Again a new file from the Turning Tide Handbook: Task Force A

This file is for the US Task Force A from the Turning Tide Handbook.
It is a complete new army that hasn't been publish in a book or PDF briefing before.
The file has been throughout been tested on mistakes, I even had some help, so lets hope that there won't be any problems to find this time. May you still find one please let me know.

As usual the file is available in Excel 2003, Excel 2007 and OpenOffice.

The links to the sites for download:
- Army Excel Files (page on my blog)
- Flames of War Army files

This will probaly the last file for a while. I am still working on 1 other(Combined file for the 3rd Canadian, British 3rd and 50th T&T Divisions) but it will take awhile before that one is done. After that i start on the files from the poll. Also i like to spend some more time on painting.
One other thing is that some time in January there is a major thing going to happen in my private life. I will tell more about this later on.


Thanks for reading.

A New Poll: "Which Army file to build?"

I have put up a poll. It is a poll specially for those who make use of the Excel army files i build.
It is a list of 5 army's from the Turning Tide book. You all have 14 days to vote then the poll will close.
After that i will see which option has the most votes and that will be the first army of which i will make an Army file. The rest will follow in the order of how many votes they received.
For me it is also a sort of way to see how many people appreciate that i build these files.
May your army not in the list. Don't worry there is a chance that i will put up more polls in the coming year.
Happy voting!


Thanks for reading.

Christmas

I like to wish everybody a  

MERRY CHRISTMAS. 

And that SANTA may bring you all the nice presents

you wished for.

That your Christmas meal taste delicious.

But beware that you don't eat too much.

After all who wants to end up sick in his or her bed on,

New Years Eve.

A note about the army files.

First i like to say that I have yet again uploaded new files for the US light and medium tank divisions. I really feel sick and shit about this, that I have to redo the list for a third time in such a short period.
I am very sorry for this and i hope you forgive me.
Next what i like to say is that may you find a mistake in one of my files then first take a look if there is a new version available. I don't want to clog up my blog with posts that i have uploaded updated files over and over again. However each time I upload a complete new file and tell you here in a post I will also tell if there are files updated. Also if the file is updated after a long period of time then I will tell it too.
If you have a file with a mistake or problem and there is no new version please let me know of the problem so I can update the file.

Thanks for reading.

Again corrections on the Turning Tide - US Light and Medium Tank Divisions Files

I uploaded new files for the Turning Tide - US Light and Medium Tank Divisions. Many more mistakes were found.
I am sorry for all the hassle i am causing.
Next time i will do more my best to keep it mistake clean.

Thanks for reading.

Correction on the Turning Tide - US Light and Medium Tank Divisions Files

Someone pointed out a mistake in the Turning Tide - US Medium Tank Divisions File.Thanks for that.
After checking the file myself i found i out that I simply forgot to check 1 sheet on mistakes.
The problems solved are:
The Corps Cavalry Recon platoon didn't show the points on OoB.
Both the Armored FaB platoons points didn't work correctly on the OoB
The points of the Corps field artillery Battery were working wrong.
All problems are solved and it works OK now.

As I used the Turning Tide US Medium Tank Divisions file as a template for the Turning Tide US Light Tank Divisions file the latter one contained the same mistakes. These are solved too of-course.
For both files v1.1 is up for download

Thanks for reading.

More new files from the Turning Tide Handbook

Well here are some more new files from the Turning Tide handbook. Yep I have been very busy. ;).
The following Files are added to the list:
- Turning Tide - British 6th Airborne Division (v1.0)
- Turning Tide - US 1st and 29th Assault Divisions (v1.0)
- Turning Tide - US Medium Tank Divisions (v1.0)
- Turning Tide - US Light Tank Divisions (v1.0)

I hope that these files are working fine and don't contain any mistakes. May you find one please let me know so i can fix the problem.

Files are available in the following versions Excel 2003, Excel 2007 and OpenOffice.
And here are the links where you can find them:

- Army Excel Files (page on my blog)
- Flames of War Army files

Between the painting I am working on a file for the Canadian 3rd, British 3rd and 50th Infantry Division. But this will take while before it is finished. Little complex to make. After that is done i will also make file for Task Force A.

Have Fun.

Thanks for reading.

Correction on the Turning Tide - US Airborne Divisions (v1.0) file

A quick note.
Someone pointed out to me that there was a mistake in the file. The Airborne Divisional recon platoon didn't show the point cost.
After checking and double checking (file on my computer was working Ok) i found out that i placed the wrong version of the file on the blog and website.
I have quickly replaced it with the correct one.
Sorry for all the trouble.

Here are the links again:
- Army Excel Files (page on my blog)
- Flames of War Army files

Leaves in shame.

Thanks for reading.

New Army File: Turning Tide - US Airborne Divisions (v1.0)

The first new file from the Turning Tide book. Well new. It is more an update of the old D minus 1 handbook.
First lets take a look what has changed compared to D-1.
New are :
1)Airborne Divisional Recon platoon (only for the 82nd Airborne Division).
2)Airborne Anti-aircraft Artillery platoon (only for the 101st Airborne Division).
3)Corps Armored Field Artillery Battery (Priests).
4)Corps Field Artillery Battery (155mm).
5) They now also have Master Sergeant.
What has changed compared to D-1:
The tank platoons are split up in 2. The Medium tank platoon (Sherman's) and Light tank platoon (M5A1 Stuarts). The light tank platoon is only available for the 101st Airborne. Instead of 1 you have the possibility to take 2 Corps Field Artillery Battery's. Only the 101st Airborne is able to take an Anti-aircraft Artillery platoon. The special rule for Turnbull has changed. Further most of the platoons have gone down in points.

Files are available in Excel 2003, Excel 2007 and OpenOffice.

