The Whale Has Wings Vol 3 - Holding the Barrier

by Row, David

  Dec 15th

  Northwest of Moscow, the Soviet Army retakes Klin and Kalinin. Russian radio announces that the advance of the Red Army against the frozen and pitifully unprepared German army will continue until they are forced from Russian soil.

  The Japanese force investing Hong Kong attempts its first landings on the island itself, but these are repelled, albeit with difficulty. It is clearly only a matter of time before the colony falls.

  The RAF in Malaya resumes offensive operations against the Japanese airfields in Siam from the more southerly bases. These bases are in no danger from the Japanese army at present, and are inside the southern Malaya radar net, allowing the defenders more warning of attacks.

  The day sees a number of confused raids from both sides, each trying to catch the other on the ground as well as damage the airbases they are using. The RAF loses six Blenheim bombers, eight Beaufighters and nine Sparrowhawks. The Japanese lose seven Sally bombers and eleven Nate fighters. The use of a radar system and ground control is starting to give the defenders an advantage over the Japanese tactics of small, constant raids, but it is clear that the operators require considerably more experience before the threat can be completely contained.

  In the USA, there has been much controversy over the construction of the Alaska-class battlecruisers. Many feel they are unnecessary, and even though a war has begun, there is no sign of the Japanese battlecruisers they were intended to fight. There is pressure by the 'air faction' in the navy to cancel them, and build three additional Essex-class carriers in place of them, especially since the Royal Navy is steadily showing that a surface ship is as the mercy of a carrier which comes within range. The first ship of the class is about to be laid down; as a result of the discussions, this is postponed for two weeks until a final decision can be made.

  Dec 16th

  The U .S. War Department gives Brigadier General John Magruder, head of the American Military Mission to China (AMMISCA), permission to divert Chinese lend-lease supplies to the British, provided the Chinese agree. The operations in Malaya have been of sufficient intensity to worry the British regarding their logistics. It isn't realised yet just how inadequate the Japanese logistics system is compared to that of the Allies.

  The Secretary of the Navy approves an expansion of the pilot training program from the existing schedule of assigning 800 students per month to one calling for 2,500 per month, leading to a production of 20,000 pilots annually by mid-1943.

  The Japanese army postpones the planned invasion of Borneo for a short time. This is to allow the Royal Navy force to retreat to Singapore, out of easy range of interfering. While the Navy is convinced that Force Z is retreating beaten, the Army is less trusting, especially when getting reports sourced by the Navy.

  Admiral Fletcher's Task Force 11 is deployed in support of Admiral Brown’s TF 14. This consists of the fleet carrier Saratoga, the fleet oiler Neches, seaplane tender Tangier (loaded with supplies), the heavy cruisers Astoria, Minneapolis, and San Francisco, and ten destroyers. The convoy carries the 4th Marine Defence Battalion, a fighter squadron equipped with Grumman Wildcat fighters, along with 9,000 5 in (130 mm) rounds, 12,000 3 in (76 mm) rounds, and 3,000,000 .50 in (12.7 mm) rounds, as well as a large amount of ammunition for mortars and other battalion small arms. TF 14 - consisting of the fleet carrier Lexington, three heavy cruisers, eight destroyers, and an oiler - is to undertake a raid on the Marshall Islands to divert Japanese attention.

  After the recent events in theatre and in SE Asia, Fletcher was instructed to relieve Wake 'with all speed'. Unofficially the commanders have it pointed out to them that the Navy's honour requires them to be seen to act in support of US interests and territories, especially in view of the comments some Congressmen are making. There is some concern at the way the fleet is being used in small elements, inviting defeat in detail, after the way it has been shown in the war so far that better results are obtained from concentrated force. With the present available forces, and the sheer size of the Pacific Theatre, such dispersion is seen as inevitable.

  Dec 17th

  In the Crimea, German attacks by 54th Corps of the German Army Group South begin against the city of Sevastopol despite continuing Soviet offensives in other areas.

  A plan is drawn up for using Australia as an Allied supply base under command of Major General George H. Brett, USA. Meanwhile B-17 Flying Fortresses, evacuating the Philippine Islands, begin arriving at Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory. It is not yet certain if the planes will be based here, but as it is likely the DEI are the eventual target of the Japanese attack they will stay here to be used to attack the expected incursion.

  The Australian “Gull Force” (1,100 men from the Australian 8th Division) lands on Ambon Island, DEI to reinforce the Dutch garrison. The Dutch are poorly equipped, and the Australians urgently recommend supply of items such as radios and other basic military supplies.

  Dec 18th

  MacArthur is promoted to full General. There are a certain amount of barbed comments (carefully not in the presence of senior officers) as to what rank he would have been promoted to if he had been successful at defending the Philippines.

