by David Row
A Free French Brigade is now outside Tripoli, having been resupplied. Tripoli itself is supplying part of 6th Australian Division. The Australians are happy to be in Tripoli and its entertainment; the authorities in Tripoli are rather less enthused.
As well as the 2nd Free French division which has been forming (the first Brigade of which is at Tripoli), the French have also been forming an Armoured Brigade. Unfortunately no tanks will be available for it for some months (the first tanks ordered from the USA by France are not expected until June). However there are considerable numbers of captured Italian tanks, including nearly a 100 Italian M13 tanks (not dissimilar to the US tanks on order), over 80 having been captured in the Benghazi maintenance depot. There are also a considerable number of lighter Italian tanks, considered useful for training, as well as spares and support equipment. These are offered to the French until the US tanks arrive, which will enable the Brigade to be operational in a few weeks.
27th February
At a meeting of the British War Cabinet to discuss the situation in the Middle East, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies agrees to send Australian troops to Greece. He has been informed by telegram by General Blamey that the task is far more uncertain that some of the proponents of the plan have been making out, and he sets the condition that an Australian be put in command (as it is basically an Australian and New Zealand force), and that he is responsible, in case a German invasion forces a withdrawal, for deciding when and where this will happen. Churchill is unhappy about this, but as the only alternative is to give Libya back to Italy by withdrawing the troops there (who in any case will not be ready to fight for some weeks), he agrees.
28th February
France capitulates to Japan's ultimatum to accept its proposals for settlement of the border dispute between its colony in Indochina and Thailand.
The Vichy cabinet's decision in the early hours of the morning came only hours after the Japanese ultimatum expired. Throughout yesterday Japan made it clear that it was ready to implement its proposals by force if necessary. When the agreement is signed Indochina will cede to Thailand all of Laos west of the Mekong and an important part of north-western Cambodia. Japan wants military bases in southern Indochina and Thailand, and expects to capitalise on its intervention by making a military pact with Thailand.
1st March
The 11th African Division begins a lighting pursuit of the retreating Italian forces in Somaliland north from Mogadishu towards the Ogaden Plateau.
General Cunningham reports on the East African front to Wavell:
"Enemy evacuating whole of Italian Somaliland. Force at Ischia Baidoa apparently withdrew via Neghelli. Free French Div. was unable to cut it off through lack of petrol. Light forces are moving to occupy Lugh Ferrandi and Dolo. Bardera has been occupied.
...Force at Mogadishu has outrun supplies. Harbour cannot be entered for some days pending sweeping operations. Movement of motor transport by ship to Mogadishu not possible, and the rains beginning to render road from Kenya precarious."
An Italian convoy finally sails for North Africa; it carries the advance units of the German 5th Light Division and the Italian Ariete Division. The convoy's first task is to avoid the aircraft from Malta searching for it; accordingly for the last three days Malta has been heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force, which has caused considerable damage as well as reducing the number of aircraft operational on the island. It has also reduced the number of Axis aircraft available, if needed, to support operations in North Africa. The convoy also carries Luftwaffe personnel to allow a fast preparation for an airbase; in particular, Rommel wants Me109 fighters to secure his air cover as soon as possible.
2nd March
Eden finds out from General Heywood that the Greek government had failed to carry out the agreement reached at Tatoi and that no order for the withdrawal of troops from Macedonia and Thrace had been given.
Mussolini flies in to Albania, hoping his presence will raise the morale of his troops. It doesn't.
Germany officially admits that its troops (of the XII Army) had entered Bulgaria. According to a High Command communiqué: "The German army, in agreement with the Royal Bulgarian government, has been marching into Bulgaria since Saturday." In the Bulgarian parliament the Prime Minister, Professor Filov, said that Germany had asked permission to send in the troops on a temporary basis in order to "safeguard peace in the Balkans".