Where to get the new files:

- Army Excel Files (page on my blog)
- Flames of War Army files

About the 2nd link.
I reorganized this site.
On the openings page the first 3 folders have changed. With the explanation what has changed I will concentrate me on the first folder "1. Army Excel Files". The other 2 follow the same concept.
The folder 1. Army Excel Files contains the standard excel files.
If you click on the link you will get 2 new folders: "1 Current Books" and "2 Old Books".
The Current Books folder contain all the files from handbooks and PDF's that are new or in use. Like the new D-Day books but also the books from the Eastfront etc.
The Old Books folder contains all the files from the old handbooks and PDF's. Think of Afrika, Ostfront but also the old Normandy books like D minus 1, Cobra etc.
When you click on 1 of these folders the rest is self explaining.
The only folder where i have some doubts if i placed the right file in the right place (Old books or Current books) is the German Late War folder. So may you find a mistake please let me know.
Although you have to click a few folders to get to the files i think it works better now.
I hope you like this solution. When thing is certain it works easier for me.

Last note: For those people who still like to use D Minus 1, there is a new file up for download.  I found a few glitches in the old one. Name is US Airborne D-1 (v3.3).

Thanks for reading!

Random Talk

First i like to Welcome all new followers.

From now on i will (try to) welcome new followers with the first post of each month. Except if the first post is a History post. In that case i will do it in the next post or i will post a welcome message.

Further i like to say Thank You to all my followers who decided to stick with me. Even to those who are following me anomalously. It means that i don't write it all for myself and all that i write and show is interesting enough to follow.

Yesterday i finally primed my Field Battery, Royal Artillery Platoon. I still couldn't go outside but because it is no longer freezing i could make use of the garage. And just before i went to bed i placed it in my hobby room so it could dry the whole night at a better temperature. So now all i have to do is start painting.

I am still waiting for the new D-Day slipcase to arrive. A friend and i have decided to buy 1 slipcase and split the books: He takes the Earth and Steel book while i take the Turning Tide book. This way we don't have to wait a few more months. But although we ordered it in time at the store it still hasn't arrived. It has something to do with falling snow in England.

Hopefully my next post will be on the painting progress of the Field Battery, Royal Artillery Platoon.

Thanks for reading all this bla bla bla! ;-)

Field Battery, Royal Artillery platoon: The 2nd part

Since a few day's i have the 2nd part of the Field Battery, Royal Artillery platoon for my Canadian Company. The box is a birthday gift. Thanks guys.
Now with this box in my possession the total of 25 pounder guns in the platoon  will be brought to a total of 8 guns.
There are a few things in the box that i don't need anymore for the platoon. The Staff team and a command team but these will always come in handy for other projects like objectives.
Now,of-course,  i want to start as quick as possible to paint these but there is 1 problem; I can't go outside to prime them. It is freezing here. I do have an inside location that i can use to prime but in this room it is also pretty cold. I need to find a good solution to prime them cause i don't have it planned to do it all by hand.
And later, after it is all painted let's hope it's a little warmer here so i can seal them without destroying it (misty look after applying the varnish).
Wish me luck. ;-)
 
Thanks for reading.

A quick one.

This is an Opel Blitz 3 ton truck and will be 1 of the many transport trucks for my Schützen kompanie. It was a leftover from a blister containing 2 trucks. The other is used to be the supply vehicle for the pioneer platoon. It was my intention to include the "canvas" but it didn't fit to well, not, on the truck so i left it off. The truck isn't sealed yet and missing the proper decals which will be added later when i find some.





Thanks for looking.

Today in Dutch WWII History: The Disaster of Heusden.

Heusden is a small historic town near the Meuse river with, at the time of the war, 2000 inhabitants.
During the war Heusden didn't had much to complain. The Germans showed little to no interest in the town.
But all things changed in October 1944.
As a result of the advancing Allied armies Heusden became right in the middle of the battle.
The town was filled with retreating German troops and it was also under the relentless shelling of the allied troops.
Normal life on the streets and in their homes became impossible so many of the people were forced to seek shelter in the basement. Many, however, had no basement and sought hiding in other peoples basement.
Many families had sought shelter in the town hall basement because, with its thick walls and vaults and additional external reinforcement of beams and sandbags it had to be safe.
Here they stayed for days, because normal life at home and on the street was no longer possible.
On Nov. 4, the British crossed the canal in Drunen and the rumble and roar that penetrates into the vaults announced the impending liberation. The day passed full of tension and unrest and nonsensical rumors. It was claimed that the Germans would have undermined the towers so they could be blown up to prevent that they were going to be used as lookout posts for the allies. Some men of the air protection, led by Mr Verschuur, went out to investigate. They found nothing suspicious, and so the night fell.

The night of 4 - 5 November 1944.
The Germans are cornered, the Allied armies are on their heels and as a last act of desperation they destroyed all the beautiful old towers along the front-line. Among these towers was the town hall tower of Heusden. It is also evident that they didn't care that dozens of men, women and children were at risk. At that moment there were about 200 people in basement of the town hall, men, women and children.

Town Hall before the explosion.

At about 2.20 AM a violent explosion ripped through the night. With a thunderous roar the elegant tower of the town hall of Heusden came down.
The bells of the carillon, that would applaud for the towns liberation, fell down with sharp and dull sounds in the avalanche of dust and debris. The roof and the vaults collapsed. The thick exterior walls reinforced with beams and sand collapsed inside. Walls, beams, glass, stone, sand and dust fell down on the adults, children and infants in the shelter of the town hall. After this disastrous moment, it became quiet. A wall of dust hung over a mountain of rubble.

Town Hall after the explosion.

