The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore (14 page)

12th February

With at least 40 troop trains a day crossing Hungary to Romania, Hitler is building up to a formidable 600,000-strong army on the border with the Ukraine. Much of the equipment carried by the German forces is of French make, having been seized after the French collapse last year.

The Germans' next move, now the ice has broken on the Danube, is to float pontoon bridges in the river to enable troops to enter Bulgaria, under a secret agreement reached with the Bulgarian government four days ago. The Germans have promised the Bulgarians a slice of Greek territory to give them access to the Aegean Sea after the war.

The massive German move into the Balkans has set off a wave of speculation that Hitler may be about to go to the rescue of his Italian ally, who has been badly mauled by the Greeks. Some observers, however, believe that this is the advance stage of a plan to invade the Soviet Union.

The Tripoli-bound convoy managed to slip past the RAF in Malta, only to run into first the submarine HMS Upholder, then an airstrike from HMS Victorious. As a result, only three merchant ships survive to retreat to Italy, and a destroyer is also lost. The convoy was ordered to withdraw after Tripoli advised there were RN battleships offshore - in fact there aren't, the 15" shells they assumed were from a battleship were from HMS Terror. Meanwhile Cunningham asks the RAF if they can mine Tripoli harbour whenever possible, as he thinks they may try and run a few fast ships through individually.

The British forces outside Tripoli are being built up as fast as possible. A Brigade from 2nd Armoured is already there, as are advance elements of 4th Indian. The bottleneck is transport, there are broken-down lorries lining the coast road all the way back to Benghazi. The advance is only being kept going by captured Italian vehicles and petrol, but with only one last town to go, the troops morale is high despite their exhaustion. To aid the road traffic, infantry and supplies are being brought forward on coastal shipping, and the Navy expects to be able to land two commando units west of the city tomorrow. As one British officer put it, 'It's all being done on a shoestring. But a very determined shoestring'.

13th February

At Merano, Admirals Arturo Riccardi of Italy and Erich Raeder of Germany meet to discuss naval cooperation. One of the staff officer's present wonders if that means German fishing boats will be sent to support Italian yachts, or vice-versa.

The Royal Navy lands the men of 51 Commando plus supporting forces and their equipment over open beaches west of Tripoli. This completes the surrounding of the city, and O'Connor hopes to be able to attack in two days; he is waiting for the rest of 4th Indian and further ammunition supplies to arrive.

That night, the commandos are surprised to intercept a car coming from the direction of Tunisia. It contains a number of men who identify themselves as French officers, and ask to be taken to Cairo to speak to General Wavell. The commandoes are surprised, but after some radio calls it is arranged that they will be taken east where they can be flown to Cairo.

The Vichy government is informed by Germany that they WILL allow their ports and facilities in North Africa to be used by the Germans, or the consequences will be 'severe'. After some hours of agonising, the Vichy regime agrees to obey the instructions and will draw up the necessary orders for the colonial territories. Despite the secrecy surrounding this meeting, a few hours later the news is in London, who rapidly (if secretly) disseminates it.

14th February

The Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica are attacking Malta heavily, in an attempt to close down the ability of the island fortress to interdict the convoys to Tripoli. While they have some success in this, the convoys still have to first evade the Maltese squadrons, then Royal Navy submarines, bombers operating from North Africa and finally surface forces and carrier strikes. As a result the Italian navy insists they be allowed to send fewer convoys in order to escort them properly, pointing out what has happened to the latest convoy, which was only lightly escorted. Given the Italian navy has no heavy ships, escorts will have to be lighter vessels, but they hope to at least concentrate enough defensive power to fend off anything but the British battleships.

In Italian Somaliland, the Italians are on the retreat. Their latest loss is the port of Kismayu, on the Indian Ocean, which was occupied at 14:00 by West, East and South African troops, under the command of Lt. Gen. Alan Cunningham. The port is the first major prize in what he plans will become a two-pronged drive, up the coast to Mogadishu, the colonial capital, and northwards up the river Juba to Ethiopia. His offensive into Italian territory began in earnest only three days ago, after an eight-week preliminary operation to recapture first parts of Kenya occupied by the Italians and then frontier posts on the Kenya-Somaliland border.

While the supply build-up outside Tripoli is not satisfactory, O'Connor considers it adequate for the one attack he is allowed to make. He has a considerable number of troops available; 4th Indian Division, a brigade of 2nd Armoured, a New Zealand brigade and the commando units and two battalions of the Free French Foreign Legion. His hope is that the Italian defence will crack as it has done in the previous assaults.

Back in England, Dowding has been making his report to the War Cabinet on Air Cooperation between the services. His conclusion is that the success in the desert is the result of close cooperation between the services and a willingness to try and understand the nature of the problems facing each of them. He recommends that each theatre creates a specific team (as the most senior officers have other tasks) to address the problems and solutions for their theatre. They will take as their starting point what has gone on in Africa and develop a doctrine for support operations. He suggests that that any team should include officers experienced in the local problems - he has noted that the requirements of the desert air force is often quite different from those he was familiar with while in charge of Fighter Command in the UK.

In addition, he passes on the requests from Cairo for desperately needed air power. He has spent the previous day checking on the availability of planes in the UK, and points out that there are now ample planes available for defence, and that all available Hurricanes (and Sparrowhawks) would be best used in North Africa and Greece where they can directly engage the enemy. He dismisses the RAF theory of attacking over France with fighter sweeps as inefficient and merely losing more pilots than the Germans. Sending more aircraft to North Africa will help the Army, and if the Germans respond by diverting aircraft from northern Europe that is at least as effective as trying to coax them into fights where they always hold the home advantage.

