September 1940 (1 / 4)
1 September
United Kingdom Start of the Battle of Britain
Background
"We may therefore, be sure that there is a plan, perhaps built up over years for destroying Great Britain, which after all has the honour to be his main and foremost enemy."
Winston Churchill in July 1940.
"My Luftwaffe is invincible. And now we start to turn to England. How long will this one last - two, three weeks?
Hermann Goering in June 1940.
We might, had the plans been ready, have crossed to England with strong forces after the Dunkirk operation".
General Guenther Blumentritt in June 1940.
"How long would they last in battle, they ran from Dunkirk, they deserted France completely for the safety of home, England is there for the taking."
General Hugo Sperrle June 1940.
But in the May of 1940, we can safely be assured that Hitler had no intention of invading England at this stage, but he had often mentioned that it was a possibility just as it was a possibility of invading the United States, but these were only possibilities, there is a great difference in what would be termed 'as a possibility' and an actual 'plan for invasion'. But how good was the word of the German Chancellor, already we have found that he was a man of deceit and deception, a man who it would be foolhardy to place one's trust and faith in.Way back in November 1939, Admiral Raeder the Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy gave the order for the 'possibility of invading England' to be examined. The Naval strategists stated that a seaborne assault on a grand scale across the North Sea would appear to be a possible expedient for forcing the enemy to sue for peace. The German Army then had made comments and suggestions that many were not acceptable to the Navy. The Luftwaffe in December 1939 made their views known which were at the time thought to be most sceptical. Peter Flemming in his book "Invasion 1940" states:
All variants of this early plan envisaged landings on the east coast. At no stage was it referred to OKW (Oberkommando der Wermacht) and there is no reason to suppose that Hitler knew that any preliminary planning for invasion had been done until Raeder had told him about it on May 21st 1940.
Peter Fleming Invasion 1940 Readers Union 1958 p35
Raeder had another meeting with Hitler on June 4th 1940, and despite the Navy's strong thoughts on an invasion, the subject was not even mentioned by either party. On June 17th 1940 General Jodl's deputy Warlimont mentions that "...with regards to a landing in Britain, the Führer has not up to now expressed any such intention as he fully appreciates the unusual difficulties of such an operation.”
While pressure was growing on Berlin to draw up and make plans for an invasion of Great Britain, but Hitler stood firm that an invasion was not the highest priority. There was still a possibility that the British government would sue for peace and so free him to invade Russia. Russia was high on the priority list of the Führer, and it was possible that if Germany did make an invasion of Russia, then Britain would have no alternative than to request talks of peace with Germany. On July 29th 1940, and with France obviously on its last legs, General Jodl who was Chief of Operations OKW called a meeting with Oberst Warlimont who was Chief of Plans OKW and his senior assistants and this took place at Bad Reichenhall Station at Berchtesgaden.
After making sure that all doors and windows were closed and secure in the dining car, Jodl announced that Hitler had decided that his next plan was to make a surprise attack on Soviet Russia to rid the world of Bolshevism, and that this should be done at the earliest possible moment. Hitler was worried that if Britain did not sue for peace, he would have to delay this attack until 1942 when he preferred northern summer 1941.
Jodl's visitors were astounded, 'Germany was strong and with power' said a surprised Warlimont, 'peace plans with Russia are not yet a year old, and now you want to reverse the situation and wage war, and pray tell me, how are you going to wage war on two fronts?"
Such were the plans of the Führer. At this stage, very few agreed with the decision, and once again all eyes turned back to forcing Great Britain into peace, or invading it. If Germany was to invade England, then surely the best time was when Britain was at their lowest ebb, that had been soon after the evacuation of Dunkirk, but even at this time, Hitler still had no immediate plans for an invasion. Admiral Raeder of the German Navy, the German Army and the Supreme forces of the Luftwaffe had all put forward their plans, but Hitler requested a peace treaty.
When this was turned down by Winston Churchill, Hitler stated that he had now no alternative but to contemplate an invasion of England. What this clearly demonstrated was deep-seated confusion in German Grand Strategy. This was done on 2nd July 1940, an order was issued by OKW and signed by Keitel: "The Führer and Supreme Commander has decided......that a landing in England is possible, provided that air superiority can be attained and certain other necessary conditions fulfilled."
So by now, the plans for an invasion were slowly becoming a reality, although one question still remained, would the invasion be on a wide front stretching from Dover in the east to Lyme Regis in the west, or would it be on a narrow front from Ramsgate in the east to Bexhill in the west. The arguments between the Führer, and the Army, Navy and his commanders continued while the chance to mount an invasion actually slipped away. The plan called for 25-40 divisions which would be the invading forces and it was imperative that these forces be highly mechanised and numerically superior to the British at the point of contact. Just two weeks later, the order issued by OKW was given complete approval, was ratified and was further backed up by the issuing of Directive No.16 which was Hitler's order that Britain be invaded.
"Since England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, shows no signs of being ready to come to a compromise, I have decided to prepare a landing operation against England, and, if necessary, to carry it out"
Adolf Hitler in July 1940"
British Defence Plans
Dunkirk, was a disaster as it followed quickly on the heels of the British withdrawal from Norway, now the British Expeditionary Force and the French forces were being pushed back into a small pocket in the corner of north-eastern France. The plan to stop the Germans from making any advance into France had failed and the only option here was evacuation from the beaches at Dunkirk. To others, Dunkirk would go down in history as the most remarkable effort of evacuation ever undertaken, it was an evacuation that even surprised the Germans with 338,225 men, made up mostly of members of the BEF but including some 120,000 French were taken from France.
But Dunkirk had taken its toll, the men were tired, the Army’s military hardware had to be left behind but the worst was that for many of the soldiers it was their first taste of battle, they became disillusioned and disappointed that once again they had suffered defeat at the might of the German Army.