Among the debris faint cries could be heard. Some, who were close at the exit of the basement, came crumbling out of it looking gray of sand and dust and were in a shock. Dozens of men and women came to help and worked hard to free the trapped people but dust and darkness were their biggest obstacles.
A battle for life and death raged on in the debris. Dozens were trapped under beams and bricks. They were still alive. Mothers were screaming for their husbands and their children. But the voices became weaker and weaker until it became silent.
It took a week to recover and count all the victims.
Of the approximately 200 people in the basement 134 people didn't survive this German act of terrorism.
Whole family's were killed. Sometimes only 1 child or person of a family could be saved.

Memorial commemorating the 134 casualties.Writing: Passer-by, where you are, on five November 1944 one hundred and thirty four civilians fell victim to the war.

After the Germans retreaded north over the Meuse river, Heusden became part of the front-line and Germans aimed their fire on the town. On December 31 the people were ordered to leave the town only to return on May 9, 1945.

At the end of the war 10% of the population of Heusden was killed.
Heusden paid it's toll.

Thanks for reading.

Photo1: Geheugen van Nederland
Photo 2 and 3: Nederland in de Tweede Wereldoorlog

The last.......

These are the last unpainted FoW models i have. When these are painted there is nothing left to paint. And it will probably take to 2011 before there will be something new to paint.

What do we see on the photo.
From left to right. A Opel Blitz 3 ton truck. This is just 1 of the many more i need for my MW Schützen Company from North-Africa. This is a company that i am building up slowly. Next is a T-26. Next to that is a T-34/85. Both these tanks are for a Finish tank company i had planned to built but this company has become something for the far future, maybe i will even cancel it completely.
With the new D-Day books coming out i have decided to focus more on my favorite army: The US Airborne.
Because i need 2 new paint colors to buy for the Finnish tanks i think i will start with the 3 ton truck.

Thanks for reading.

Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch revisited

This is some extra information on an earlier post about Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch.
It is information i found on a news tweet today (Thursday October 28 2010).
Today two unique photo's were found at Camp Vught, as the location of the former concentration camp and now memorial centre is called today.
The photo's are from 1944 and show camp prisoners and their guards.
It is exceptional that prisoners and guards are stand together on photo's like these. Moreover it was prohibited to shoot photo's in and close surroundings of the camp, such photo's are very rare.

Prisoners walking on the Loonsebaan guarded by a camp-guard on a bike.

Same group somewhere in the outskirts of the camp probably Gement or  the Bossche Broek where they were put to work.

The photo's are from the family album of Klaas Bezema. From research it has become clear that the father of Bezema made these photo's. He was an amateur photographer and kept taking photo's during the war.

Thanks for reading.

Photo's: STIWOT

Today in Dutch WWII History: The Battle of the Scheldt

This is not exactly a Today in Dutch WWII History because the battle of the Scheldt took place from October 1st - November 8th, 1944.
It was a very bitter, bloody and hard fought battle from both sites. But also know as a forgotten battle. Where most people do know about D-Day, Market Garden or the Battle of the Bulge there are hardly people who have heard of the battle of the Scheldt.
It was also a very important battle. Although the allies now occupied the harbor of Antwerp the Germans still dominated the East-Scheldt area. This made it still impossible for allied ships to go to the harbor of Antwerp and thus creating a shorter supply line.
My first intention was to write the story about the battle myself but instead the following link has a great and nice write up about the whole battle.

The Battle of the Scheldt

Next link is specifically aimed at the battle for Walcheren (Thanks Paul for the link).

OPERATION INFATUATE - WALCHEREN - 1 to 8 NOV 1944

The The Battle of the Scheldt link leads to a page from the Canada at War website. A website dedicated to the contribution of the Canadian army in both World Wars and other wars.



Thanks for reading.

Photo: Canada at War

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank platoon Finished.

The last details are done.
Adding decals, give them a muddy look and seal them.
Lets start with the decals. This almost turned out to become a disaster.
When i got my sheets with decals i found out they were stuck together. By removing them from each other i damaged most of the decals. Luckily i had enough decals of the big stars that went on the front of the tank. The big problem were the ones that had to go on the side of the tanks. I had to see if there were 10 of then left that i could use. After 1 and a half hour i finally had 10 decals i could use of which 1 has little damage.
Time to add the decals.
First i paint a little layer of gloss varnish on the spots were the decals has to go. Then, when it it is dry, i put some Micro-Set on it, got a decal out of the water and gently put it with a brush on the right spot. I first did all the big stars on front. After the last 1 was done i went back to the 1st one and, because the surface wasn't flat, i gently pushed on the decal with a little pellet made of paper towel or something like that so the decal would set nicely around the raised edges. This is done with all 5 the tanks. After that it was time to add the decals on the side. Same procedure but then without the paper towel pressing because the surface was flat. Only had to line them out nicely.
After everything was dry i painted a thin layer of gloss varnish over the decals. I started with this because in the past when i sealed some models with matt varnish the decals suddenly started to dissolve. So to prevent of happing again i paint some gloss varnish over the decals.
Next was to give them a muddy look. This is simply done by a dry brushing a brown color, i used Vallejo Saddle Brown, on the side front and back. Some places a thicker layer then others.
Then last. Sealing them.

The end result!



Click on the Read More link to see more pictures

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank platoon Update 2

A second update.
De tanks are highlighted.
First highlighting is a dry-brush with the base color Vallejo 887 Brown Violet.
After that there was a second highlighting by dry-brushing using the color Vallejo 886 Green Grey.
Unfortunately because the models are still very shiny it is hard to see the highlighting.
After that it was time to paint all details, give them a thin layer of wash and highlight them if necessary.
Sorry for the somewhat crappy pictures i shall see if i can take some better one's.





All what is left to do now, before sealing them, is to add decals and give them a muddy look. And maybe do some touching up.

Thanks for looking and reading.

