The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore (31 page)

29th June

Finnish troops push towards Murmansk. A joint Finish-German attack starts on 29 June at 3 am. The attackers are German 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions and Finnish Detachment Petsamo which protects the attack's right flank. Soviet resistance is initially quite light and the Finns' and 2nd Divisions advance is rapid.

The fortress of Brest-Litovsk finally falls after a siege lasting a week when it is bombed by squadrons of Ju88's. Guderian's Panzer Group links up near Minsk with the Panzers of General Hermann Hoth, creating a huge Soviet pocket.

British forces in the Middle East are reorganised.

A new army will be formed, 8th Army. It will initially consist of XIII Corps and XXX Corps, with a further Corps to be added later.

XIII Corps consists of 2nd Armoured, 4th Indian and 6th Australian divisions.

XXX Corps consists of 7th Armoured, 50th British and 5th Indian divisions.

I Australian Corp currently has 7th Australian Division, 9th Australian Division and a British armoured brigade; the armoured brigade will be expanded to a division as in the other Corps.

The New Zealand division will remain on Crete for the time being; after the Greek divisions are properly equipped and ready, a decision will be made to redeploy them

There is also the 1st South African Division, a Polish Brigade and some Commando units in reserve, and a number of Indian divisions occupying Iraq and other strategic points.

It is intended to expand the commando forces, and additional landing ships and craft are to be expected from Britain. The next task seen for Middle East command is to look at reducing and occupying the Dodecanese islands to help secure Crete and the western Adriatic.

General O'Connor will be in charge of 8th Army. His Corps commanders are Gott (XIII Corps), and Montgomery, sent out from England to command XXX Corps. Wavell remembers him from amphibious exercises in the area before the war, and the amphibious operations being considered will need well-trained troops and good planning, both areas in which Montgomery is considered to excel. General Blamey will remain in command of I Aus Corps.

30th June

The Maud Committee, set up last year to study the feasibility of producing a bomb based on nuclear fission, has presented its findings to the government. It concludes that such a bomb containing 25 pounds of active material would produce an effect equivalent to 1,800 tons of TNT, as well as large quantities of radioactive substances, and the material for the first bomb could be ready by 1944.

The German Second Panzer Group captures Bobryusk, Russia. Army Group South captures Luvov. In the north the Germans advance toward Kiev.

The western front commander, General Dmitri Pavlov, and his leading officers are executed for incompetence on Stalin's orders.

The French islands in the West Indies declare for Free France, after a rather extended period of secret negotiations. This will also allow the ships exiled there after Mers-el-Kebir to be refitted in US yards and brought back into service, a useful addition to the Allied navies.

2nd July

Marshal Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko is appointed western front commander.

Heavy rains have affected the roads being used by the German advance. The armoured reconnaissance detachment of the German 7th Panzer Division under General Baron von Funck reported that it had been forced to halt its drive "because the prescribed roads have been reduced by heavy rainfall to an untrafficable swamp."

Hoeppners Fourth Panzer Group attacks toward Ostrov. The Romanian Third and Fourth Armies and the German Eleventh Army begin full scale attacks in the South.

At Debra Tabor in Ethiopia a force of 4,500 Italians and levies besieged by Ethiopian patriots surrender to a British force of one squadron and one company.

Japan is preparing for war against Britain and the US over Indochina by conscripting one million men and recalling all its merchant ships from the Atlantic. While 400,000 conscripts will reinforce the Kwantung army in China, the rest will be committed to southeast Asia. The decision to open up the southern front - to be known as the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere - has been spurred by the speed of the German successes in Europe. Ironically the British success in North Africa has been used to point out the effectiveness of fast action of an army supported by naval and air units, which the Japanese intend to deploy in the new theatre.

At an Imperial Conference at which the emperor made a rare appearance, the war minister, Hideki Tojo, urged the cabinet that now is the time to secure a greater empire or risk missing the opportunity. These are repeats of Liaison Conferences which are held between military and political leaders. Imperial Conferences repeat the information for the Emperor and obtain his approval. This Conference ratifies the decision to attempt to take bases in French Indochina, even at the risk of war.

3rd July

After heavy fighting against Soviet tanks, General Nehring's 18th Panzer Division reported the existence if a new kind of Soviet tank, quite different in appearance from the all the known types, which seemed "very advanced and was indestructible by German antitank guns".

Panzergruppe 2's 3rd Panzer Division (General Model) reaches the Dnepr River when it captures Rogachev, southeast of Minsk.

Stalin broke his silence today and, calling his people "brothers" and "sisters" rather than "comrades", called on them to fight a total war against the invading Germans not only in the modern sense but also in the grim "old Russian" way.

In a speech broadcast throughout the Soviet Union, he called on the people to lay the land waste before the invader. Everything possible must be removed, he said, and that which cannot by moved must be destroyed.

The mopping up of the Italian forces in East Africa continues as the Italian garrison at Debra Tabor surrenders to the British, and General Gazzera's 7,000 strong army in the south surrenders to a Belgian force.

With the Italian surrender at Amba Alagi, all that remains for the Allies in East Africa is clearing up. A few Italian divisions remain around Gondar in the northwest, and in the far west, and the rains - which make all roads impassable - will give them a few months life, but they present no strategic threat to anyone. This allows the allies to start considering the redeployment of some of the troops in the area; while some will need to remain in the country, the other units will be withdrawn for use elsewhere.

The USS Hornet enters commission. The newest of the USN's fleet carriers, she has been brought forward in completion date due to the increasing tension between the USA and Japan and the increasing importance carriers are playing at sea. The last of the Yorktown class carriers, Ticonderoga, is expected to be ready in 8-9 months.

