The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore (26 page)

In the sky above Tunisia the RAF and the Luftwaffe continue to contend for air superiority. The Luftwaffe has superior numbers (the RAF is still depleted after Greece), but is insufficient to stop the RAF mounting reconnaissance missions and intervening on the battlefield. While the air attacks are causing a problem for the French Tunisian forces, the veteran 1st Free French Division is treating them as an annoyance at the moment.

7th May

The town of Djebel Aboud falls to Rommel in the morning as the French defence crumbles under the assault of the tanks of 21st Panzer - the French have only small numbers of antitank guns capable of stopping the newer tanks at other than close range. Rommel then sends two forces forward. Units of 21st Panzer move east along the road to Djefna, while the Ariete follows the southerly route that eventually leads to Medjez el Bab and Tebourba. The 4th Indian is concentrating its first Brigade at Chouigur, just in front of Tebourba, and its second will follow the road down to Medjez el Bab, which they expect to reach before the Ariete division. A brigade of the 2nd Armoured is now at Djedeida. With the arrival of the British forces, the French Brigade has moved forward to Djefna where it is digging in. Their armoured brigade is now at Mateur, ready to move once the main axis of Rommel's advance has been identified. The French have been ordered to delay the advance for as long as possible to allow the new reinforcements to dig in and prepare defences.

8th May

Rommel is still pressing his forces forward as fast as possible. He wants to engage the French at odds before the British can arrive in serious numbers to help them. The British are doing exactly that, the premade plans and the good (by North African standards) road and rail net in Tunisia is allowing them to advance rapidly from their forward bases - O'Connor has already made it clear what will happen to any commander who is tardy about getting into position in Tunisia.

Rommel's advance force has run into the French Brigade now protecting Djefna, and after losing a number of tanks to the well dug in French, has halted until more armour and the supporting artillery can arrive. The French use the time to continue to dig in in front of the town. The Ariete are on their way to Medjez al Bab, which they hope to reach tomorrow. They have also put out a covering force along the Chouigui road. Rommel is not happy with their speed of advance, which he considers too cautious and may allow the British to reinforce; in fact the first units of 4th Indian are already at the town and busily imitating moles while awaiting the rest of the brigade. They also have 30 tanks of the 2nd Armoured to help them when the Italian armour arrives

9th May

The Polish Brigade sails on a coastal convoy for Tunis. The brigade had originally been reserved in case it was needed in Crete, but Wavell and O'Connor consider Rommel's attack the more urgent problem. In any case, the biggest problem facing Crete is supplies and some types of weapons rather than more men.

In Tunisia, Rommel's forces continue to advance, but more slowly. Having failed to panic the defenders in their initial assault, Rommel needs to bring up more of his force in order to make his first major attack. He expects this to be at Djefna; he wants 21st Panzer to push the French defenders back to at least the town of Mateur, which will give him the option of taking (or at least threatening to take) the port of Bizerte.

The lead elements of the Ariete division have still not reached Medez el Bab, suffering from frequent French ambushes - not terribly costly, but each one costs them time. The occasional interference from the RAF is also unwelcome.

By now, a brigade of the 4th Indian is in place in the town and busy on defensive works. While Luftwaffe reconnaissance has informed Rommel of this (it was, after all, hardly unexpected that the town would be defended), he is unaware that it is now held by experienced troops with a limited armoured capability.

General de Bethouart considers the force defending Djefna to be a delaying option, and expects to fight the main battle in front of Mateur, where the bulk of his forces are preparing, backed up by the French armoured brigade. The British 2nd Armoured is now at Tebourba in brigade strength, and a light force supported by infantry has been sent along the road past Chouigui to warn them if the Italians decide to push along this route.

Part of the 6th Australian Division has moved forward to Tripoli, but is being held there until O'Connor can see where best to use them. Elements of 7th Armoured are still moving into Tunisia, but slowly, moving mainly at night. They will start to concentrate on the eastern side of the Kasserine pass tonight, but he expects it to take a few more days for an adequate force to be assembled there.

