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Tubes painted red on one end and blue
on the other were placed in 3 areas.
One at the top and bottom of the hill,
and one on the bridge. These tubes
were worth points at the top of the
hour and also depending on the raised
color either you could move past or you
had to stop and go back. The exception
to this rule was the planes.
Each side had 2 designated planes. The
planes could go anywhere on the field
as long as they utilized the tank routes
regardless of the color of the roadway
markers. The planes had 2” square
kill plates on all 4 sides. Much harder
to hit, but worth extra points to take
them out with AT paint.
Five Allied tanks were staged at Sword
Beach. As we prepared to start the
game at 0833 the fuel pump failed on
Disney. Our game start was delayed
as Cookie and Jig Saw went into town,
picked up a fuel pump, and did an on
the field repair. We had to bypass the
electrical circuit and install a connection between the rear lights and the
pump to have power. So, headlights
on, power to the pump, headlights off
well you get the picture. It took the
British 3rd Infantry 37 minutes to secure the beachhead at Sword. With
that accomplishment allied 2nd Armor,
and 899th Disney tank was then able
to advance on to Caen.
In Caen we were to face the German
21st Panzer, 716th Infantry, 1058 MEK,
and Geisterjager elements of their
army tucked in tightly throughout the
city, in the surrounding fields and German armor owned the roadways.
Allied 2nd armor, Rangers, 101st
Airborne, 101st Pathfinders, British 3rd Infantry, and British 6th Airborne mounted an offensive battle.
We pushed hard and gained ground
until the German reinforcements returned and would push us back. The
city was no match for the 2nd armor.
The Germans brought up AT gunners
July 2014
that would crawl into position along
the roadside into tall grass and thick
undergrowth. Several were eliminated
but others found the kill plates on the
tanks.
On our third run we cleared the roadway between Sword Beach and Caen.
This gave the British 6th Airborne the
edge they needed to secure the NW
portion of Caen. The 899th AT’s along
with the British 3rd Infantry then began a search and destroy taking out
the 21st Panzer Division. Soon the
roads belonged to 2nd Armor and Caen
belonged to the Allied army. This battle lasted more than 2 ½ hours.
Disney then headed for the Pegasus
Bridge where we found extremely
heavy resistance along the roadway.
We traveled the road to the top of
the hill then back to Caen. Clearing
the road for the 101st airborne and
pathfinders to advance on the bridge.
Disney was leading the charge on the
bridge when one of the Germans tanks
took us out. Our AT’s killed the tank
but the Germans plane in the area
rolled up on our AT’s and they were
headed to the dead zone to.
After our mandatory wait of 20 minutes we were back in the fight. Disney carries a very large cooler stocked
with iced down water and PowerAde.
We also carry baggies filled with trail
mix, peanuts, and whatever else we
can find. We freely give the liquid and
nourishment to any player in need regardless of hopper cover color.
We headed out again to the Pegasus
Bridge. We encountered heavy fire
but eliminated the opposition. Disney
was the first Allied tank to cross Pegasus Bridge and now everything was all
wrapped up. All tubes were turned blue
and a small force was embedded to
secure the area. Our next stop and for
the rest of the days battle would be for
the control of Colleville and the Church.