by Row, David
In the Philippines, the Japanese land another 2,500 men of the 16th Division at Legazpi, again against minimal opposition. Mutterings are starting to be heard in Washington as to why the Philippines army seems to be unable to contain or even attack the invaders while the Imperial forces are fighting hard and, for the moment at least, successfully, in Malaya. The USAAF in the Philippines sends six B-17's to bomb Vigan, but the raid causes little damage. The Japanese air force is starting to operate from the airfields they have captured; there are now over 50 Ki-27 Nate fighters in northern Luzon, with more planes arriving steadily. The Japanese continue their tactics of sending planes continuously over the Allied fields as much as possible, and an increasing number of American aircraft are being destroyed on the ground.
In Malaya, the Japanese 5th Division takes Kota Bharu and pushes south as the defenders move back to hastily prepared defensive positions. The withdrawal is made more difficult by the way that the Japanese troops press their advance, and it requires a retreat of 20 miles before they can break contact and re-establish a defensive line. The Japanese air force is not happy with the state of the Kota Bharu airfield. The men who designed its demolition had been briefed by an officer selected by Park from one of his men who had designed the ones for 11 Groups advanced airfields in case of a German invasion, and the result is that not much is left intact. The main buildings and supplies have been burnt, and the runway itself broken by explosives. Still, it will be possible with work to use the old un-surfaced runways, and the Japanese ground crews and engineers start working on the problem.
News has been received that the US island of Guam has fallen to a Japanese invasion force. The island was always at risk, and while the invasion was hardly unexpected, the preparations to relieve Wake, which it seems possible to hold, are going ahead as fast as possible.
Dec 13th
Alexander receives news that 250 Valentine tanks, due for shipment to Russia over the next three months, will be redirected to him. The first are already waiting in Iran for shipping. The Australians have been training men to form their own armoured division in North Africa; the plan is for these to be diverted to Ceylon to meet with the tanks, and then be sent on to Malaya to give Blamey the means to mount an offensive once the Japanese advance has been held. The tanks are some of the older versions, with the 2-pdr gun rather than the 6-pdr, but this is felt not to be such an issue against the Japanese, as the 2-pdr has already shown to be perfectly capable of destroying the Japanese tanks. Alexander is promised that if the Japanese do deploy more capable armour, some of the new tanks now starting to equip 8th Army will be sent to him. An additional British infantry division will also arrive before the end of January, although he is warned they will probably need a short period of acclimatization, as they will be coming from the UK.
The first of the American 'Flying Tiger' squadrons, originally based in China, arrives in Burma. Preparations are under way to prepare a field to allow them to operate.
In Hong Kong, the continuing pressure of the Japanese attacks has forced the Imperial troops defending the colony to retreat from the mainland.
Japanese troops move on the airfield at Victoria point. It has long been realized that the airfield would be unusable in the event of a Japanese invasion of Thailand, and the Japanese only find a carefully demolished base, with the unwelcome addition of a considerable amount of lovingly designed booby-traps.
Indian troops prepare demolitions at the oil installations in Sarawak and Brunei in order to deny them to the Japanese in case of invasion. While the British would prefer to keep this resource, the defence of Malaya is vital at this point and they would rather destroy the installations than let them fall into the hands of the Japanese.
While Stalin is unhappy at the British decision to suspend supplies of armaments to him for some months, the British are adamant that their own need in the Far East takes priority. They point to the Russian winter offensive, slowly pushing the German Army back, as evidence that the Germans are temporarily less of an immediate threat.
Force Z is heading north on a course to intercept the Japanese fleet south of Indo-China. The Japanese are finally aware of Somerville's presence, as a patrolling Japanese submarine spotted them last night. However its report on the fleet does not include all the ships present - the captain reports two battleships (rather than four), and two carriers (instead of three), plus 'cruisers and destroyers'.
Somerville and his staff have finally decided on their attack option. Given the relative sizes of the fleets involved, Somerville feels he has sufficient force, if correctly applied, to shatter the Japanese fleet and, hopefully, buy additional time by making them much more cautious. He accepts that he may get attacked by land-based aircraft, but after the Navy's experiences in the Mediterranean theatre, he feels confident he can cope with this while he withdraws. The plan is a mix of a night and dawn raid. The fleet will close to, ideally, about 150 miles during the first part of the night, then launch a full-strength raid with his torpedo planes. The main targets are obviously the carriers. They will be recovered as a dawn strike by his dive bombers (this time with a fighter escort) makes sure the carriers cannot fly off aircraft, then will sink or disable as many of the cruisers as possible. If the enemy battleships or carriers are still afloat, a second torpedo raid is possible, depending on the response to the first two strikes - if it looks too dangerous, he will leave any damaged ships to his submarines. Somerville's job is to stop the Japanese with minimal loss (Malaya will stand or fall on the actions of the Army, he can only help them), and so the option of sending in his battleships to take out any damaged ships has been ruled out in the face of an uncertain amount of land-based air power. Initial reports from the RAF have described a worryingly competent Japanese air force. While some of the RAF officers have dismissed this in preference to their pre-war opinion that the Japanese can't fly, Somerville's air officers are rather more cautious until they have combat reports from their own pilots.
