Swallows of Death:
Scenario Preview, Part Five
by Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
March 2023

Panzer Grenadier: 1940: Swallows of Death echoes a theme we’ve addressed in other Panzer Grenadier expansion books, like Black Panthers and Go For Broke. In all three books, we highlight the bravery and fighting skills of outsiders: African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and now the inhabitants of French-ruled Morocco.

No French formation equaled the combat record of the 1st Moroccan Division in 1940. And if the French people didn’t fully embrace the tirailleurs, neither did they offer the scorn heaped on the U.S. Army’s segregated minority soldiers. German Armed SS militiamen gleefully murdered Moroccan and other colonial prisoners of war; German soldiers of the regular Army did the same.

The heart of any Panzer Grenadier expansion book is its scenario set, and 1940: Swallows of Death presents a unique situation. This time, it’s the French with a significant edge in troop quality, the soft factors that power the Panzer Grenadier game system: initiative, leadership and most of all morale. The Moroccans are often better than the Germans, even the vaunted panzer divisions, and seldom worse.

Let’s have a look at some of the other Moroccan regiments in action.

Chapter Five
Along the Sambre River
After crossing the Meuse at Dinant, Erwin Rommel pushed his division forward into the French rear areas, heedless of his flanks or his own lines of communications. Seventh Panzer Division drove toward Philippeville, while still more panzer divisions surged through gaps in the French lines. Aware of this threat, the French High Command decided to establish a new line based on the Maubeuge fortress zone and the Escaut and Sambre rivers. The speedy German advance made this plan moot before it could even begin: Rommel’s reckless incursion had largely bypassed the French defenses, the 12th and 32nd Infantry Divisions continued the advance to the south and the 5th Panzer Division forced a crossing of the Sambre at Berlaimont.

A rifle section (squad) of the 6eme Tirailleurs Marocains.

The French reacted by moving what forces they had to the Sambre line, to hold the river and throw back those Germans who had already crossed. The 101st Fortress Infantry Division, already in place and desperately trying to hold on, would be joined by elements of the 1st North African Infantry Division (DINA), which included the 5th Moroccan Tirailleur Regiment.

Scenario Twenty
The Trélon Gap
17 May 1940
Ohain, on the Franco-Belgian border south of Maubeuge
On 15 May, the 1st DINA moved to defend the Trélon Gap, a passage between the forests south of Maubeuge. Most of the casemates they found there were unfinished and largely unprotected. The Germans attacked these positions on 16 May but most assaults had been repulsed by the 28th Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiment except for the loss of a few casemates. At 2045, the defense line still held when the Moroccans arrived. Late in the evening, Gen. Julien Martin of the XI Corps ordered a general withdrawal of the whole French line, but that order never reached the frontline units.

Conclusion
Despite the order to fall back, the 1st DINA units still held the Trélon Gap on the morning of 17 May. At dawn, the Germans unleashed a violent artillery bombardment, and direct fire from Flak guns quickly destroyed several casemates. One by one the French abandoned the pillboxes, despite some inspired French counter-attacks. Losses mounted, and by 1900 that evening the Moroccans had broken contact and set up a new line, but a surprise attack around midnight inflicted 100 casualties and the Moroccans retreated to avoid encirclement.

Notes
The French are in surprisingly good shape here, with high morale, good numbers and that greatest of rarities – the Armée de l’Air actually shows up to offer some support. The Germans do have the edge in firepower and numbers, and also the need to force the action.

Scenario Twenty-One
Welcome to La Capelle
17 May 1940
La Capelle, France
South of the Sambre front, the Germans crossed the Oise River and continued westward. Around 2230 on 16 May, Gen. Charles-Eugène Sancelme of the 4th DINA set out for La Capelle with orders to hold the city – the site where German negotiators arrived to negotiate the Armistice in November 1918 – for at least 24 hours. Samcelme had his division headquarters staff, a motorcycle platoon and some Algerian Tirailleurs. He gathered remnants of other units, and in the morning a company of Moroccan Tirailleurs and another of Algerian machine-gunners arrived to bolster the defense. Not long afterwards, the appearance of a panicked French artillery battery heralded the arrival of the Germans.

Conclusion
The first French troops encountered by the German advance, machine-gunners of the 5th Moroccan Tirailleurs, broke and only prompt encouragement from their officers got them pack into position. That could only last a few hours; by noon some Moroccans were abandoning their positions to take the road to Guise. Most of these men were captured or killed on the road. The remainder fought on despite a German artillery bombardment, but by 1230 La Capelle had been surrounded and seven hours later Sancelme ordered his men to give up the fight. The Germans had suffered only minor losses, but Sancelme had fulfilled his mission.

Notes
The Germans have a few tanks and will eventually get more. They’ll probably need them by then – while the French have no tanks of their own and not a lot of anti-tank capability, the Germans still have a nasty set of victory conditions to meet.