All day today the Germans have been pouring into Bulgaria by way of pontoon bridges across the Danube. Meanwhile there are reports that the vanguard of the German forces is already approaching the Greek frontier at four points. With the Luftwaffe present in strength, the German attack on Greece seems imminent.
In London, the Chiefs of Staff estimate that one German armoured division and three motorised divisions could reach the Bulgarian-Greek border by March 6, with an infantry division arriving by March 11. This is thought to be the maximum strength that the Germans could field until April 15.
General Wavell is asked how soon his troops will be ready. He replies that the New Zealand Division can sail as soon as transport is arranged, but that it would be unwise to send this formation on its own. He suggests they are immediately sent to Crete, which he needs to hold in any case. Meanwhile General Cunningham has light forces on to Ferfer (about 200 miles north of Mogadishu and Dolo) which will complete the occupation of Italian Somaliland.
Chapter 9 - Tunisia
3rd March
During the early morning there are no less than four meetings between the Greek and British military staffs in Athens, trying to agree on a defensive strategy. In the event of an attack on Macedonia the British urge a quick pull back to the Aliakhmon line whereas Papagos clings to the more advanced Nestos line, "If the Yugoslavs should fight, that is where we Greeks should stand", declared Papagos. Dill snapped, "General, you will have to fight that battle."
General Wavell arrives later in the morning in Athens, and some time later General Blamey, the commander-designate of the British forces in Greece, arrived at Tatoi airfield.
In Tunisia, the preparations of the Vichy government for the arrival of the convoy, and the obvious intent of the Italians and the Germans to base themselves in Tunisia to attack the British, has led to considerable civil unrest, and more than a few riots. The local population is quite unwilling to see their country turned into a battleground for the benefit of Italy. Fighting for themselves is one thing, becoming a German-Italian battlefield is something quite different.
At 3am, a military force led by de Tassigny occupies key positions in Tunis, in particular the harbour. The force meets little opposition; in fact many of the men supposedly guarding the installations offer to help. Meanwhile there is confused fighting on the streets of the capital as forces and police loyal to Vichy contest the city with the rebel forces.
The Italian consulate immediately informs Rome of what is happening; it is obvious that unless the city and harbour area can be secured quickly, there will be nowhere for the convoy to dock. Having the convoy stand off until the situation is resolved is considered unacceptable, as this will just tempt the Royal Navy into sinking it.
At the Tunisian border, Free French troops are put on immediate alert as soon as the news from Tripoli is received. They will move out once it is daylight, having been preparing for a situation like this for some days. With Wavell in Greece, the orders have been issued by O'Connor (who is still the commander of the units), with agreement from the Free French in Cairo.
The RN delivers some 80 Hurricane fighters to Malta. The planes have been flown of the carriers to the west of the island; half of the planes will remain at the island (where the available fighters have been reduced due to the high level of enemy raids), the other 40 will fly in stages to Egypt.
4th March
Free French motorised forces and a number of British tanks (flying the tricolour with the crews trying, rather unsuccessfully, to look French) enter Tunisia from the forward ba
se at Tripoli. The formation is led by the Foreign Legion (it is hoped that the Legionnaires reputation will help ease the way of the column), who find that there is little opposition. They are held up a number of times by local forces, but in only one case does this lead to any fighting, when a group of pro-Vichy police attempt to ambush the column. Indeed, they have to actively stop some of the forces they meet joining them. By the afternoon, the column is most of the way to Tunis, and the rest of the Brigade is preparing to follow them. The RAF has put aircraft on alert to aid them if necessary, but it is hoped that the use of French troops will be enough to persuade the locals that this is not a British invasion. Leaving their rear unguarded is a risk, but the forces in Tunisia aren't huge and the rest of the Brigade is following them.