South of Iceland U-110(Captained by Lt-Cdr Lemp of the 'Athenia' sinking) attacked Liverpool outbound convoy OB318 protected by ships of Capt A. J. Baker-Crewsswell's escort group. Blown to the surface by depth charges from corvette HMS Aubretia, the crew abandoned ship, but the submarine failed to sink. A boarding party from the destroyer HMS Bulldog manages to get aboard, and in a matter of hours they transfer to safety the submarine's entire Enigma package - coding machine, code books, rotor settings and charts. It will prove to be a major breakthrough in the breaking of the Naval Enigma. Although the U-boat is taken under tow, it will later sink on the way back to Iceland.

Admiral Cunningham is concerned about the losses his fighter pilots have taken recently in supporting the Army. The carrier air groups were never intended for this sort of heavy commitment, and replacements are urgently needed both to fill up his squadrons and if possible to allow the pilots a rest. This is looking increasingly difficult as it looks like yet another naval effort will have to be made very soon off Crete. He hopes to get some relief when HMS Illustrious arrives with the Tiger convoy; given the current operations in the Med, her air group currently consists of 12 TBR, 18DB and 40F (although some planes are having to be carried on deck). While the various options are being debated with his staff, an interesting suggestion is made by his Air advisor. He has been chatting with some of the recently arrived RAAF pilots and found out that, in order to help move aircraft around in the Far East, the Australian Sparrowhawks had retained their arrestor hooks, and the RAAF pilots given basic training in landing and flying off a carrier. He wonders if this squadron could be used to supplement the FAA pilots, and indeed if one of the RAF squadrons could do the same? As a de-navalised plane, the addition of a hook to RAF Sparrowhawks would be a straightforward job for the base workshops at Alexandria.

The Tiger convoy has passed the most dangerous part of its route, the Sicilian narrows. It has been helped by bad weather throughout its route - the heavy CAP's from the carriers have not been needed as the weather prevented the convoy being found by the Italian Air Force. The convoy is now in swept waters and heading for Alexandria, along with the Illustrious. Force H also bombards Bone before retiring to Gibraltar, which does nothing to help Rommel's logistics or advance into Tunisia.

10th May

21st Panzer assault the French defences in front of Djefna. While the French hold firm for some hours, the pressure of the German panzers forces them back into the town. That afternoon, a heavy air raid is made on the town, causing much civilian damage and lighter damage to the French force, which retires in some confusion down the road to Mateur. The 21st pushes on through the town but then pauses overnight to reorganise; they have lost eight tanks in taking the town, and Rommel is starting to become more confident as to the inability of the French to stop him before Tunis.

The Ariete division lead units finally arrive at road junction north of Medez el Beb - or they would have, except they discover that 4th Indian is dug in blocking the way. The British artillery and AT guns are an unwelcome surprise for the Italians, who lose six tanks and a number of vehicles in the initial ambush. The division is also the recipient of the first attacks by RAAF Beaufighters. Carrying 4x250lb bombs, as well as 4x20mm cannon and 4x0.5" guns, the heavy fighter causes chaos and considerable damage to the support elements on the road between Djebel Abiod and the front.

Stung by a heavy retaliatory raid by some hundreds of RAF bombers against Hamburg which has caused a considerable amount of damage to the city and the shipyards, the Luftwaffe makes a final large night raid against London using over 500 bombers. The raid causes huge damage, killing or injuring over 3,000 people, mainly due to the large number of incendiaries used. The defences and the night fighters shoot down over 40 aircraft, and with those lost and written off due to damage, the loss rate is some 15%, unsustainable by the Luftwaffe. From now on raids will be by small forces of bombers.

11th May

On the night of the 10th/11th May, a raiding force of light armoured cars and lorries led by a Captain Stirling moves through the desert from one of the small passes in the mountains in central Tunisia, heading for the Luftwaffe airfield south of Bone. The men cause considerable damage as the blow up everything they can lay their hands on and machine gun everything else with great enthusiasm. The Luftwaffe loses a total of 23 Me109's and Ju87's, which have been supporting Rommel.

