Encounter at Exbury.....

The germans had spotted something new on aerial photos - an installation near Exbury in Hampshire.  Attempts by Smith the spy to get close enough failed due to the presence of too many troops and road blocks. After much deliberation it was decided to send a small expedition to land and get the intelligence needed....

---oXo---

An E-boat came in close to land as it could and a small german commando group in inflatables had made its way part way up the river Beaulieu and landed .....

 A home guard patrol nearby ....

 The germans make their way inland towards the installation ....

 A home guard patrol hearing the firing rush up to help, but get taken out by german SMG fire .....

The home guard try and get at the germans in the next field ....

 The home guard lose a man and get pinned down behind the hedge by german LMG fire ...

The germans come through the gap and some more of the home guard go down ....

Meanwhile the officer can see the installation from the low above and is taking some pictures and making notes....

 British regulars are coming up and some are about to man the pill box .... the german officer sees them and signals the withdrawal

 The germans head back to their boats....

---oXo---

After a tricky paddle down the river the Germans find the E-boat waiting for them ... they head out past the Isle of Wight and back to France just missing some naval patrols ... they have the intelligence they need ... they believe it is a special low-level radar installation (?) ....

At Christchurch harbour ...

Henry Smith (german spy) had established himself in Poole as a travelling sales man. He had made some contacts with the local black market - useful for items he needed that weren't readily available and also for scraps of information. 

Smith headed out on one of regular information gathering journies, this day he had gone to Christchurch. He made his way down towards the harbour, had a quick chat with the owner of a local Inn.  As he was chatting he spotted something of great interest...

Security was lax, just a couple of home guard, but to be careful he pottered down to an adjacent stone jetty to ask the way from one of the home guard sentries ...

While there he got a good eyeful - an MTB - that had put in for some running repairs and a bit of fuel.

Smith thanked the home guard sentry for the directions and made his way of off the key and into the town. The presence of MTBs along this stretch of the coast would have to go in his next radio transmission. He would have to find out where they were based and how many - a job for another day he mused ......

All quiet.

     The Chillingham Home Guard parade for inspection before setting off on patrol.

German's Invasion planning meeting ....

It had been a while since Von Tiddenheim had been to Paris for a meeting with the general staff to go over the plans for the invasion of England ; he had been busy finalising the details for his forces, now he was ready to present this to his staff...

 

The german general Von Tiddenheim, commander Army Group C, has called a planning meeting for his staff, to go over the invasion plans. They have a light lunch then move into the main room where they look at the map table ....

Well gentlemen now you've had a good look at the maps, we need to focus on our allotted objectives, as shown on the main map in black....

Out main port of departure will be Cherbourg. We land between Poole and Lyme Regis, move inland northwards to Bristol then Gloucester, with secondary objectives of Salisbury and Swindon.  We also protect the flank of the main force moving on London and beyond. Your thoughts .....

On the road to Wareham ....

Henry Smith (german spy) had walked along the road to what he thought was Wareham - however it was Wool, he stayed the night in the Black Bear Inn. The weather being good he decided to continue to Wareham on foot rather than take the train.

Late in the afternoon, he seemed to be lost, he saw a schoolgril approaching and asked her the way..

Smith: Can you tell me the way to Wareham in Dorset ?

Schoolgirl: Same as you wears'em any where else mister ...

The girl giggled and ran past him into the nearby cottage. Her response evoked a wry smile from Smith, Smith knocked on the door of the cottage, a woman answered the door and gave him directions ..and also advised him that there was an escaped lunatic in the area....

Smith walked for about a five minutes own the road, as he turned left at the crossroads he ran into a dishevelled man - as he looked closer he realised the man was in a straight jacket - must be the poor unfortunate man the woman told him about... the man was muttering in some sort of german  .... he looked familiar though ... then it dawned on him, back hair small black moustache, put him in the right clothes at a distance you could have mistaken him for Hitler ... Smith hoped the poor man was not prone to violence ...

Smith was uncertain what to do next; however a plain coloured van passed by and pulled up just down the road and out got a doctor and nurse who ushered the poor unfortunate into the back...

The young doctor approached Smith ....

Doctor: are you alright ?

Smith: Yes thanks

Doctor:Can we give you a lift ? we're going to pass through Bournemouth.

Smith: Can you you drop me off in Poole ?

Doctor: Of course, you can sit up front in the passenger seat...

Smith followed the doctor back to the ambulance and got in - off they went......what a stroke of luck thought Smith a free ride. During the journey Smith had a strange idea - was the man in the back the result of a failed attempt to create a double of Hitler, he dismissed the idea and sat back and enjoyed the ride...

England stands ready

      At the end of the pier at Freezingham two squaddies stand, armed, with a rifle and ten rounds of ammunition each. Inside the old amusement arcade they have laboriously constructed an inner fortress of hollow timber walls and shingle from the beach,
  the latrine stands inside the old Punch and Judy stand,
  prompting cries of " That`s the way to do it"  whenever it is used.
    Their task is not to hold the pier against the invader, but by means of their radio, call down artillery fire upon the beaches from the nearby batteries on Brownsea and behind Christchurch.
   Indeed, with their line of retreat across a single plank bridging the gap the engineers have blown in the pier, it seems a place to stand and die.
   ` Why us?" asks Gunner Adams,

    "Cos were `ere lad, nobody else` replies Bombardier Harris.

They are not alone in holding the front line.

  Further along the coast, where the River  Piddle reaches the sea, Others are standing guard, watching and waiting. Ready for Anything.

Need anything guv ?

Henry Smith (aka Heinrich Schmidt) trudged across country and came to a farm track which he followed for a while - he spotted a ramshackle building where the track joined a road ...

.. as he approached the road...a man in an old trenchcoat tried to acost him saying "Want something guv ? cigarettes, petrol coupons ...?"; Henry Smith responded with a curt 'No thanks' and turned left onto the road (phew he had nearly said 'Nein danke' - must think in english he repeated to himself...). He followed the road for a short distance then he could see a town - might be Wareham he thought and continued on his way ....