For their part, the Japanese are looking to a combination of a heavy land-based escorted strike, and (if the enemy gets close enough) a night torpedo strike by cruisers and destroyers. Admiral Kondo accepts that his two carriers, which only have some 50 planes between them, are too weak for a decisive strike and are better used to defend his ships while he closes to use the torpedoes on his cruisers and destroyers.
Chapter 3 - First Battle of the South China Sea 13th-14th Dec
Map 3 - The South China Sea
Force Z's best estimate of the position of the Japanese fleet was southeast of Cambodia point, which made sense if they were in fact covering the Japanese troop convoys. Somerville intended to close to about 150 miles - closer than needed for a strike, but it allowed time for the radar-equipped Spearfish to locate the enemy if needed. For their part, the Japanese were less sure of the position (and indeed the composition) of Force Z, but their last location was off the coast of Sarawak, heading northwest. Accordingly, reconnaissance planes were sent out from French Indo China to get a fix, while the torpedo bombers and their fighter escorts were made ready for an attack. Force Z was in fact located by them at around 1400 on the 13th, some 400 miles from their own ships. This was thought fortunate, as that meant a surface torpedo attack would be possible, especially if their bombers could slow or sink some of the ships.
The Japanese plane was ordered to keep contact with the British fleet, something that it managed for half an hour before a pair of fighters was vectored onto it, despite its attempts to hide in scattered cloud. For his part, Somerville's main worry about being discovered was that the Japanese might pull back too far north for a safe engagement. The reconnaissance plane did report three carriers, which worried Kondo slightly, but his air staff assured him that meant their own air power would have the opportunity to inflict a crushing defeat on the Royal Navy. The Japanese had been very disappointed that the attack on Pearl Harbor had not found any carriers, and hoped to at least partially remedy that by sinking the three British c
arriers they had located.
Kondo wanted to, at the very least, damage Force Z so badly as to force the British to keep out of the northern part of the South China Sea, in order to allow his convoys to travel safely to Siam. He had planned a series of attacks - first a land based strike to cripple the carriers, then a torpedo strike to sink or damage the big ships. The following day would bring more air attacks from land and his own carriers, and if conditions allowed a final conclusion with his torpedoes and the big guns of his battleships.
Force Z was keeping a CAP of twelve planes in the air, with more spotted on deck; the range of the Japanese planes was uncertain, and Somerville wanted plenty of fighter cover just in case. This caution was justified when at 1530 a large formation of planes was reported approaching from the north at 90 miles. The carriers immediately turned to launch the ready fighters on deck, and additional planes were brought up to be fuelled and warmed up - this looked to be a substantial attack. All other planes were struck below, unarmed and empty, as the carriers prepared for an incoming attack. This was the strike from the land bases in French Indo China, and the Japanese knew the virtue of a single large attack as opposed to a series of small ones. The attack was actually made up of three kokutais (sections), and as a result (and the inexact position of Force Z), actually arrived in two parts. The first element consisted of 50 G3M Nells armed with torpedoes, and escorted by sixteen Zero fighters; the second element showed up on radar a few minutes later, heading to the west of Force Z; it consisted of 26 Nells with torpedoes, and a twelve Zero fighter escort. This was basically all the available naval aircraft in French Indo China.
As the fighters clawed their way up to altitude, the fleet formed into its AA defence formation with the ease of long practice - apart from HMAS Melbourne, pretty much all of the ships had done this before in the Mediterranean. By now, the CAP consisted of sixteen Goshawks and eight of the new Sea Eagle, and another sixteen fighters were being warmed up on deck. The carriers escort destroyers closed up to add their fire to that of the carriers, while the battleships moves to either side of them. The FAA pilots had been made aware of the initial reports of the RAF engagements with Japanese fighters - in any case, their job was to shoot down bombers rather than to get into a dogfight, and they had been reminded of that before takeoff. There was considerable speculation as to whether the incoming strike had fighter cover - the force seemed to be coming from land, and it would be at extreme range for a fighter to reach out this far. With two different types of fighter, the basic plan was for the Sea Eagle to engage the bombers - its speed would allow it to recover and make more attacks. The Goshawks would cover any fighters present, while also engaging the bombers. The plot showed the largest part of the formation losing height while a smaller part kept above it; to the experienced men on the carriers this meant fighters escorting a torpedo attack, and they informed their planes accordingly. The fighters already at altitude would try and keep the enemy fighters away from their torpedo planes, while the ones just launching would stay low and go straight for the torpedo planes if they didn't have time to get sufficient height. The light cruiser Bonaventure would be the pivot ship, and if possible keep the carriers safe inside the other ships.
