Bolt Action - Went The Day Well

It's spring, 1941.

The Bramley Home Guard Platoon are alerted by HQ and told that a German Fallschirmjaeger landing has been reported in their area. Major Cad (played by Terry Thomas), accompanied by Nurse Pilchard who looks after his ration card (played by Joyce Grenfell) is ordered to secure Bramley village and, in particular the important communications centre in the village - to whit, the public phone box.

Our brave lads take up their positions in the churchyard and by the Post Office. The chap with a sixpenny bit is detailed to man the telephone.

None of the villagers will let them inside the houses on account of their muddy boots.

The Bramley Boys are joined by the Eastgate Platoon commanded by Captain Square.

Major Cad orders them to guard the wheatfields on the right flank, remarking to Nurse Pilchard, "Can't trust that Eastgate lot; a complete shower, what? what?"

Private Pinkle cunningly hides on an island in the commemoration duckpond.

Fallschirmjager are spotted advancing each side of the road. Frantic calls for reinforcement, using up all of the sixpence, alert a nearby airfield who send a Rolls Royce armoured car to investigate. It runs straight into smoke fired by the cunning Hun.

A better view of the defences - I use the word in its loosest sense.

A section of crack Home Guard motorised, well mobile, infantry mounted on bicycles follows the armoured car. Unfortunately they got a bit confused in the smoke and cycled right into the German line.

Alas the mobile unit is taken out by a flamethrower - overkill or what?

Gadzooks! the cunning Boche ran a section or paras around the flank of Our Brave Lads and crashed in through the graveyard in a close assault.

"A typical Hunnish trick," Major Cad remarked to Nurse Pilchard.

Astonishingly, a stupid boy with a Thompson cut down half the attackers with a burst when he tripped over his shoelaces and the survivors broke and ran.

The Home Guard victory was short lived unfortunately as a second Fallschirmjaeger section bayoneted the lot of them while they were having a joint hug.

Major Cad took one look at the German paras coming over the ridge and legged it, outpacing Nurse Pilchard who the uncouth Nazis promptly shot.

Cad thought that a damn shame but consoled himself with the thought that the nursing home was full of potential replacements.

The game ended with lone survivors Major Cad and Captain Square standing back to back by the telephone box surrounded by a rather nasty looking bunch of Fallschirmjaege.

Square (Simon E) and I claimed a draw - no really, we did!

 
 Incidentally, 'Went the Day Well' is a 1942  film about a German invasion of an English village which, unusually for a propaganda piece, is still worth a look.


This was my last game of 2014 before a deadly attack of viryons did for me.

Pip, pip.