Invasion of 1897 Research

GOORKAS SLAUGHTERING THE FRENCH ARTILLERY AT GREENWICH OBSERVATORY

"But the dice had been thrown, and the sixes lay with Moloch." 

- The Great War in England in 1897 (1895) by William Le Queux, page 43.

As a decent toy soldier French army begins to come together, I'm now thinking about toy soldier games featuring armies organized by nationality rather than mere jacket color.  So perhaps fewer battles between the hazy "Empire" in their red uniforms against the equally vague "Allies" in their panoply of blues, greens, and greys.  If an "army" (let's say five units infantry, two guns, and cavalry squadron) each of British and French troops is at hand, then in what way to pit them against each other?  Simply using Napoleonic Wars battles as a source of maps and deployments (a la Nick's Quatra Bas game) is certainly a proven option, but the whole point of playing (games) with toy soldiers seems to insist on something even more fanciful (as if toy soldiers were not fanciful enough).

A potential rich vein for mining scenarios or even campaigns is invasion literature from before the First World War.  A mainly British phenomena, the common thread of these stories is that the British military is unprepared or underprepared for the defense of the island from a large invasion by a continental foe (or even sometimes multiple foes!).  The genre firmly emerged with George Chesney's The Battle of Dorking (1871), wherein 'the Other Power' (a thinly veiled Prussia) invades England. The Great War in England in 1897 (1895) by William Le Queux featured a simultaneous invasion by French and Russian armies, and The Invasion of 1910 (1906), also by Le Queux, featured a Prussian invasion.  Of course, the most well know example today is probably The War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G. Wells.  Across the channel, French writer and army veteran Emile Driant wrote more than twenty guerre imaginaire stories, including the 1,000 page (!) Guerre Fatale: France-Angleterre ("The Fatal War: France-England) in 1902.  

Because it features the French, and because I shall soon have a toy soldier French army, I examined Le Queux's The Great War in England in 1897 for potential game inspiration.  This fictitious invasion of 1897 is told in roughly three parts: (1) the defeat of of the British navy by the combined French and Russian fleets, and the invaders' navies subsequent shelling of British ports; (2) the landing of Russian troops in the midlands, and the battles for Birmingham and Manchester; and (3) the French advance on London from the south, including almost an entire chapter on the shelling of London by French artillery. The British are of course vastly outnumbered at every step, and there's a repeated cycle of the defenders appearing to almost carry the day, only to be overwhelmed in the end. 

Its a somewhat entertaining read, but also very formulaic, predictable and rather boring, with descriptions of the burning of this or that English city or the dead piled up on this or that road, being more numerous than specific descriptions of battles.  Le Queux attempts to shock by using the familiar - the resonance is a bit hollow for me since I am not familiar with the English place names. 

The outlines of some toy soldier games, however, are present.  There are even maps, although they are are of very large scale and only show shaded squares marking deployment of British troops. The maps for battles with the French in the south are for the positions of the volunteer rifle units for the defense of the Surrey hills, and for the British positions for the battle of Caterham.

BRITISH VOLUNTEER POSITIONS ON THE SURREY HILLS

BATTLE OF CATERHAM- PLAN OF THE BRITISH POSITIONS

These maps provide details for battles much too large for toy soldiers to fight. So instead, specific, fleeting descriptions of smaller actions must be teased out.  Take, for example, this description of what could be called the battle of Leatherhead from defense of the outer lines of London:

Our Regulars and Volunteers, notwithstanding their gallantry, were, alas! gradually driven back by the enormous numbers that had commenced the onslaught, and were at last thrown back westward in disorder, halting at Ripley. Here he survivors snatched a hasty rest, and they were during the night reinforced by a contingent of Regulars who had come over from Windsor and Hounslow. On the arrival of these reinforcements, the Colonel, well knowing how serious was the situation now our first line of defence had been broken, sent out a flying column from Ripley, while the main body marched to Great Bookham, with the result that Leatherhead, now in the occupation of the French, was from both sides vigorously attacked. The British flying column threatening the enemy from the north was, however, quickly checked by the French guns, and in the transmission of an order a most serious blunder occurred, leading to the impossibility of a retreat upon Ripley, for unfortunately the order, wrongly given, resulted in the blowing up by mistake of the bridges over the river Mole by which they had crossed, and which they wanted to use again.

