THE AMERICAN EFFORT AT OVERLOON THEME TASK FORCE CHAPPUIS The battle for Overloon is often overlooked due to Market Gar- den immediately before it and the Battle of the Bulge afterwards. By focussing on the cinematic it is very easy to miss out on the bigger historical picture, which, often remarkably, can show how separate and discrete actions are actually just individual threads in a tightly woven tapestry that can only be appreci- ated by standing back and considering the complete ensemble. Indeed, one could argue that the US By Richard Clarke airborne failure to seize the bridge at Nijmegen was largely due to an he battle at Overloon came back towards the German border al- overemphasis on diverting troops to about as a result of the drive lowed them to come closer to the block the threat of an attack from the into Holland that left disparate supply bases in the Reich. From a Klever Reichswald at Groesbeek. As elements of German forces in grand strategic perspective, as long a result, when Market Garden ended its wake. To the east, along the as Hitler continued to play his de- on 25 September 1944, the empha- Triver Maas, a German-held bridge- ranged games, the Maasbrückenkopf sis shifted to consolidating gains and head was initially bypassed. To the allowed him options for future strikes mopping up the remnants of German Germans’ advantage, being pushed westwards, so it had to be retained. forces where they still posed a threat. The Maas bridgehead was one such For the Allies, the potential for a strike example, and it was at Overloon that from within the Reich had been high the main strike was to be delivered. on their list of concerns ever since planning for Market Garden began. The US 7th Armored Division was se- lected to make the attack that would crush the bridgehead in one swift and highly mobile operation. As early as 23 September it was being shifted from the area around Metz to Holland, ready for its next major operation. The plan settled upon by General Hodge, XIX Corps’ commander, was for the 7th Division to assemble around Oploo, Sint Anthonis, and Boxmeer and to strike down to the south-east. Phase One of the operation, launched on 30 September, focussed on Over- loon as its first phase-line objective. Then, with German defences there overcome, the division would drive for Wargames, soldiers & strategy 104 x Grenadiere using a Dutch drainage ditch 1 to advance on the enemy unseen. © Bundesarchiv (Bild 183-S73819) A 57mm A/T gun protects the US infantry. The infantry at Overloon consisted of Heer, Fallschirmjäger and other Luftwaffe troops, and some SS. THE GERMANS The Germans are an unusual crowd as The Germans may use the following Regular MG 42 on tripod mount; the range of units present was so varied support lists: five crew in quality. However, the organisational structure should be as below: GERMAN SUPPORT LISTS LeIG18 with five crew and junior leader List One PLATOON HEADQUARTERS List Five Unterfeldwebel: senior leader Medical orderly Pak 38 anti-tank gun with five crew armed with a machine pistol Adjutant and a junior leader Panzerschreck team: two-man crew Minefield List Six SQUADS ONE TO THREE Barbed wire Forward observer and 8 cm mortar Obergefreiter: junior leader armed Additional MG42 for one squad battery with a machine pistol; one Panzerfaust Entrenchments for one team Sd.Kfz. 251/21 ‘Drilling’ (Armour 2, LMG team Rifle team AP 4, HE 10, No secondary, Fast, List Two open top) MG34 or MG 42 Six riflemen Roadblock Two crew List Seven One rifleman Panzerschreck team: two men Pak 40 with five crew and a junior To reflect quality, the player can select Panzerknacker team: four men leader a regular unit, which would represent Senior leader List Eight some of the SS Panzergrenadier units or Fallschirmjäger within the Kampf- Pre-game bombardment Jagdpanzer IV/70 (V) with junior gruppe, or they may select what we leader List Three can call impromptu units of less ex- Pak 43 anti-tank gun: five crew and perienced troops. The latter we class Sniper team junior leader as regulars but to represent their more brittle nature we increase the effect List Four List Ten of Shock: remove one firing dice for Regular infantry squad Panther with junior leader every point of Shock on the unit. Wargames, soldiers & strategy 104 2 Venlo, which, as the Phase Two objec- mand, two task forces would typically talion and two platoons of the 814th tive, was due to fall that evening. On be formed, one under the command Tank Destroyer Battalion. Both ben- the following day the division would of the senior armoured officer and the efitted from the support of a battery swing