History of the Second World War (135 page)

Manych, Lake, 477; River, 252, 478

Mareth Line, 400, 416; Rommel retreats to, 399-400; strength of Rommel’s forces on, 401-2; Italian divisions on, 412; Eighth Army attacks, 413, 415-19

Marfee, Bois de, 71

Mariana Islands, gained by Japan at Treaty of Versailles, 204; attack on, 510, 616-17; U.S. threat to, 615; reinforcement to Biak from, 616; capture of, 617-20; bombing Japan from, 630, 690

Markham River valley, 506, 508

Marne, River, 85

Marrakesh, 321

Marshall, General G. C., and 1942 Second Front, 310-12; and landings in N.W. Africa, 311-14, 316; backs Pacific offensive, 356-7; at Casablanca Conference, 438; against extending offensive in Italy, 537; and atomic bomb, 692, 695

Marshall Islands, gained by Japan at Treaty of Versailles, 204; Japan prepared to relinquish, 506; capture of, 510-13, 613

Martel, Lieut.-General G. le Q., 489

Martlesham Heath airfield, 100

Maslennikov, General, 579, 581, 587

Massachusetts,
U.S.S., 322

Massawa, 126

Massey Shaw
fire-float at Dunkirk, 78

Massicault, 428

Mast, Major-General C. E., 317-19, 325-7

‘Matador, Operation’, 225

Mateur, 337-8, 427, 430

Matmata Hills, 416, 418

Maungdaw, 365-6

Mayu Peninsula, 365-6; River, 365, 634

Me 109
and
Me 110.
See
Messerschmitt

Mechili, 116, 119, 196-7, 268

Medenine, 411-13, 418

Mediterranean, closure of sea-route through, 109; armoured reinforcements to Egypt through 112, 174-7, 178n., 231; series of British disasters in area of, 136-7; Hitler does not follow up advantage in, 137-9; priority of defence of Singapore over, 182, 219-20, 231-2; strengthened defences of, 230-1; supplies to Rommel sunk in, 299; landings on French North Africa within, 313-17; Allied hold on Axis supply routes across, 426, 435; U.S. Chiefs of Staff want to get out of, 438; passage of shipping through, made secure by conquest of Sicily, 438; landing craft in, 526; war extended to, 710

Medjerda River, bridges across, 335, 338; attack S. of, 340, 427, 429

Medjez-el-Bab, French troops in, 335; Germans in, 336, 338n.; withdrawal from, 338-9; German attempts to recapture, 340, 410-11, 425-6; British attacks near, 423-7

Mehdia, 321

Meiktila, 635-7

Mein Kampf
(Hitler), 83, 142

Melfi, 466

Melitopol, 493-4

Memel, 588

Meretskov, General K. A., 46, 576

Merignac, German air-base, 371

Mersa Bou Zedjar, 323-4

Mersa Brega, 197, 307-9, 399

Mersa Matruh, Italian defeat at, 112-13; defence built up at, 173; Rommel defeats Eighth Army forces at, 278-80; Rommel pursued to, 306

Mers-el-Kebir, 238

Messe, General Giovanni, takes over Rommel’s army, 401, 413; army of, in S. Tunisia, 416, 418; withdraws from Wadi Akarit, 422-3; surrender of army of, 430-1; mentioned, 412

Messerschmitt: Me 109, 91-2, 102-3, 270; Me 110, 91-2, 98, 100-1

Messervy, Major-General F. W., misfortunes of, in Western Desert, 272, 274-5; in Burma, 633, 635-8, 687

Messina, 444-5

Messina, Straits of, German divisions escape over, 440, 445-6; Eighth Army crosses, 452, 456-7

Metauro, River, 540

Metaxas, Genera! I., 115, 118

Metaxas Line, 133

Metemma, 125

Metz, 558, 560, 565

Meuse (Maas), River, panzer corps crosses, 65, 71-2, 707-8; German army reaches, 69-71; Allies reach, 558, 562; air attacks on bridges over, 594; German attempts to seize bridges over, in Ardennes offensive, 644-5, 651, 653-4, 656-7; great fuel dump near, 654, 658; Hitler shortens sights to, 657; Germans fall back from, 658; failure to stop Germans on or before in 1940, 707-8