PS. Post #100. :)

Message for Dutch and Belgian FoW players.

This messages is specially for all Dutch and Belgian FoW players and all other FoW players who live in the Netherlands.
Since a few days there is a new forum on the internet that focus on everything Flames of War in the low country's. Flames of War Nederland en België
It is a forum to bring all players together into 1 place. And to find new opponents.
Just go and take look if you haven't done already.
If your a foreigner but are living in the Netherlands, plays FoW and understand a little bit of Dutch. Take a look too.

Thanks for reading.

M5A1 Stuart Light Tank platoon Update 1

All tanks are painted in their base color. Vallejo 887 Brown Violet.
As you can see the tracks, MG's and the stowage aren't painted yet. These will be done after the hull and turret are completely done.


After the basis color was dry the tanks were painted with layer of a very thinned down black wash. Vallejo Lavado.


Now i let them all dry for at least 1 day. Then i start with the highlighting.
In the meantime i can paint the 2 crew members. 1 Platoon leader, 1 gunner.

Thanks for reading.

All about Dice

Today one of the blog's i follow BigLee's Miniature Adventures, who also follows my Blog, has an interesting post about making good and bad dice. The Science of Dice : Rant and Learn
I found it very interesting.

Thanks for reading.

Irregular Magazine

Today i like to tell something more about the hobby magazine named Irregular Magazine. Maybe some of you already heard of it.
Irregular Magazine is a free quarterly magazine that can be downloaded as a PDF file. The whole magazine contains no advertisements!!.
You 'll find all kind of things about, Wargames, RPG, Miniature Painting, Scenery Building, Story's and much more inside the magazine. All the content is supplied for free by community members. And, if you like, even you can submit content.
Since a few days Number 6 is up for download from their website. Irregular Magazine.
Older number are still available for download too.
I would say try it out. It is free after all.

Thank you for reading.

New pictures of my painted 3rd Canadian Division

It is time to show some better pictures of my 3rd Canadian Division Regina Rifles Regiment company. The other pictures were too bad to look at. These new pictures are at least a little better.
You can also view them as a slideshow here:
Gallery: 3rd Canadian Division

Lets start

HQ


Click on the Read More link to see more pictures

What's next on my painting table

Next on my painting table is a M5A1 Stuart Light Tank platoon containing 5 tanks. The models are made by Battlefront and come in a box. UBX21 M5A1 Stuart Light Tank Platoon. 
All 5 tanks are individually sculpted so none of them looks the same. Personally i find these some great looking models. 
One thing i haven't decide yet is if i will, after the base color is applied, paint a camo pattern on them or not.
After painting this platoon can be used in my D-1 US Airborne company and in my Cobra 2nd Armored Tank company.

Primed M5A1 Stuart Light Tank Platoon

Thanks for reading.

Field Battery, Royal Artillery Platoon end result

This is the end result of the Field Battery, Royal Artillery platoon for my Canadian Company.
I know it probably won't be an award winning platoon for painting but i think it will look great on the gaming table.
The intention is to, in the future, increase the size of the platoon with four more guns.
I am sorry for the crappy pictures. Somehow no matter what i did the photo's turned out bad. In real the platoon looks better.
Comments are always welcome. Good or bad.

The Platoon


Click on the READ MORE link to see more pictures.

Today in Dutch WWII History: The Razzia of Putten.

An attack by a resistance group on a German Wehrmacht was the reason for the German occupier to take retaliation measures against the people of Putten a small city in the middle of the Netherlands.

The night before.
In the night of September 30 1944 members of the Putten resistance movement shot at a car of the German Wehrmacht between Putten and Nijkerk near the Oldenallerbridge. In this car were 2 officers and 2 corporals.
During the gunfight the corporals managed to escape unhurt, 1 of the officers, although heavily wounded, escaped to a nearby farm from here he later was brought to Harderwijk where he died the next day. The other officer was captured and held hostage.

Revenge.
On sunday October 1, at the Command of General Friedrich Christiansen, the German Werhmacht raided most of Putten and a part of Nijkerk . During this raid 7 men and 1 young woman got killed.
Putten was surrounded by the German Wehrmacht , which also included the Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring who was encamped in nearby Harderwijk.
The women and children were separated from the men and locked up in the church. The men were brought and locked up in the school or eierhal. In the evening the woman and children were released on the condition that they would come back the next morning with food for their men.
They all came back the following morning.
All men between 18 and 50 years of age were put on transportation to Concentration camp Amersfoort.
Not much later all the woman and children did get the order to leave Putten within 2 hours.
When they all have left the village about one hundred homes were set on fire by German and Dutch SS'. The returning women found nothing but ruins.

In Camp Amersfoort 59 men were released. On October 11 the remaining 601 men were deported to concentration camp Neuengamme (during this transportation 13 men managed to jump from the train). A part of the men ended up in several other camps, which were part of Neuengamme.
Here most of the men died because of malnutrition, slavery, exploitation and infectious diseases.

Aftermath.
After the war, only 48 men returned home, of these 48 men 5 more died because of the deprivations they had endured.

Total number of men deported 660
Released in Amersfoort 59
Deported to Neuengamme 601
Jumped out of the train 13
Arrived in Neuengamme 588
Died in German Concentration camps 540
Returned to Putten after the war 48
Died soon after return 5
Killed during the Raid 8

Total number of victims 553

Thanks for reading.

Monty's Meatgrinder army file update

New update for the Monty's Meatgrinder army file available. Version 1.7
A minor bug fixed in the OoB of the file.
When you selected the Heavy mortar platoon or the Tank Destroyer Platoon they showed up twice on the OoB when it should be only once.
Excel, Excel 2007, OpenOffice file available.