south-west, with the Maas on other under his infantry counterpart. of self-propelled artillery. As we their left, and end Phase Three (and can see, both were well-equipped the whole operation) in the vicinity of At Overloon, Combat Command A all-arms battlegroups, and the men Roermond, where they would link up under Colonel Dwight A. Rosen- were trained to function as such. with the 1st Belgian Brigade who were baum was split into Task Force to be attacking eastwards across the Brown and Task Force Chappuis. As On the German side, Kampfgruppe Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. was typical, these were not perfectly Walther looked far more chaotic symmetrical. Major John Brown of in what can only be described as By this stage of the war, the Allies the 40th Tank Battalion commanded a rag-tag force made up of par- were showing signs of mastering the B and C Companies from that unit tially trained men from replace- combined-arms tactics and, more im- as well as B Company of the 48th ment training units scraped together portantly, the combined combat Armored Infantry Battalion and one from all over the Reich: pilots with groups that the Germans had platoon of A Squadron, the 814th no planes, ground crew with no used so successfully. Within a Tank Destroyer Battalion. Lieuten- airfields, partially recovered men US armoured division, armour, ant Colonel Richard Chappuis had brought in from convalescence, and infantry, and other support A and D Companies of the 40th a leavening of veteran NCOs and units would be divided Tank Battalion under his command, officers with experience gained in into combat commands. as well as A, C, and D Companies all corners of Europe, Russia, and Within each such com- from his 48th Armored Infantry Bat- the Mediterranean. Truly, the glory THE AMERICANS The following organisational struc- MACHINE GUN SQUAD 60 mm mortar team: five crew ture should be used for the US forces: Sergeant: junior leader armed with M3 halftrack: no weapons or crew PLATOON HEADQUARTERS M1 Garand List Four Lieutenant: senior leader armed LMG team LMG team Armoured infantry squad with carbine One tripod- One tripod- Engineer squad with junior leader Platoon sergeant: senior leader mounted 0.30 mounted 0.30 armed with SMG MMG & five crew MMG & five crew 0.30 MMG on tripod mount; five crew HEADQUARTERS SQUAD The Americans may use the follow- ing support lists: List Five Sergeant: junior leader armed with M1 Garand AMERICAN SUPPORT LISTS Engineer squad in M3 with junior leader Rifle team List One 57 mm anti-tank gun with five Option: Two men may be equipped Medical orderly crew and junior leader with a bazooka instead of the Ga- Adjutant rand to form a team. List Six Engineer mine-clearance team: SQUADS ONE AND TWO three men Forward observer and 81 mm mor- tar battery Sergeant: junior leader armed with Engineer wire-cutting team: three men M1 Garand 76 mm anti-tank gun with five Engineer demolition team: three men crew and junior leader Rifle team Jeep: no crew M10 GMC with junior leader Ten riflemen with M1 Garand List Two One man with SMG M4 Sherman with junior leader Bazooka team: two men Option: Two men may be equipped List Seven Senior leader with a bazooka instead of the Ga- M18 GMC with junior leader rand to form a team Pre-game bombardment List Eight MORTAR SQUAD List Three M4 Sherman 76 mm with 60 mm mortar with five crew Sniper team junior leader 3 Wargames, soldiers & strategy 104 Heavy mining requires engineers to clear the way. days were just memories for these Combat Command B had to move fur- Task Force Chappuis was initially men, who clung only to the thin ther to the east. The concentration of successful on the morning of 1 Oc- diet of hope provided by the talk of vehicles massed for the attack could tober, making rapid progress on ‘V-weapons’. However, Walther did not fail to be noticed by the Germans, the US right and driving in towards have the armoured remnants of his who brought down concentrations of Overloon itself. However, Walther’s Panzer and Jagdpanzer force, made artillery and Nebelwerfer fire onto the mobile panzer reserve bought this up of Panthers and Jagdpanzer assembled Americans. It was 1630 be- deep penetration to an end and a IV/70s along with the rare but very fore the attack could commence, far stalemate ensued, with Chappuis effective Sd.Kfz. 251/21 ‘Drilling’ too late to be able to achieve their set men gaining a toehold in the woods with its triple 20 mm Luftwaffe can- objectives, and, from their positions in to the west of the town. non on a Kriegsmarine mount. the woods north of Overloon, the Ger- mans blocked the attacks at all points.