Meuse-Escaut Canal, 559

Mezieres, 653

Michelier, Admiral F., 317, 321

Middle East, Churchill’s attention focused on, 182-3, 232-3; threat to Cape route to, 237; proposal that U.S. reinforce British in, 312; convoys to, 375, 382

Middleton, General (U.S.), 642, 652-3

Mid-Ocean Meeting Point, for convoy escorts, 380-1

Midway Island, Japanese plan to take, 343-350; Battle of, 345, 349-53, 498; planes based on, 350-1; mentioned, 215-16

Mignano defile, 469, 472

Mikawa, Vice-Admiral G., 358-9

Millerovo, 251, 264, 480

Milne Bay, Papua, 355

Mindanao, 621-2, 630, 689

Mindoro Island, 629

Minqar Qaim, 279

Minsk, German advance to, 149; failure to trap Russian troops near, 159, 163-4; motor-road to Moscow from, 161. 496, 579; captured, 163; recaptured, 580

Missouri,
U.S.S., 698

Mitchell, Brigadier-General William, 590

Mitchell (North American B.25), 344-5, 364

Miteiriya Ridge, 287-8, 301

Mitscher, Vice-Admiral M. A., Fast Carrier Force of, in Marianas, 617-19; in conquest of Philippines, 622, 627; at Iwo Jima, 631; raids Japan, 684; sinks
Yamato,
685

Mius River, 168, 244, 491-2

Mlawa, 666

Model, Field-Marshal W., 582-3; army group of, in Russia, 148, 574, 582; stems Russian advance, 584; and Ardennes offensive, 646-649, 652

Moerdijk, 67

Mogadishu, 125

Mogaung, 518

Mogilev, 163, 493

Mohne dam, 600

Molotov, Vyacheslav, concludes pact with Germany, 13; German conversations with, 145-6; seeks to avoid war with Germany, 154; promised Second Front in 1942, 311; meets Ribbentrop (1943), 488

Monastir Gap, 135

Monastyrshchina, 263

Monschau, 650

Montecorvino airfield, 462

Monterotondo, 453

Montgomery, General (later Field-Marshal) Sir Bernard, takes command of Eighth Army, 266, 290; accepts Auchinleck’s plan, 291; and Alam Haifa battle, 294-6; delays attack at Alamein, 297; plans of, for Alamein battle, 301-2; his adaptability and versatility, 302-3, 418, 543, 546; organises pursuit force, 307; prepares attack at Mersa Brega, 308; Rommel pulls back before forces of, 397-400; in Tripoli, 399-401; Rommel prepares for arrival of, 401-2; Rommel strikes against, at Medenine, 411-412; slowness of, in following up success, 413, 421; plans attack on Mareth Line, 413, 417; recasts plan, 417-18; attacks Wadi Akarit line, 420-2; asks for transfer of 6th Armoured Division to Eighth Army, 423; suspends attack at Enfidaville, 425-6; wants changes in ‘Husky’ plan, 439; in Sicily, 443-5; on landing in S, Italy, 457; care and thoroughness of, causes delay, 457-8, 467-8, 656, 677-8; doubtful of Italian help, 458; advances up E. coast of Italy, 470-1; Sangro offensive of, 471-2; prepares for cross-Channel offensive, 472, 528-9; plan of, for ‘Overlord’, 543, 546; and intention of breakthrough near Caen, 553-6; in Belgium, 560; in tactical co-ordination of army groups in Normandy, 561; plan of advance of, 561-3, 566; complains of Eisenhower’s two-prong thrust, 563; on planned airborne attack near Tournai, 563-5; advance of, handicapped by faulty lorries, 564; causes of frustrated thrust of, 566-7; speed the declared aim of, 566-7; criticises Eisenhower, 639; causes resentment among U.S. commanders, 639, 656, 677; confident that enemy is defeated, 639; in Ardennes offensive, 656; mounts assault on Rhine, 677-8; surrender document signed at H.Q. of, 680

Montherme, 72

Monywa, 633, 636

Morison, Rear-Admiral S. E., on attack on Gilberts, 511; on Battle of Philippine Sea, 619

Moro, River, 472

Morocco,
French,
proposal to land U.S. forces in, 310-16; U.S. wants landing only on Atlantic coast of, 313; U.S. landing in, 321-3; French forces in, 332.
Spanish,
risk to ‘Torch’ from, 333.
See also
North-west Africa

