Stand Fast the Guards

An epic of disastrous proportions was looming for the BEF as the panzers neared the French Channel ports. If they fell, the BEF would be bereft of supplies – and evacuation. To Boulogne was shipped the 20th Guards Brigade. During the night of May 22nd, the Germans …

1940-05-23

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An epic of disastrous proportions was looming for the BEF as the panzers neared the French Channel ports. If they fell, the BEF would be bereft of supplies – and evacuation. To Boulogne was shipped the 20th Guards Brigade. During the night of May 22nd, the Germans completed the encirclement of the port. At 0730, the whirlwind struck the Irish Guards.

Boulogne, France

The Battle of Boulogne in 1940 was the defence of the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer by French, British and Belgian troops in the Battle of France during the Second World War. The battle was fought at the same time as the Siege of Calais, just before Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. After the Franco-British counter-attack at the Battle of Arras on 21 May, German units were held ready to resist a resumption of the attack on 22 May. General der Panzertruppe (Lieutenant-General) Heinz Guderian, the commander of XIX Corps, protested that he wanted to rush north up the Channel coast to capture Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk. An attack by part of XIX Corps was not ordered until 12:40 p.m. on 22 May, by which time the Allied troops at Boulogne had been reinforced from England by most of the 20th Guards Brigade. The Guards had time to dig in around the port before the 2nd Panzer Division, which had been delayed by French troops at Samer, attacked the perimeter held by the Irish Guards at around 5:00 p.m. and were driven off after an hour of fighting. The Welsh Guards front was attacked at 8:00 p.m. and again at dusk, cutting off a party of the Irish at 10:00 p.m. At dawn on 23 May, the German attacks resumed, eventually pushing the defenders back into the town. About eighty light bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) flew sorties in support of the defenders of the port.

German

British

Scenario Type = Standard