Thanks for reading

Field Battery, Royal Artillery platoon Update 1

The Guns, gun crew and bases are done. I only need to fetch up a little bit, add some flock and then seal it.
The faces of the crew are horrible cast specially the one sitting on the gun. Next time i probably ask BF for new minis.
Because they aren't sealed yet the minis look very shiny on the pictures, so it is a little difficult to see the painting details. But i hope enough can be seen.
Sorry for the crappy pictures.



Click on the read more link to see more pictures.

US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF armyfile update 4

I am deeply ashamed of myself :blush:.
I just found out that i completely fucked up the US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF army file on the last update (September 15). There was not much that worked the way it should work in the US Airborne HH part of the file after the update.
I made a new file: US Airborne HH (V3.2) + Glider Rifle Company PDF (V1.2)
Let's hope everything now works as it should be.
I am really sorry for all trouble i caused.
Maybe it is better i stop making files.
:cry:

Thanks for reading.

My new project to paint

Next to paint for my Canadian army: A Field Battery, Royal Artillery platoon.
This is just the first part of the platoon, after this one a second one will follow to complete the whole platoon. But i first have to save money to buy the box. ;)
It contains: Four 25pdr Guns with scenic bases and gun crew, One observer with OP Carrier, Two Command teams and One Staff team.
So far it's all primed and the guns have their base-coat.



After this i have to do a full platoon off 5 M5A1 Stuart tanks and 1 M8 Greyhound.

Thanks for reading.

Today in Dutch WWII History: Railway strike

On September 17, 1944, at the request of the Allied High Command, the Dutch government in exile in London called for a railway strike in the Netherlands.
The intention of this strike was to make it harder for the German army to move their troops and equipment to Arnhem, Nijmegen and Eindhoven, where the allied troops on that day began their offensive: "Operation Market Garden".
After a radio call from Radio Orange on September 17, 1944 (Code message: 'De kinderen van Versteeg moeten onder de wol' ), 30,000 employees of the NS (Dutch Railway) laid down their work. The result of this successful strike call was that nearly all employees of the Dutch Railways were not going to work and thus creating a standstill.

STRIKE!

The expectation of the strikers was that the strike would be over quickly, since the Netherlands was about to be freed soon. But the Germans won the Battle of Arnhem and the strike lasted until the liberation on May 5, 1945.

This had great impact on the life in occupied territory, including the way the occupation authorities did respond. The Germans went looking for other ways to bring back transportation to full running. Because the Germans succeeded in doing this quickly, the impact of the strike on the German troops had lost his effectiveness within 10 days.
The Germans had warned that a strike would endanger the food supply. They made this threat come true. While the German soldiers started to use their own trains for transport to supply their troops, for the Dutch population the railway strike meant that their was lack of food and fuel, and travel became a lot harder. Especially the west of the Netherlands suffered under the winter famine (hongerwinter).
Among the seven million Dutch people, who have not been liberated, the mood against the occupier became expressively grimly.

Thanks for reading!

Photo: Rotterdam 40 - 45

US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF armyfile update 3

A new update for this file. There were some bugs in the US Airborne part of the file.
All seems to be fixed now and a new file can be downloaded again.
Again sorry for the trouble.

Crashed Spitfire Objective Finished

After a long row of posts about anything except painting.......
The Crashed Spitfire Objective from Kerr & King is finally finished. Because of a painting block (didn't do any painting for several weeks) it took more time to finish this objective and the only thing i had to do were the details.
Some of the painting looks pretty OK while others turned out not the way i wanted, but overall, i think, it turned out pretty nice.
The objective will be used with my Canadian Army.
Comments are always welcome of-course.










Thanks for looking!

50th Tyne&Tees Division Army file

Uploaded a file for the 50th T&T Division. "50th T&T Division PDF (V 1.1)"
To remember it is to use with the 50th T&T Division PDF NOT the 50th T&T Division from Viller-Bocage!
There is an Excel, Excel 2007 and an OpenOffice.org version.
If you find a mistake please let me know.

You can find the new files here:
Army Files
or here
FoW Army Files



Thanks for reading!

Today in Dutch WWII History: Dolle Dinsdag

Dolle Dinsdag (Mad Tuesday) is the name in the Netherlands for Tuesday September 5 1944.
On that day a lot of emotional scenes played out all over the Netherlands following reports that the country could be freed any time soon of the German occupation. Because the Allies had in previous days rapidly gained ground on the Germans, on Sunday September 3, Brussels was liberated and on Monday September 4 Antwerp, the optimistic Dutch figured that at this pace the Allies would be in Rotterdam on September 5, on September 6 in Utrecht and Amsterdam, and the rest would follow soon.
In the southern part of the Netherlands the thundering of the guns had been heard.
Rumors were exaggerated, and soon the myth circulated that certain places in the Southern Netherlands had been liberated. In Rotterdam, it was claimed that the Allies were at Moerdijk, and in Amsterdam it was claimed that they were at Rotterdam and The Hague.
This was exaggerated by a British radio message reported that Breda indeed was liberated.
Many Dutch prepared themself to greet their liberators the next day. Flags and orange flags were brought out, and businesses run empty because all personal wanted to wait on the street for the Allies to arrive.
Among the Germans and NSB people ( Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging. A Dutch political party that collaborated with the Germans) panic broke out, administrations were quickly destroyed and many fled.
Many of the NSB stayed temporarily at the Lüneburg Heath in Germany, while Mussert (Leader of the NSB) moved to Bellinckhof in Almelo.

