The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore

by David Row

  2nd November

  In Cairo, Wavell writes to General Maitland Wilson:

  "...I have instructed Lieutenant-General O'Connor to prepare an offensive against the Italians to take place as soon as possible.

  ...in everything but numbers we are superior to the enemy. We are more highly trained and have better equipment. We know the ground and are better accustomed to desert conditions.. Above all we have stouter hearts and greater traditions and are fighting in a worthier cause.

  ...a striking success will have incalculable effect not only on the Middle East ... but of the future of freedom and civilisation... It is the best way on which we can help our Greek allies."

  The operation is given the code name Compass.

  In the Atlantic, U-31 earns the distinction of being sunk for the second (and this time, final) time, by the destroyer HMS Antelope with help from Coastal Command aircraft. She was sunk for the first time on March 11th by an RAF Blenheim bomber.

  As the output of Spitfires continues to reach the squadrons, the FAA Goshawks have been stood down in the north of England to be replaced by regular RAF formations; in the south the Hurricanes are being withdrawn - it is intended to send these to the RAF in the Middle East. The navy is happy with the new arrangements, as it needs the planes for the new escort carriers arriving during the winter and spring, and the constant operations, while increasing the combat expertise of the more experienced pilots, has left the training of some of the fresh replacements lacking in some of the specialist skills the Navy needs, like navigation.

  However on a far more controversial note, the RAF announces (internally), that Court-Martial proceedings will commence against the first two of the pilots who left their desk jobs without permission to fly Goshawks to defend the North. As usual, although supposedly secret, this information spreads rapidly through the RAF.

  3rd November

  HMS Furious is loaded with Hurricanes for shipment to the Middle East. She will sail with the next Gibraltar convoy and then continue to West Africa. It is intended to make at least two more of these runs to build up fighter strength in the Middle East. Meanwhile Hurricanes are being crated up for the longer voyage around the cape, to go with the next troop and equipment convoy to Egypt.

  In addition, Wellington bombers are to be staged through Malta. These planes have been squeezed out of a reluctant Bomber command, who wanted them for bombing raids over Germany. Coastal command is also requesting more Wellingtons to help in convoy protection.

  5th November

  Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected President for a third term, his new vice-president is Henry A Wallace. He wins a resounding victory over Wendell Wilkie, receiving 27,200,000 votes to Wilkie's 22,300,000, gaining a majority in 39 of the 48 states of the Union

  In the UK, the decision by the Air Ministry to court-martial two officers is causing massive opposition both inside the RAF and outside it. The squadrons themselves are appalled; as one squadron commander put it, 'punishing an officer who left his desk to defend his country in the air is against all the tradition we have been trying to impart to our pilots'. Most of the comments are less printable. The Navy and Army watch with bemusement. While officially the officers were in the wrong, they cannot understand how anything other than a reprimand is suitable. Unfortunately for the Air Marshals, the news of the action reaches Churchill, not through channels but oddly via Lord Beaverbrook (whose son is a serving pilot in a frontline squadron). Churchill's reaction is reported to be 'volcanic'.

  Inside the Air Ministry, an attempt to close ranks comes to grief when Dowding is asked to approve the action. He replies that he is no longer in charge of Fighter Command, personally thinks the action deplorable (pointing out he himself begged for the officers concerned to be allowed to do officially what they did without orders), then calmly announces that as he is no longer in their line of command, he has offered to stand as Prisoners Friend (in civilian terms, the defence council) for the first officer charged. One of the Air Ministry Air Marshalls goes so far as to call this treasonous. Dowding merely regards him calmly, and then suggests that if they wish, he will resign. And stand as Prisoners Friend.

  In North Africa, the Free French have been having talks with Wavell. They are aware of his shortage of aircraft, and have offered the use of two Squadrons of US-built Martin Maryland bombers. These were purchased as part of orders made before France fell, and paid for with the French gold recovered in Africa. While there are numbers of French pilots available, they don't have enough to man the planes they have bought. Some of these have been sold on to other countries such as Holland, but these two squadrons, while flying Free French colours, were in any case being piloted by RAF officers. The intention had been to use the planes in support of planned actions against the Italians in Ethiopia, but this will take a while to happen, and in the meantime they will 'lend' them to Wavell.

  6th November (East Africa)

  The British finally take Fort Gallabat, in East Africa, from the Italians.

  There were two frontier stations, Gallabat on the Sudanese (British) side and Metemma on the (Italian) Ethiopian. The two were about a half a mile apart, separated by a wide, dry wadi or stream bed, and connected by a road. The Italians moved across and occupied Gallabat, defended at that time only by a handful of Sudanese troops with British advisers, not long after joining the war in summer 1940. The British attack, by an Indian brigade with attached artillery and tank support under General Slim, commenced on November 6th. The British retook Gallabat rather easily in the first rush, also repelling with heavy losses a prompt and spirited counterattack from Metemma across the wadi.

  However, the attempt to move against Metemma failed, as Italian air attacks caused some panic among the British troops, and the combination of rough terrain (very big rocks) and mines put most of the British tanks out of action.

