

The colonial light infantry, while suitable for jungle and desert warfare, lacked the heavier equipment to fight tougher enemies. It was such a weakness that unnecessarily dragged
the campaign longer than expected.

July 1940 The battle of Mogadishu


As the campaign dragged on and the fighting became fiercer, it became increasingly clear that the British East African Army was biting more than they could chew. The British V. Corps,
under the command of Lord Gort was sent from England to reinforce the East African Army to break the stalemate and draw the campaign to an end.

15 December 1940, the V. Corps landed in Asmara to strike the Italians from behind.

The scattered Italians carried on their fight in the jungles of East Africa until resistance stopped in March 1941, the East African campaign has come to an end with the British victorious at last.
Over 70,000 Italians were captured and around 10,000 killed or missing.

 

[2001059]

Intermission

6 August 1941

Dear Harriet,

Hope all is well, it's been 6 months since I've been deployed to Hong Kong, no words can describe how much I miss you.
Not much has happened since I got here, just drills, patrols and building bunkers after bunkers, day after day. It gets quite tedious but
I am getting along with my men, making friends with the locals, and the weather is actually a lot better than back home in Chew Magna,
so life isn't too bad over here. I just hope we have enough time to train the local volunteers well enough should the Japs decide to attack.

a local child standing next to Private Allen during guard duty


How's mum doing? I can never thank you enough for looking after them while I'm away. I heard the rationing are getting quite serious so do
speak to Charlie if you need anything, he should be able to sneak some food out of barracks. I can't wait to be back to you so we can get
married.

Forever yours

Jim
Lieutenant James Lyons, 3rd Battalion 15th Lancers

Ever since China's early defeat in October 1937, the British had always understood that war is inevitable with Japan, so orders were given to
fortify colonies such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Hong Kong, by mid-1941 has turned into a fortress, stationed with 2 divisions
and 1 brigade (the "Hong Kong brigade") as well as the 100 state of the art Supermarine Spitfire fighters stationed in Kai Tak airfield.

The Hong Kong brigade, consist of 15th Lancers, 689th Armoured Battalion and the Hong Kong regiment, an infantry regiment formed by
local volunteers and some former Chinese army personnel that fled to Hong Kong during the Sino-Japanese war of 1937.

The 15th Lancers, formed in Somerset 1940 and shipped to Hong Kong early 1941, since the British high command mainly focused on the European
theater and the Mediterranean theater, the 15th Lancers were only equipped with the outdated and poorly armored Cruiser Mk IV tanks.