Road to Axel

DATE: 22/02/2026

TIME (GMT): 19:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Pegaus Bridge

TYPE: COOP

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Sclembi

SLOTS: 58 / 90

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RATING: not rated yet! (0)

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In September 1944, General Stanisław Maczek's 1st Armored Division fought for Axel. It was an independent operation of the 3rd Rifle Brigade tactical group under the command of Colonel Franciszek Skibiński. The Polish victory opened the way for the Allies to Dutch and Belgian ports, where ships and vessels carrying supplies for the Allies could dock. At the beginning of the second decade of September 1944, units of the German 15th Army managed to organize a defense on the Belgian-Dutch border, using the Scheldt River and numerous canals in the area. The characteristics of this terrain differed significantly from the specific features of the areas where the Polish 1st Armored Division had been operating until then. To the north and northwest of Ghent, the terrain was flat, low-lying, often marshy, and crisscrossed by numerous canals. It was covered mainly by buildings, trees, and shrubs, while forests were rare. The enemy used hydrotechnical devices to create floods, destroying some of these structures at the same time, which temporarily prevented the restoration of the original water levels. In this way, the maneuverability of troops was limited in many areas, reducing movement to marching columns on dikes, without the possibility of spreading out in the terrain. However, the dense road network made it possible to use some of them as bypass routes. The roads on the dikes, often lined with poplars and alders, were usually kept in good condition. The German 15th Army used Dutch permanent fortifications for defense, including 19th-century fortification guns, which were prepared to block all approach roads with fire. The conditions favorable to the organization of defense meant that infantry divisions heavily reinforced with artillery and sappers were predestined to break through the German defenses in the Ghent area.

On General Maczek's orders, the commander of the 3rd Brigade detached a group commanded by the deputy brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Władysław Dec, consisting of: the 24th Uhlan Regiment, the 8th Rifle Battalion, an independent heavy machine gun squadron (minus two platoons), the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Motorized Artillery Regiment, and the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, with the task of defending Ghent. Meanwhile, the main forces of the brigade, reinforced by the 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment, moved to the Saint Paul area, located 5 km northeast of Sint-Niklaas, where they were joined by the 10th Dragoon Regiment. There, the 3rd BS was tasked with 'Reconnaissance and control of the Axel-Hulst canal crossings, then strike and capture the port of Terneuzen, or at least bring in artillery observers so that they could lay effective fire on the port and the Scheldt coast. If the floodplains in the Axel and Hulst area proved impassable, clear the area south of the Axel Canal and west to the Ghent Canal of enemy forces.'

The next day, September 16, 1944, at 8:15 a.m., the leading elements of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade crossed the Belgian-Dutch border between La Clinge and Koewacht. At around 9:45 a.m., the 10th Dragoon Regiment captured Drie Hoefijzers, and a quarter of an hour later, the 9th Rifle Battalion, operating in the direction of Koewacht-Axel, captured Hazelarenhoek. Information obtained by reconnaissance units advanced to the Hulst Canal prompted Colonel Skibiński to decide to force this obstacle and capture the Axel area. The brigade commander wanted to capture the town and take control of the flood embankment, which surrounded Axel in a semicircle from the north and west, creating the possibility of using this terrain feature to organize the defense of the suburbs, to which further forces and resources, primarily motorized artillery units, could then be brought in.

The attack by the 9th Rifle Battalion, reinforced by the 3rd Squadron of the 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment, in the direction of Hazelarenhoek – Drieschouwen – Axel managed to reach the Hulst Canal in the afternoon. The reason for the delay was the need to capture many German resistance points, some of which were organized using old Belgian and Dutch fortifications (Fort St. Nicolaas, Fort St. Livinus, Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Jan), which were small but allowed for the organization of platoon strongpoints based on their structure and adjacent buildings. In addition, it was necessary to build a crossing on the river between Hazelarenhoek and Zuiddorpe, which took the sappers four hours. The leading elements of the 9th Rifle Battalion, which reached the Hulst Canal, found enemy firing positions located in buildings and gardens and on the heights of old earth fortifications from the Spanish-Dutch War. At around 8 p.m., the battalion's advance was halted by heavy machine gun and mortar fire. The area between Hulst and Axel, including the town itself, was defended by the 745th Grenadier Regiment of the 712th Infantry Division, while west of Axel, subunits of the 2nd Battalion of the 732nd Grenadier Regiment of the same division were deployed.

In the afternoon, the 10th Dragoon Regiment approached the Hulst Canal between Absdale and Dubosch. After an unsuccessful attempt by the 2nd Squadron to cross the canal near the railway bridge on the Hulst–Axel line, 5.5 km east of Axel, the 1st Squadron forced the Hulst Canal on assault boats and improvised means between Hulst and Axel, about 3.5 km east of Axel, in the Dubosch area. Then, the 10th Company of sappers built a footbridge and began building a ferry, while conducting reconnaissance of the crossing area for the construction of a bridge. At 8 p.m., the regiment received orders to limit its activities to defending the bridgehead and to refrain from offensive actions until the bridge was built, which, according to the sappers, was to be completed by 7 a.m. the next day. Unfortunately, the leading 1st Squadron, while conducting reconnaissance, advanced 1.5 km to the north, losing contact with the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons, which remained on the bridgehead in a shallow defensive formation. At the same time, the inability to cross the Carrier armored personnel carriers meant that the support squadron remained on the southern bank of the canal. The bridge could not be completed on schedule because the bridge sections used in the Hazelarenhoek and Zuiddorpe areas were exhausted, new ones could not be delivered on time, and the entire crossing area became a target for German artillery, causing additional delays.

In this mission the players will be tasked with firstly destroying the enemy presence on their side of the channel, secondly they will commence their crossing efforts and after two channels are crossed they will expand their foothold on the other side.