With Churchills to War By Michael Miller This battle is drawn from the book With Churchills to War by Peter Gudgin. This scenario uses information from both Afrika, Death From Above and Armoured Fist for the relevant troop formations . Background On 21 April 1943 the 48th Royal Tank Regiment first went to war with their Churchill tanks in Tunisia against the Hermann Goering Division. In this engagement the 48th RTR engaged and knocked out their first Tiger tank. This Tiger tank is now at the Tank Museum at Bovington, England.

The British forces of 5th Corps were preparing to launch a major offensive on 21 April. German forces instead launched a spoiling attack to slow down the British offensive. The spoiling attack was known by the German forces as Operation Fliederblute (Lilac Blossom) and almost succeeded in reaching the HQ of the 4th (Mixed) Division. The German forces then withdrew to await the British counter attack. The 48th RTR was tasked in the counter attack to support the 1/6 East Surreys of the 10th Infantry Brigade in capturing two hill features, the Djebel-el-Mehirigar (J5823) and Djebel Djaffa (J5923).

The Mission The 48th RTR attack is against German forces of the Hermann Goering Division who have fallen back to these positions yesterday. Use the No Retreat Mission from the main rulebook with the Germans in defense and the British attacking. All normal rules apply. The objectives for the British forces are the reverse slopes of the two hills marked with Xs. The deployment zones are marked on the provided map. The Battlefield The battlefield is dominated by the two hills, the Djebel-el-Mehirigar (J5823) and Djebel Djaffa (J5923). While vegetation is sparse there are many wadis and the terrain is very rugged and mountainous. The green terrain is vegetation providing concealment but no movement penalty. The wadi provides bulletproof cover and concealment for infantry teams only. The wadi provide this feature for any infantry team even if both enemy and friendly teams are in the same section of the wadi. The wadi is considered Difficult terrain for vehicles requiring a Cross test to move across. All of the hills (the dark brown terrain features) are treated as Difficult terrain. Even the Churchills require a Cross test while moving across this terrain.

The Forces Allied Forces Squadron A of the 48th Royal Tank Regiment is operating in support of the 1/6 East Surreys of the 10th Infantry Brigade.

Axis Forces The 12. Kompanie of Fallschirmjäger Regiment 5 (known as Jagerregiment Hermann Göring) supported by elements of the 501/504 Heavy Tank Battalion with an attached platoon of Panzer IVs. The Fallschirmjagerkompanie is rated Fearless Veteran and the tank platoons are rated Confident Veteran.

British  A Squadron, 48th Royal Tank Regiment and 1/6 East Surreys, 10 Infantry Brigade Rifle Company     Rifle Company HQ 2x SMLE rifle team 2 points Rifle Platoon 7x Bren Gun& SMLE rifle team 1x Boys anti-tank rifle team 1x 2-inch mortar team 11 points Rifle Platoon 7x Bren Gun& SMLE rifle team 1x Boys anti-tank rifle team 1x 2-inch mortar team 11 points Churchill Armoured Squadron   Churchill III Armoured Squadron HQ 3x Churchill III 33 points Churchill III Armoured Troop 3x Churchill III 33 points Churchill III Armoured Troop 3x Churchill III 33 points Rifle Company     Rifle Company HQ 2x SMLE rifle team 2 points Rifle Platoon 7x Bren Gun& SMLE rifle team 1x Boys anti-tank rifle team 1x 2-inch mortar team 11 points Rifle Platoon 7x Bren Gun& SMLE rifle team 1x Boys anti-tank rifle team 1x 2-inch mortar team 11 points Total 147 points

German   Jägerregiment Hermann Goering Fallschirmjäger Company  Fallschirmjäger Company HQ 2x MP40 SMG team 3 points Fallschirmjäger Platoon 7x MG42 & K98 rifle team 1x Panzerknacker Command Card 9 points 2 points Fallschirmjäger Platoon 7x MG42 & K98 rifle team 1x Panzerknacker Command Card  9 points 2 points Fallschirmjäger Platoon 7x MG42 & K98 rifle team 1x Panzerknacker Command Card 9 points 2 points Support Platoons (Confident Veteran)   Tiger Heavy Tank Platoon 2x Tiger 2x Panzer III (Uparmoured) 58 points 16 points Panzer IV Tank Platoon 4x Panzer IV (long 7.5cm) 40 points Total 150 points

Historical Results Historically the British infantry and tanks failed to support each other closely allowing the German forces to spoil the British counterattack and the British forces withdrew until the next day. A Tiger tank that was knocked out during the attack that day was captured the following day in working order by the British forces and shipped back to England for examination. The turret had jammed from a 6 pdr shot and the crew abandoned the tank in the heat of battle. Several of the Churchill tanks disabled had hits from 88m, 75mm, and 50mm rounds. The interesting features of this battle are the lack of anti-tank units on both sides. This battle was a tank on tank fight between a force of Churchill tanks facing the dreaded Tiger tank in combat with limited foot infantry support on both sides. The rocky terrain was a hindrance to both sides but the fighting was fierce as evidenced by the fact that the 48th RTR lost four Churchills and the Germans lost two Mk IIIs, a Mk IV, and a Mk VI (Tiger). 5. Fallschirmjager Regiment in Tunisia...