First contact was made around 15 miles out by the Sea Eagles diving down onto the Nells. The speed of their diving attack shocked the Zero pilots escorting them, and the Eagles managed to shoot down four of the bombers in their first attack run. They also got credit for a kill on a Zero - a number of the escorts had instinctively dived to follow the fighters swooping on their charges, and one of them had flown out of its wings. The Eagles used their speed to climb for altitude again, turning to make another run at the bombers. The Goshawks were somewhat slower, and seeing the formation of Zeros breaking up, all but four went for it as planned. The result was a very confusing fight - the Zeros trying to draw the Goshawks into a turning dogfight, while the defenders were trying to make slashing attacks on the Japanese fighters then turn and come back again. The net outcome was inconclusive - the Japanese force lost six Zeros, the defenders seven Goshawks. That left twelve fighters to harry the slower torpedo planes, which they did with enthusiasm. A pair of the escorts broke off from the fight above to try and protect them, and had a shock when the Sea Eagle they were heading for simply flew away from their diving attack in level flight. They did draw the attention of some of the fighters, however, managing to shoot down a Sea Eagle who lingered too long in front of them before both were shot down.
In the meantime, the remaining fighters were swooping onto the Nells, another nine being destroyed before the rest of the fighters arrived. They made a head-on attack, having been unable to gain sufficient height for the usual diving attack from the rear, and another five Nells burst into flames and fell into the sea - this was becoming the usual fate of these bombers, and would lead to the FAA crews derisively terming them 'Ronsons' (from the US lighter companies famous advert, 'light first time'). The planes, despite their losses, were heading steadily for the fleet, and their speed meant that some were going to get through. By the time they reached the AA zone, the fighters had dispatched all but eighteen of them, although two injudicious Goshawks had been hit by their defensive fire, one fatally, the other managing to bail out, to be picked up later by a destroyer.
The Nell pilots then had an unpleasant introduction to the amount of AA fire the Royal Navy considered appropriate for a carrier group. Even the destroyers mounted twelve 40mm, plus a number of 20mm AA guns, and the fleet carriers and battleships close to 80 40mm each. The remaining torpedo planes drove into a storm of light AA tracer and 4.5" shellbursts as they headed for their targets, the battleship Prince of Wales and the fleet carrier Illustrious. Only twelve of them managed to launch - four had already been shot down, and two more damaged so they were unable to get a clear launch. Somerville, standing on the bridge of HMS King George V, was impressed with the skill and determination with which the attack was made - this was easily as good as anything the Luftwaffe had managed, and he would have to plan his future tactics accordingly. The first group of planes launched six torpedoes in two groups against the Prince of Wales, who turned into them to comb the tracks. She almost managed to get away with it, but not quite - one of the torpedoes hit her forward on the starboard side as she attempted to jink between the tracks. The huge ship shuddered, slowing as the Captain tried to minimize the damage caused by the ships own speed. The ship got some revenge, as its 40mm guns shot down another of the bombers as it tried to make its escape.
The second group were still heading for the Illustrious, and although two of them were hit by the carrier and her escort's fire, they managed to launch. The Captain of the Illustrious again turned towards the torpedoes, the men on the flight deck clinging on as the big carrier heeled over as it did its imitation of a 25,000-ton destroyer. Thanks to this, and the weight of fire having its effect on the planes attack, he managed to avoid all the torpedoes. The ship, however, did not get away from the attack unscathed. One of the Nells, already streaming fire from one engine, made what was afterwards described as a 'deliberate' suicidal crash onto the ships flight deck. Illustrious was still a lucky ship; the plane struck at quite a shallow angle, and almost bounced off her thick flight deck, before exploding and sending burning aviation fuel over the forward part of the deck. Sadly, this caught a number of the deck crews, as well as two Goshawks being prepared on deck, which also started to burn. A thick pall of smoke started to climb into the air above the carrier.
While the first attack was dissipating, the radar plot had seen the second raid turning in their direction, presumably alerted to their position by the first raid. Although this looked smaller, it was still a substantial force. The fighters were brought back and started to gain height although two of the Sea Eagles and a Goshawk had to be landed on the Implacable as they were out of ammunition. There was concern that some of the other fighters were also low on ammunition, but there wasn't enough time to rearm them. Implacable did manage to
catapult off two more Sea Eagles, but Illustrious's flight deck would be unusable for some time.
As with the first raid, this too seemed to consist of escorted torpedo planes. With the planes in the air, the controller managed to get all of them up to altitude and vectored onto the raid as it closed. With the burning fuel on the Illustrious visible for a considerable distance, it was clear that there was no chance of evading them. This time, with a height and position advantage, the Goshawks dived down on the bombers first, while the Sea Eagles turned in to attack their escort. This raid only consisted of 26 bombers, and the sixteen Goshawks managed to shoot down 18 of them as they bore in. They had hoped to claim them all, but a number of the fighters ran out of ammunition during their attacks. Meanwhile the battle between the Eagles and the Zeros had held off the escort from defending the bombers, only three of them managing to get in a position to attack the Goshawks. They managed to shoot down three of the Goshawks (another one was lost to the bombers), for the loss of two of their number. The Sea Eagles were proving to be more than a match for the Zero, able to attack and then use its considerable speed advantage to disengage and make another attack. The Eagle pilots tended to be experienced - there had been considerable competition for a place in the new squadrons - and although the Japanese pilots fought with both skill and determination, they lost seven Zeroes for five of the defenders.