  Slim stayed for several weeks, shelling and otherwise harassing the Italians at Metemma, and in the end the Italian losses were probably as great as or greater than the British (on the first day or two the British/Indian forces suffered 167 casualties, including 42 dead, and lost six of their ten available fighter planes, and nine of their twelve tanks (albeit temporarily in the latter case, as most were repairable).

  While the Army realises that East Africa is not a big priority for the RAF, they ask if more air support can be sent. Given the relatively old Italian aircraft in the theatre, they propose that once the Hurricanes and Goshawks arrive in Egypt, that the Gloster Gladiators still there can be reassigned. The RAF agrees to consider this.

  7th November

  (USA) The middle section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State collapses during a windstorm. The film of this will later become famous in science and engineering classes all over the world.

  As a result of the court-martial controversy, Churchill calls in the Air Marshalls and lays down the law to them. The officers will not be court martialled, nor will any others of those who joined the Goshawk squadrons. The Air Ministry will put out that this was all a 'mistake'. Since Churchill suspects that the officers will still be penalised if possible, they will be 'lent' on a long-term basis to the Navy, and will form two fighter squadrons in Egypt. The most that will be done is to reprimand the officers. While Churchill's reaction is not surprising to those who know him, it will have a longer term consequence when the anticipated paper on air resources and operations, expected shortly, is released.

  The Italian invasion of Greece is postponed for a further 10 days as the air force has still not finished rearranging its plans. In addition the logistics have had to be redone, as with no naval support it is expected that shipping through the Adriatic will prove too dangerous unless heavily escorted by air, and even then will be in danger if the Royal Navy assign a carrier to interdict the shipping. However Mussolini insists that this will be the last postponement - the Italian ultimatum will be presented on the 21st of November.

  9th November

  Neville Chamberlain
died at the age of 71. It is now stated that he was already suffering from cancer of the stomach when he was forced out of the premiership six months ago during the political crisis over how to fight the war.

  The 1st Free French division is expected to be operational in the East African theatre within two weeks. The division had been hampered somewhat by its lack of transport - which is in very short supply in Africa at the moment. The RAF has promised that once the division is operation, it will release the Gladiator fighters for additional support (this is a quid pro quo for the French Maryland bombers), as by then it is expected additional fighters will have arrived from England.

  The battleship Richelieu arrives at Norfolk Virginia to be completed and repaired. As there are ongoing politics involved with the recognition of the Free French (which ironically haven't stopped the Americans taking payment from them for the purchase orders placed by France before she fell!), the vessel is flying the White Ensign.

  The first of the merchant carrier conversions, HMS Athene, has finished her workup - this has been pressed as fast as possible, the increasing U-boat activity has meant the new escort carriers are needed urgently. She will carry twelve Swordfish for A/S duties plus four Goshawks to welcome any inquisitive German patrol aircraft. The second of these ships, HMS Engadine, was commissioned today.

  Churchill meets with Dowding to offer him a new job. He realises that Dowding has pretty much burnt his bridges with the current Air Board, but after talking with some of his advisors, he has been given an idea. Dowding will be the head (and Air Force representative) of a small committee looking at the future of the air war - both independently and in conjunction with the Navy and Army. The building plans have returned to normal after the invasion scare, but with a number of new aircraft coming online now or soon, and with a number of existing ones seen as obsolete or downright dangerous, a strategy is needed to use them in the most efficient way to hurt Germany. The committee will report as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the year, so long term building plans can be made.

  12th November

  Molotov arrives in Berlin, to begin talks with the German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop, who expounds yet again on the imminent collapse of England. But this collapse may need to be accelerated by invasion.

  After lunch Molotov met with Hitler. The Fuhrer said that he had reached several conclusions:

  1. Germany was not seeking to obtain military aid from Russia.

  2. Because of the tremendous extension of the war, Germany had been forced, in order to oppose England, to penetrate into territories remote from her and in which she was not basically interested politically or economically.

  3. There were nevertheless certain requirements, the full importance of which had only become apparent during the war, but which were vital to Germany. Among them were certain sources of raw materials.

  Molotov for his part gives a non-committal assent but enquires about the Tripartite Pact. What is the meaning of the New Order in Europe and the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and where does the USSR fit in it? Issues regarding Russia's Balkan and Black Sea interests must be clarified.

  Meanwhile Hitler issues his 18th war directive, ordering political measures to bring Spain into the war and death by slow strangulation for Britain. The following day he orders Goering to prepare the Luftwaffe for an invasion of Russia next May.

  In Britain the first prototype Mosquito makes its first flight, piloted by Geoffrey DeHaviland.

  13th November

  Molotov again meets with von Ribbentrop. He presses him on the purpose of the German troops present in Finland. The reply is that the troops are merely in transit to northern Norway and that the whole matter is a "misunderstanding". Hitler also evades the question when he meets with him later, instead launching into a speech on the dissolution of the British Empire and its subsequent carving up between the Axis powers (and the Soviet Union at this point). Molotov also questions Hitler on the recent German-Italian guarantees to Romania which work against Soviet interests, but Hitler evades the question.