The Royal Air Force continued the fight in France, successes were mixed with defeats, they managed to survive even through a lack of organization, but the German armoured divisions were advancing rapidly through France and Paris soon fell. The RAF started their withdrawal from northern France, 501 Squadron being one of the last to depart, but even with the 400 or so obsolescent fighter aircraft and bombers, the RAF could hold their heads high even though they had fought well, and more importantly had learned much about their enemy.
To the Royal Air Force, the withdrawal from France was not looked upon as a defeat, because during their stay in France, they learnt about Luftwaffe combat tactics. The tight 'V' formation which was the general and accepted formation was dropped in favour of the 'Schwarm'. Pilots often complained that the fighters guns were harmonized at too far a range. This was corrected so that the bullets from the guns intersected at 250 yards instead of 400 yards as was the case previously. It was found that the Hurricane, which had its guns grouped much closer together than the Spitfire, and had a much denser bullet pattern, it was far more suited to attacking bombers rather than fighter aircraft. It was also borne in mind, that the Hurricane was not as maneuverable as the Bf109, so it was better that the Hurricane was best suited to attacking the bombers while the Spitfire was best suited to attacking the Bf109 especially as it could match the performance of the German fighter.
Phase 1. (July 10th – September 1st 1940) Attacks on the Coast and Channel Convoys.
The bulk of attacks were in the south where the Luftwaffe went on probing attacks on British shipping in the English Channel and in the outer Thames Estuary. Smaller raids, and a number of German reconnaissance aircraft were spotted along the east coast while other nuisance raids took place in the north. During this phase, the major cities remained unscathed, most people went about their business as usual.
Most of the attacks in the Channel were on the merchant convoys carrying coal, raw materials, machinery and foodstuffs to Britain. By sinking these merchant ships the Luftwaffe could prevent the RAF from intervening in France, analyse the strength of the RAF’s home defences and determine the speed and efficiency that the RAF could deploy its squadrons. Basically, the Luftwaffe was testing the efficiency and strength of the Royal Air Force. Spasmodic bombing raids continued throughout this first phase on such places as Portsmouth, Falmouth, Swansea, Newcastle and Merseyside, but these raids were spasmodic, unlike the channel convoy raids.
For most of this period, the Luftwaffe was quite content on attacking the convoys in the English Channel, some of the conflicts included just a couple of Ju87s dive bombing individual or small convoys, others included using U-boats while some of the larger convoys were attacked by numbers of Do17s backed up by German artillery from the French coast.
There were nuisance raids by small numbers of Ju-88 flying low, and other nuisance raids at night.
Such action as there was lay in the Channel. The skies over the Channel were a criss-cross pattern of vapour trails, then suddenly a Ju87 would come hurtling in a near vertical dive sometimes hotly pursued by a Spitfire or Hurricane. Depending where one was watching from, depended on the sky show to be seen, but the two areas that seemed to attract the most action was an area between the Isle of Wight and Weymouth, and the other was the in the vicinity of the Dover Straights now been given the name of "Hellfire Corner". So where was the expected invasion of England, where was the expected Battle of Britain that Churchill said would happen after the withdrawal from France, why was Germany just content on attacking the convoys that plied to and fro through the Channel?
The answer was that the Luftwaffe was rather busy. The French were still resisting for a time, but this was not really what kept them busy: it was the nearly impossible task of trying to keep the Luftwaffe’s support structures in contact with the forward airfields as the Wehrmacht advanced.
Phase 2. (September 1940) ‘The Battle of the Core’
The attacks on shipping continued, but after the failure to draw and destroy Fighter Command in the air, Germany's tactics were to now bomb and destroy the RAF airfields in the London-Margate-Brighton triangle and to destroy the radar stations along the south-east coast. This was the hard core of Fighter Command’s air defence system (although the Germans did not know that) and if defeated there, the coast was open to invasion. To the British, this looked like an all-out effort to overwhelm their defences and invade before they could re-arm post-Dunkirk.
It was during this phase, that German intelligence reported back to Berlin that the RAF total strength had now been seriously depleted and that with continued attacks the Luftwaffe would have command of the skies over the Channel and in Southern England.
Hitler then issued his directive No.16 which would put "Operation Sealion", the invasion of Britain into operation. This second phase was all important to Germany, as it had to destroy the RAF both in the air and on the ground if any attempt at an invasion crossing of the Channel was to be a success. It was during this phase that Fighter Command was stretched on the rack.
Phase 3. (October 1940) ‘The Battle of London’
Having severely degraded British defences in The Battle of the Core, the Luftwaffe overstretched and initiated the Battle of London while the Battle of the Core was still at full heat. Goering was sure that bombing attacks on the City of London would crack British morale and divert resources from the coast to defend the capital.
Attacks by massed formations of bombers redeployed after the fall of France initiated this phase, but heavy losses quickly forced the Luftwaffe to switch to heavy night raids. Extensive use of magnetic mines (which acted like a very powerful blast bomb) were a particular feature of this phase. These were quickly replaced with a mine casing and a contact fuze with an even heavier explosive charge, and much of London was severely damaged. Heavy attacks on the industrial factories and the dock areas of London's "East End" wrecked the eastern entry to the city on both sides of the River Thames. The Luftwaffe theory was that with mass bombing raids, they could inflict severe damage to the city and lower the morale and strength of the people while at the same time eliminate the last of the remaining fighters of Fighter Command with the fighter-ground attack sweeps continuing The Battle of the Core. This entire strategy failed, and failed badly.
Phase 4. Long Term Night Bombing
With the cancellation of Sea Lion, the Germans reappraised their tactics for a longer war. The need to hit British industry became pre-eminent. New bomber variants were developed to do this (A He-111 variant specialised for night work as they were cheap, and He-177 with its faults corrected to add throw weight and eventually He-277). Raids continued throughout the northern winter, ramping up as these new types appeared in quantity in early 1941.
