Attack on Malta

After Action Report

14 June 2008 (no pictures, sorry) You can find the description and roster here

The Fallschirmjäger company scattered widely due to the strong winds over the island, two platoons landing far enough away to be out of radio contact.  The Airfield defenders, still reeling from the carpet bombing raid that preceded the airborne assault,  kept their heads down, their ears pounding from the blast concussions.

Two Fallschirmjäger platoons landed just south of the airfield, and despite a few losses, were able to collect their weapon canisters, and move forward; one through a small farm to the south, and the other through some woods  to the south east. The mortar support platoon also landed mostly intact,. They dug in, and were able to quickly set up in the small farm to provide some fire support.

English heavy machine guns quickly took their toll, and decimated the Fallschirmjäger platoon in the farm. Hunkering down, these Fallshirmjägers traded fire with English troops in the Airfield office building to the south.

A combination of mortar fire and German Air support managed to keep the defender’s heads down, and the other Fallschirmjäger platoon advanced quickly from the woods to the tarmac, assaulting and destroying trucks and support vehicles.

The German machine gun platoon finally managed to collect their weapons from their canister, and set up in the woods behind the advancing Fallshirmjägers, wounding and pinning another English platoon near the Control Tower.

An English heavy Maxim kept up a strong defense in the office building, holding up the German advance. Fortunately for the attackers, the 75mm recoilless guns finally made it to the battlefield, and summarily blasted the Maxim out of the office building for good. A follow up German assault cleared the building, and secured one of the attacker’s objectives.

English reserves appeared from various directions as they were recalled from the other locations; a machine gun platoon walked unfortunately directly in to the fire of a full Fallschirmjäger platoon, and British mortars were eliminated by their German counterparts.

A last ditch effort to retake the office building, supported by two 20 mm AA gun carriages failed, the gun carriages failing to break the attacking unit’s resolve; the gun carriages in turn blasted by the 75mm recoilless guns.

As the smoke cleared, the German paratroopers had full control of their objective, and the day was theirs.