Flames of War - Historical Scenario - Battle of Stuppach (Kampfgruppe Dirnagel vs Elements of 3rd US Army) - Historical Battle and Outcome

31st March 1945:


The west exit (road to Althausen) occupied the guns C (Caesar) and D (Dora) the south exit (road to Stuppach) A (Anton) and B (Berta) between two positions, a small height, built partly with houses of the village attracts .The morning of 31.3.45 was quiet, we schanzten they were worth, and to dig ourselves gun, as far as the terrain allowed it.Early Saturday afternoon, the American Associations broke through against Mergentheim. The first signs of panic were curses tend German soldiers, including nurses, some in army buses coming from Assam town.We expected the Americans in the southern position, but they came from the west. Between the town of Neunkirchen and BM is a hill, which was taken by the Americans by surprise. From there, the gun positions came under machine gun fire. When attempting to gain altitude again, we had the first losses.A platoon leader, it was the then 21-year Untersturmführer Walter Munch and a soldier in the battle group. It may have been about 16:30 clock, to a column of tanks and armored vehicles from 6 Althausen Coming Neunkirchen alsi approached.The guns C and D of Flakkampftrupps under Osha. Hosch took it up close and in direct fire on fire. The alert came as a flash that some gunners ran without tunic at the guns, Hosch himself had shaving cream on his face.The guns were almost uncovered in the ground in a meadow, behind a dirt road, behind a farmhouse with large barn.In the barn was one of the tractors for the guns from Munich, there was also the baggage of operations.Through targeted, rapid fire shooting C and D respectively the first and last two tanks.After a cloudy day came just at the time the evening sun through the clouds and reflected in the directional essays of the guns.The other two American tanks fired deliberately and met the two guns - at C 3 gunners were killed instantly, at the height D gunner Hans Prokorra-Ruether, 19 years old, from pan-Eickelmann, the gunner, Usha. Hanisch and Flakkampftruppführer Osha. Hosch.All the wounded gunners did manage to using rocket-propelled grenades to damage the remaining two tanks by robben zoom or destroy.Meanwhile, the guns were on the road to Stuppach under heavy fire, but were not directly attacked.Elsewhere, the battery lost the guns at the same time E (Emil) and F (Frieda), so that the total loss amounted to four 8.8 guns. In the second (10) Batt. 2 guns fell into loss - thus the combat group Dirnagel had lost half of the stock of heavy guns on the first day of use