London-Algiers
Former Minister of Economic Affairs of Belgium Raoul Richard is appointed Ambassador Extraordinary of the Belgian Government to the French Government in Algiers, with sweeping powers. Ambassador Pol Le Tellier, who certainly has not fallen, but whose age was unsupported tests in recent months, remains in place at his side. Richard has the advantage of being respected by all political factions in Belgium and have many contacts in France. In addition, he is reputed to have the confidence of the King and was not involved misbehavior surrounding the surrender of the Belgian Army in May.
La Spezia
The submarine Sciré, Captained by Commander-Junio Valerio Borghese, discreetly leaves the port at night. On the bridge, three cylinders containing SLC. Once at sea, she heads west.
Littoria (Latina)
The 278th Squadron Aerosiluratori (SM.79) is officially commissioned. The squadron has been nicknamed ‘Quattro Gatti’ (four cats).
Libya
The usual aerial actions and patrols occur..
2 September
London - The Tizard Mission
The Dr. Henry Tizard and his deputy Frédéric Joliot-Curie leave for the United States accompanied by a large delegation, to exchange technology in several areas, such as radar (RDF), Jet engines and nuclear research. The Tizard Mission should also explore the possibility of creating tripartite research units. It will be of great importance because of its scientific implications.
Paris
The Provisional Government of the French State (GPEF, known to the Allies by the contemptuous name of the ‘Vichy Regime’, after the city where it first formed) officially moved into the Parisian government buildings.
Algiers
Monday morning saw the emergence in the kiosks and small hands criers, all dailies folded in France. The event has been announced under embargo by Havas Free as the night before, and will be developed with plenty broadcast by the newspapers of the day.
There is however a real difference. To alleviate the confusion that could cause the distribution by the Germans that we do not yet named editions "pirates", both Morning that the Echo de Paris wear under the banner marked “Editing North Africa conducted by free journalists and printers”.
The Petit Parisien opted for a more radical solution. He chose to be called fat The French patriot, over a reference in smaller print the former name of the newspaper. The extent to which one knows little earlier, causes the amazement of foreign correspondents, including Anglo-Saxon, it finishes will convince the resistance of France and the Press. Attentive to the reactions of world public opinion, will make Josef Goebbels in his diary an allusion that shows his annoyance.
Henri de Kerillis remained despite his columnist morocco. He wrote in one of the Echo de Paris: "Faithful to ourselves, we more than ever to listen to the echoes of Paris and all France. In turn, we will ensure that Paris and France see the echoes of battle as they prepare this side of the Mediterranean. In these tragic times, Mr. Winston Churchill gave orders to his country: "We we will never". Not only we French, have proved that we did we would never, but better yet, we swear not to lay down our arms until our metropolitan area has regained its freedom and independence. "
Now Available Havas broadcast six days a week at 0330 GMT, to all its destinations, "Journal of the French Press" written early in the night. She will meet immediately successful, including in countries where power (as in Spain) or public (as in the Southern Cone of the Americas) is not spontaneously favorable to the Allies in general and France in particular.
La Spezia
New start in the
quiet night: this time, the submarine Ametista which takes off, heading
south, with three cylinders on the bridge. On board, Commander Mario
Giorgini, commander of the Ihas MAS manages the transaction in person.
Cyprus
0900 General Wavell and his staff arrive in Nicosia to meet with Admiral Cunningham and the RAF Commander, Longmore. They had arrived the previous day. The meeting revolved mostly around supporting Operation Cordite. The decision had long been taken that the French role in it would be maximised – they needed the support to their morale. They also needed the headlines in the USA to combat the endless reporting about their defeat on the Continent.
10:00 - General Eugene Mittel, who must take command of ground forces engaged in Operation Cordite (the seizure of Rhodes and Karpathos), arrived in Nicosia on a RAF Bombay, accompanied by his chief of Staff, General Rene de Larminat. Mittelhauser first met General Jean-Henri Jauneaud, commanding air forces based on land that should participate in Cordite. He then went to meet with the British, where the logistics arrangements were verified.
1200 – General Mittel proceeded to Limassol, to meet with senior officers of the Polish Carpathian Infantry Brigade, stationed on the island since the second week of July. Had just started moving to the port of Famagusta to embark for an "unknown destination", that most men and officers suppose to be East Africa. The brigade was only available for a short time, as it was due soon in other areas.
1600 - The GB I/23 and II/23, each with 13 LéO-451medium bombers, arrive in Cyprus to reinforce the RAF units there. Their arrival is a significant reinforcement for small groups of bombing and reconnaissance stationed in Cyprus since July or August (GB II/39 and GAO I/583). Their losses since 17 August have been replaced, but the GB II/39 only counts 12 machines because of the loss on 29 August pf a Martin-167 due to an engine failure on takeoff.
1930 (1730 GMT) - The destroyers MN Chevalier Paul and Tartu, Arrived six hours earlier from Alexandria, sailed from Limassol each with a half-company (100 men) of III Battalion 24th Colonial Infantry Regiment (RIC). Once out of Akrotiri Bay, the two vessels head at 24 knots towards Kastelosizo.
September 3
Paris
Werner Best, head of the administration of war with the military commander in France, signed with representatives of the Vichy Regime agreements that should enable the establishment of a "Body surveillance".
This administration should facilitate the task of the three bodies of German occupation. The military command in France (provided by Otto von Stülpnagel until February 1942, then by his cousin, Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel) holds considerable power. But it added the German Embassy in Paris and the special Kommando of the Sipo-SD (Security Police and Security). The objective of these three overlapping bodies is to ensure both military control of territory, administrative supervision of the French authorities and the exploitation of economic resources - to the benefit, of course, Germany.
