Rapid Fire! Dieppe 1942 in 20mm (part 7) - The Tobacco factory

 

The Dieppe Tobacco factory is one of the last buildings I still wanted to do for the landings at White and Red beaches. After this one only the Eastern Pier is missing as it encloses the main beach and housed a 37mm gun that caused problems for the Allied landing force. Regarding the rest of the buildings on the promenade and bunkers at the beach and cliffs I hope to use the ones I already have but I will only be sure when the built up of the table starts. 

Behind this factory there is a famous love story that I want to share with you. Yes, wargaming is not only death and mayhem but also the conscience that behind each miniature there was a hart that was pounding for someone. The flowers you can see at the entrance were planted by the beautiful Mademoiselle Annette Pourtous, the secretary of the factory owner, Monsieur Pierre LeCoq. Soon they became in love but with a big problem. The parents of Annette had promised her to a sous-chef of the factory called Jean Revanche. When Jean Revanche found the affair bettween Annette and his boss he became crazy with jelousy and told the local Maquis that the factory was being used by the Germans as an ammunition depot. And this is why on the night of the 18/19 August 1942 the RAF Bostons bombed the factory and totally destroyed it with Pierre LeCoq and Annette inside, after a torrid night together...

Of course this story is total BS, so let´s get back to the model as I only wanted to keep your attention for the next pictures. The only true part of the story is the destruction of the factory under the belief of its usage by the Germans as an ammunition depot. 

I couldn´t find much information on this factory and much less some good photographs of the place. This one was the best I could find and its a pre-war photo. Even so enough for some details that can be modelled and painted. The bible of the action on Red and White Beaches, After the Battle- Dieppe through the Lenses, only shows a partial aerial view and some almost undistinguishable shots of its front taken from the beach after its destruction. 

I always make a small sketch of the final thing so you can have the general layout, decide the maximum size and no to go adrift of the main goal. 

So the front part became reasonable but other parts are much harder to reconstitute. 

Everything was kept on the small side in RF! style. The chimneys are wooden sticks and should have a more conical shape which is something very difficult to represent. 

The back part of the factory is completely made up. I used a long veranda that was helpful as it completes the tiled roof at the back . 

Painting is also completely conjectural in this part as well in others. The painting was based on the B/W picture I showed you before and not even AI managed to give any specific color for this building. So mostly dark yellow walls and blue doors lined with white was used together with red brick sidewalks and chimneys. These are just usual colors in this part of France but who knows. 

The sole chimney represents in fact a lot of them and other structures present at the right back part of the factory. The base is a square of 30cm X 30cm as it will lean on the southern end of the table together with one line of buildings. 

The RAF Boston´s view of the factory. 

Next: more Slovaks or maybe Germans in bicycles.