  That evening Molotov gives a banquet in the Russian Embassy in Unter den Linden and entertains von Ribbentrop. The banquet is interrupted by an air-raid (Churchill states later "We had heard of the conference beforehand, and though not invited to join in the discussion did not wish to be entirely left out of the proceedings."). Carrying on their conversation in an air-raid shelter Ribbentrop talks of the need to divide up the British Empire now that England is so decisively beaten. "If England is so beaten, why are we sitting in this shelter?" asks Molotov.

  In the Pacific, The Dutch East Indies agrees to supply Japan with nearly two million tons of oil a year. In Singapore, Air Marshall Brooke-Popham arrives as the new British Commander in Chief.

  15th November

  The City of Coventry is hit by the heaviest raid so far (proportional to its size), a force of over 400 Luftwaffe bombers attacking the city at night. Serious damage is done to the cities industry and residential accommodation. Sorties are flown by RAF night fighters; AI-equipped Beaufighters as well as Hurricanes and Defiants. Despite the number of bombers, only 15 AI detections were made, and another 11 either unassisted or illuminated in searchlights, and only six enemy bombers were shot down. The day fighters are proving ineffective in night operations, and it is obvious that more proper night fighters are needed. The first of the night-fighter version of the Gloster Reaper is expected in a few weeks; these have been given production priority. A steady improvement is being made in the operation of the AI radar itself, and the number of detections is rising steadily; once there are more night fighters, it is hoped to soon make night operations as painfully expensive for the Luftwaffe as day operations already are.

  In Warsaw, the Jewish ghetto, with 400,000 inhabitants, is sealed off from the rest of the city.

  At Sidi Barrani Italian troops work to fortify this remote coastal village, the limit of their advance towards the Nile Delta, British troops are meanwhile carrying out clandestine preparations for a major counteroffensive. Moving only by night, and lying low under camouflage netting by day, they are burying large quantities of water and fuel in secret dumps along the 75-mile "no-man's-land" from Mersa Matruh and westward.

  Marshal Graziani shows no sign of advancing further. An Italian observer reports a "holiday atmosphere" in their ranks as more British tanks arrive in Egypt.

  17th November

  Air Vice Marshal Park, who commanded 11 Group during the Battle of Britain, has also been relieved of his command and sent off to command No 23 Training Group. This has enraged the pilots under his command (already upset at the fiasco of the court martial episode), and is seen as a direct snub to one of the two men who saved Britain. Air Vice Marshal Leigh-Mallory, who is known to have opposed Dowdings and Parks tactics, gets the job.

  Churchill, although not directly involved, is getting reports of this via Beaverbrook. He is fast coming to the conclusion that while there are undoubtedly many good senior RAF officers, there is something rotten at the heart of the Air Board. However he is extremely reluctant to take any direct action (he feels that what he has done already should have made the point), but is becoming receptive to ideas which seem to get around the Air Ministry. He asks the FAA who were involved in the fighter defence of the North to look (informally) into the dispute between Leigh-Mallory and Park over tactics.

  Churchill is also concerned at the steady losses of bombers in raids over the continent, which do not seem to be achieving anything, unlike the German raids on England. He sends a telegram to the Chief of the Air Staff "I watch these figures with much concern (aircraft losses). ...we are now not even keeping level, and there is a marked downward turn this week, especially in Bomber Command. Painful as it is not to be able to strike heavy blows after Coventry ... I feel we should nurse Bomber Command."

  A delivery of twelve Hurricanes and twelve Goshawks is made to Malta from Ark Royal; one of the hurricanes fails to arrive due to engine failure, but
the crew are recovered by a flying boat from Malta.

  Off the coast of East Africa, British naval forces bombard Mogadishu. The comment is made that 'it seemed to improve the place...'

  19th November

  Chancellor Adolf Hitler tells the Spanish Foreign Minister Serano Suner to make good on an agreement for Spain to attack Gibraltar. This would seal off the Mediterranean and trap British troops in North Africa. But the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, does not want to commit his country to the war, (although he has allowed German submarines to refuel in Spanish ports and German spies to keep tabs on British naval forces in Gibraltar), especially as the situation in the Mediterranean is looking unpleasant for the Axis, and has instructed Suner to stall for time. His intelligence reports that even with specialised German help it is likely to take 4-8 weeks to subdue the fortress, ample time for the Royal Navy's heavy ships and carriers to wreak terrible damage on Spanish coastal cities and ports. There is also the more worrying factor of Britain stopping vital supplies current being let through to Spain. Without these, Spain will starve, and Franco has a lively disbelief in the ability of Germany to replace these items.

  In Egypt, four Gladiator Mk. II biplane fighters of the Australian No. 3 Squadron, based at Mersa Matruh, are attacked by eighteen Italian CR-42 Falco biplane fighters. The RAAF pilots claim six Italian aircraft shot down for the loss of one Gladiator and its pilot. The RAAF squadrons have already been promised Hurricane fighters once the next delivery arrives in Egypt; the RAF want to get these operational before the end of November if possible.