Following the successful preliminary airborne assault on the Kentish airfield by the fallschirmjager, and the first stages of the coastal invasion by the German Heer and SS Panzer forces the fallschirmjager were tasked with securing a number of key strategic bridges, in order to allow the Panzer troops along the English coast to advance inland to establish a true bridgehead.
The fallschirmjager, being well trained and well motivated, assaulted the bridge from both sides simultaneously, under the cover of smoke laid down by the companies mortars. The initial assault went well, and the Germans knocked out a LMG bunker covering the bridge before the British could even get a shot off.
The surprised Home Guard defending the bridge started to take up positions along the road, well concealed in the hedgerows. As the Germans advanced the had to try to drive the Home Guard out one hedgerow at a time, which took a long time and was dangerous work.
At the bridge the Fallschirmjager dealt with the guards aggressively. They pinned the Brits with mortar and machine gun fire, while the rest of the squad charged the Home Guard with bayonets fixed. The overwhelming German aggression was too much for the bridge defenders, who were forced to surrender to the fallschirmjager.
With most of the Home Guard platoon captured or dead the Brits began to fall back, in fairly good order. A spirited counter attack was attempted when the Home Guards Rolls Royce armoured car arrived, but it was too little, too late. By that time the Germans had consolidated their hold on the bridge and were not about to let it go. When their anti-tank rifle penetrated the hull of the armoured car the crew thought better of their attack and limped away, leaving the Fallschirmjager in command of the bridge, and leaving the way free for the German blitzkrieg to continue towards London.
The Home Guard had performed as well as could be expected, but in the end the overwhelming aggression, professionalism and daring of the fallshirmjager had prooved too much for the Plucky Brits
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| The Lay out. Note the many dence hedgerows that provided the defenders with plenty of cover. The bridge can be seen at the far end. |
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| A Home Guard stands watch at the bridge, mug of tea in hand. |
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| The Fallschirmjager had to advance into the HG defences, clearing each hedgerow on at a time. |
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| The Home Guard recovered from their initial surprise and redeployed to face the Fallschirmjagers attack. |
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| The defenders were difficult to spot amongst the hedges. |
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| Eventually German aggression proved overwhelming and they captured the bridge. Note the Rolls Royce Armoured car just arriving in the distance. |
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| The Fallschirmjager consolidate their hold on the bridge by seizing the other bank. |
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| The Home Guard have no choice but to fall back and consolidate, leaving the bridge in the Germans hands. |
