Post Partisan Research - Early War Miniatures: The Raid (WW2 Isle of Wight Kommando Attack)

As part of my post Partisan debrief, I took a look at Early War Miniatures' web-site ostensibly to look at their 20mm Italian Early War range associated with the East African Campaign and the Abbassian/Ethiopian crisis (or rather a blatant invasion of a League of Nation member state [no double standards involved here at all, just because it was black African not white European state]). Please note my growing interest in this period from an earlier post of mine (see link below): 

https://exiledfog.blogspot.com/2026/05/audio-book-prevail-inspiring-story-of.html

While on the  web-site I discovered a fascinating link to a suggested (aka probable) WWII German Kommando Raid on The Isle of Wight in 1943 (see link below): 

https://earlywarminiatures.com/index.php/raid/

Absolutely fascinating, as I had read the cited book just before we went on a family holiday there (pre-Covid). You can imagine a few choice words were said during that holiday, "Why have we stopped here? Are we lost?" and "Why do you want to go this hill? I cannot see anything!" (see below, Adrian Searle's detective story on the alleged/probable raid, it is a good read):

Since the publication of the book there has been archaeological work that seems to suggest (prove?) that German weapons had been fired within the perimeter of a RAF radar station at St Laurence! So, so interesting! There has even been a series of follow up talks in 2025 regarding its finding, so I will be watching to see if there is some form of follow up publication .. or even scenario scenario "in the wind"!

Audio Book: Prevail (The Inspiring Story of of Ethiopia's Victory Over Mussolini's Invasion 1935-1941)

As part of the monthly Audible subscription plan, you get access to a "free library" of titles. Skimming through these, one title in particular caught my eye, "Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia's Victory Over Mussolini's Invasion 1935-1941". I vaguely knew of the Italy's Abyssinian Campaign from my O-Level (not GCSE, so that ages me) history lessons about the League of Nations failure to act effectively in the interwar years. I was intrigued and felt ashamed for not correctly thinking of it as the Ethiopian Campaign. In my early Western Desert reading there were always references made to the East African Campaign. The "one" Wavell "diverted" resources to (see below, not only does the book describe the war, but also the fascinating political world events and personalities that became involved from Evelyn Waugh, Bernard Shaw, Joe Lewis, Laval and Eden but to name but a few): 

Still a "work in progress" for me .. but the shooting is about to start. 

Note: Ethiopia was the only African country that was a member of the League of Nations, partly because Mussolini's Italy championed its cause, thinking that France or Britain would block its membership, but they didn't. The irony of that cannot be lost, and a great exercise of double-thinking yourself into an awkward political corner!