Morotai Island, 620-1

Morshead, General Sir Leslie, at Tobruk, 173-4; in Borneo, 688

Moscow, German advance along highway to, 149, 161, 163, 167; testing air raid defences of, 154; Hitler’s controversial deflection of drive to, 166-9; advance to, halted by winter, 168, 244; straightening German front facing, 483; re-opening railway from Leningrad to, 576

Moselle, River, 588, 560, 563

Mosquito, de Havilland, 600-1, 607

Motobu Peninsula, 685

Moulmein, 234

Mountbatten, Admiral Lord Louis, South-East Asia Command under, 515; plans Burma campaign, 518, 631, 637; receives capitulation of Japanese forces, 689

Moyale, 121

Mozdok, 254, 477

Msus, 268

Mukden incident, 205

Munda, 502, 504

Munich, air raid on, 602

Munich Agreement, 6-7, 9, 704; changes balance of Europe, 22

Mures, 586

Murmansk, 43, 45, 47; convoys to, 392

Murphy, Robert, 317-19, 327

Murua Island, 503

Musaid, 176

Musashi,
the, 616, 621, 623-4

Mussolini, Benito, declares war, 85, 109, 710; invades Greece, 145, 151; Hitler visits, 147; unwilling to accept tank reinforcement of N. Africa, 175; prepares for entry into Cairo, 277; refuses to believe N. African defeat, 308; Rommel gains concession from, 309; seeks action against Gibraltar, 333; over-confident of success in Tunisia, 341, 413, 433, 435, 712; prompts counterattack in Senio valley, 542; demands holding of Tripolitania, 398-9, 401; authorises Rommel to continue attack, 406; his jealous fear of Germany, 433, 436; overthrow of, 445-6, 450; troops faithful to, 542, 670; rescued by Skorzeny, 644, 670; death of, 674; mentioned, 329

Mustang (North American P.51, later F.51), 604

Mutaguchi, Lieut-General R., 368, 515-16, 519

Myitkyina, 518, 635

Myittha Valley, 635

Nadzab airfield, 505

Nagasaki, 695-7

Nagoya, air raids on, 345, 691

Nagumo, Admiral, at Pearl Harbor attack, 216; aircraft-carriers of, 345; at Battle of Midway, 349-52; at Battle of Eastern Solomons, 359; commits suicide, 619

Naha, Okinawa, 686

Nalchik, 255, 477

Namsos, 62

Namur, 558, 645, 653, 657

Naples, Italians block road to, 455; German forces in area of, 459; road from Salerno to, 460-1; hopes for quick capture of, 461; Allies delay in reaching, 466-7; 10th Corps enters, 469; Allied aircraft from, at Anzio, 529

Napoleon Bonaparte, analogy between Hitler and, 141-2

Naqb el Dweis, 281

Narev, River, 29-30, 665

Narva, 576; River, 577

Narvik, German occupation of, 51, 58-60; British make foothold at, 52, 63; Swedish iron-ore sent to Germany from, 52; plan for Allied landing at, 54-5, 57

Nasi, General, 127

Nasugbu, Luzon, 629

Nazi-Soviet Pact, 13-14, 206

Neame, Lieut.-General Sir Philip, 119

Nehring, General Walter, wounded at Alam Haifa, 293, 335; in Tunisia, 335-6, 338-41

Neisse, River, 668-9, 680

Nelson, Admiral Lord, Copenhagen coup of, 218

Nelson,
H.M.S., 225

Neufchateau, 653

New Britain, U.S. attack on, 502, 505, 507-9; mopping-up operations in, 687-8

New Caledonia, 23, 344

New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 501-5

New Guinea, Japanese operations in, 344-5, 355, 501-2, 503, 507; Allies plan amphibious landings on, 355, 357; Japanese commanders ordered to hold, 498; attacking Japan through, 499; in U.S. strategic plan, 502; Allied landings on, 503, 508; classed as non-essential to Japanese plans, 506; Allied air forces in, 507; reconquest of, 613-18; mopping-up operations in, 617, 687-8

Newall, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril, 103, 592

Newcastle, 100

Newfoundland, U.S. Naval base on, 380

Newfoundland Escort Force, 382-3