  In northern Malaya the Japanese assault on the Jitra defences continues, with fresh troops from the 18th division aided by tanks. The Australian defence is starting to weaken as the continuing assault allows them little rest, and the infantry infiltration and assaults, although often costly to the Japanese, are steadily eroding their positions. With the local airfields now evacuated and destroyed, planning is made to withdraw the defenders to the defence line further south, which they have bought time to have prepared and manned. The Australians will blow bridges and cause as much delay as possible while defence lines are strengthened. While it might have been possible to hold Jitra by committing his reserves, Blamey is concerned at being outflanked by a push from Kroh, the Japanese having now overcome the earlier delaying tactics. Fortunately for the defenders the Japanese have had to pause in their attacks on a number of occasions to wait for more supplies. Apparently the planned convoys are having some difficulties. Indeed, Yamashita has already ordered that the maximum amount of supplies be brought overland, requisitioning whatever his logistics troops can get from the locals. So far the Australian and Indian troops have lost some 3,000 men, about 1/3 of them killed. The Japanese have lost over twice this (including troops lost on the transports), mostly killed, and the 5th Division is running very short on men.

  The issues with the transports are only going to get worse. Dutch submarines operating out of Singapore have sunk four transports and an oiler (although with the loss of three submarines to attacks and mines), the US submarine Swordfish has sunk a freighter off Hainan, and the British submarines have sunk two more tankers. For the time being, there is little surface shipping available to supply 25th Army

  The attack has been costly in terms of aircraft to both sides. The RAF and RAAF have lost another eight Sparrowhawks, nine Beaufighters and five Blenhiems as they struggle to attack the Japanese ground troops and the air bases. The Japanese have been defending their bases and helping their troops on the ground with air strikes and strafing attacks, losing eleven Oscars and fifteen Ki-51 Sonjas. Both sides are now asking their command for more planes and pilots. It’s not only the number of planes lost in combat; both sides are suffering from depleted squadrons due to non-combat damage. This is hitting the Japanese worse as the airfields they are using are not surfaced, and planes are being put out of action due to poor landings. While the planes are normally repairable, the strain is telling on the ground crews.

  As the Royal Navy returns to Singapore, the Japanese mount a heavy night raid against the city. It had originally been planned for this to be made by navy G3M Nell and G4M Betty bombers, but after the Battle of the South China Sea, these are 'not available'. A heavy raid is therefore undertaken by 40 Ki-21 Sally bombers. There is some concern that the lack of a moon will make navigation difficult, but the position of S
ingapore Island makes it easier to spot.

  The new moon also gives the bomber pilots confidence that they will be difficult to intercept. This confidence proves misplaced when twelve Reaper night-fighters are vectored onto the bomber groups by the island's radar net. While the Japanese bombers have good performance, their target is obvious, and as a result, fifteen of them are shot down, many before they even reach Singapore. The only loss to the night-fighters is one which crashes on landing. The bombers which do manage to attack find that with some of the fleet in, the AA fire from the docks is heavy, and by now, the authorities have worked out how to fix the blackout. One more plane is lost to AA, and while bombs are scattered across the base, causing a fair amount of damage, nothing critical and no ships are hit.

  The northeastern part of the South China Sea had been kept under observation since the battle by Dutch Do34 flying boats. On the 17th a formation of ten transports and a tanker were spotted some 300 miles north-west of Lutang. Although there were now Dutch fighters on some of the Borneo airbases, the Dutch were not equipped adequately for anti-shipping strikes, and a squadron of Beaufighters is arranged to leave tomorrow, stopping at Kuching airfield to refuel.

  Planes were not the only forces the Allies had in the area, however. Although she had been unlucky in not managing to find any of the Japanese warships in the earlier action, the submarine HMS Unbroken had been looking for trade off the Borneo coast. She was close enough to intercept the convoy on receiving the sighting report from the Dutch aircraft. The small submarine found the convoy without any proper naval escort - it was surmised that the Japanese had assumed the naval actions had drawn all the Allied warships away from this area, and only one destroyer was seen accompanying the transports. In two attacks, she sank the tanker and two of the transports before the convoy escaped. While the Unbroken was depth charged (and claimed sunk by the Japanese destroyer), she suffered only minor damage.

  Dec 19th

  General Brauchitsch is formally removed as Commander-in-Chief. Hitler assumes the duties personally. The German attacks on Sevastopol continues with the Soviets managing to bring in 14,000 reinforcements via sea between today and the 25th. The Red Army is still pressing the Germans back in the north, as the German Army suffers from the extreme cold.

  The USN’s Task Force 8 (Vice Admiral Halsey), formed around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), heavy cruisers, and destroyers, sails from Pearl Harbor. It is tasked to join with TF 11 and support the reinforcement of Wake Island. Since Admiral Fletcher's force is expected to pause to refuel (so his lighter units are able to fully use their speed in case of attack), he expects to join up with him just before he reaches Wake. Current intelligence is mixed; the Japanese obviously got a bloody nose on their first attack, and are preparing for a second attempt. There are unsubstantiated reports that a carrier is being sent to the area, and also battleships, though this is seen as less likely with the sinking by the Royal Navy of two of the IJN's 11 battleships in the South China Sea.

