The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore (27 page)

13th May

Both sides in Tunisia take the opportunity to reorganise. The big decision is whether to pull back from Djefna and pull Rommel even further forward. There are two arguments against this; first that 7th Armoured thrust north may not succeed, and second that a withdrawal under fire is going to cause the French losses, particularly in material. In the end it is decided that Rommel is far enough forward anyway, and that engaging him and occupying his attention at Djefna will do what is required. Since the Polish Brigade is now in Tunis, the French can reinforce at Djefna with the men they were holding back in front of Tunis. However they cannot replace the tanks they lost, so part of the 2nd Armoured force at Tebourba is brought north (some 60 tanks) to reinforce the French armour. Since Ariete don't look like breaking through at Medjez el Beb in the next day or so, it is considered a low-risk option.

With the departure of 7th Armoured, a brigade of the 6th Australian Division is moved further north into Tunisia close to the town of Sfax. This will allow it to be used either as a reserve in case anything goes wrong in the north, or to exploit the 7th Armoured advance.

The 21st Panzer continue to press their attack at dawn, and by now they have pushed the French back into Djefna itself. Losses are about even on both sides; the French don't have tanks, but they are well supported by artillery which is slowing the German infantry. Even so, there are some worrying moments when the German armour almost breaks the defensive line, and the brigade reports that unless the situation changes they will have to withdraw during the night.

As the situation at Djefna is looking good (from a German perspective), the 21st again sends its armour around to flank the defences - this time they are only using the Mk III Panzer as the 75mm-armed Mk IV's are needed to support the infantry attack. After what they see as the destruction of the French armour on the previous day, they anticipate an easier time of it. Unfortunately they run straight into the lead elements of 2nd Armoured, who were (perhaps optimistically) thinking along the same flanking lines as themselves. The result is a confused tank battle, with the British cruiser tanks showing they are not a match for the panzers. Although they had been warned about the German tactic of drawing the armour onto their AT guns, the 2nd still gets caught in a similar trap.

The net result is another standoff as both sides withdraw to refuel and reorganise. The British have lost some 40 of their 60 tanks (mainly to the German 88mm and to breakdowns), while the 21st has only lost eighteen tanks (although another eight will need to be fixed, they have been successfully recovered by the German forward maintenance units)

Having not got very far with an attack into Medjez el Beb from the north, the Ariete has been probing further south, and today tries another attack, this time along the road leading in from the southwest. This is not as heavily defended, but even so the presence of the heavily-armoured Matildas stops them from getting to the town. The defenders lose another ten Matilda tanks while the Ariete lose eighteen of their M13/60 tanks. The British brigade is now having problems holding the advance, and asks that reinforcements from the brigade held in reserve be sent forward that night - they are worried about the southern road into the town as well, which again is only lightly held.

Later in the day, Rommel receives reports of some sort of force moving north along the Algerian border. At first he discounts this, assuming it is another of the light raiding forces like the one that hit Bone airfield recently, but a later Luftwaffe report indicates a large force which includes tanks. This, if true, is far more worrying. Rommel only has a very small reserve in Bone, and he begins to wonder if it can hold whatever this attack is. The Luftwaffe is ordered to attack it and slow it down, and to get more information as to the nature of the attack. Reluctant to consider a retreat at this point, he considers the option of a final strong attack to break through the French lines. If he can take Tunis, he can get his supply sent there rather that to Algeria. He also orders the Ariete to make a decisive attack tomorrow to break through onto the Tebourba road.

The 7th Armoured are happily motoring north during the day, led by some Tunisian French officers familiar with the territory, as well as a number of Algerian French who were 'captured' having 'accidentally' strayed into Tunisia. They expect to be in sight of Bone at nightfall. Meanwhile the convoy heading north along the Tunisian coast is closing on Tunis; heavily escorted, and with constant fighter cover, it has yet to be spotted by the Luftwaffe (who are currently occupied with trying to observe and attack the force in Algeria and in assisting Rommel). The RAF is successfully stopping them achieving air superiority in Tunisia itself.

