A Dorking battle report; Storm the bridge

As some of you may know, I have a little 'Battle of Dorking' project on the go and we've had a couple of games so far. For those that haven't heard of it, below is a quick summery of the novel (taken from the Dorking History Museum website) but basically it was born from the fear of German/Prussian invasion after the Franco-Prussian War.

Harry 'Flashbang' Whallop and his crew are on a bridge taking photos of the battle that's going to unfold — Members of the Illustrated London News including roving reporters Archibald Harris-Hampton and Jean Paul Biro together with renown photographers Harry "Flash" Bang-Whallop and Stanley Still arrive to record the events live for their readers.

"The fictional Battle of Dorking took place in 1875. Germany had defeated France and annexed Holland and Denmark. Britain declared war and Germany invaded an ill-prepared Britain. Troops came ashore at Worthing and began moving inland.

Written by Sir George Chesney, The Battle of Dorking was published anonymously in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1871. In Chesney’s tale, a battle takes place at Dorking between the invaders and British defenders; Dorking occupies a strategically vital point between the troops’ landing point on the south coast and London. Failure to defend the heights of Ranmore and Box Hill on each side of the Mole Gap allows the invaders to pass through to London. Britain is left humiliated, its Empire lost.

The story caught the public imagination. When reprinted it sold 80,000 copies and was translated into a score of languages. There was no immediate military response but in the 1880s forts were erected on Box Hill and Ranmore. Lord Ashcombe, owner of Denbies, provided the local volunteer force with land and funds for a drill hall.

Though its notoriety arose from the concerns of its time – the birth of a unified Germany, the unfitness of the army, and the development of new means of transport and communication – the tale had a long life in public consciousness in both Britain and Germany. In the 1940s a German edition was issued to Hitler’s army under the title ‘Was England Erwartet’: What England Expects."

As with a lot of our games based on something we've gone for what feels right to us rather than slavishly follow the original. This being the case we have of course included VSF tech and expanded/altered the forces to meet what we wanted in the games. In the first blog post of this project you can see some of my troops that take part in the campaign. I'll sort out photos of enemy at some point in the future.

The first game was a simple storming of a vital bridge. A reduced British force consisting of two units of volunteers, one unit of regular line skirmishers and one 4pdr were up against two Prussian line units and two units of Jaegers.

A general view of the table with the Prussians starting off in the top left and the British defending the hamlet with the skirmishers outside the hamlet in an attempt to stall the Prussians as long as possible.

The volunteer units were on the other side of the bridge and needed to come forward to also stall the Prussian advance.

The First British unit to deploy are riflemen from the 31st Regiment of foot who are billeted in a nearby cottage, they take up a position behind a low wall.

They decide to take up a position even closer to the advancing Prussians. A decision which may later cost them, meanwhile the Guildford Cricketeers deploy adjacent to the gun, in Professor Henry Higgins Holiday House.

Prussian units from the 5th Line Regiment appear in column on the road and in the adjacent fields.

They are ably supported by Jaeger skirmishers

The Prussian infantry advance supported by rifle fire from the Jaegers.

The Prussians deploy into open order and quicken their pace. "Vorwart!" shouts the officer!

The Guildford Cricketeers decide to enter the fray, but rather than concentrate their fire on the Prussian Regulars they begin a firefight with Jaegers on the left flank.

This allows the main Prussian Infantry units to press their attack on the rifle unit who quickly crumble from their combined musketry:

Meanwhile the 2nd Royal Surrey volunteers arrive on the bridge to support the gun:

The Dorking Volunteer Artillery Company fire their first shot on the Prussian column as its turns the corner by the duck pond and heads up the main road towards the village:

Taking casualties the Prussians press on down the main road towards the bridge.

On the bridge the 2nd Royal Surrey volunteers turn and start to fire on the jaegers who are engaged at long range with the Guildford Cricketers on their right flank:

Gathering momentum the majority of the Prussian force is advancing rapidly on the bridge meeting little or no resistance apart from the light gun which is largely ineffective in stopping the advance..

With nothing in their way the Prussian column makes it way towards the bridge screened by hedges and fencing.

With casualties mounting but with fervour, the column absorbs the damage and makes rapid progress towards the bridge...

With a final, vicious push, the Prussians enter the hamlet and seeing the Guildford Cricketers engaged against their Jaeger friends the Prussians charge into their flank.

Somewhat surprised by the sudden appearance of the Prussians the Guildford Cricketers decide to run with the Prussians hot on their heels!

At this point things fall apart for the British, the gun team flees closely followed by the 2nd Royal Surrey Volunteers. The Illustrated London News team decide now is not the time to stay and take more photographs and they also run!

The Prussians have the bridge!

Part Two. "Effingham Junction" coming soon.....

I hope that was an enjoyable little diversion and with luck, part two should be up soon. Below is a small gallery of images that didn't make into the final cut.

Rules for this game were Rebels and Patriots using some period specific mods from 'Silent Invader' who has done quite a bit of work on Dorking which can be seen over on the Lead Adventure Forum. Figures are all Perrys BIF for the Brits and the Prussians are from Northstar, The old Helion & Co 1866 range.