  The battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Malaya, moored at Alexandria, are badly damaged by explosions under their keels planted by human torpedo's operated by Italian frogmen of the Decima Flottiglia MAS. The damage is so great that these two ships are deemed unseaworthy. However as both of them are in the shallow harbour, reconnaissance photographs taken by the Italians indicate the attack was a failure and the ships are still operational. Both are in fact sitting upright on the bottom.

  In northern Malaya the planned withdrawal from Jitra goes ahead, covered by the artillery firing off all its remaining stocks (a shortage of shells due to the Japanese attacks and the consequent difficulty of resupply was one reason behind the withdrawal). The infantry head south, covered by the remaining Matilda tanks. Only eight remain operational; 22 have been lost, although only seven in combat, usually to a suicidal attack by Japanese infantry with satchel charges, the Matilda being immune to any conventional weapons possessed by the Japanese. The others have been lost to the Matilda's perennial problem, mechanical breakdown. While a withdrawal under fire is always a difficult operation, the experienced troops carry it off with efficiency, aided by the heavy Japanese losses - this has made the commanders at the front rather wary of the Australians, and by the time they realise this is a withdrawal rather than a trap the Australians are on their way south.

  The Japanese convoy which attracted the attentions of HMS Unbroken yesterday has continued on to Borneo, where it lands elements of the 16th Division at Miri, Seria and Lutong. Although the loss of some of his force en route made the commander consider only landing in two places, he has decided to take all three, confident his troops can defeat any local opposition, as Lutong is in any case close to Miri.

  Dutch reconnaissance aircraft from Singkawang, Borneo, continue to make reconnaissance flights over the Japanese invasion fleet. Despite a lack of torpedoes, a Dutch Dornier Do-24 bombs and sinks Japanese destroyer HIJMS Shinonome off Miri, Borneo. Meanwhile RAF Beaufighters are preparing to make a strike on the ships; they left from Singapore before dawn, and refuelled at Kuching airfield. They then flew north, to be joined by a squadron of Dutch Buffaloes, to make a strike on the ships. The first group of ships was sighted off Miri, and the first twelve Beaufighters were happy to find them not only anchored and busy unloading, but with no fighter cover. Opposed only by the AA from the ships, they placed their torpedoes carefully, leaving three of the five ships sinking, and two more damaged. They then carried on to Seria, where they found the remaining three transport ships. Although they only had four torpedoes left, they sank one of the three and damaged a second, They and the fighters then strafed the remaining ship, leaving it on fire (although the crew managed to put this out and save the ship). Apparently the Japanese had not expected any opposition to the landings apart from on land, and after the heavy losses in aircraft they had sustained recently had decided that this force did not need air cover. One Beaufighter had been damaged by AA, and made a forced landing at Kutching; a second was lost when it landed badly.

  The Japanese landings had gone quite successfully until the arrival of the Beaufighters, and they had landed their troops, although supplies would now be a problem. After the events in Malaya and Thailand, the commanders had decided that no matter what reassurances they got from the IJN they would get their troops at least off the ships and onto land as fast as possible.

  While the warning given to the local defenders allowed them to resist the landings, they were heavily outnumbered (even with the losses the Japanese had suffered to the submarine attack), and by noon the Japanese were in possession of the town of Miri.

  There had been considerable discussion on whether there was any serious chance of holding Borneo if the Japanese invade. It would be helpful to deny them a base so close to Singapore and the oil in the area, but it might mean writing off any troops sent. The Dutch are reluctant to commit more men as they expect to be fighting for the DEI once the Japanese have finished in the Philippines. After secret talks with the Australians, it was decided to send about 1,500 men from the reserve 8th Division and about the same number of Ghurkhas from Malaya. For political reasons an Australian commander is named. The force from Malaya sailed today, having been prepared once the Japanese invasion fleet was detected, and the Australians will hopefully leave today or tomorrow. It is still being decided where the best place to land them will be.

  Air support is a problem; the heavy air fighting in Malaya has depleted the RAF and RAAF force, and replacement planes have not yet arrived. On the positive side, the RN has butchered the long-range bomber force, and the Dutch promise fighter support to both defend the force and aid with ground attacks. Admiral Somerville is unsure just what Japanese naval support will be give, but a light striking force of three cruisers and four destroyers is held at Singapore for the time being. Any operations will be close to the Borneo coast, so he expects land-based fighter support to be acceptable.

  Dec 20th

  In a major reorganisation at the to
p of the USN, Admiral Ernest J. King is appointed as Commander in Chief of the US Fleet.

  The Japanese increase their strength in the Philippines by landing at Davao an invasion force of fourteen transports covered by a cruiser squadron and the light carrier Ryujo. In order to prevent interference a heavy force of bombers attacks Del Monte airfield, while other airfields are strafed by their fighters.

  A British convoy arrives at Singapore carrying supplies, more aircraft to replace those lost, and the 18th British division. It is intended to add this division to the 8th and 11th Indian divisions, but as the defence line in the north is currently holding well, Alexander instructs that the troops will undergo a rush course in fighting in the jungle while they acclimatise, bearing in mind they may need to go into combat at any time.