The Snatch - Scenario

Background

It’s February 1940, Poland has been invaded and conquered and the Low Countries and France are next. German planning for the invasion is well underway although the route and nature of the plan has been changed a number of times and would continue to evolve throughout Feb, Mar and April until the invasion actually started on 10th May 1940.

The planning had been set back when on 10 January 1940, a German aircraft, carrying a staff officer with the Luftwaffe plans for the offensive through central Belgium to the North Sea, force-landed near Mechelen in Belgium. The documents were captured but Allied intelligence doubted that they were genuine.

After the loss of the Luftwaffe plans, the Germans assumed that the Allied appreciation of German intentions would have been clarified, they did not know that the plans had been discounted, possibly as decoys. So on 30 January Operational Plan Aufmarschanweisung N°3, Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) was issued as an amendment to the existing N°2 version of the plan that had been captured by the Allies.

The German Scenario

You have the opportunity to make a decisive contribution to the planning currently being undertaken for the plan Fall Gelb. As a proficient member of the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) on the Dutch border you have discovered one of your leading generals, Ernst Von Stroheim is going to defect to the Allies. You have arrested him and under questioning, have discovered he has a full set of the current plans for operation Fall Gelb and intended to carry them over the border to Holland.

A meeting has been arranged with the Dutch and British Secret Services in a small hotel just across the border. They will be there from 10:00 and depart at 13:00. With the arrest of Von Stroheim you have stopped the transfer of this information which will be a feather in your cap. However you now have the opportunity to capture 2 high ranking Secret Service Officers, maybe even the head of British SIS, Dutch Section who will be at the meeting point.

At your disposal you have a small detachment of troops from the SS under the command of SS-Haupt Sturm Führer Kamilla Altmann (Pistol), SS-Rotten Führer Astrid Weisse (Pistol) SS-Schüze Ingrid Rockmeir, Erika Baeker (SMG) and Gerda Herlinger (Rifle) 1 Officer 1 NCO and 3 men. All speak German.

Half a section of troops from the Wehrmacht. Haupt Mann, Horst Dankers (SMG), Ober Gefreiter, Michaela Stoltz (SMG) and Schüze, Eckehard Unger, Dirk Ackermann both SMG and Schüze,Wolfgang Arnold (LMG)

1 Officer 1 NCO and 3 men. All speak German and are slightly unfocused.

There is you, Meinhard Wenke and your driver/bodyguard Eva Strum both with pistols. Wenke speaks German and English, Strum speaks German and Dutch. This is also a picture of the traitor Von Stroheim.

The SS won’t accept orders from the Wehrmacht and the Wehrmacht won’t accept orders from the SS. Both will accept orders from you.

You have a staff car driven by Eva Strum and 2 open back trucks to carry the troops, drivers for the trucks are the two NCO’s.

The Dutch border has a wire fence to protect it. The trees closest to the fence have been felled by the simple expedient of blowing them up. The local inhabitants have cleared the area of firewood, explaining why there are no tree branches.

There is a sentry box and hut containing a small detachment of Dutch troops, you estimate it’s probably only 3 or 4 soldiers. These structures will obstruct line of sight but are light weight things and bullets will penetrate easily enough, but you won’t see the occupants. The road is barred by a simple halt barrier and your trucks should plough through it easily enough, although there is a chance the driver might lose control you think it’s unlikely. Your staff car would not get through so easily and may be damaged in the process.

There is a small supply dump further on along the road, this will have troops guarding it but your estimate is again 2 or 3 men only. At both positions you would expect them to be border guards and so fairly low quality troops.

The guards will obviously be replaced at some form of regular interval but you’ve no idea what that might be, maybe meal times maybe just once a day.

Your objective is to capture and kidnap the 2 SIS officers, escaping with them back over the border. Your side of the border is shown on the left of the picture. You don’t want to precipitate the start of the war in the west so civilian casualties should be avoided but military casualties are going to be acceptable and indeed necessary. Theirs, not yours.

You can have any kit that you think will be easily obtainable for a small scale raid at short notice, e.g. wire cutters, grenades, but not more sophisticated items such as explosives that will require technical knowledge for setting fuses etc. I’m not really sure about portable radios at this stage of the war so I think you can have 3 of them but they might malfunction.

All I can tell you about the hotel is that it has 2 front doors, possibly leading to a reception desk and a bar or restaurant. 1 side door facing you and 1 back door, there are rooms up stairs and maybe a cellar.

