Bolt Action: Western Desert Boot Camp Live Blog - Saturday
Legends Of The Desert: Rommel's Message
Sep 29 2018 @ 14:00
66 Comments
This is the first of a few videos we will be recording with Oriskany, talking to him about the stranger than fiction characters who fought during World War II.
The first of these is Rommel who left a very peculiar message for his troops.
During the confusion caused by the Crusader operation, Rommel and his staff found themselves behind Allied lines several times. On one occasion, he visited a New Zealand Army field hospital that was still under Allied control. “[Rommel] inquired if anything was needed, promised the British [sic] medical supplies and drove off unhindered.”[71] Rommel later did provide the unit with the promised medical supplies. At one point, Rommel and his driver spent almost two hours driving openly among large numbers of British troop transports and armored cars; he went unnoticed because his staff vehicle was a captured British car, and its… Read more »
thats just like the video of that infatry devision that repurposed so many german vehicles that by the end of the war they were armoured infantry and even seem to have captured a town simpyl by driving into it with a german column 😀
That’s awesome! History always stranger than the fiction.
Indeed, @dorthonion – Crusader turned into a virtual dogfight of armoured brigades, panzer regiments, artillery, and mechanized infantry. We had Bir el Chleta from Operation Crusader in our Boot Camp ramp up articles, where the British are defending in the west against Germans attacking out of the east, whole armies had completely switched sides of the battlespace. Extremely chaotic battle.
@Rot6 and @redsarge – Thanks! Indeed, earlier in the war whole British battalions (for example) were fitted out with captured Italian M13s … and by the end of the war a huge proportion of German motor transport was made up of captured American trucks and halftracks. Captured equipment was always a factor in WW2, but in the desert it was exponentially more widespread.
I love hearing the stange tales about a conflict.
Cool stuff .
Thanks, @warhammergrimmace and panzertanker64.
Someone should make a scenario about trying to recreate on of those meet ups in the desert to exchange prisoners.
Feel like an episode of The Great War 100 years later, but weirder.
Good idea, @dukeexeter – just … what would be the battle, if the two sides aren’t actually trying to fight?
Thanks, @sneakyrabbit.
I’d say its two players trying to work together against a 3rd player/empire trying to foil thier plans
Gotcha. Maybe you could also work in some kind of desert survival mechanics.
create a nice little series for youtube please. those story are so important!
@rot6 Seconded so much
Hmm … Good idea @rot6 and @civilcourage.
I do like hearing these stories. Its too esy to think of the enemy as evil, especially when they had Hitler and the Nazis.
Strange things happen during war
Very true, @lawnor and @uptrebor.
very interesting
nice to hear the human stories
Thanks very much! @wilco92 and @normandyfan
I hadn’t any of those before – keep them coming
Id love there to be a playlist of all @oriskany stuff, i dont get time these days to go through all the threads but love listening to the history and the funky things that occured during this conflict. Kerp it up!
More to come @bennu !
Thanks very much, @civilcourage – I appreciate the very kind words!
These sorts of stories elevate this hobby to more than just chess. Historical warfare in particular.
I enjoy hearing about the true war stories that bring it all to life in your imagination. There was a bbc2 documentary that interviewed surviving tank crews from the 5th army, and that sparked my interest in desert warfare. I think it was called something like “tankies” and it’s worth a watch it this sort of stuff interests you.
Thanks, @somegeezer – I agree that the human element is a big part of the texture, and something we wanted to cover in this series.
Thanks for the tip, @skodamarine – I will keep a lookout for that video.
That’s pretty cool dropping the rock with a note haha
those nazzis where soooo wierd
I do like the stories about the compassion that was still shown in these awful conditions
Thanks very much @collins, @toricova, and @alext
love hearing these kind of stories.
It’s great adding a very small scale, human element to these larger scale conflicts.
Thanks, @tibour.
I agree, @georgesealy
It’s ok Rommel had plot armour. Oh and a seemingly endless supply of little rocks!
The desert has three things in infinite supply:
– Fine powdered dirt that gets everywhere, in every pore, to chafe;
– Sand to grind and cut your skin wherever it settles;
– and rocks to to twist your ankle or to wrap messages around. 🙂
Indeed, @darkdanegan – Rommel’s luck and career seemed charmed … until it wasn’t. 🙂
You hit on a good point, @enginseer – research has shown that that 43.97% of the Desert War was fought by paper-wrapped rocks.
Nice to listen to that and keen to listen to more. Maybe a Football game between Brits an Germans like in 1914? Exchange of christmas gifts? Dropping letters of POWs over enemy trenches?
What a different war the desert war was compared to the hatred of the Weltanschauungskrieg against the Soviet Union.
That rock story is great! KEEP MOVING!
You said it, @jemmy – the conduct of the Desert War was night and day different from the war in the East. It wasn’t completely chivalrous, though. The guy who was supposed to take over Eighth Army after Auchinleck was General Gott, who was flying in to take his command when he was shot down by German fighters. He survived the crash. He turns back to help others out of the wreckage. The German fighters, however, had turned back to strafe the wreck, and straight out murdered him.
Gott’s replacement was Bernard Law Montgomery. 😐
Thanks, @thehumungus!
Great stories.
Their will be many story’s to weird to be told as people would never believe them unless they were their at the time.
Thanks, @mrtn and @zorg!
Just finished reading the Hans Von Luck Book today! Awesome read and definitely recommended!
Definitely a fun read. 😀