Scenario Twenty-Two
Fleeting Success
19 May 1940
North-west of Maubeuge, France
The 19th Century Fort de Leveau, just north-west of Maubeuge and part of the city’s old system of ring forts, fell to the Germans despite the small garrison calling down artillery fire directly on their position. French fortress infantry had managed to sweep the Germans off the top of the concrete fort, but couldn’t dig them out of the fighting positions. In the early afternoon, a battalion of the 3rd Moroccan Tirailleurs and some French tanks joined an effort to take it back.

Conclusion
By 1530, the tanks had once again swept the Germans off the top of the fort, losing two Somuas in the process. The Moroccan infantry accompanying them ejected the Germans from the fort’s interior, capturing two machine-gun positions. But the fort had become an easy target for German artillery, and at 1800 the Moroccans abandoned their prize.

Notes
The Germans hold the fort, and the French want it back. Everyone has sky-high morale, no one has artillery. The French have some tanks, but eventually the Germans get an 88mm battery that not only can shoot up the tanks, it can destroy the casemates the French still hold.

Scenario Twenty-Three
Stuck on the Sambre
19 May 1940
Hautmont, southwest of Maubeuge, France
Despite the German seizure of bridgeheads over the Sambre and a major breakthrough to the south, the French still tried to re-establish themselves along the river line. Scattered elements of the French 101st Fortress Infantry Division arrived piecemeal to try to stem the tide. Despite being outflanked to the west by the 7th and 5th Panzer Divisions, French reinforcements arrived on 18 May in Boussières and Hautmont to defend the river line. Immediately attacked by the German 8th Infantry Division, the French held on and welcomed some Moroccan support from the 6th Tirailleurs.

Conclusion
Around 1000, the Germans pushed their 38th Infantry Regiment onto the bridge. The stubborn French defense prevented its capture, despite strong artillery support. After a bombardment by planes and mortars, around 1400 many rubber dinghies succeeded in paddling across the river on either side of the strongpoints and secured a bridgehead on the left bank. By 1900 the village had been surrounded and at 2015 the last defenders gave up.

Notes
It’s a river crossing, and the Germans are going to have a tough time of it – unless they can cross somewhere where the Moroccans are not present. They don’t really have enough artillery to suppress the defenses, and air support is spotty. They’re going to have to saddle up their flossacks and come fight the French.

Scenario Twenty-Four
The Locquignol Clearing 
20 May 1940
Mormal forest, south-west of Maubeuge, France
As the French position on the Sambre became more and more difficult, the 5th DINA set out to clear the Mormal forest of Germans in order to relieve pressure on the French forces along the Sambre. With the 6th Moroccan Tirailleurs taking the lead, the French attack aimed to seal the westward exits from the forest, unaware that the 4th Panzer Division had just arrived with the very mission of securing those same routes west.

Conclusion
The French soon encountered the Germans in the middle of the forest, where furious encounters raged for the whole day. Both sides suffered heavy losses, with the French tanks taking severe punishment from the 88mm Flak guns of the 4th Panzer Division’s attached General Goering Regiment, an Air Force outfit fighting in ground combat. The heaviest fighting took place in the Locquignol clearing, where the Moroccans fought to secure Hill 153 in the face of heavy resistance from German infantry supported by tanks and armored cars. The Moroccan left flank finally gave way and they abandoned Hill 153 to withdraw about 500 meters to the west, where the 75mm field guns of the 22nd Light Artillery Regiment ambushed the advancing panzers, holding their fire until the tanks had approached within 100 meters. The panzers now fled, allowing the Moroccans to resume their advance and clear the Locquignol clearing by 1900.

Notes
The Moroccans are on the attack, against a panzer division. That might not seem a recipe for success, but the terrain’s pretty dense and they are, after all, Moroccans. They have tank support, but the Germans have kryptonite in the form of an 88mm battery.

Scenario Twenty-Five
Out of the Mormal forest  
20 May 1940
Louvignies, west of Maubeuge
The Moroccans resumed their advance under cover of darkness, even singing as they marched, but met no Germans until well into the following morning. The village of Louvignies had been occupied the previous evening by the Germans, so of course the Moroccans – strengthened after picking up stragglers during the night – attacked it. After some preparatory fire from 81mm mortars, the Moroccans went forward.

Conclusion
The Moroccans stormed into the village, where bitter fighting broke out at point-blank range between adjacent houses. The Moroccan effort concentrated on the center of the village, which allowed German tanks to outflank them outside the small cluster of buildings and force a deadly retreat. The Moroccans retreated into the forest, but steadily men became lost and were taken prisoner. The regiment’s strength was fading.

Notes
The Moroccans have sky-high morale and a significant edge in numbers, but the Germans have tank. It’s just two tank platoons, one of them a reinforcement, so the Moroccans should be able to better the historical result as long as they don’t ignore the German armor like their historical counterparts.

And that’s it for Chapter Five. Next time, Chapter Six.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published a great many books, games and articles on historical subjects; people are saying that some of them are actually good. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children, and new puppy. He misses his lizard-hunting Iron Dog, Leopold.

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