The administration "Monitoring"Under the guise of preserving the prerogatives of the French administration, is actually to limit the workload of the occupants. Werner Best So let there first with the French authorities the responsibility for fighting against the resistance. In fact, active resistance by actual violence was much less than anticipated by the Germans. They (incorrectly) put this down to “French effeminacy and cowardice”. In fact, what was happening was far more dangerous to the Germans than active resistance would have been. Both the Vichy regime and Free French had informally established a path via Spain through which each French entity’s ‘problem people’ could flow. It was a good short term answer, but it was a major long term strategic blunder by the Vichy Regime. It allowed thousands of active and patriotic Frenchmen to leave the continent and take up arms. The flow back was also in the thousands, but these were mostly older men with families in France. The net result was a decrease in the vitality of occupied France as the natural leaders drained out to join the Allies. As was noted after the war, most of those who left France to fight became officers or NCOs by the end of the war. Most of those who returned from North Africa to France became semi-skilled workers or farm workers. Naturally, the Free French quite thoroughly leavened this inflow with ‘resistance men’, but their role was never tactical, it was strategic. Gradually, they established information networks throughout the country. These provided an increasing torrent of information to Algiers. This was not the ‘simple’ resistance of sabotage and local damage. It was the much more sophisticated creation of a shadow power structure inside the country, and the gradual creation of a powerful, invisible army. In 1944, the Germans would suffer heavy losses because of this force when much of the country rose in revolt.
Aegean
Enjoying a specific information provided by British spies operating in Turkey, the submarine HMS Pandora (Lt Cdr JW Linton), who noted the Proteus as sentry at the exit of the Dardanelles, the intercepts Tarquinia Camouflaged boat Romanian, returning from his second trading voyage to Istanbul. The small cargo ship refused to obey the warning shot of the submarine and seeking salvation in flight to the Turkish territorial waters and the island of Tenedos, nearby. In vain: the gunners of Pandora leave him no chance. Shot twice at the waterline and fire back, the little building was abandoned by its crew. Having suspended its firing time of the evacuation, Pandora the resumes and completes its prey quickly. In contrast, a Turkish patrol prevented from reaching the lifeboats by saying that he entered the territorial waters. Unwilling to create a diplomatic incident with Turkey, the commander Linton obeyed his injunction and withdrew.
Kastelorizo
Since the start of hostilities, the Italians have had a lookout post (with radio) on this little island. The post is manned by a dozen soldiers of the Regina division under the command of Captain Augusto Rossi. Kastelorizo is the smallest of the Dodecanese (9.2 km x 2 km) and is located 125 km east of Rhodes. The post monitors naval and air movements. The post proved its value on 17 August by identifying the raid against the C-14.
The Allies know of its existence, and as a precursor to Operation Cordite decide to deny Kastelorizo to the Italians. The French, who occupied the island from 1915 to 1921 volunteered for the activity and set up a small operation called ‘Homecoming’. The first phase was some aerial reconnaissance supplemented by submarine observation. The absence of mines was noted in the large bay where the capital and only port of Kastelorizo (Meghisti) lies.
0330 (0130 GMT) - The Chevalier Paul and Tartu, which left Limassol eight hours before lamd their total of 200 men in Diacouris bay near the harbour of Meghisti, flanking it. The troops from Tartu seize the administrative buildings and the key points of the town. The Italian Carabinieri resist until enemy numbers become clear. A policeman is killed and three wounded, and two French soldiers also wounded. The French troops then move to secure Mount Vigla (273 m) and Mount Mount (230 m) to take the lookut positions and the Fort Paleocastro where the radio station is. Having been informed of the overwhelming scale of the attack by the Carabinieri, Captain Rossi reports the attack, that it appears to be about two companies of troops on two large destroyers, and then he destroys his classified material and as much equipment as he can. There is some resistance to slow down the French so this can be accompanied, and several on both side are wounded. The radio post reported the attack, and it, with its codes, was then destroyed by the operators.
1210 (10:10 GMT) - The two destroyers embark 100 of their original 200 troops (leaving the rest as a garrison), as well as wounded and prisoners. The remaining Carabinieri are left, under French control, to act as police until replacements can be found. Eight hours later, the two ships and their passengers arrive safely in Cyprus.
September 4
Paris
Following the weekly meeting of the Vichy Regime, Pierre Laval Announces New State of the French Social and Corporate: "This new state will be governed by a Charter of Fundamental, which will soon be adopted by an Assembly Forces Vives of the Nation. This meeting will consist of representatives from the depths of our country, the land itself, because the earth does not lie! "
This speech is listened to with great attention by two men who come to find: Jean Filliol, a former officials of the CSAR, amnesty August 28 and immediately returned to Paris, and his former accomplice Eugene Deloncle. The latter is planning to revive the CSAR as the MSR (Social Revolutionary Movement).
Another listener, Joseph Darnand questioned the advisability of trying to win Algeria to re-enlist in the Army. But he is reluctant to join "Men who despised the Marshal", Laval was named as the government Reynaud.
Off Gibraltar
The Sciré did a journey without a hitch and is no more than 50 km from the rock of Gibraltar when it receives a message Supermarina, announcing that the British fleet left port and that the mission is canceled BG1. The Sciré returns.
"For this second mission we had still retained my application, always with my trusty diver Emilio Bianchi, but this time in one of three teams holders! Unfortunately, once again, we could not get close enough to the goal to ride our maiale and demonstrate our expertise ... Our confidence, however, remained steadfast: the chance would eventually turn, and then ... " (Francisco Marliere op. cit.)
Cyrenaica
Off Alexandria, the L’Ametista is seen by British escorts and forced to dive. For six hours, the Italian submarine is depth-charged. She is progressively more damaged and is not able to escape. Finally, Commander Mario Giorgini orders her to surface to at least save the crew. L 'Ametista taken under fire by HMS Diamond and HMAS Stuart her commander is able to evacuate the crew before she sinks.
"The results of the operation was catastrophic GA2: besides the loss of a submarine, with a good crew well trained in special operations, the Ia MAS lamented the capture of its commander and one of four teams of divers from the more competent and trained. Among them, Captain Elios Toschi, one of two inventors of the SLC, the legendary courage, who made three attempts to escape from his prison camp in India, and told the baroud incredible after his third attempt, successful in his book "In fuga oltre the Himalayas". Perhaps worse, the Sunderland had time to photograph theAmetista with cylinders on the bridge, which alerted the British special services. " (Marlieri Francisco. Audere Semper Memento - Luigi Durand de la Penne, story of a Gold Medal, Rome 1965)
Rhodes
The news of the capture of Kastelorizo encourages Lieutenant Colonel Ettore Muti not to prolong the stay at the island of his five SM-82, which arrived from East Africa three days earlier, especially as the Giarbub route is now in regular use, with three aircraft making the milk run to Addis Ababa every two days. The heavy aircraft take off from Gadurrà mid-day and earn safely Airfield Guidonia Rome.