The news of the massacre of hostages at the airfield near Bone reaches the French in Algeria. The reaction is, to put it mildly, angry. The Germans have insisted that the Algerian authorities supply troops to protect their bases against more 'terrorist attacks' as they put it. The Vichy governor finds that the first two units told to prepare to move to Bone and do so are in open mutiny and refusing to move. The feelings in much of the rest of the army in Algeria are similar, if perhaps not quite so militant as yet

"Rommel has stuck his neck out, now's the time to wring it for him." Conversation between General O'Connor and General de Bethouart in Tunisia, 1941

14th May

On the previous evening Rommel had finally received a detailed report of what was happening south of Bone. This was obviously not a mere raid; it was far too strong, and already dangerously close to cutting him off from his supplies. After the battles of the previous day, it looked unlikely that the defences would collapse and let him into Tunis before he was attacked from the rear; the only option was to turn back and retreat to Bone, fighting his way in if necessary.

The 21st Panzer was very well trained, and despite the difficulty of reversing themselves while still maintaining contact with the enemy and stopping him from interfering, was on the march west by the afternoon. The Ariete division had also been informed of the situation and had already started retreating towards Djebel Aboud; their situation was easier as the defenders they faced had only a few tanks. They were however subject to RAF raids, which while causing little damage slowed them considerably. The destruction on the Bone airfield had noticeably reduced the Luftwaffe's strength, and as soon as it had been realised how strong the force heading up from the south was, the remaining planes had moved back to Algiers. The Ariete, and in particular their soft-skinned vehicles, were subject to bombing from RAF Wellingtons and the attentions of the new Beaufighters, none of which helped their speed of retreat.

The 7th Armoured had actually stopped short of Bone during the night; they did not want to get caught up in attacking a large town (they were a mainly armoured and mobile force). Instead they moved east of the town during the morning, setting up a blocking position between Rommel and the town. Their lack of infantry did not last long. The convoy from Tripoli had finally made its way around the Tunisian coast, where it stopped and unloaded some 1600 Commandoes from landing craft onto the beaches covered by 7th Armoured. Due to the need to break through the French lines, all the Africa Korps armour was at the eastern edge of their advance. While the mobile force was somewhat light on tanks (a number of which were spread out behind them along their route), they easily stopped a move against them by Rommel's rearguard, who on realising the strength of the force stopped to wait for their own spearhead to return.

Once the commandoes had been unloaded, the convoy and its escorting RN ships heads east to meet up with the fleet carriers still at sea off Tunis.

The British and French forces took a while to realise that the enemy was actually retreating; both the Africa Korps formations were highly trained and managed to look as if they were still advancing until the retreat was well under way. Once this was realised they started to follow up the retreat, where possible putting the closest elements under fire. The situation was especially dispiriting for the Ariete, who were starting to find it all too familiar. Meanwhile O'Connor released the 2nd Armoured reserve to join up with the 4th Indian and chase the Ariete; he wants to make them keep heading west rather than north.

That night, the 21st Panzer start to move back through Djebel Aboid, heading for Bone. Rommel is close to the new front of the division; he wants to see what in fact is between him and Bone, hoping to break through to the port where he can set up a defence and wait for reinforcements. The situation is confused, resulting in him losing contact with the armoured car that was supposed to be escorting him, and at 0215 he finds his car bouncing along what passes for a road in those parts when he sees two lorries running parallel. Both of which seem to be heavily armed and full of rather aggressive British and Australian troops. Rommel's luck has finally run out in the shape of one of Captain Stirling's patrols

15th May

Most of 21st Panzer had made it back through Djebel Abiod by dawn. This was just as well, as shortly after dawn the town, and the German troops pouring through it, received a visit from the FAA. The carriers that had earlier covered the amphibious landing had a final part to play, as 72 TBR (acting in their bombing role) and dive bombers plastered the road junction and any vehicle that looked like it might belong to the Afrika Korps. While this wasn't one of the main roles the FAA was trained for, the attack was a surprise and the train of vehicles moving westward quite an easy target. While only three tanks were destroyed, a good third of the divisions transport and soft-skinned vehicles were destroyed, trapped, or damaged - with the French now pushing up behind them, anything damaged simply had to be abandoned. This job done, the carriers headed back to Alexandria, where they would be needed shortly.