In the city itself, the situation is somewhat of a standoff. De Tassigny has control of the harbour and its defences, as well as being the official commander of the men under his command. However the Vichy governor has had the bulk of the men he considers particularly loyal to Vichy in the city (recent events have made many of the Vichy authorities thoroughly paranoid, and they have been trying to organise men loyal to them), and as a result there are small to medium sized bodies of troops and armed police in various parts of the city. The situation is tense, and firing has broken out on a number of occasions, but neither side want to start a war inside the city if it can be avoided. De Tassigny has a trump he has yet to play, thanks to some officers he sent to Tripoli recently, and is prepared to wait till it comes into play.
Meanwhile, the orders given to the convoy are confused. The Italian navy wants it to return to Naples immediately. The Germans insist it should land. The Italian commanders, who have a better idea than the Germans of the defences of Tunis (which are still under the control of de Tassigny), don't care as long as they don't go anywhere near Tunis.
The issues are resolved on the convoy itself, where General Rommel has been reading the various conflicting despatched. He instructs that the convoy should head to the port of Bone in Vichy-held Algeria. When the convoy commodore objects, he is persuaded by the pistol of one of Rommel's aides.
The draft operation orders for Operation Rheinübung are agreed in Berlin. In order to complete preparations, the Bismark, Scharnhorst, Prinz Eugen and the carrier Graf Zeppelin will commence final training in the Baltic. The operation is scheduled for the new moon period around the 25th of April.
Britain's new raiding force, the Commandos, have destroyed 18 factories producing fish oil - a commodity which is made into glycerine, a basic ingredient of high explosive - on the Norwegian Lofoten Islands in Operation Claymore.
"Herring oil factories and trawlers at Svolvær, Henningsvær, Stamsund and Brettesnes were destroyed". About 800,000 gallons of oil and petrol were burnt, 11 ships totalling 19,000 tons are sunk and 215 Germans and 12 Norwegian collaborators (dubbed "Quislings" after Norway's Nazi puppet leader) taken prisoner. 314 volunteers also left with the commandos. Led by Brigadier Charles Haydon of the Irish Guards, 500 commandos with 100 other specialists went in escorted by five destroyers and a submarine.
This is the first major raid to be undertaken, and is far more organised than recent small actions. It has become obvious that the pre-war operational requirements (which for some reason were discarded once war broke out) for amphibious assaults are highly relevant to a successful action, and as resources permit the forces are being built up using these as guidelines.
More important that the actual raid damage is the action of the destroyer HMS Somali. While leading the commandoes, she happened upon a German patrol boat, which was foolish enough to open fire. Fire was returned, and the crew abandoned the patrol craft as it was beached on an islet. The British boarding party recovered papers which included the daily Enigma settings for February.
Prince Paul, the regent of Yugoslavia, was summoned to the Berghof, the Fuhrer's mountain retreat, and given the usual treatment accorded to small powers. After listening to Hitler's threats and ranting into the early hours, Prince Paul buckled and agreed to follow Romania and Bulgaria into the German camp and sign the Axis Pact. Hitler did offer the prince the Greek port of Salonika, which would give Yugoslavia access to the Aegean. Paul, aware that joining the Axis will be unpopular at home, has arranged for the signing of the treaty to take place in great secrecy in ten days time.
General Blamey, who is to command the Imperial expeditionary forces being prepared for Greece, arrives in Athens to arrange the final details with the Greek general staff. A major convoy is about to leave Alexandria in Egypt, with the first large contingent headed for Crete, and other forces are ready to follow. The British have only just discovered that the Greek forces in Macedonia have not retired to the Aliakmon Line and will not be able to persuade them to do so because of the damage to morale that would result if territory is obviously given up without a fight after the German move into Bulgaria.
Blamey is not happy about the situation (something he puts forward in typically Australian blunt detail). While he realises and accepts the use of his troops in Greece is political, he is not prepared to sacrifice them 'on behalf of the bloody Greeks who don't even keep to their bloody agreements with us'. The staff are kept busy working out how the Allied troops can be deployed in Greece with some hope of a secure line of retreat, given the Greek obstinacy.