Cyprus
1200 (1000 GMT) - The Chevalier Paul and Tartu leave Limassol leave to join the Operation Cordite convoy.
September 5
Paris
First major disagreement within the Committee's provisional constitution of the Party of Renewal French. Deat leaves the meeting of National Council of the FRP. There is disagreement over the organization of new corporations (and especially on behalf of responsible ...). Faced with men of Doriot's PPF, he feels inferior.
Libya
West of Fort Capuzzo
Colonel Gauis Claudius Avanzo looked on in glee as the big Lancia trucks towed the trailers into his camp. Each bore a new M13/40 with a slightly uncertain looking young tank commander sitting in each turret.
“Well, they are a sight for sore eyes,” he said, to which his deputy just nodded.
“They are not trained, sir, and I have some worries about their sand filters. They are better than the M11/39, the gun is excellent, but they have slow motion suspension and that is not good for these conditions.”
’Avanzo eyed him. “Gloomy devil, aren’t you?”
“No, sir, realistic. These are much better than anything else we have and are a match for the enemy’s vehicles unless they have those mobile fortresses they had in France. If I were the enemy commander, I’d want as many of those as I could get. We do not have anything that can deal with them.” He paused for a second. “These are excellent. If we train them up for a couple of weeks….”
“Yes,” replied D’Avanzo, we’ll be able to work east of the wire.”
Mersa Matruh
General O’Connor looked dubiously at the tank. It was on the ground, now.
“What’s the matter with it, then?”
The young subaltern looked too tired to look scared by being bearded by a General. Besides, he had top cover and the best crew in the Army to back up every word he said.
“You want the truth, sir?”
O’Connor looked a trifle annoyed at him. “Yes, son, I do. Three of these were sent out for evaluation. You were supposed to drive from Alex to here and do so. You are a week late, and you arrived on transporters with only two of them.”
The young officer looked at his exhausted crew. Right, then, both barrels it is.
“Well sir, this thing is a total abortion from beginning to end. It’s the biggest, steamiest, smelliest heap of shit ever made. Either the designers were drunken pederasts with the intellect of a dead dog or they came direct from Berlin to fuck up our war effort. They obviously could not design a wooden block, let alone something as sophisticated as a toilet seat. This tank might be useful as a water tank but it isn’t even watertight – they fucked that up as well. D’ye want specifics?”
Shocked, O’Connor just nodded. The subaltern climbed wearily on to the tank, then gave O’Connor a grimy hand up.
“Top down, then, sir. See that lovely sliding hatch? The latch is off a child’s toybox. Brake too hard and it snaps. The hatch slides forward and kills the commander. Lost my 2IC that way. It bloody near cut him in half and he died in three minutes, poor bastard. Oh, by the bye, the brakes either don’t work and you crash the tank into things and risk the Commander’s life, or they work too well and risk the Commander’s life. That’s why this thing is welded open now. Gun’s OK, armour is OK.”
He pointed aft. “Engine’s not bad, a Meadows. Some brain-rotted cretin with advanced syphilis decided to put the radiator next to the driver and run hot water lines through the fighting compartment. That’s why we’ve all got burns. We tried to lag them with rags, but they smoulder or even catch fire. One tank burned out from that. Gunner died of burns yesterday in hospital. The radiator gets inside temperature in daylight up to 150 degrees in less than 15 minutes. No man can stand that and it gets hotter afterwards. Broke all our thermometers trying to get a top reading, it may be over boiling point in daylight. Don’t know, but even cockroaches and lice cannot survive it. Ventilation is worthless. Two of my men are still in hospital with heat stroke. Apparently, both will live. Oh, every one of us has had heat stroke, too. I do not recommend it. Drivers can stay inside with the hatches all open for no more than 20 minutes before a combination of heat and being choked to death by dust renders them incapable of driving for at least several hours. The dust fills the inside of the vehicle, disabling the guns, sights, training gear and everything else.”
He clambered down, assisting a now-speechless O’Connor.
“Driving. It cannot maintain a straight line. Uses a compressed air system that must have absolutely clean air in it. It does not have a dust filter. It is not physically possible to get access to the air lines to clean them. Whatever worthless sheep-shagging bastard designed this abomination decided that he was just so damned good that it would never break down. He was so wrong it cannot be believed. They quite obviously actually designed it so that nearly everything is inaccessible. On the way here, I drove for 62 miles before the second vehicle caught fire. That’s 186 vehicle miles. We averaged 11 vehicle miles between major breakdowns and 4 between minor ones. A minor breakdown takes the same time to repair as a major one on an A-10. Basically, expect a troop to lose a tank to breakdown every 1500 yards. So after 90 miles or so, a battalion should have one tank. But I reckon it won’t have one operational at 20 miles.” He shuddered, and nearly fell over. “Sorry, sir. Not well. Heat exhaustion.”
He then sat in the dust next to his sprawled crew and put his head in his shaking hands. Too broken, it seemed, to keep standing. O’Connor looked at him and his crew closely, he was not sure they could even stand up. Their arms, he saw, were all heavily swathed in filthy bandages. Burns, he thought.
The subaltern spoke again. “Sir, it’s completely worthless for anything out here. It’s a deathtrap even before we meet the enemy.”
