The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore

by David Row

  The Italian navy extends the time it expects to take to fully build up the German 5th light and Italian Ariete divisions in Algeria to the end of the month. The convoys have been taking significant losses from the British; air strikes from Malta and Tripoli, attacks at sea by destroyers and cruisers, carrier strikes from Force H, submarine attacks and mines in the harbour at Algiers have sunk over 40% of the ships sent. In addition to having to make these losses good, the amount of material needed was underestimated. Unlike the earlier convoys to Tripoli, there are no Italian stockpiles in Algeria, so as well as the German equipment all the Italian supplies need to be built up as well. The Vichy government in Algeria is supplying water and food, but they have no petrol spare for the Afrika Korps to use. This is all having to be brought from Italy, and the Royal Navy is singling out tankers for specific attention.

  3rd April

  A coup d'état in Iraq is led by the nationalist politician General Rashid Ali el Gailani and a group of officers calling themselves the "Golden Square". The group is opposed to the British presence in the country. The Regent Emir Abdul Illah escapes to Transjordan and by 3 April, a new government has been installed. The Soviet Union recognises the new government at once. It was the first to do so, and the Luftwaffe makes plans to set up an airlift to Iraq, although at the moment the distance to Iraq means that any substantial airlift will be impossible. A 1930 agreement between Iraq and Britain had granted the British two bases there: Shuaiba, south of Basra, and Habbaniya, an important RAF base and training camp in the Euphrates Valley about 48 miles west of Baghdad. As a result of the coup, the British send troops from India and the Middle East to ensure access to the vital oil supplies.

  In the Red Sea the eight Italian destroyers and torpedoes boats remaining at Massawa, Eritrea, sortie from the port. The destroyers are sighted north of Massawa and are attacked by SeaLance aircraft of No 813 and Swordfish of No 824 Squadron assigned to the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious but operating from Port Sudan to cover local troop activities. The destroyers Daniel Manin and Nazario Sauro and the MAS-213 are sunk and the destroyers Pantera, Tigre and Cesare Battisti are scuttled near Massawa.

  4th April

  In Berlin Hitler meets the Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke again, and promises to join Japan in fighting the USA if it should declare war. The Foreign Minister has been on an official visit to Rome and Berlin.

  The first two squadrons of Beaufighters arrive in the Mediterranean theatre. The original intention had been to base one at Malta and the other in Cyrenaica, but in view of the current heavy air attacks on Malta both squadrons are sent to North Africa. One squadron is the first RAAF unit to be involved in the Mediterranean; it will be used to give the Australians familiarity with the plane in preparation for their own version currently in production. The Beaufighters will initially be used as long range fighters and torpedo planes to attack the Italian convoys to Algeria and force them further west (and into easier range of Force H).

  6th April

  German, Italian and Hungarian forces move on Yugoslavia and Greece, supported by a heavy concentration of Luftwaffe aircraft. Although the Allied expeditionary force is not complete (it consists of the 9th Australian Division, the 7th Australian division and the 1st Armoured Brigade), units have moved forward to man the Aliakmon Line along with three Greek divisions. The Imperial and Greek forces are supported by seven RAF squadrons.

  8th April

  In Eritrea, the Italians in the seaport of Massawa, the main Italian naval base in East Africa, surrender to British and Free French troops. Of the 13,000 men defending the town, 3,000 have been killed and 5,000 wounded. The Allies capture 17 large Axis merchant ships in the port along with many smaller military and civilian vessels. The 5th Indian Division, which has played a large part in the Allied campaign in Eritrea, starts to prepare to be shipped to Egypt to form the basis of a new Army Corps. The priority in the East African campaign is now to clear the road between Asmara and Addis Ababa and troops are being sent to this task from both ends of the road.

  In Greece the German armour is pushing the Greeks back through the Dorian Gap, and the British 1st Armoured Brigade is moved forward to help. Meanwhile the infantry formations make ready to defend the Aliakmon line.