Germans fleeing from Rotterdam

What the Dutch people did not know was that the size of the allied forces at that time was too small to be able to liberate the Netherlands. The Allied main force was still in France and the troops that had advanced towards Antwerp only liberated a thin corridor in Belgium. The Dutch border was not even reached at all. On either side of the thin corridor the area was still occupied and the forward troops were at risk to be cut off. Therefore the Allied High Command didn't dare to go for a further blow to the north, especially since the main objective; Antwerp, had already been reached.
The false radio report about the non-existing liberation of Breda had to do with the fact that, because of the marching speed, the Allied High Command hardly knew were their own troops were.
A few days later, the Allies crossed the Dutch border with reconnaissance patrols, and on September 14, 1944 Maastricht was the first major Dutch city liberated.
Then when also Operation Market Garden failed because of the German victory at the battle for Arnhem, it was clear that at least for the Northern Netherlands liberation would not take place for a while. The Western Netherlands had, after Dolle Dinsdag, to undergo the Hongerwinter (winter famine) until they finally got liberated on May 5 1945.
The name Dolle Dinsdag is first detected in De Gil, a magazine disguised as opposition propaganda newspaper that was funded by the occupier. On September 15 the headline in the paper about the events of September 5: GENERALE REPETITIE - DURE LES VAN DOLLEN DINSDAG (General rehearsal – Mad Tuesday expensive lesson).
The alliterative lines were written by Willem van den Hout who after the war under the name Willy van der Heide would gain fame as author of the successful children's books about Bob Evers.


Thank you for reading!

Photo: Rotterdam 40 - 45

US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF armyfile update 2

I hate to tell this but there is again a new version of the US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF file.
This time it was a major mistake i found. The OoB didn't notice the point cost for the 2nd AT Gun platoon and left the points at 0 when you selected the platoon.

I am very sorry for all the trouble. I really hoped that the file didn't contain any mistakes.

1 September 1939

On September 1st., 1939, 1.8 million German troops invaded Poland. The beginning of World Ward II is a fact.
The German army had a substantial numerical advantage over Poland. It had some 2,400 tanks organized into six panzer divisions. The Polish army had to do it with 180 tanks. The Luftwaffe forces consisted of 1,180 fighters where the Polish had to do it with 420 fighters.

The main axes of attack led eastwards from Germany through the western Polish border. Supporting attacks came from East Prussia in the north, and a co-operative German-Slovak tertiary attack by units from German-allied Slovakia in the south.
The never seen before “Blitzkrieg” tactics and bombing of towns and refugees caught the Poles off-guard.
By September 14th. Warsaw was surrounded.
By this time the Poles reacted, holding off the Germans at Kutno and regrouping behind the Wisla (Vistula) and Bzura rivers.

Although Britain and France declared war on September 3rd. the Poles received no help it had been agreed that the Poles should fight a defensive war for only 2 weeks during which time the Allies could get their forces together and attack from the west.

Despite the fact that Poland was only just beginning to modernise her armed forces and Britain and France forced her to delay mobilisation because they claimed it might be interpreted as aggressive behaviour, only about one-third of her total potential manpower was mobilised, Polish forces ensured that the September campaign was no "walk-over".
The Wehrmacht had under-rated Polish anti-tank capabilities that they had gone into action with white "balkankreuz", or crosses, prominently displayed in eight locations. These crosses made excellent aiming points for Polish gun-sights. At that time the Polish anti-tank gun was one of the best in the world. Also the Polish light tank, the first in the world to be designed with a diesel engine, proved to be superior to German tanks of the same class inflicting serious damage to the German forces, limited only by the fact that they were not used in concentrated groups. They were absorbed by the Germans into their own Panzer divisions at the end of the campaign.

On September 17^th, in accordance with a secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet forces invaded from the east. Two weeks later Warsaw surrendered. On October 2nd the garrison on the Hel peninsula had to surrender. The Polesie Defence group surrendered on October 5th, after fighting on two fronts against both German and Soviet forces.
The Poles had held on for twice as long as had been expected and had done more damage to the Germans than the combined British and French forces managed to do in 1940. The Germans lost 50,000 men, 697 planes and 993 tanks and armoured cars.
Thousands of Polish soldiers and civilians managed to escape to France and Britain whilst many more went "underground" . A government-in-exile was formed with Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz as President and General Wladyslaw Sikorski as Prime Minister.

1 September 1939 Invasion of Poland 

Thanks for reading!

(wow 3 posts in 1 day)

Battle of Britain

This is a post that i wanted to make several weeks, or most i say months, ago. But because of some minor problems and bad news about my health, it disappeared to the background of my mind and later on i forgot about it. That was till recently.
Now i was in doubt if it is not to late. But as it happened 70 years ago and being a major part of the war i know i still had to do something with it. To remind people about it and that they won't forget it.
There is however 1 thing that i changed in the plan. Instead of  writing something about this period myself i will instead post a link which, and this is my personal opinion, is one of the best sites about the Battle of Britain.

- Battle of Britain

May all those heroes dead or alive and those who had suffered so much never be forgotten.

Thank you for reading!

US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF armyfile update

An updated file is up for US Airborne HH + Glider Rifle Company PDF.
1stBn (know from the FoW forum and a regular reader of this blog)  was so kind to point out a minor glitch in the Glider Rifle Company file.

Sorry for the trouble.

Hell's Highway + Glider Rifle Company PDF Army excel file

With the release of the official Glider Rifle Company PDF i can now announce the arrival of a new Army excel file.
It is a combination of the US Airborne Hell's Highway Army file plus an Army excel file for the new Glider Rifle Company PDF.
The Hell's Highway Army file is version 3.0 because i made some changes. The 'biggest' change is the Airborne Divisional Recon Platoon. Instead of choosing 1 or 2 sections you now have to choose between 1 or 2 sections with normal jeeps (101st division) or 1 or 2 sections with armoured jeeps (82nd Division).
If there are people that rather have 2 separate files let me know and i'll see what i can do.
Please always check if the files contain mistakes.

Where to find:
-Army Files
or
-FoW Army Files


Thanks for Reading!

