The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore (29 page)

At sea, the Germans attempted to land the first of their invasion convoys. The result was a disaster. Force D, consisting of three light cruisers and four destroyers intercepted the caiques and their single escort at midnight, and despite aggressive action by the Italian ship overwhelmed it and sank most of the transport craft before withdrawing. It is estimated that some 1200 German soldiers and Italian sailors were killed, for the loss of two British seamen. Force D then retired under the carriers' protection by daybreak.

In Algeria, the 'secret' talks between the Free French and the local commanders have borne fruit, aided by the full invasion of France by the Germans. Leaving the British to guard their backs, a strong Free French force heads slowly east to Algiers, joined by a number of the local French units in passing. By nightfall, it halts outside the city, and an officer is sent in under a flag of truce to talk to the Vichy commander there. While this has been going on, the situation in the rest of the country is tense; many of the local forces have put some of their more Vichy-friendly commanders under arrest (usually peacefully, but a number of people have been killed during these operations). It is now an open secret that, no matter how denied by Vichy, Algeria will very soon be a part of the growing Free French forces.

22nd May

Freyberg realises that Hill 107 is the key to using his artillery to suppress the airfield, and orders at attack soon after dawn to recover it. This is supported by all 40 of the carriers available divebombers and a full squadron of Beaufighters. They are escorted by the FAA Goshawks, and as a result are uninterrupted in the loving attention they give the hill. As the dust and smoke slowly clears, the ground attack come in, the men advancing with fixed bayonets. In fact, they are hardly needed, the ferocity of the air attack has stunned the defenders, and inside 30 minutes the hill is back under allied control, and artillery fire is again making the German position uncomfortable. The allies had destroyed some 70 aircraft the previous day, 50 of them Ju52 transports, and although the Luftwaffe continues to fly in planes and gliders through the day, another 45 are lost, often to ground fire after they are unable to take off immediately from the damaged runway. The Luftwaffe has now lost well over a hundred of them, as well as Ju87's which have been the preferred target of the British fighters - indeed, Squadron Leader Pattle claimed his 50th German plane during the day as he led his squadron of Sparrowhawks off HMS Illustrious. The Beaufighters are proving to be a dangerous ground attack aircraft; although not really a match for the Me109, it can hold its own or better against any of the other Axis aircraft.

A force of cruisers and destroyers are spotted north of the island by the Luftwaffe as they move south to get under their air cover. Caught before this is possible (due to the fighters supporting the attack on Hill 107), the cruisers HMS Naiad and HMS Carlisle are damaged before the FAA fighters arrive. The Luftwaffe is still conducting sweeps around the island, and later that day HMS Warspite is hit by a bomb, without serious damage. HMS Gloucester and HMS Greyhound are attacked, but this time the Goshawks shoot down three Ju87's and drive the rest off. HMS Fiji is not so lucky, struck that afternoon a number of times and left powerless. Fortunately she is south of Crete and an escort of RAF fighters keeps her company until she can be towed slowly back to Alexandria.

General Freyberg signals to Admiral Cunningham that he thinks his men can defeat the airborne troops as long as they do not get any substantial support from seaborne landings. Cunningham replies that as long any of his ships remain afloat the Germans will not get through by sea. A second attempt to land troops is made that day; a number of the caiques were sunk by gunfire, although the lack of sufficient air cover north of the island had led to losses for the Royal Navy. However the ships had forced the German force to retreat.

As predicted, the lack of reinforcements and constant attacks, especially by the Greek troops, has finally reduced the landings at Rethimnon and Heraklion. The only remaining German bridgehead is at Maleme airfield, and despite the men being flown in, is not making any progress. The commander begs for support, particularly heavy weapons and, if possible, tanks - the few British tanks, invulnerable to the paratroops light weapons, and being used as mobile machine gun posts and causing considerable losses. He is informed that a new landing attempt will be made tomorrow.

In Algiers, talks between the Free French and the Vichy commanders have reached a deal, not dissimilar to that obtained in Syria. The Vichy commanders will surrender the country, and they, their families, and any other Vichy supporters who wish to will be granted safe passage back to France or a neutral country. The decision will be announced the following day.

23rd May

With only one landing left to worry about, Gen Freyberg releases his reserves to bolster his attack. The Germans continue to try and drop paratroops - the defenders are noticing that they seem to have run out of gliders, and that today few transport planes try to land. The reason for that may be the wrecked Ju52's covering a considerable part of the airfield and surrounding countryside. Despite their situation, the German paratroops hold on, fighting fiercely as their perimeter is slowly reduced. The Allied force still has to contend with attack from the air, but this is lighter than on previous days and they are getting used to it (even if it is just as much of a nuisance as before).

Late that afternoon, a convoy of small craft and lighters is spotted by a RAF patrol plane heading to Crete. Despite the daytime and the reduced availability of fighter cover, Cunningham orders his ships to sink or stop it - preferably both. He is asked by a worried Army command if he can spare the ships for such a risky operation. His reply is "It takes three years to build a ship, it takes 300 to build a tradition". The Navy will make sure the Army is supported".

The ships are in fact an Italian force from Rhodes, with some 3,000 men of the 9th division. They are first visited by the Cormorants from Illustrious, who sink two steamships and three tankers. Then, under fighter cover, the convoy sees five British destroyers. Despite ordering the ships to scatter, two reefer ships and a number of the small craft are sent to the bottom. The destroyers are attacked by dive bombers during part of the action, but their manoeuvrability allows them to survive until four British fighters arrive to chase them off.

