Colin Gee - Stalemate

“So what the fuck was the fuss about, eh? Just another load of brylcreams arriving to eat all the fucking bacon, eh?”

Jones spoke with conviction.

“It’s special they are, Sergeant. All silver and huge.”

Riley spat in disgust.

“They all think they’re special, Taff, the fucking lot of ’em.”

“Sergeant.”

The Grenadier guard looked down at the boy, his helmet almost sinking him into the collar of his tunic.

Guardsman Joseph Newton was eighteen and a half, and had not yet experienced any of the horrors that war had to offer.

“Did I not say speak when you are spoken to, Young Joe?”

Riley wondered if he were going soft, but he had a special affection for the young lad, keen as mustard, always with his head in the manuals.

“Sergeant, they are special, honestly.”

Both NCO’s knew better than to argue.

“OK, son, what are they then? Fortresses? Liberators?”

Riley dried up, as he exhausted his knowledge of US four engine bombers.

“No Sergeant. They’re B29’s, and they can fly higher and further than anything else in the world.”

And that night, the first snows of winter fell.

Fig #51 – European locations of ‘Stalemate’.

Fig #52 – Junction of Routes 317 & 323, near Wolfegg, Germany.

Fig #53 – Defensive positions, junction of Routes 317 & 323, near Wolfegg, Germany.

Fig #54 – 1000hrs, The Brahmsee Gap, Germany.

Fig #55 – Soviet developing attack on the Brahmsee Gap, Germany.

Fig #56 – The Argen River Crossings, Germany.

Fig #57- Soviet assault on the Argen River, Germany.

Fig #58 – Argen River Assault – Soviet location codenames.

Fig #59 – Soviet developed attack, the Argen River, Germany.

Fig #60 – The situation at 1400hrs, Sittard-Geleen, Holland.

Fig #61 – Soviet Assault developments, Sittard-Geleen, Holland.

Fig #62 – Sittard-Geleen. The Breakout.

Fig #63 – The Locations of Operation Thermopylae, Alsace.

Fig #64 – The Aubach River, south of Ebersheim, Alsace.

Fig #65 – Trap on the Aubach River, south of Ebersheim, Alsace.

Fig #66 – The ambush of Soviet 19th Army, Operation Thermopylae, Alsace.

Fig #67 – The Battleground, Barnstorf, Germany.

Fig #68 – First Assault, Bloody Barnstorf.

Fig #69 – Immolation, Bloody Barnstorf.

Fig #70 – The Allied Nations.

Fig #71 – Rear cover of ‘Stalemate’.

Rosignoli, Guido

The Allied Forces in Italy 1943-45

ISBN 0-7153-92123

Kleinfeld & Tambs, Gerald R & Lewis A

Hitler’s Spanish Legion – The Blue Division in Russia

ISBN 0-9767380-8-2

Delaforce, Patrick

The Black Bull – From Normandy to the Baltic with the 11th Armoured Division

ISBN 0-75370-350-5

Taprell-Dorling, H

Ribbons and Medals

SBN 0-540-07120-X

Pettibone, Charles D

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume V – Book B, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

ISBN 978-1-4269-0281-9

Pettibone, Charles D

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume V – Book A, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

ISBN 978-1-4269-2551-0

Pettibone, Charles D

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume VI – Italy and France, Including the Neutral Conutries of San Marino, Vatican City [Holy See], Andorra and Monaco

ISBN 978-1-4269-4633-2

Pettibone, Charles D

The Organisation and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II

Volume II – The British Commonwealth

ISBN 978-1-4120-8567-5

Chamberlain & Doyle, Peter & Hilary L

Encyclopedia of German Tanks in World War Two

ISBN 0-85368-202-X

Chamberlain & Ellis, Peter & Chris

British and American Tanks of World War Two

ISBN 0-85368-033-7

Dollinger, Hans

The Decline and fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan

ISBN 0-517-013134

Zaloga & Grandsen, Steven J & James

Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two

ISBN 0-85368-606-8

Hogg, Ian V

The Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of World War II

ISBN 0-85368-281-X

Hogg, Ian V

British & American Artillery of World War 2

ISBN 0-85368-242-9

Hogg, Ian V

German Artillery of World War Two

ISBN 0-88254-311-3

Bellis, Malcolm A

Divisions of the British Army 1939-45

ISBN 0-9512126-0-5

Bellis, Malcolm A

Brigades of the British Army 1939-45

ISBN 0-9512126-1-3

Rottman, Gordon L

FUBAR, Soldier Slang of World War II

ISBN 978-1-84908-137-5

.30cal machine-gun: Standard US medium machine-gun.

.45 M1911 automatic: US automatic handgun.

.50 cal: Standard US heavy machine-gun.

105mm Flak Gun: Next model up from the dreaded 88mm, these were sometimes pressed into a ground role in the final days.

105mm LeFH: German light howitzer, highly efficient design that was exported all over Europe.

128mm Pak 44: German late war heavy anti-tank gun, also mounted on the JagdTiger and Maus. Long-range performance would have made this a superb tank killer but it only appeared in limited numbers.

2″ Mortar: British light mortar.

39th Kingdom: See Kingdom 39

50mm Pak 38: German 50mm anti-tank gun introduced in 1941. Rapidly outclassed, it remained in service until the end of the war, life extended by upgrades in ammunition.

6-pounder AT gun: British 57mm anti-tank gun, outclassed at the end of WW2, except when issued with HV ammunition.

6x6 truck: Three axle, 6 wheel truck.

Achgelis: The Focke-Achgelis Fa223, also known as the Dragon. One of the first helicopters.

Achilles: British version of the M-10 that carried the high velocity 17-pdr gun.

Addendum F: Transfer of German captured equipment to Japanese to increase their firepower and reduce logistical strain on Soviets

Adin: In Russian, the number one.

Alkonost: Creature from Russian folklore with the body of a bird and the head of a beautiful woman.

Anschluss: The 1938 occupation and Annexation of Austria by Germany.

Anthrax Bombs: Factual Japanese weapons, believed used against the Chinese by Unit 731. Both the US and Britain carried their own tests on the same weapon.

Aquitania , RMS: Cunard liner that saw service in both WW1 and WW2. She was scrapped in 1950.

B-29: The American Superfortress, high-altitude heavy bomber.

BA64: Soviet 4x4 light armoured car with two crew and a machine-gun.

Balebetishen: Roughly means respectable or respectable person.

BAR: US automatic rifle that fired a .30cal round. It was an effective weapon, but was hampered by a 20 round magazine. Saw service in both World Wars, and many wars since.

Battle of the Bulge: Germany’s Ardennes offensive of winter 1944.

Bazooka: Generic name applied to a number of different anti-tank rocket launchers introduced into the US Army from 1942 onwards.

Beaufighter, Bristol: British twin-engine long-range heavy fighter, saw extensive service in roles from ground attack, night fighter, to anti-shipping strikes. Also served in the USAAF in its night fighter role.

BergePanther: German Panther tank converted or produced as an engineering recovery vehicle to service Panther Battalions in combat.

Bletchley Park: Location of the centre for Allied code breaking during World War two. Sometimes known as Station X.

Blighty: British slang term for Britain.

Blue and Grey Division: The nickname of the 29th US Infantry Division.