5th July

A 49-year-old Communist who organized groups of his fellow Yugoslav's to fight Franco in the Spanish Civil War today issued a call to his country "to rise like one man in this battle against the invaders and hirelings." Josip Broz, alias "Tito", has recruited many partisans from the Yugoslavs who have fled to the mountains to escape forced labour under the Germans.

The German Sixth Army breaks through the Stalin line near Lwow. The Soviet defence line west of Zhitomir is also breached by the German Sixth Army. To the north, east of Minsk, the German advance reaches the Dnepr River.

7th July

The United States takes over the protection of Iceland from Britain and lands troops to start building naval and air bases. The American security zone is also extended eastwards to longitude 22 W, to embrace Iceland. The US assumes the responsibility for the direct protection of all convoys of American ships bound for Iceland and of any such ships of other nationalities as wished to attach themselves to such convoys.

The Admiralty report on the possible composition of a fleet for the Far East in case of a Japanese attack is sent to the War cabinet. It stated than in a few months seven fleet carriers will be available (after HMS Bulwark commissions in September). Three should be left in the Mediterranean, two at Alexandria and one at Oran. One would be held at home, but that would usually be in refit/modernisation. A light carrier would be retained at Scapa in case one was needed urgently, but carriers could be quickly released from Atlantic convoys if need be. Three fleet carriers would be available. Later this year the RAN will have two light carriers in operation. It recommends at least one and preferably two more be sent. With no German surface unit heavier than a destroyer still afloat, the retention of heavy ships in Home Waters can be kept to a minimum, and the invasion of Russia means no attempt an invasion will be possible this year.

Now that there are virtually no enemy heavy or capital ships left in home waters and the Mediterranean, the navy can actually spare battleships more easily than carriers. They recommend the Warspite and Queen Elizabeth (both of which have been modernised) are sent to work with the light carriers (as the light carriers are slower than the fleet carriers, the older battleships speed is a better match). HMS Duke of York will commission in September, and has had the additional work done requested some time ago to make her more suitable for operation in the tropics. HMS KGV and HMS Prince of Wales are having similar modifications and modernisations done while the damage caused by the Bismark is being repaired. They suggest either Repulse or Renown is given a short refit and modernisation. This will give a squadron of one battlecruiser and three fast battleships to work with the carriers.

They point out that even this powerful force will be inadequate if attacked by the whole Japanese fleet, but even in the worst case (the USA remaining neutral), they feel that with the support of land-based planes it will be adequate, as the Japanese would have to retain ships to cover themselves in case of American intervention.

In addition to the usual support of cruisers and destroyers, two submarine squadrons should also be sent (as per the pre-war plans); eight T-class and eight U-class. These are less needed in the Mediterranean now as the only targets tend to be small and close to land; given the number of minefields the Italians have laid, better and cheaper results will be obtained by torpedo-armed Beaufighters and naval planes.

Given that the Mediterranean is now relatively quiet, they suggest Admiral Somerville as commander, in view of his experience with air and fleet operations.

9th July

Vitebsk and Pskov fall to the Germans; 300,000 Soviet prisoners have now been taken and 40 Divisions eliminated. The 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups have encircled them at Vitebsk and Pskov forming the 4th Panzer Army. It has now crossed the Dnieper and Dvina Rivers and is advancing to encircle Smolensk.

Lieutenant Brabner, just back from Crete, spoke in the House of Commons:

"In Greece, Crete, and Libya there has been an almost chronic lack of the most important war materials. It sounds incredible, but when we were at Malemi (the aerodrome at Canea, capital of Crete) we rarely were in a position to put more than two aircraft into the air for a continuous patrol during daylight hours."

He then told the House that "70% to 80% of our tanks broke down before they saw the enemy."

These statements will have an impact on the disposition of British resources and the development of new tanks. In fact his assertions are somewhat exaggerated, and considerable efforts have been made to improve the situation, but much more remains to be done. Fortunately the lull in action in the Mediterranean theatre allows the issue of tank performance and reliability to be addressed more easily.

10th July

Units of the Soviet 5th Army counterattack SW of Korosten, but are held by Kleist's Panzer Group. Four Italian divisions leave Italy bound for the Eastern Front - this causes controversy in Italian military circles, where many feel Italian troops are needed in the Mediterranean, but this commitment is in exchange for the earlier German commitment to the short-lived Afrika Korps.

General Guderians forces have crossed the Beresina and are preparing to cross the Dnieper in sight of Smolensk, the gateway to Moscow. Meanwhile the 3rd Panzer Division under Model makes an assault crossing of the Dnepr at Starye Bykhov, about 110 miles downriver from Smolensk. General Hoth is sweeping north to by-pass Smolensk and cut the road to Moscow.

On Stalin's orders Pavlov, the failed commander of the Bialystock sector, has been shot, and a new line of defence has been established under the command of the defence minister, Marshal Timoshenko.

The progress of the American defence program is announced to the Congress. Only $3.6 billion out of $20 billion voted was actually spent on the army. During June 1,476 aircraft were produced out of a planned 3,000 a month. Last August the army has 300 modern combat planes, today it has 250. There are also fewer antitank guns than there were a year ago, but the number of rifles has increased by 200,000 and the number of motor vehicles rose from 745 to 125,000. Many members of Congress are unimpressed.

15th July

Britain and the USSR have signed a mutual defence pact. Importantly, the treaty includes clauses that neither party will conduct separate peace negotiations. It also allows Britain to consider the Russian requests for material aid.

Brigadier Slim arrives back in Cairo with a report on the state of the defences in the Far East. It includes reports on the air situation from Air Marshal Park, who has remained behind to prepare a situation report on the air defence of Ceylon for Admiral Cunningham.