After the successful invasion of West Suffolk it was felt that in order to secure the western borders and to create a safe land route from East Britain, forces from Woodbridge and Essex would move into Norfolk and Cambridgeshire with support from East Britain's Guardsmen.
Woodbridge's part would be to launch a northward assault, driving up the eastern side of the Great River Ouse to cut off the numerically inferior forces of the True British Army in Norfolk and to establish another land border. The part of Norfolk that Woodbridge would be moving into would between the eastern side of the Great Ouse and a line moving in a vaguely northerly direction from Thetford to Hunstanton. This would allow for a direct land route to East Britain and provide the country with a base for future operations eastward into the rest of Norfolk.
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19th June[]
The move into Norfolk began at 7am. It had been decided that the town of Thetford would be the first target of this phase of the expansion and the Woodbridge commanders decided to follow the maxim "better safe than sorry" . To this end a whole battalion of infantry and five tanks were diverted to the task. An HH-53 helicopter scouting the town saw a series of earthworks to the south of Thetford. The TBA forces in Thetford were obviously aware of the events in West Suffolk (presumably due to reports they had received from TBA soldiers that had fled the fighting in Suffolk) and had guessed correctly the that TBA in Norfolk would be the next target. The assault on Thetford began at 7:45am, 3 companies and the tanks attacked from the south while one company attacked from the west and one from the east. The southern force overwhelmed the earthworks with minor casualties and began moving into Thetford proper by 9am. Given the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Woodbridge forces it is perhaps not surprising the the TBA troops, who numbered around 100 mostly surrendered or fled north. A small group of fanatics held out in the town's police station until early afternoon but this handful of men finally gave up the ghost at 4:10m pm and at 5pm the Woodbridge flag was raised above Kings House, the headquarters of the town council.
20th June[]
On the morning of the 20th the Woodbridge forces moved out of Thetford, leaving two companies of regular troops behind to serve as a garrison and guard force for the headquarters. The remaining troops began their move north their main target for the day being Swaffham. The main force would move north up the old A1065 while smaller forces would engage in flanking movements to advance on Swaffham from the east and west The main force made steady progress until it reached the village of Great Cressingham. When the troops stopped to gain their bearings the forward scouts encountered two men walking toward the Woodbridge lines waving a white flag. The men were escorted under guard to the commander of the Woodbridge troops whereupon they told their tale. It turned out that morale amongst the TBA forces in west Norfolk was very low and on at least two occasions fighting had broken out between TBA units. The two men had deserted from the Swaffham garrison as they felt that the TBA was now a lost cause. Whilst this appeared to be good new the Woodbridge commander was rightly cautious and he decided to have the two men escorted back to Thetford where their claims could be fully investigated by Military Intelligence.
After the TBA had been thoroughly interrogated it was accepted that their story was true. It was decided that Woodbridge would try to take advantage of this TBA infighting by sending a company of Special Forces troops disguised as TBA into their territory. Once there they would sabotage communications and supply and as far as possible attempt to turn low-level infighting into a full-blown TBA civil war.
Late in the day a message was received from the East British forces who were moving into the Isle of Eels. After the defeat of the TBA garrison in the town of Ely the East Britons had found several bodies which after thorough investigation turned out to be those of the Woodbridge troops who had been captured on June 11th. This news while extremely sad made the Woodbridge troops all the more determined to defeat the TBA or as one sergeant said to "kick seven shades of sh*t out of the scum."
21st June[]
In the very early hours of the morning the Woodbridge Special Forces (WSF) began their move into TBA held territory. The company was divided into 10 section of 10 soldiers each and they moved on foot so as not to cause much disturbance. It had been decided that they would not be carrying any sort of walkie talkies and the only way they would be able to make themselves recognised to Woodbridge regular troops would be by a series of code words. Due to the clan-based nature of the TBA it was decided that the WSF would run a clasic "false flag" operation in other words they would attack clan A whilst leaving behind evidence incrimination clan B and vice versa.
