"Anyone for a Castle Cornet & a flak?"

A recent weekend cruise found me, my son and a good friend at St Peter Port in Gurnsey. While the ladies were shopping.  We explored Castle Cornet.

Castle Cornet from the sea 

The mid-day salute

Very handy at close quarters!

German WW II flak emplacement 'plonked' on top of an Elizabethan bastion (with cruise ship in background).

A traversing gun. Notice gap cut in background (therefore unable to traverse!) This leads to German machine gun bunker.

Torpedoes, with self explanatory info!

Rifle Company swords and the infamous Baker rifle.

Part of the port and entrance to castle.

Closer view of battery.

Ammo storage for German guns.

Hand drawn range marker of church which corresponds to actual church on horizon (left of centre).

Close up of Hand drawn range marker.

German air raid bunker. Most given girls names!

Inner wall (left), muskateer firing steps (right) & Governors garden (foreground).

 Gurnsey soldiers in WW I.

One dead and one angry German - with an impressive anti-tank gun.

Took this mainly for reference when I eventually paint my VBCW Lewis gunners.

Arty, scenic tower shot.

18th  Century castle barracks.

And very large communal "piss-pot"

Medieval crossbow man.

Elizabethan gun crew.

German WW II flak gun.

Another view.

Love this poster. It's an idiots guide to British uniforms & insignia - for the German soldier.

Finaly to go with the flak gun are some Luftwaffe equipment.

Then of course to round it all off there was the castle shop, where I HAD to buy some books!

'Not another ambush?'

This Sunday I found myself alone all day and decided to get up,to a bit of mischief by having a Colonial skirmish.

I tend to use 'God save the Queen' a free set of rules that meet my requirements, easy simple, quick and only a couple of pages.

They can be obtained here. LINK.    Not bad as he was 11 yrs old when he wrote them!

A unit of Royal Marines and Royal Navy make their way to an outpost with much needed supplies from a nearby port.

Waiting for them is the local tribal leader, Omah Bin Atum.

The column progresses slowly.

Even more slowly!



Nearly in range!

All hyped up ready!

Steady there lads!

Ok so the gun is old and held together by the Victorian version of 'Duck Tape', but it could still cause some problems for the column.

Omah's men are on the move.

Cpt Steel (red fez) local guide and all round hero, notices movement & battalion put into firing line.

It's gonna kick off I can tell!

Omah's boys sneak forward.

First casualty to Omah - top of pic.

Return fire causes a casualty for her Majasty's navy.

Omah (the one in the rusty mail shirt) decides to boost moral by raising his personal standard & bring Fatima, the local exotic dancer for all to see!

Spurred on by this appearance, Omah's men rush the RM on the units left flank.

They then run away! In response the Navy poor a deviststing volley into Omah's left flank!

Then charge in!

Casualties are fairly even. Although a deviststing close range canister shot from the gun has taken out most of the RM right flank (hence gap) just missing Cpt Trubshaw RN.

The Britsh form up to give fire.

Unfortunately they are not quick enough & another deviststing close range shot from the old gun takes out most of the remaining ratings.

Right, that's it. Enough is enough and the RM take out the gun crew & silance the gun - 'thank The Lord!'

A final volley from the few remaining ratings finish of Omah and his followers (unfortunately including Fatima - tonight's entertainment now cancelled!). The only survivor is Omah's young son, who vowed to avange his fathers death.

Now the very few remnants can carry on and re-supply the out post. Another costly adventure for Het Majasty's troops!