O’Connor walked around the vehicle, looking at the tank minutely. The RAEME Lieutenant Colonel touched his arm. “Sir, you needed to see that. These poor devils have had over a week of it. I actually intervened yesterday and ordered the trial stopped. He was miles away and more effort might have killed him. My boys have been doing the maintenance and watching these chaps suffer. I have a full report from an operational and maintenance perspective and I should have written it on asbestos because I think it may spontaneously combust.” He paused for a second. “And I have been honest and calm in my appraisal.”
“It’s really that bad?” asked O’Connor.
“Sir, I’m one of Hobart’s originals and I was Tank Corps in the last show. I hate to say this, but one of the Whippets I had back in 1918 is as good as a troop of these abominations.”
O’Connor nodded. “I had heard of really serious problems a few days ago, but this is genuinely appalling. I am very glad indeed to have seen this, and to have heard from the horse’s mouth.”
He paused. “You are right, you know. I would not have believed this without seeing it.”
He looked at the prostrated tank crewmen, and at the subaltern finally just pouring the luke-warm water over them.
“What can we do with these things, then?”
“Well, sir, we have eight more due to arrive for more trials. I am going to strip four of useful parts and use the rest for instructional purposes. These two… abandon them here or strip and scrap. The latter, really. They have many useful parts. They are not even really suitable as pillboxes.”
O’Connor shook his head. “Yet, it looks the part.”
“Yes, sir, it does. If looks counted a damn, Covenanter would be a good tank.”
Cyprus
The four units of the 1st Division of auxiliary cruisers involved in Operation Cordite arrived at Famagusta. They were El-Djezaïr (X17) El-Kantara (X16) El-Mansour (X6) Oran (X5). The Polish Carpathian Infantry Brigade began to board immediately. The choice of Famagusta was inevitable, as it was the only significant port. It had a depth of four fathoms and could handle 1,000 tons per day. Most important was its 500 yards of berths, where four ships could come alongside
At about the same time, arrives at Limassol the rest of the convoy, twelve vessels (not including the hospital ship Sphinx), Including the four auxiliary cruisers were separated a few hours earlier. The escort is under the command of Admiral Godfrey. The three light cruisers of the 4th Division cruisers (Montcalm, Gloire, Georges Leygues) and three units of 5th DD Division (Chevalier Paul, Tartu, Kersaint) take on board the 3rd Battalion 24th RIC (minus half a company left to Kastelorizo). The low capacity of Limassol (600 tons per day only, without being able to accommodate berth more than coasters) means that the embarkation of men and their equipment is done with lighters, which takes time.
The poor ports of Cyprus explain why it has not been chosen as a base for Cordite. The second echelon troops and their equipment wait in Alexandria.
By early afternoon, arrive in Cyprus on GC I / 4 with 20 Hawk Curtiss-75 A3 and the GB I/39 (full this time) with 11 light bombers Martin-167.
The H-75 strengthen the air defence of Cyprus. It included the Morane 406 of the 2e Squadron of GC I / 7 (6 planes, and 12), commanded by Captain Jean Tulasne. It has been on CYprus since early August with its old MS-406, pending possible arrival of Dewoitine 520 or at least MS-410.
Operation Cordite (conquest of Rhodes and the nearby islands)
The forces present at the September 4, 1940
I) Allied Forces
A) Navy
Mediterranean Fleet
Commander: Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham
Deputy: Vice-Admiral René-Emile Godfrey (MN), in Command of the convoy and close escort.
Note - All vessels available are not committed to Cordite, including the battleship HMS Malaya, LC HMS Ajax and Orion and MN HMS Implacable and destroyers that protect ASM traffic Alexandria-Haifa until the start of the second convoy. Furthermore, the battleship MN Lorraine joined the Western Mediterranean to reinforce Allied naval power there.
Striking Force
BB HMS Valiant, Warspite
HMS CA Kent, York, MN Suffren
CL HMS Gloucester, Liverpool, HMAS Sydney
HMS DD Griffin, Hasty, Havock, Hotspur, Ilex, Janus, Jervis, Juno
TB MN Tornado, Tramontana, Typhoon
Naval Air Force (-Admiral Arthur L. St.G. Lyster)
HMS CV Illustrious (815 Sqn, 9 Swordfish, 819 Sqn, 9 Swordfish, 806 Sqn, 15 Fulmar-I)
HMS CV Eagle (813 Sqn, 8 Sea Gladiator and 4 Swordfish, 816 Sqn, 9 Swordfish;)
CV MN Beam (AC3, 10 B-339; AC4, 10 B-339, AB1, 10 SBC-4; AB2, 10 SBC-4)
Ashore: AC5, 6 B-339, AB4, 10 SBC-4
CL AA HMS Calcutta
HMS DD Dainty, Decoy, Defender, HMAS Vendetta, Travel, Waterhen
TB MN Basque, Forbin
Note - Losses in Taranto were compensated by drawing on stocks.
Fire Support and Distant Escort Force (RADM H.D Pridham-Wippell CB CVO)
BB HMS Ramillies
MN Courbet
CA MN Duquesne, Tourville
MN CL Montcalm, Glory, Georges Leygues
CLAA HMS Coventry
DD MN Paul Knight, Tartu, Kersaint
TB MN Le Mars, Le Palme, Storm, Fortune, Simoun
Minesweeping Force (Admiral Felix Carpentier)
This force sailed with the convoy escort to ensure A/S protection.
AM (minesweepers) N. Annamite, Commandant Bory, Commandant Delage, Commandant Rivière, Elan and HMS Stoke
PS (avisos) MN Fin, Dubourdieu, The Eparges, Lassigny
PE (trawlers anti-submarine) HMS Bandolero, Loch Melfort, Lydiard, Victorian
PR (river gunboat) HMS Aphis, Gnat (transferred late August of the Indian Ocean)
AMA (auxiliary minesweepers) MN Coubre, Heron, Pen-Men and HMS Arthur Cavenagh, Milford Countess (trawlers) Mount Caume, Tamaris (tugs)
Convoy (Admiral Felix Carpentier)
Monitor Terror (under way with the convoy due to its low speed: 12 knots)
AMC (or CX, auxiliary cruisers) El-Djezaïr (X17) El-Kantara (X16) El-Mansour (X6) Oran (X5)
Liners
Djenne, Champollion, Flanders Governor-General Grevy, Governor-General Jonnart, Governor-General Tirman
Transports
Anadyr, Caledonian, Capo Olmo (ex Italian) Maurice teaches Préchac, Paul-Emile Javary, Saint-Didier, Saint-Edmond (ex-Italian Tagliamento)
Hospital Ship Sphinx (X47)
Second Convoy (Admiral Edward Faye Renouf)
Destroyers HMS Diamond, Hereward, Hero, Imperial, Mohawk, Nubian, HMAS Stuart and Vampire. [The events will remove the escort of theImperial. In return, it will be reinforced by aviso MN Rigault Genouilly1.]