  9th April.

  The Metaxas Line in Greece collapses. Within three days of crossing into Greece from Bulgaria, German forces have captured the key port of Salonika, and forced the surrender of the whole eastern wing of the Greek army between Salonika and the Turkish border. This brings them close to the defence line manned by British and Australian troops.

  The danger to the Olympus-Aliakmon line is also an outflanking move from Yugoslavia through the Monastir Gap. The 1st Armoured Brigade and the 19th Australian Brigade are detached from the 1st Australian Corps and placed under command of General Mackay, to form a blocking force in the Florina valley.

  An additional four destroyers led by HMS Jervis are detached to Malta to help interdict Rommel's supply convoys. While Admiral Cunningham is short of destroyers, Middle East command needs to slow the build-up in Algeria while the situation in Greece is deteriorating so quickly.

  11th April

  With the destruction of all Italian war vessels in the Red Sea announced by the British, President Roosevelt declares the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are no longer "combat zones" and therefore open to American shipping. The President also cables Churchill to tell him that he proposes to extend the US Security Zone to 26 degrees west. He asks for details of British convoys to be relayed to the US Navy so that patrol units may meet them. In return the Americans will pass on intelligence of U-boats operating within the Security Zone.

  12th April

  The Imperial forces deployed along the rugged terrain from the Gulf of Salonika to Edhessa in the Vermion Mountains, have been pulled back to Mount Olympus, the next defensible line some hundred kilometres to the south. The Germans were pouring into Greece through the Monastir Gap, and with the Yugoslav resistance was crumbling, General Blamey was left with no choice.

  The 45,000 strong Imperial forces have had little or no time to prepare their defences, and their strength is insufficient to organize a defence in depth. If the Germans are not stopped at Monastir they will soon be turning the British left flank, at which point the Corps will have no choice but to withdraw.

  Admiral Cunningham has put the Mediterranean fleet at notice to sail, and supplies which were due to have been delivered to Greece have instead been diverted for the time being to Crete. The situation in Greece is deteriorating much faster than anticipated. In a private meeting with Wavell, Cunningham assures him there are sufficient ships to evacuate the expeditionary force, and probably a considerable number of the Greek army as well, but enemy air power will cause him losses, which he is prepared to accept. There is a limit to how long the carriers can give air support, but he feels this will suffice for the main evacuation effort.

  13th April

  In a treaty designed to safeguard both parties' borders, the Soviet Union and Japan today signed a neutrality pact for the next five years. The pact acknowledges existing borders, giving Russian recognition to Japanese Manchuria (now known as Manchukuo) for the first time. Under the pact, should either the Soviet Union or Japan become the object of military action, then the other party will observe neutrality.

  In Greece the Imperial forces retreat to the Thermopylae line. This is only 50 miles long, and should be much easier to hold that the Olympus-Vermion line. However Blamey warns Middle East command that if the Greek army continues to give way, he will soon either be forced into an untenable defensive position or withdraw from Greece. Meanwhile the Luftwaffe continues its heavy bombing of Malta in an attempt to reduce the interference with the Algerian-bound convoys.

  In London, the Australian Prime Minister Menzies criticises the way he sees Australian troops carrying an unfairly heavy part of the fighting in the Middle East. It is agreed that General Blamey will be given authority to withdraw f
rom Greece if he thinks it necessary to preserve his force. To placate Menzies, it is promised that more British troops will be sent out to the Middle East as soon as possible, and commitments made for further support of Australian concerns in the Far East.

  In secret talks between Iceland and the US government, Iceland agrees not to resist US forces replacing the British forces on Iceland.

  15th April

  Wavell and other senior British Middle East commanders meet and decide that the evacuation of all forces from the Greek mainland is unavoidable. General Blamey is informed of their decision, and the RN and RAF units in Alexandria and Crete put on alert. The New Zealand division on Crete is told to speed up preparations to defend the island from possible attack.