There will be hotel staff and maybe diners as well as the 2 SIS officers. The house across the road is, as far as you are aware just a normal house, it may have occupants.

The buildings on your side of the fence are unoccupied.

General Ernst Von Stroheim maintained he didn’t know either of the 2 SIS officers, communications had been through a 3rd party who he didn’t expect to be at the meeting place. He and the SIS were to wear red carnations in their lapels as a recognition sign.

I think it’s safe to assume they have transport, and you are fairly sure they won’t have any idea of what is about to hit them.

The British Scenario

You (Presumably one of the Snapcase family serving King and Country in the British SIS during WW2) have been contacted by one of the leading German generals, Ernst Von Stroheim, he is offering to defect with a full set of the current plans for operation Fall Gelb and will bring them over the border to Holland.

A meeting has been arranged between you, an officer from the Dutch SIS (Sally Brunn) and Von Stroheim in a small hotel just on the Dutch side of the border.

As you drove to the meeting you saw that the Dutch border has a wire fence to protect it.

There is a sentry box and a hut that you assume contains Dutch border guards, the road is barred by a simple halt barrier and you passed a small supply dump on the way to the hotel which probably has troops guarding it. The house across the road is, as far as you are aware just a normal house, it may have occupants but you didn’t see them as you arrived.

Your objective is to meet General Ernst Von Stroheim in the hotel and then escort him back to Amsterdam along with his plans, either in your car or the Dutch van. He’s assured you that he has the relevant passes so he can cross the border without any problems and get to the hotel with the information for the meeting.

The only flaw, is that all communications have been through a 3rd party who will not be at the meeting place. The only way the General will know you is by the red carnations you will wear in your lapels. The General will wear one as well but you have a verbal description of him, 6’0” tall, blonde hair, wears a monocle and has a scar on his right cheek.

The hotel is the white building in the centre. The German border is to the left, the wire indicates the Dutch side of the border, the German wire is 100 yds to the west and out of sight.

Amsterdam is to the right and Berlin to the left.

Your view from the Dutch side of the border and looking towards the German side which is out of sight. You hope there are Dutch border guards in the sentry box but didn’t see them.

As an aside you comment to Sally Brunn that it’s damn sloppy having a sentry box painted black, it would stand out more if it was painted with stripes. She demurs.

You drove past this small supply dump on your way to the meeting but didn’t see anyone guarding it.

Your description of Von Stroheim, looks like this.

You have arrived at the hotel in the black car and the Dutch SIS Operative has driven the Blue van. You don’t know who the green van belongs to.

As you face the building, the restaurant doorway is just to the left of the one you can see. The one in the middle of the building, not the one on the right by the large window.

This shows the left side of the building oriented to the previous photograph.

Doors are red, windows light grey and walls black. You didn’t see the inside of the right of the building but did see some stairs in the Off Licence room going up to the bedrooms you supposed.

You are seated at the corner table. You have your back to the wall (South in the picture) and Sally Brunn the Dutch SIS has her back to the window, (west in the picture).

Both the other tables are occupied.

A white haired chap in a plum suit is sat by the door, and a distinguished couple are sat at the other table. In the distance, behind the bar in the far corner of the room is the Barmaid, a striking looking young woman with black hair.

She seemed to give Sally Brunn a speculative look when she delivered your drinks but ignored you other than to confirm you had ordered a Pink Gin.

In addition to the Barmaid you met the Hotel manager a Mr Greenstreet when you arrived, it’s only a small hotel, 2 or 3 bedrooms so there won’t be many other staff.

Having taken your first sip of Pink Gin you start to peruse the menu when there’s the sound of automatic weapon firing from the border post followed immediately by a loud crash and the revving of big diesel engines. You glance out of the window and see the barrier scattered over the road and a large covered truck pulling up onto the hotel forecourt. Straight away troops in black uniforms start to jump out of the back of the truck and head to the hotel.

You are armed with a 6 shot Webley service revolver but only load 5 shots for safety reasons, and you don’t know if the Dutch SIS are armed or not.

Sally starts to panic, “shouting oh my God it’s the Germans”.

What do you do, you have 1 turn before they will be at the door.

Note:- you still want to get hold of the plans carried by Von Stroheim but don’t want either yourself or Sally to get captured by the SS or and maybe more importantly you don’t want to end your career as a dead SIS Operative.

Neither of the participants were given this aerial photograph to help with their planning but it may help with your understanding of the action, or maybe not.