AM HMS Abingdon
PE (trawlers anti-submarine) HMS Coral-Kingston, Kingston-Kyanite, Wolborough
Liners
Governor-General Chanzy, Patria, Providence, President Doumer
British Freighters
Clan Campbell, Glaucus [arrived during Operation Hats]
Submarines
Note - To avoid any misunderstanding, submarines allies have suspended their patrols from September 2, except HMS Pandora, which monitors the outlet of the Dardanelles.
- Operating from Beirut (MN): 3e DSM: Acheron, Proteus (Fresnel unavailable) 9th DSM: Cayman, Dauphin, 10th DSM: Swordfish, Seal (both in repairs).
- Operating from Alexandria: HMS Pandora.
B) Air Force land-based
Units of the Air Force based in Cyprus - General Jean-Henri Jauneaud
Total: 90 (78) planes (figures in brackets are those of operational aircraft).
-- Hunting: 32 (28) aircraft
GC I / 4, 20 (18) Curtiss H75-A3
GC I / 7, 2e Squadron, 12 (10) MS-406
-- Bombardment26 (23) aircraft
GB I/23, 13 (11) LEO-451
GB II/23, 13 (12) LEO-451
-- Light bombing, reconnaissance and observation: 32 (27) aircraft
GB I/39, 11 (10) Martin 167[2]
GB II/39, 12 (10) Martin 1671
GAO I/583, 9 (7) Potez 63.11
C) Land Forces
Commander: General Eugene Mittelhauser
- 192nd Infantry Division (General Richard): 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (REI, 3 759 men)[4]17th Senegalese Infantry Regiment (RTS, 3 408 men), 10th Demi-Brigade North African (DBNA, 3 393 men)[5] and three artillery groups equivalent to a regiment[6].
- Polish Infantry Brigade of Carpathian Mountain (General Kopanski): 2 infantry regiments mountain (two battalions), 1 reconnaissance group, 1 group of mountain artillery (4 432 men).
- IIIe Battalion 24th Colonial Infantry Regiment (RIC)[7].
- 68th Battalion of Tanks (42 R-35, redeployed from Tunisia)
- Elements of the 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade (see note below).
The first wave of assault against Rhodes and Karpathos consists of battalions I to IV of 6e REI of 10e DBNA of III/24e RIC, three groups of artillery, the Polish Brigade and 68e BCC. The second wave includes 17e RTS and New Zealand units (18e Infantry Battalion, 5e engineer company, two squadrons of cavalry and 4e Regiment of Artillery).
Note the New Zealand Division - They are from the New Zealand Division (also known as the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Division or [Mixed] Division, General Freyberg), it is his first step, only present in Egypt in August 1940. This level consists of the following units: 18th,19th and 20th infantry battalions, squadrons A and B of the Divisional Cavalry Regiment (NZDCR - each squad has six Mk VI light tanks and six Bren Carriers), 4th Regiment of Artillery (NZFAR, equipped with 18-pound guns and howitzers of 4.5 inches), 5th and 6th engineering companies (5th: Engineering Park, 6e: Sapper), 27e machine gun battalion and 34e anti-tank battery (7th tank regiment). This will be at the disposal of the Western Desert Force for the offensive in Libya.
General Freyberg, acting under the orders of his government, was very sensitive to any effort to break up his force. He was especially sensitive to this when the French requested parts of his Division. His refusal to participate was only overcome by promises to use his forces under his command, and as a complete group with its own distinct role.
The troops engaged in Cordite were shipped to Alexandria as the New Zealand Group. Others (19th and 20th infantry battalions, 5th engineering company and battalion guns) were transported to Cyprus just before Cordite in the four French auxiliary cruisers.
II) Italian Forces
Egeomil (bringing the Italian forces by land, air and sea in the Aegean)
Commander in Chief: Maria De Cesare Vecchi di Val Cismon
A) Navy
MariEgeo (Naval Command Aegean) -- CGAINST Admiral Luigi Biancheri
Surface ships
After the loss of auxiliary minelayer Lero and return to Italy of 4e Squadron of destroyers and cons of the 8e Squadron of destroyers with the convoy's escort C-14, it remains in the waters of the Aegean that the following ships:
Torpedo boats: 2e Flotilla MAS (14 units) four squadrons, whose first three are predominantly (9 boats out of 11) based on Leros.
7th MAS Flight: MAS-430, MAS-431, MAS-433, MAS-434
11th MAS Flight: MAS-520, MAS-521, MAS-522, MAS-523
16th MAS Flight: MAS-536, MAS-537, MAS-542
22th MAS Flight: MAS-545, MAS-546, MAS-551
CM (minelayer) Legnano
PG (gun) Sebastiano Caboto and Marzio Sonzini
PC (patrol ASM) Postiglione
AO (oil) Cerere
AG (Auxiliary) Giorgio Orsini
Submarines
V Group (7 boats):
51th Squadron (at Leros): Delfino, Narvalo, Squalo, Tricheco (Class Squalo).
52th Squadron (Rhodes): Zaffiro (Class "Sirena") Jalea and Jantina (Argonauta class).
Reinforcements:
13th Flight from the Ier Group (La Spezia): Berillo, Gemma, Onice (Perla class) arrived in July to Leros.