  The first of a new class of convoy escorts, HMS Exe, is launched. A large building program of this class the twin-screw corvette (later to be called the frigate) has been started, and more of this type are being built in the USA as part of the bases deal. It is hoped to have her in commission by January 1942. Due to the severe convoy losses, the escort program is currently the highest priority naval building program, but due to the larger size and more complex nature of the ship, they will take 12-15 months to build rather than the 6-9 for the current, simpler corvettes.

  There has been much discussion as to the ships armament; in the end two versions are under construction. The first, intended as a specialised A/S ship for the North Atlantic, carries a single 4" gun plus up to eight 20mm cannon. The second class, intended for use where there is a larger air threat, carries four 40mm cannon as well as twelve 20mm. Both types will carry a large number of depth charges and the new hedgehog AS spigot mortar. Faster than the single-screw corvettes, and with a longer range (allowing them to cross the Atlantic without refuelling), as well as modern refinements in sonar and radar, it is hoped that once they arrive they, and the new escort carriers which will then be available in numbers, will reduce the current merchant ship losses to U-boats.

  16th April

  Off Algeria, Capt P. J. Mack with destroyers HMS Janus, HMS Jervis, HMS Mohawk and HMS Nubian operation out of Malta intercept a German Afrika Korps convoy of five transports escorted by three Italian destroyers. All Axis ships are sunk including the destroyers Baleno (foundered next day), Lampo (later salvaged) and Tarigo. In the fighting HMS Mohawk is torpedoed twice by Tarigo and capsizes. She is eventually sunk by gunfire from HMS Janus.

  The race to build up forces and supplies in North Africa by both sides continues, although as one British General pointed out, it was not so much a horse race as two tortoises straining to get ahead of each other in search of a particularly tasty lettuce leaf. While the Axis had ample forces available to ship to the theatre, they were severely limited by shipping (not helped by the fact the British were sending up to 40% of the equipment to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea), poor port facilities and the need to build up all the supplies they would need almost from scratch. On the British side, the supplies had to come the best part of 12,000 miles, and each time a convoy arrived much of its contents seemed to get diverted to other demands such as Greece.

  Wavell orders that no more troops are to sail to Greece (the Polish Brigade was about to leave, but instead will be held in reserve in Egypt), ships with unloaded cargo should return with it immediately and ships loading in Egypt will stop loading and unload. While the airfields are not yet in a satisfactory state, fighters are dispatched to Crete in order to help cover an evacuation from Greece.

  In Tokyo, an Associated Press dispatch quotes Ko Ishii (the spokesman for the cabinet board of information) as denying absolutely that "Japan intended to send an army or navy force against Singapore." He added that Premier Prince Konoye already stated that "Japan's southward intentions are clearly and entirely peaceful and economic. This report (about Singapore) is entirely groundless and the propaganda of war mongers"

  17th April

  Churchill agrees to a secret appeal from General Papagos, the Greek C-in-C for British and Empire forces to evacuate mainland Greece in order to save it from further destruction, but insists that Crete must be held with force. He also offers to evacuate as many Greek troops as possible to Crete in order to allow it to continue as a centre of Greek resistance. In Athens the British staff begin detailed plans to evacuate the Imperial troops to Crete and Egypt.

  Although recent night attacks have caused considerable damage over Britain, in view of the need for additional aircraft in the Mediterranean and to prepare for Barbarossa (and also due to the steadily increasing toll the British night fighters are taking), the Luftwaffe suspends major operations over Britain. The Luftwaffe bomber force is in need of the temporary rest; it is actually weaker now in planes (and even weaker in experienced pilots) than it was before the start of the French campaign last year, while the RAF and Allied forces are considerably stronger.

  19th April

  The Yugoslavs surrender after twelve days fighting. Many troops will stay in the hills after the surrender, continuing the struggle as partisans.

  The first Imperial troops arrive in Iraq when the British 20th Indian Brigade lands at Basra. Although Rashid Ali's new government objects, these movements are covered by a 1930 treaty and with no German support available, the objections are ignored by the British.