The final attempt to reinforce by sea takes place that night, when a German convoy attempts the run to the island. They are intercepted close to dawn by the same group of destroyers, who again break up and sink many of the caiques, sending another 1,800 Mountain troops to the bottom. However staying to turn back the convoy has left the ships exposed. While they get fighter cover for an hour, the pressure and losses on the British fighters has been growing and they have to leave the destroyers to fend for themselves. As a result they only have their speed and AA guns to protect them when attacked by 24 Stukas, who managed to sink HMS Kashmir and HMS Kelly.

That evening the announcement that Algeria is now behind the Free French cause is broadcast. Gen De Gaulle states "thanks to the brave men of our army, and with the help of the British Empire, the first part of metropolitan France is recovered from the grip of Nazi tyranny". The only part of Africa now not in Free French hands is French Morocco.

24th May

While tired, the defenders on Crete continue to press the paratroops, aided by their artillery and the fact that the Greek troops are determined to drive them off the island come what may. The fighting does not seem so determined today, and in fact the paratroops were running very short of ammunition - the losses of the transport planes, and the turning back of more due to reports and interceptions by British fighters, had not allowed them to be resupplied. Additionally, as their bridgehead shrunk, more and more of the supply drops that they did get were falling outside the area and were lost to them. Although they fought on till in some cases they were completely out of ammunition, they finally surrendered at 1800 that evening.

Despite this, the defenders are still the subject of attacks from the air, but without troops on the ground the affect is fairly limited. Like the British, the Luftwaffe formations are also exhausted after five days of continuous fighting. They do take a final revenge on the Royal Navy, who have perhaps moved rather too far north in order to better support the Army and the ships making anti-convoy sweeps. A force of 20 Ju87's finds HMS Illustrious southwest of Crete, and despite her CAP, (only six planes due to the use of most of her fighters over Crete) manages to hit her twice. Fortunately for the carrier these are only 250kg bombs due to the range the divebombers have to attack from, but she takes damage to her deck, central elevator and rear hangar. While a dozen planes are destroyed in the hanger, and it takes four hours to bring the fire under control, the damage is not serious, nothing having penetrated the ships hangar deck armour, and she is escorted back to Alexandria, where her repairs will take a month.

27th May

As it is now obvious that the Germans have stopped trying to invade Crete, at least for the time being, the British start to reorganise and rebuild their forces in North Africa, in particular the air force, which has suffered heavy losses over the last few weeks (although inflicting heavy losses on the Luftwaffe as well). With the welcoming of Algeria into the Allied camp, Churchill immediately wants to know when convoys can be pushed though the Mediterranean again. The Admiralty points out that while this is indeed very desirable (the route is only some 40% of the distance around the cape, and basically halves the shipping needs), the Tiger convoy was lucky with the weather. They need time to repair the ships damaged in the previous operations, establish air bases and air cover, and reorganise. In any case, as they point out, the convoys already in operation can't just be turned off, and the recommend the possibility be reviewed in 4-6 weeks with the resumption about a month after if things are going smoothly. It is also pointed out that the FAA in the Med has been very heavily worked - indeed overworked - recently due to operational needs, and they need a short period to incorporate new pilots and give them a rest.

The losses in transport planes for the Luftwaffe in Operation Mercury have been very heavy. The gliders were expendable, but the best part of 200 Ju52's lost or seriously damaged are not. The losses to the fighters and bombers were also high, and with Barbarossa about to start, it will be difficult for the Luftwaffe to rebuild its strength quickly. The situation is not so bad for the Italians, but they are looking at defending the Dodecanese before attempting any more attacks on Allied territory. Accordingly it is decided that for the next few months the theatre will be in a defensive posture.

The British, who don't realise yet that the Axis is not going to be renewing the attack soon, is looking at building up the defences on Crete before taking any offensive actions. The Greek force there needs to be properly equipped and more defensive and infrastructure work done as a matter of urgency; the airfields will be out of action for at least a week, more due to broken German aircraft littering them that the deliberate destruction done by the defenders. Luckily they will have time to do this

In Washington today President Roosevelt today warned America of Nazi designs on the Americas. He promised to extend US patrols in the Atlantic to protect the sea-lanes to Britain, and announced that he had proclaimed an "unlimited national emergency." requiring that its military, naval, air and civilian defences be put on the basis of readiness to repel any and all acts or threats of aggression directed toward any part of the Western Hemisphere. The US was rearming "only for self-defence", he said.

Meanwhile in Germany 100 troop trains a day are heading east.

Representatives from French Morocco arrive in Algiers to conduct secret talks with the Free French. Given that the position of Morocco is untenable in the face of any allied attack now, it is expected that a similar deal will be struck to those in Tunisia and Algeria. That evening, the Vichy governor of Madagascar restates his dedication to the Vichy cause. It is thought that the governor considers himself too far away from anyone for it to matter.

30th May

British troops of the 4th Cavalry Brigade of 1st British Cavalry Division arrive outside Baghdad after travelling 500 miles across the desert from Palestine. Rashid Ali, the German and Italian diplomats in Iraq and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem have all bravely fled to Persia. A ceasefire agreement has been signed by the remaining government with the British, whose main force is at Ur, and the Regent has been restored.

The British antitank gunners, disappointed that the Afrika Korps had fled before they had a chance to try out their shiny new 6-pdrs on them, has been testing them against the copious supply of dead Axis tanks, the results of which leave them quite enthusiastic. Permission is given for a couple of guns to go to Tunis and be tried out on the German tanks left there.

O'Connor has noticed that there were problems with the British tanks employed in the latest operations, in particular their tendency to break down and the lack of a decent HE round. While these points have been made already in the Cyrenaica campaign, the latest action has reinforced the point that these problems have not been fixed. According he selects a group of experienced officers to evaluate the performance of both the British and German tanks, with a view to putting out a formal request for a new (or at least modified) tank to fix these problems. As it looks unlikely they will have to conduct major armoured operations in the near future, he thinks this is a good time to review the current tank designs and policies.