Coastal batteries
The Regia Marina gun a large number of coastal batteries. The largest number are located on the island of Leros. There are eight that of Rhodes, counting the battery located on the small island of Alimnia, nearby.
Detail batteries Rhodes
- Battery Majorana, Near Monte Smith (so close to the city of Rhodes), 3 guns of 152/40 and 1 120/50[8];
- Battery MelchioriNear the Baths of Calita, 3 guns of 152/50 and 1 102/35;
- Battery BiancoAt Cremastò, 3 guns of 120/45 and 76/17 of 1;
- Battery Morosini, East side of the promontory of Lindos, 3 guns of 152/40 and 1 102/35;
- Battery Dandolo, West side of the promontory of Lindos, 3 guns 152/40, 1 102/35 and 1 76/17;
- Battery Mocenigo On the east coast of the cap (or peninsula) Prasso (Prassonissi), 3 guns of 120/45 and 76/17 of 1;
- Battery Bragadino On the west coast of Cape Prasso, 4 guns of 120/45 and 76/17 of 1;
- Battery Alimnia On the island namesake, 4 guns 76/17.
Mines
The stock of mines was available to protect original three islands: Leros, Stampalia / Astypalaia and Rhodes. Eight minefields were laid in June: 6 anti-ship fields of 25 mines each, or 150 mines, 2 anti-submarine (75 mines in total). In August, the mines were taken from the anti-ship fields off Leros, Rhodes and Stampalia to place a small field (30 mines) in Pigadia Bay. The fields off Rhodes were reduced to 140 mines.
B) Air Force
Aeronautica dell'Egeo
Commander: Brigadier Aviation Umberto Cappa
Total: 92 aircraft and seaplanes (excluding 2 Cant Z-506C maritime rescue based in Rhodes) Divided between the two main airports of Rhodes (Maritsa and Gadurrà), the airport of Karpathos (Scarpanto) and Waterdrome Leros (Lero).
-- Fighters: 40 aircraft
161st Autonomous Flight CM, 6 Ro-44 (Leros)
162nd Autonomous Flight CT, 9 Fiat CR-32 (Rhodes Maritsa)
163rd Autonomous Flight CT, 11 Fiat CR-32 (5 Rhodes Maritsa, 6 to Karpathos)[9]
164th Autonomous Flight CR, 14 Breda 88 (Rhodes Gadurrà)
-- Bombers: 34 aircraft
39th Bomber Regiment Land (Rhodes Gadurrà):
56th BT Group (222nd and 223rd Squadrons BT), 12 SM-81 (Rhodes Gadurrà)
92nd BT Group (200th and 201st Squadrons BT), 11 SM-81 (Rhodes Gadurrà)
34th BT Group (67th and 68th Squadrons BT), 11 SM-79 (Rhodes Maritsa)
-- Recognition (and anti-submarine): 18 aircraft
161st Autonomous Flight CM, 1 Ro-43 (Leros)
84nd Autonomous group RM (147th and 185th Squadrons RM): 15 Cant Z-501 (Leros)
Section SR (Strategic Reconnaissance), 2 Cant Z-506 (Rhodes)
C) Land Forces
Corps of the Aegean
Commander: Cesare Maria De Vecchi di Val Cismon
- 50th Infantry Division Regina (Brigadier General Alessandro Piazzoni): 9th and 10th Infantry Regiments (each with four battalions, while the usual number is three[10]), 50th Divisional Artillery Regiment, 201nd Blackshirts Legion Egeo, A total of 14 750 men (13 250 Regio Esercito1 500 Blackshirts).
- 312th Joint Battalion: 4 tanks M-11/39, 23 tankette L-3, 9 armored cars Ansaldo-Lancia 1Z (Rhodes)
- 3rd Tank company of the Guard went Frontiera: 12 tanks Fiat 3000 (4 Rhodes, Leros ![]()
- Other non-divisional troops: A group of Carabinieri Egeo18 companies gunners position, Coast Artillery (separate batteries of the Regia Marina), anti-aircraft artillery, services. In total of 8 000 men.
- The elements of earth to the Regia Marina and ground elements of the Regia Aeronautica represent a total of 10 000 men (7 000 and 3 000).
For a grand total of 32 750 men.
In addition to armored vehicles, the division of Italian troops in the islands covered by Operation Cordite is as follows:
Rodi / Rhodes
9th Regiment Infantry (minus I battalion and Scarpanto Caso)
50th Artillery Regiment (less detachments on the islands)
201st Blackshirts Legion
Essential services, engineering, etc.. the 50e Division
or 9 450 men.
Coastal Defense (including the batteries of the Regia Marina): 5 500 men.
Others (including the rest of the sailors and staff of the Regia Aeronautica): 4 500 men.
Total: 19 450 men.
The garrison of Rhodes is divided into five sectors of defense:
- sector Piazza di Rodi (place of Rhodes), at the northern tip of the island, encompassing the town and up the defense line set at 6 km south of it;
- sector CalitaNorth-east;
- sector San GiorgioNorth-west, in turn divided into two sub-sectors, Villanova, Adjacent to the area Piazza di RodiAnd CalavardaSouth-west;
- sector CalatoIn the East:
- sector VatiSouth, the largest (its northern boundary was the promontory of Lindos on the east coast to coast facing the island of Alimnia, west).
Scarpanto (Carpathos / Karpathos)
I / 9th Infantry Regiment (less a detachment on Caso), and miscellaneous (including Aviation): 1 300 men.
1 battery of 75mm guns (4 pieces)
Caso (Casos / Kasos)
Detachment I / 9th Infantry Regiment: 200 men.
Eastern Africa (Southern Sudan)
The first air raid ECWA tries to defend the town of Kassala. The Blenheim of 14 Sqn shelling the Italian positions while the Po-63.11 strafed and bombed. The Morane GC I / 7, which covers the operation, dominate the CR-32, two of which are slaughtered without managing to trouble the bombers.