The Turkish government turns down Hitler's personal plea to join the Axis powers. The Turkish President replies that he is grateful for the assurance that German troops would be kept a safe distance from the Turkish border, and tells the German ambassador that Turkey will do everything in her power to avoid war with Germany. He points out his concerns about Bulgaria's mobilisation, which he feels can only be directed against Turkey. The German ambassador, Von Papen, assures him that this is not the case. Fortunately for Von Papen the President does not press him on exactly who it is aimed at if not at them.
5th March
Free French motorised units reach the outskirts of Tunis, to the general appreciation of the populace They are greeted by units of de Tassigny's men, but do not enter the city immediately, though they do put out a screen to the west of the city as a precaution. The town is still in turmoil, as the initial fights between de Tassigny's forces and the Vichy supporters have turned into a tense armed standoff; neither party really wishes to turn Tunis into a battlefield. The arrival of the column of French troops outside the town finally forces a resolution of the situation. The French commander enters the city under a flag of truce, to talk to the Vichy authorities, and later to de Tassigny, in the hope of avoiding a full-blown attack on the city. While this are happening, the rest of the Brigade (less some troops detached on the way to secure the route, and a number of tanks, are arriving and assembling outside the city. No attempt is made to conceal this. Officially of course the authorities are only talking to the French commander.
Britain has broken off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. George Rendel, the British minister, handed the Bulgarian government a strongly-worded note protesting against Bulgaria's active cooperation with Germany which, it declared, constituted a grave threat to Britain's ally, Greece, and was "incompatible with the maintenance of British diplomatic representation in Bulgaria.
In Greece, Eden reports that the Greeks are reluctant to evacuate their forces from Albania if Yugoslavia does not attack from the north, and who are only offering the British 23 battalions of troops to delay any German advance into Salonika until British reinforcements arrive.
General Blamey is increasingly unhappy about the position he seems to be expected to put his troops in, and the constant refusal of the Greeks, as he sees it, to follow the military logic of their situation. In order to play for time, he suggests to Eden that, until the exact deployment can be arranged, his troops concentrate as an operational reserve, while the New Zealand Division holds Crete as a base for the RAF if German attacks force them to withdraw. Blamey's position is strengthened by a telegram from Menzies who basically gives him carte blanc
h to dispose his men as he sees best.
Meanwhile Operation Lustre officially begins as troopships head out of Alexandria for Crete; the cruisers Gloucester, Bonaventure and York are carrying the advance elements of I Australia Corps directly to Greece.
On patrol off the east coast of Tunisia, the submarine HMS Upright torpedoes and sinks an Italian cruiser as she covers the Italian convoy heading for Bone. This change of direction has in fact caught the Royal Navy unprepared, they were expecting to attack the convoy as either it entered Tunis, or as it retreated back to Naples, and Cunningham's ships are not disposed to intercept it.
6th March
Churchill issues his Battle of the Atlantic directive. Merchantmen modified with a deck to carry 4-6 Swordfish are to be fitted out as a priority, merchant ships to be given AA weapons as a first priority (in particular any ships to be used on the Gibraltar and Coastal convoys), and more Coastal Command squadrons formed and fitted with radar. Port and dockyard congestion is to be dealt with and the defence of ports greatly improved. These and numerous other matters are to be dealt with as a matter of the very highest priority. The survival of Britain depends on them. Overall direction is to be exercised by a Battle of the Atlantic Committee chaired by the Prime Minister himself.
The picture is not entirely black; the presence of Goshawks on many of the southern routes have turned the Luftwaffe Kondors into an endangered species; they are now only to be seen doing long range reconnaissance where they think they won't encounter a carrier. This has reduced the early losses due to them bombing ships, and made the U-boats task of finding a convoy much more difficult. However the Coastal and Gibraltar convoys are still suffering air attack as the intercepting of the Ju88's and He111's used is more difficult, and often a fast attack is made before the fighters can intercept.