A Poll: the results.

Ok the results of the "Should this blog get a new look" Poll are in.
A thank goes out to the 9 people who took the time to vote. A special thanks for BigLee who also took the time to write a comment.
The results:
4 say yes it should get a new look.
4 say no it shouldn't get a new look.
1 says I don't know.
I only wish that those people who said yes would have mentioned what could be changed. That way i could try to make the blog only look better.

Conclusion is that the blog won't get a new look.

Thanks for reading!

New Army file XXX Corps Hell's Higway

I uploaded a new XXX Corps HH file. Version 2.0.
On the FoW forum in this thread: arming stuarts with AA mg from HH
Mike at Battlefront placed the following errata.

On p.18, It should read: Arm any or all Stuart tanks with an AA MG for +5 points per tank.
On p. 31 It should read: Arm any or all Staghound armoured cars with an AA MG for +5 points per car.

This meant that i had to update my file cause in the old file the point cost was listed as 5 points for all Stuarts / Cars.
The 2nd Household took me most of the time so I hope everything still works like it should.
There is an Excel, Excel 2007 and OpenOffice file.

You can find the new files here:
Army Files
or here
FoW Army Files

Thanks for reading!

Crashed Spitfire Objective Update

Not finished yet. Most work still to be done is on the base.
The painting didn't turned out they way i hoped. Hopefully i can patch it up a little.
Sorry for the bad pictures.







Thanks for looking!

Work in Progress: Crashed Spitfire Objective

This objective is not a Flames of War objective but is made by Kerr & King. I must say it is a beautiful piece of work.
The objective will be part of my Canadian army.
As you can see i still have much work to do. So far only the colors of the plane are done. Things like burn spots and scratches of the crash have to be painted on. After the plane the rest of the objective will follow.
I will keep you all updated.







Thanks for looking!

Today in Dutch WWII History : Concentration-Camps 3

  

Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort

Compared with other concentration camps, Camp Amersfoort was a small and makeshift camp. In operation from 1941 until the end of the war, it was run not by the military but by the German police the Sipo / SD. Neglect, starvation, maltreatment and murder marked the lives of over 35,000 prisoners who, in the course of two separate periods of the war, were held here for a brief or extended time.
The history of Camp Amersfoort can be divided into two periods.

First Period 1941 - 1943

In August 1941 the SS took the former shed camp for Dutch soldiers in use as a camp. Camp Amersfoort was a small, provisional camp. By the central, outlying position and poor control, the camp, in the period up to 1943, could develop into a cruel, disorderly, in itself turned community. Even to German standards.
The main feature of the prisoners population in Camp Amersfoort was the diversity.There were significantly more differences than similarities.There was difference in age, gender, background, education, religion, political orientation, reason for arrest, position and treatment in the camp, trial, sentence and length of confinement.
Forced labor, beatings, starvation and disease made staying at Camp Amersfoort a struggle for survival. There was no solidarity among the prisoners.
In the camp there were also 101 Russians. The German camp administration had them
registered as "Kriegsgefangene. They were exposed to abuse and neglect. The 77 survivors were murdered on April 9, 1942. On March 18, 1946, they were reburied at the general cemetery Rusthof in Leusden.
There were also approximately 120 American citizens, in the camp. The effect of the German declaration of war against the United States was that U.S. citizens, in the German occupied territories, were arrested. They were not considered prisoners, but as civilian internees. For them was the Geneva convention. They were treated different then the other prisoners. They did not have to perform forced labor and were not mistreated. But like the other prisoners they experienced, food shortages, uncertainty about their fate and the limited freedom of movement.
End 1942, beginning 1943 the camp was cleared. The prisoners were brought to the new camp in Vught. The existence of camp Amersfoort was uncertain. In this first period which lasted up to 8 March 1943, a total of 8,522 prisoners stayed in camp Amersfoort.

Second Period 1943 - 1945

Enlarging the capacity and afterwards reopening of camp Amersfoort appeared necessary. The reality of war, the growth in the number of detainees, retrieved the plans for Camp Amersfoort. On May 17, 1943, with the arrival of the first 2 new groups of prisoners, the camp, now with a new name 'Erweitertes Polizeigefängnis', reopened. The name pointed out that the camp fell under the responsibility of the local police force authorities.The capacity was, in comparison with the first period, drastically increased.
In this second period, as a result of the "arbeitseinsatz" the run through of prisoners became much larger.
In spite of the extension the camp remained, in comparison with ' official' German camps, disorderlily and negligent.
As a result, among other things, of the increasing allied threat on April 19 1945 camp Amersfoort was officially transferred to the Dutch Red Cross. 475 à 500 present prisoners no longer fell under the responsibility of the German occupancy power. On April 20 the German camp control left the camp.

Reconstruction of a copy of a stereographic drawing found in 1945 in the Camp commander's office.

Aerial picture August 1944

Thanks for Reading!


Photo's: Nationaal Monument Kamp Amersfoort

A poll

At the left of this blog you will see that i added a poll. The "Should this blog get a new look" Poll.
With the look of the blog i don't only mean how the blog looks but also the contents of the blog.
If you say Yes then please leave a comment and tell me why and what should be changed.
If you say No it is always welcome if you leave a comment explaining why you like it.
If you say I don't know then you just don't know :).
The poll is open for 14 days.

Thanks for reading and voting!

90. Leichte Afrika Division Schützen Kompanie part 5: Schützen Pioneer Platoon

Finally after Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 there is Part 5. The Schützen Pioneer Platoon.
These were a nightmare to paint. I have never seen such badly cast models. Problem is probably that the mold has worn out and needs to be replaced. So if you need a Mid War Pioneer Platoon don't buy these (GE726 Pioneer Platoon).
The Flamethrower teams can also be used as normal pioneer teams when necessary. I don't want to buy a whole new blister for just 2 extra teams.

