Schaefer by Far MTO (id:#59398)

Single Man Publishing (Aprilia: The Factory ID: ATF 3)   [next]   [previous]

Aprilia, Italy 1944-02-08 (3 others)

Overview:

The terrain in this area of Italy greatly hindered the attacker; the ground (reclaimed marshland) was too soft for massed tank attacks, and too open for unsupported Infantry. The German solution was to use platoons and squads to infiltrate at night and surround the outer pickets of the Allies. The London Irish, tasked with holding the Factory, had only been in line for four days but had been under attack from the start. Because of the amount of artillery fire the Factory received, the Irish left it unoccupied, placing their main line of resistance in front of it. On the night of February 7th, German infiltrators retook the southeastern corner of the Factory. When dawn came, the already tired defenders prepared another “attack to the rear.” Help was on the way, however; tank destroyers had been assigned in the absence of German daylight armor activity.

Defender: German (29th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 3rd Panzer Division)  

Errata (source)