In order not to cause any suspicion on the part of the TBA, the Woodbridge regular troops continued their advance toward Swaffham. By early evening the main force had reached a point between Cockley Cley and South Pickenham. The western flank was at the junction of the Swaffham Road and the A47 whereas the eastern flank had reached Necton. It was understood that the WSF would undertake some sabotage in Swaffham overnight so it was decided that the regular troops would stop for the night to reduce the risk of any friendly fire incidents
22nd June[]
During the night Woodbridge forward outposts reported a series of explosion coming from the direction of Swaffham and as day broke they could hear continuous gunfire. When the assault on Swaffham began later that morning the regular troops didn't come under fire as they reached the outskirts of the town. Cautious civilians approached the Woodbridge troops and when asked about the explosions and gunfire explained that the TBA garrison consisted of men from two different clans and there had always been arguments between the two clans over the division of spoils. The previous night a car bomb had gone off outside the HQ of one of the clans and the body of two men from the other clan hand been found in the wreckage. As a result of this the clans had started firing on each other almost immediately and were continuing to do so. While this discussion was going six men wearing TBA uniforms approached the Woodbridge troops under a white flag. The leader of the men gave the appropriate password as it turned out the men were survivors of one of the WSF units. He confirmed that it was his men that had set off the car bomb but two of his men had been caught in the explosion and had died. However the TBA men investigating the explosion found the bodies with the insignia of the other clan on them and assumed that that clan had set the bomb and this led to the firefight that was still ongoing. On hearing this new the Woodbridge commander decided to advance further into Swaffham. As they got to the centre of the town they found a chaotic situation with TBA troops firing in all directions, killing men from the other clan, men from their own clan and innocent civilians. Within hours the the efficient organised Woodbridge troops had completely defeated the warring TBA clans at a the cost of a handful of casualties. The success of the WSF infiltrators and the regulars assault on Swaffham gave the Woodbridge commanders hope that the final defeat of the TBA in Norfolk was a matter of days away.
23rd June[]
The Woodbridge commanders decided that today would be somewhat of a mopping up operation, clearing TBA units from the small villages between Swaffham and the former Royal estate at Sandringham. To begin with the operation was fairly easily as the TBA had seemingly abandoned most of the villages. Those ones that were still held by were in chaos as the WSF infiltration has been as successful there as it had been in Swaffham. There were few Woodbridge casualties and far more TBA men surrendered. However as the Woodbridge troops got closer and closer to Sandringham the fighting got harder and harder. The explanation for this came from two sources. Firstly some WSF men came into contact with the regular troops and revealed that their "false flag" operation had been unsuccessful in Sandringham itself and the TBA troops there had been more disciplined that any others that they had met in West Norfolk. Then a TBA soldier captured in the fighting for the village of Gayton explained. The leader of the TBA troops in Sandringham, known as "The Chief" was in fact the commander in chief of the whole TBA operation in West Norfolk and the forces in Sandringham consisted of one larger than usual clan which he controlled with a fist of iron. It became clear that clearing the TBA from Sandringham would be a major part of the whole invasion of West Norfolk.
24th June[]
The operation to clear the TBA from Sandringham began at first light and the Woodbridge force included eight companies of regulars, three Leopard 1 tanks and one HH-53. To the outside observer this might have seemed liked overkill but bearing in mind the commander in chief of the TBA in West Norfolk was holed up on the former royal estate with his fanatically loyal clan. It was felt by the Woodbridge commanders that once again the phrase "better safe than sorry" was highly appropriate.
The assault on the village of Sandringham was thus one company of regulars plus one Leopard 1 would be stationed to the south, west and east of Sandringham in order to stop any members of the TBA from escaping while the remaining five companies of regulars would move into the village itself. The assault consisted of a great deal of street fighting where Woodbridge troops and the TBA would often have control of opposite sides of a street. As mentioned these TBA men were the hardcore and used a lot of nail-bombs against the Woodbridge troops. Gradually however the numerical superiority of Woodbridge started to tell and the TBA began to withdraw to the north of the village. By late evening the HH-53 reported a number of vans cars moving in a northerly direction to the former royal estate.
25th June[]
Questioning of TBA prisoners by Woodbridge military intelligence revealed that "The Chief" and about 100 of his men had escaped to the Sandringham estate. It was decided that five companies of regulars would make an assault on the estate. Flying over the grounds the HH-53 reported a lot of movement around Sandringham House itself and it became obvious that The Chief and his remaining holdout would be making their last stand there. The Woodbridge troops began their movement through the estate first thing in the morning. A few of them fell victim to TBA booby traps and snipers but they had managed to surround Sandringham House itself by mid-afternoon. Three Woodbridge officers walked up the House under a white flag to demand the surrender of the TBA troops but before they could say a word they were all shot. Due to this the Woodbridge commander said that there would be no mercy shown to the TBA forces and the final assault began. The battle for Sandringham House was a room to room, floor to floor affair and because the TBA troops were the loyalest of the loyal, they fought as if their life depended on it (which, unbeknownst to them it did). By just before 8pm The Chief and perhaps five men were holed up in one room. As the Woodbridge troops were about to blow the door down six shots rang out. They slowly opened the door and found the dead bodies of five TBA men who had all blown their own brains out. The Chief had somehow survived his attempt but he wasn't to live long as a Woodbridge sergeant walked up to him and fired several bullets into him. When he had finished the sergeant kicked the body several times just to make sure The Chief was dead before saying "That was for what you scum did at Ely."
Aftermath[]
After the battle of Sandringham the remainder of the Woodbridge operation in West Norfolk consisted of mopping up the few remaining TBA troops in the field. Woodbridge regulars reached the coast at Hunstanton on the afternoon of the 26th June. Over the next two days assistance was given to the East British in their assault on Kings Lynn and the invasion was declared finally over on the 28th.
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