15th February

The British make their assault on Tripoli, let by 2nd Armoured. The attack is supported by every operational RAF aircraft available; after the attack a few days ago, the Italians evacuated their aircraft from Mellaha, and the only air support now available is bombers from Sicily. The Mediterranean fleet is also out in force, the battleships shelling the city (in particular the port) covered by the carriers. The Italian surface forces are absent, but one Italian submarine is sunk by RN destroyers as it tries to close on the fleet. The dive bombers from the two carriers are also attacking targets of opportunity in the defence perimeter, the idea being to put the maximum pressure on the defenders.

The attackers put pressure on the Italian defensive perimeter as they probe for a weak spot; ironically many of the shells they are using to pound the Italians are Italian in origin - the British have captured more Italian artillery and ammunition than they can use. The assault goes on throughout the day, and by the evening the British have identified a couple of areas they think exploitable. Overnight, air raids and occasional artillery barrages go on, both to wear out the defenders and to make them believe the British have ample ammunition. Meanwhile the troops are briefed on tomorrow's assault, O'Connors final throw of the dice.

Imperial troops capture the port of Kismayu in Italian Somaliland.

Chancellor Adolf Hitler meets the Yugoslav Premier Cvetkovic and his Foreign Minister Cinkar-Markvic at Berchtesgaden to urge them to join the Tripartite Pact. They still refuse to commit their country, in the hope that Hitler will soon be preoccupied with relations with the Soviet Union and that they can get aid from Britain and the USA.

Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends a message to Admiral Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet based in the Territory of Hawaii, regarding anti-torpedo baffles for protection against torpedo plane attacks on Pearl Harbor. The message states “consideration has been given to the installation of anti-torpedo baffles within Pearl Harbor for protection against torpedo plane attacks. It is considered that the relatively shallow depth of water limits the need for anti-torpedo nets in Pearl Harbor. In addition the congestion and the necessity for manoeuvring room limit the practicability of the present type of baffles.” The Fleet Air Arm attack on Taranto, a similarly shallow harbour, seems to have been overlooked.

The Vichy government informs the colonies in North Africa of the decision to open its ports and provide support and help for German forces expected soon. The orders do not go down well, even in Algeria, the most pro-Vichy of the colonial areas. It is expected that the first convoys will arrive in about a week, and food fuel and water will need to be provided, as well as turning a number of airbases over to the Luftwaffe. The authorities keep the order secret until they can work out how to present this to their men - more than one governor is worried about actual mutiny once they hear of it.

The officers who presented themselves in Tunisia have reached Cairo, where they speak with General Bethouart, who is currently commanding the Free French forces in Africa, and General Wavell. Following this, Wavell signals to Ethiopia asking how difficult it would be to transfer some or all of the 1st Free French Division to North Africa, and how long it would take.

16th February

The Greek army is again on the offensive, and claim to be pushing the Italians on the Yugoslav-Albania back with large losses in men and equipment. The Italian government denies this.

At first light the British make their final attack on Tripoli. During the night they have positioned troops at two weak spots they have found in the Italian lines. Shortly before the attack, the RAF staged an air raid and the Royal Navy demonstrates their ability to deluge the city with 15" shells from the battleships Warspite and Valiant. Having been practising this sort of fire support for some 200 years, the Royal Navy is by now rather good at it.

Shortly after these attacks begin, the assault begins, led by every available Matilda tank - all 18 of them. The Italians still have nothing that can stop them, and while one of the two assaults gets bogged down by a desperate and fierce Italian defence, the other breaks the perimeter, allowing troops to both attack the rear area and start to roll up the defensive line.

For a time it looks like the Italians may throw the attack back - they have, through determined counterattacks, thrown another one back almost to its starting line - but the second breakthrough is manned by far less aggressive formations. As the breach widens, O'Connor throws in the French troops and his tank reserve. His gamble pays off; under the increased pressure (the Free French troops in particular terrify the Italians), the whole eastern side of the defence collapses in confusion. Shortly after, the Italian commander offers his surrender.

It takes a while to get the ceasefire organised - some of the fascist troops fighting the western attack are reluctant to surrender - but by evening Tripoli is in the hands of the British. Wavell is able to signal Churchill that night that 'all of Italian North Africa is now under our control'. Not technically correct, there are units and some small towns holding out, but essentially correct.

17th February

The heavy emphasis on mutual goodwill and friendly relations in the treaty signed in Ankara today shows the deep mistrust Turkey and Bulgaria have long felt for each other. Bulgaria has never ceased to fear that one day Turkey will seek to regain the territory lost after the Great War and in the Balkan Wars before it, while the build-up of German troops in Bulgaria in recent weeks has alarmed the Turks, who are worried that the Germans' next blow will be delivered in the Balkans and threaten Turkey.

In Japan Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke states that the white race must cede Oceania to the Asiatics. "This region has sufficient natural resources to support from 600 million to 800 million people. I believe we have a natural right to migrate there” says Matsuoka. This speech is not well received in US government circles or in Britain. The Chinese government has serious doubts that 'we' means anyone other than the Japanese.

The British 6th Infantry Division is reconstituted in Egypt. It is intended to use this force in Palestine, allowing the Australian division there to be allocated to the proposed Greek campaign. Another Australian division, the 7th, is due to arrive in a few weeks.

18th February

General Thomas Blamey, General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, meets with General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief, Middle East Command. Wavell explains the composition of a force designated “Lustreforce” intended for operations in Greece. The force is to consist of the New Zealand Division, the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions, the HQ of the I Australian Corps, the 1st Armoured Brigade and an Independent Polish Brigade Group.