  General Student, leader of the new XI. Fliegerkorps which now controls all air transport units, suggests to Goering that an attempt be made to invade Crete from the air once Greece is taken. The idea catches Goering's interest, and he agrees to put it before Hitler.

  21st April

  Evacuation starts of Imperial troops and equipment in Greece. The troops will be evacuated to Egypt (or to Crete if sailing on local vessels). At the same time it is suggested that the Greek army starts to use small craft and fishing vessels to evacuate trapped troops to Crete. The British have a fair number of landing craft available to them as well as the usual shipping, and it is hoped to recover at least a part of the expeditionary forces equipment to Crete using these.

  In Australia, there are political moves against Menzies, blaming him for high Australian casualties in Greece. The movement is opposed by those pointing out that the forces there are under Australian command, and the additional commitments Britain has made to Australian concerns about Japan. The arguments will go on for some time

  22nd April

  British tank regiments are to be re-organized as more effective fighting units. In future they will have their own support arms in the frontline, including motorised infantry, combat engineers, artillery, antiaircraft and antitank units. This change has been worked on for some time, after the reports of the success of such a mix in the desert, and reports of the effectiveness of it when used by the German Panzer units. The regiments in North Africa are already following this pattern where equipment allows, and it will be replicated with the forces held at home.

  The formal evacuation of Greece begins; The Royal Navy will cover convoys to bring out the troops, as much equipment as feasible and also Greek troops (who will be landed in Crete). Air cover will be from the Navy's carriers and from fighters based on Crete. The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean means little can be done for the time against Rommel's supply convoys; Force H will undertake further operations against them and the ships in Algiers. The Greek King and his government will be evacuated to Crete tomorrow - it is hoped Crete will serve as a part of Greece not under occupation and allow the Greek government to continue to play a part in the war against Germany

  25th April

  Hitler issues Directive No. 28 - Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete. Planning will begin immediately so the operation can be launched after Greece falls.

  Germany and Italy undertake to give financial and military aid to Rashid Ali's government in Baghdad. However the Basra: Reuters News Agency reports that "strong British and Imperial troops have arrived in the area of the Mosul airfields and, with the consent of Iraqi military authorities, have occupied positions of strategic importance". Brit
ish troop movements are still continuing.

  At 2100 on the 25th April, the rattle of heavy anchor chains echoed around the peace of Bergen fjord. Operation Rheinübung was finally starting.

  Chapter 11 - Operation Rheinübung

  Post-war opinion is divided on this operation. Some see it as the best attempt of the outnumbered German Navy to inflict considerable damage on the Royal Navy and the British convoy system; others consider it a 'Death-Ride' in keeping with the Nazi mentality.

  The basics of the operation itself were simple. The Kriegsmarine had four heavy surface units available; the battleships Bismark and Scharnhorst, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and the carrier Graf Zeppelin. There were a number of destroyers that would accompany the heavy ships for the first part of the operation, but these short ranged craft would then return to Norway. The preparations for the operation itself had been carried out in great secrecy; the heavy units had slipped out of port and up the coast of Norway as far as Bergen under cover of cloud and poor weather, and had in fact managed to concentrate in the fjord without having been spotted by the RAF.

  Sadly, all that careful forethought was wasted. The code-breakers at Bletchly Park had given the Admiralty news that German heavy ships were heading up the Norwegian coast, and confirmation that the Bismark and Prinz Eugen at least were involved was confirmed by a member of the Norwegian resistance. As a result, although they didn't all go to sea, the units of the Home Fleet were put at four hours readiness for steam. The Prince of Wales was hurried out of her hull cleaning in dry dock, and all boiler cleaning cancelled. The old battleships Barham and Ramilles were ordered to join two of the most valuable northern convoys; their slow speed made them unlikely to be useful in a chase, while putting them in front of a potential breakout meant they might be able to intercept.