On to the Pictures.

Pioneer Platoon picture 1

Click on the Read More link to see the rest of the pictures.

August 6 1945

65 years ago on August 6 1945 the B29 US bomber "Enola Gay" piloted and commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets drops the Atomic Bomb, know as "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. 70,000–80,000 people of the population of Hiroshima were killed immediately, and another 70,000 were injured.
When the Japanese goverment still didn't want to surrender unconditionally 3 days later the B29 US bomber "Bockscar" flown by commander Major Charles W. Sweeney dropped a 2nd Atomic Bomb named "Fat Man". This time on the city of Nagasaki. Their primary target was Kokura but because of bad weather conditions they took off and flew to their second target, Nagasaki.
Casualty estimates for immediate deaths 40,000 to 75,000. Another estimated 25,000 people were injured.

Estimates of total deaths by both bombs at the end of 1945 from burns, radiation and related disease range from 90,000 to 166,000. By 1950 the estimated total of deaths is 200,000 because of cancer and other long-term effects.

The Atomic Bomb - News Footage from 1945

The world changed for good.

Thanks for reading!

Updated Excel file Parachute Rifle Company North Africa (book 2)

A new updated Excel file for the Parachute Rifle Company North Africa (book 2). I found a few little mistakes in the old one.
-The title-header on the Parachute Rifle Company sheet should have been unlocked.
-If you selected a Rifle platoon without the Bazooka option it didn't count in cell D7 of the Parachute Rifle Company sheet as being selected. It didn't cause any problems on the OoB sheet.

New file can be found here:
- Army Excel Files
or here
- Flames of War Army Excel files

PS. I no longer post direct links to the files and i no longer will update the old direct links in the older blog posts with new links.
I think that when people will follow one of the above links they can find the files on their own. ;)

Thanks for Reading!

Today in Dutch WWII History : Concentration-Camps 2

  

Durchgangslager Westerbork

Near the village of Westerbork, in the province of Drente, the Dutch Government owned a tract of heath and marsh land surrounded by dense woods. This isolated piece of real estate appeared to be the ideal place to build a camp for German Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi persecution. It was far enough placed from the village proper of Westerbork that refugees would not interfere with the daily business concerns of the villagers provided supervision was in place.
The first refugees that arrived at camp Westerbork was in 1939. During the German invasion on 10 May 1940 the camp contained 50 barracks, 1150 legal and 650 illegal refugees.
When the endlösing of the Netherlands started the existing camp near Westerbork was the ideal place for this. And early 1942, 24 large barracks capable of housing 300 people each, were added for this purpose.
On 1 July 1942 Refugee camp Westerbork officially became Durchgangslager Westerbork and stayed this until the liberation of the camp on the 12 April 1945.

Aerial picture of Durchgangslager Westerbork 1944

Between July 1942 and September 1944 more than 104,000 Dutch and German Jews and 250 Dutch Sinti and Roma were deported by train from Westerbork to the extermination camps. Between them were 22,025 childeren and young adults with an age below 21.
On 13 September 1944 the last train left from Durchgangslager Westerbork. Destionation: Bergen Belsen.

65 train-transports with 60,330 victims were sent directly to Auschwitz II Birkenau. Only 854 people who were deported from Westerbork survived. On 3 September 1944 the last train to Auschwitz II Birkenau left Westerbork. On this train was the Frank familly.

19 train-transports with a total of 34,313 Jews were deported from Westerbork to Sobibor. Only 18 Dutch jews returned.

9 train-transports with 4,894 Jews left Westerbork for Theresienstadt. Just as Westerbork this was a internent and transit camp. 2,000 deported survived.

A total of 3750 victims were transported to Bergen-Belsen. An other notorius concentration camp. But also know as the camp where Anne Frank, who was transported from  Auschwitz II Birkenau to Bergen Belsen, was murdered.
From the 3750 people deported to this place 1700 died.

After the last deportation on 13 September 1944 876 Jews and non Jewish people remained in Westerbork. On 12 April 1945 they were liberated by Canadian troops.

Dutch Camp Commanders:
mr. D.A. Syswarda Camp's inception - 16 July 1940
Captain in the Reserves Jacques Schol 16 July 1940 - Early January 1943

German Commanders:
SS-Sturmbannführer dr. Erich Deppner 1 July 1942 - 1 September 1942
SS-Sturmbannführer Josef Hugo Dischner 1 September 1942 - 12 October 1942
SS-Obersturmführer Albert Konrad Gemmeker 12 October 1942 - 12 April 1945

Note: both Dutch camp commanders had nothing to do with the death transports. Not even Schol who served under 2 German camp commanders. SS-Obersturmführer Albert Konrad Gemmeker even quickly saw to it that Schol was discharged in January 1943. Not wanting to have any witnesses to the Nazi Endlösing plan.

Other important positions (these people were Jews):
Kurt Schlesinger, the Oberdienstleiter 
Arthur Pisk :Head of the Ordnungsdienst
Dr. Fritz Spanier - Chief Medical Officer


Thanks for Reading!


Photo: The Holocaust - Lest We Forget

New pictures of my painted 101st Airborne Division

Looking at the bad pictures i posted on this blog of my Airborne Division i decided to take new photos of all the platoons i have. But the first thing i did was to paint some more details on the older platoons. Also i have redone all the bases. Because of the extensive use the flock started to come of from the bases.
The D-1 and HH stand for the handbooks i can use the platoons for. D-1 is D minus 1 and HH is Hell's Highway. I left out Mid War.

You can also view them as a slideshow here:
Gallery: US 101st Airborne Division

HQ (D-1 and HH)


Click on the Read More link to see more