Thus it was that for a time this force was compelled to remain, at terrible cost, right under the fire of the French entrenched position at Leatherhead; but the enemy were fortunately not strong enough to follow up this advantage, and as they occupied a strong strategical position they were content to await the arrival of their huge main body, now on the move, and which they expected would reach Leatherhead during that night. After more fierce fighting, lasting one whole breathless day, the defenders were annihilated, while their main body approaching from the south also fell into a trap. (pages 270-271)

There are some decent narrative elements for a scenario embedded in this excerpt, with the British attempting a pincer attack on the French who are embedded in the town and houses of Leatherhead, with one half of the pincer coming across the bridges over the river Mole. This claw of the British pincer cuts off its own line of retreat by blowing up the bridge(s) it had just crossed.  The pincer move then becomes a complete disaster, with the first British force, pinned against the river and unable to retreat, completely destroyed, while the second pincer vaguely "fell into a trap" and simply vanishes from the narrative.  We could abstract this into a "Battle of Leatherhead (1897)" scenario, with a river with two bridges on one short end of the table and a town in the middle.  Half the British approach deploy on the river-side of the table.  Perhaps half the French deploy in the town, maybe with some defensive works here and there. Starting on the second or third turn, and every turn thereafter, both players will roll a d6, and when the British player reaches, say, a cumulative total of 13 or more, the other half of their army will arrive on the other short end of the table. When the French player reaches a cumulative total of perhaps 19 or more, the rest of their army will arrive on the French player's wider edge of the table. 

As one reads through The Great War in England in 1897, I think its fair to say that the most common battle is the defense of English towns and cities.  While I think this is mainly an easy "shock of the familiar," this "built up area" fighting is the main focus (although not explicitly stated as such) of Well's Little Wars.  Since War of the Worlds is a close relative of invasion literature, books such as Le Queux's also seem to be inspiration for the battles Wells' Red and Blue armies fought, replete with photos of distinctly English country homes and cottages.

FRENCH BOMBARDING LONDON FROM THE CRYSTAL PALACE PARADE

A somewhat more spectacular game could be gleamed from this British counterattack on French positions during the battle of London:

The [French] batteries on Streatham Hill having been assaulted and taken, the force of [British] defenders pushed quickly onward to Upper Norwood, where our cavalry, sweeping along Westow Hill and Church Street, fell upon the [French] battery in front of the Crystal Palace. The enemy, owing to the interruption of their field telegraph, were unaware of their presence, and were completely surprised. Nevertheless French infantrymen rushed into the Crystal Palace Hotel, the White Swan, Stanton Harcourt, the Knoll, Rocklands, and other houses at both ends of the Parade, and from the windows poured forth withering volleys from their Lebels. Our cavalry, riding down the broad Parade, used their sabres upon the artillerymen, and the whole of the French troops were quickly in a confused mass, unable to act with effect, and suffering appallingly from the steady fire of our Volunteers, who very soon cleared the enemy from the White Swan, and, having been drawn up outside, poured forth a galling rifle fire right along the enemy's position. (pages 294-295)

Really, this passage would just be an excuse to build a toy version of the Crystal Palace and have it defended by the French.  Who cares if doesn't make any sense to take cover in a glass building!

French on the march.

You can read The Great War in England in 1897 and learn about the war in the midlands against the Russians at Project Gutenberg. You can also read Le Queux's The Invasion of 1910, and Chesney's The Battle of Dorking is also available.  The Invasion of 1910 was also made into a short film in 1914, retitled If England Were Invaded and/or The Raid of 1915 - I tried to see if I could find a version of it online but no luck.