The Ariete division had meanwhile decided that it was on its own, and instead of trying to move west then north towards Bone (with the likely chance of being attacked from the rear by more British forces moving out of the south of Tunisia), had headed back down the road to Constantine (on the way to Algiers). This allowed them to break clear of the pursuit, who had made the initial mistake of assuming that they would head north to join up with the 21st Panzer. While the retreat was reasonably straightforward, the division did lose some 20 of its tanks to breakdowns - as with the 21st, any vehicle which broke down had to be left. Tanks which suffered this fate stayed to delay any pursuit, allowing the rest of the division to reach Algiers safely.

The Axis forces in Bone itself were hardly capable of attacking the British forces to the east of the town, being basically support troops. However the British force did come under increasing pressure from the retreating 21st Panzer, and in fact was slowly being forced back by the desperate attempts to break free of the trap, taking a steady toll of the enemy as they did so. The news of Rommel's capture wasn't made known until the afternoon, and in fact did not seem to make much difference to the attempts of the division to break west. The presence of the Luftwaffe was by now mainly that of bombers flying from bases in Sicily, the relatively small force in Algeria either having been worn down to very few operational planes. The RAF was also suffering from a lack of available aircraft, attacks mainly being made to reduce the impact of the German bombing.

At Vichy, Marshal Petain announces the replacement of the Franco-German armistice agreement by a new collaboration scheme. Concerning the meeting between Admiral Darlan and the Führer, Marshal Petain declares his complete approval. No-one has bothered to ask the French forces in Algeria what they think of the new scheme.

A private message was sent to the Vichy government, insisting that the Vichy forces in Algeria assist the Afrika Korps by directly attacking the advancing British and French. This led to a meeting of the government in Vichy that was 'contentious' in the words of the official report. Despite internal opposition, that evening they ordered the French troops in Algeria 'to resist the invasion by the English (sic) and the rebel French elements by whatever force was necessary'. This was greeted with despondency by the commanders in Algeria, who were not at all sure they could get their troops to obey. Indeed, at that point, while only a handful of units were in open revolt (mainly due to the Bone massacre), many others were simply not acknowledging orders, and sitting tight (an army unit sent to arrest the units in revolt had, for some mysterious reason, not seemed to have received its instructions).

Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm attack the Al Amarah military barracks in Iraq, 48 miles from the Persian Gulf.

Relations between Vichy France and the United States degenerated sharply as the Senate passed a bill empowering the government to seize foreign shipping in US harbours. Under the Ship Seizure Bill the US can take over vessels "by purchase, charter, requisition" or may take them "into protective custody." Although not specifically aimed at Vichy, the measure is a clear response to Petain's decision to collaborate more closely with Germany. Armed guards have already been placed on board all French ships in US ports, including the liner Normandie. Other French merchant ships will be put in "protective custody" as they arrive.

16th May

At dawn, the men of the 7th Armoured blocking the way to Bone saw a group of German officers approaching under a white flag. Trapped between them and the French and British armour pressing forward from the east, and fast running out of fuel and ammunition (the remaining tanks of the division were by now virtually immobile), and having lost their commander, the divisional commander felt he had no choice but to surrender for the sake of his men. The surrender was quickly accepted, and messages sent to the pursuing troops to inform them. The 21st Panzer thus achieved the distinction of being the first German division to surrender to the Allies in WW2.