Post 41, Bumfluff at Bardia

By 15th December the Italian army was out of Egypt and the British paused to count their gains, with both sides holding their positions. The Division, less 4th Armoured Brigade, surrounded Bardia waiting for the 6th Australian Division to be brought up to prepare for an assault on Bardia and for supplies to be brought up.

The enemy positions around Bardia, which was garrisoned by 45,000 men and over 400 guns (off all types), 12 M-13 Tanks and a Hundred L-3 Tankettes. consisted of a 18 mile long perimeter, with double barbed wire, a four foot anti-tank ditch, many natural wadis and scores of artillery and MG positions, plus six well dispersed minefields.

Having captured plans of these defences back in June, the defences were probed for weakness for a while. There was also a need to re-equip as the strength of 7th Armoured had dropped to 108 light tanks and 59 Cruiser tanks, of which many had outrun the designed track mileage.

While the Italians in Bardia enjoyed every luxury, the Australians and 7th Armoured Division settled down outside the perimeter for their Christmas lunch, waiting for the main assault in the new year.

Major Mick Dundee of 2/2nd Australians has the task of capturing Post 41 and allowing passage of Matilda tanks from 7RTR. The Aussies are green but keen, having replaced the veteran 4th Indian Division up the Blue.

Major Mick Dundee with one of his mates, in happier times.

The Regimental diary of the 11th Hussars records that Lt Bumfluff Farthingdale was captured by the enemy on the night of 2nd January 1940. The Colonel was not too upset. Bumfluff`s armoured car was reported to have become "lost" in the area between post 41 and the Australian lines. As Major Dundee and his men prepared their attack on the post Bumfluff was being royally entertained by the Italians, and regaling them with tales of his time at Eton, don`t you know...

Clearly Mick's mission is not just to capture Post 41. He must also rescue that 11th Hussars idiot. It's not going to be easy.

The Forces

Elements of Major Dundee’s Company, 2/2nd Australian Infantry Battalion

Company HQ

• Captain Mick Dundee

• 1 x Boys Anti-Tank Rifle Team (2 crew)

1st Platoon

• Sergeant "Little" Wally Little

• 4 x Rifle Section (8 men each)

Supporting Tank Troop from 7th Royal Tank Regiment

• 2 x A12 Infantry Tank Mk II “Matilda” tanks

Defenders of Post 41

Headquarters Element [in easternmost bunker]

• Tenente Giuseppe Pesci

• 2 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

1st Platoon [in westernmost trenches, either side of gun pits]

• 4 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

2nd Platoon [in easternmost trenches]

• 4 x Rifle Squad (8 men each)

Weapons Platoon [in guns pits]

• 1 x 65/17 Field Gun (4 crew)

• 1 x MMG (3 crew)

In The Gun Pit At The South-East Corner Of The Map

Elements of 45th Artillery Regiment

• 1 x 75/27 Field Gun (5 crew)

The Game

The Tabletop

Dawn. The Italians stand to.

The Matildas of 7RTR break through the wire.

Behind the Matildas are the Aussie Infantry, hidden in the dust of the advancing tanks.

The Italian gunners miss their first shots.

The turret MMGs on the Matildas hit the Italians hard.

The Aussies come out from behind the right flank tank and strafe the Italian gun position.

The Matildas lead Mick Dundee onto the flank of the Italian trenches.

The Italian gun position is taken. They had no answer to the attacker's composition of forces.

Dundee and his men get into the trenches.

And he clears the first section with a bayonet charge.

The MMGs on the Matildas once again hammer the Italian trenches.

Little Wally Little storms the command dugout and rescues Bumfluff from the Italians wine and cheese torture.

Dundee himself breaks into the main Italian defensive dugouts, capturing the MMG and field gun.

The Italians begin to come out of their trenches to surrender.

My phone camera rather than the poor tablet one. The Matildas and Little Wally round up the Italians, as Bumfluff is bundled into the back of a tank.

A win for the Aussies, who must now continue with the assault and take the town.  Major Dundee won`t have a chance to send Bumfluff back, so he has in effect been temporarily drafted into 7RTR for the second game.

A Wargamer in Cyprus