The Polish Brigade disembarks at Tunis; their job will be to defend the city in case the Afrika Korps break through the French defensive line. Not all the convoy that left Alexandria has ended up at Tunis. Part of it was detached and entered Tripoli at night, where some of the craft it comprised were hidden and camouflaged.

The Ariete division tries a frontal assault on the defence works north of Medjez el Beb, hoping they are as fragile as they look hurriedly constructed. While they are indeed recent, the 4th Indian is a very experienced division, and the works are supported by antitank guns and the Brigade artillery. The Ariete's tanks are halted on the defence line, then the British counterattack led by a detachment of Matilda tanks. While the British are impressed with the bravery and resolve which with the Italians fight, they are driven back from the British defences with the loss of 17 tanks.

The 21st Panzer consolidates east of Djefna, building up for an assault on what they see as the main French defensive position in front of Mateur. Rommel's intent is to press the defences, then hook an armoured force around to take the defenders in the rear. The Luftwaffe has reported Italian tanks in the area, obviously ones now under French command, but Rommel is confident that if they venture forward they will simply allow him to destroy them as well.

12th May

The Ariete division make another attempt to penetrate the 4th Indians defences, this time with an infantry attack. Against the well-prepared Indians it makes a few small penetrations before being driven back. The 4th Indian has lost about 400 men to the attack, the Ariete considerably more, without gaining any useful ground. The British have lost six of their Matildas to breakdowns - the tank is not the most reliable in North Africa

The 21st Panzer starts its attack against the French defences. These go slowly (as the intent is not specifically to penetrate them unless an unexpected opportunity presents itself), but once the defenders are occupied a significant part of Rommel's armour sets out to the southeast to get behind the defensive works. This has been anticipated by LeClerc, and the French armoured brigade at Mateur moves out to force an engagement.

The ex-Italian tanks do better than anyone had anticipated, causing considerable losses to Rommel's mobile force, but while the tank-tank combat is somewhat in favour of the Germans, they manage to draw the advance elements of the Armoured Brigade onto their 88mm guns, destroying eleven tanks in 15 minutes. The French then pull back, and the German armour also stops and pulls back a little in order to consolidate and recover damaged tanks.

The French have lost more than the Germans; 50 of their 80 tanks have either been destroyed, damaged or have broken down and cannot be recovered. The Germans have lost only 25 (although some ten more will not be operational again for 1-2 days)

After the destruction caused by the British night raid on the airfield, the Luftwaffe commander in the area rounds up 200 locals (including French), and accuses them of spying and aiding the British. To show what will happen to any further treachery (as he puts it), all 200 hostages are shot. Once this becomes know, the political effects will be serious.

The much anticipated Tiger convoy arrives unscathed, bearing a considerable quantity of weapons - 295 tanks and 40 Sparrowhawks for the Allied desert army. The tanks include 135 Matildas, 139 of the new 2-pdr-gunned Valentine tanks and 21 light tanks, as well as the first 24 6-pdr AT tanks to reach the Middle East. It also brings badly needed drop tanks for the RAF fighters, which will allow them to cover Crete from North Africa if needed. This is more than enough to re-equip a complete armoured division.

As a sign of defiance against the latest Luftwaffe raid, a march past goes through central London of representatives of the crews of the ships engaged in the recent Atlantic operation which finally destroyed the German fleet.

That night, a force of tanks, armoured cars and support vehicles moves out through the Kasserine pass, first into Algeria at Tebessa, the heading north. A light force of Tunisian French had infiltrated and attacked the small force left to cover the pass into Tunisia, completely surprising them, and the armoured column met little resistance.

That afternoon a convoy, heavily escorted by the Royal Navy, left Tripoli headed north towards Tunis. Cunningham has two fleet carriers and two battleships in support, hoping that the carrier planes and the RAF will prevent observation of the transports and landing craft by the Luftwaffe