The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore

by David Row

  Centimetric radar is increasingly in use on the escorts, and its being fitted as fast as possible. It is also being fitted on the aircraft; the biggest limitation at the moment is the supply of radars. The new Leigh Light is just starting in operation, and the use of these even with the older metric radar on the Stirlings has sunk a number of U-boats. With the promise of the new Mediterranean route being open soon, the outlook for shipping resources is looking more promising. The new route will allow the ships supplying war equipment to return with full cargoes, and reducing the use of the Cape route will allow a good million tons of shipping to be reallocated. The southern route will also result in less shipping damage during the winter months. The one drawback is that the heavier use of this route will mean more air protection will be needed against Luftwaffe attacks from France, and it is seen as a necessity for these convoys to be covered by a carrier at least until range of Gibraltar.

  A squadron of B-17's is delivered to the French in Algeria. This shipment has been redesignated as lend-lease as the USAAF want to see how the aircraft performs in actual combat. In addition to the planes there are a number of servicemen who speak French with a rather pronounced American accent.

  New commands are put in place for Burma and Malaya, although the timing and composition of the additional forces are still secret.

  British Far Eastern Fleet - Admiral Somerville

  CinC India/Far East - General Auchinleck

  CinC Burma General Cunningham

  I Burma Corps

  1 Burma Inf. Division (in place)

  17 Indian Inf. Division (in place)

  7th Armoured Brigade (in place)

  II Burma Corps

  12 African Division (arrives Nov 41)

  4 Indian Division (arrives Nov 41)

  CinC Malaya

  General Alexander

  CoS Gen. Percival

  I Australian Corps - General Blamey

  7th Australian Div (arrives Sep 41)

  9th Australian Div (arrives Oct 41)

  1 Armoured Division (arrives Sep-Oct 41)

  III Indian Corps - General Heath

  9th Indian Div (in place)

  11th Indian Div. (in place)

  18th British Division (arrives Dec 1941)

  RAF Burma - tbd, until then RAF Burma will come under RAF Malaya command.

  RAF Malaya - AirMarshal Park

  After considering his report, General Slim is promoted so he can take over one of the Indian divisions in Burma. It is emphasized to both the existing commanders and the new ones that training is seen as most important, this being one of the greatest deficiencies listed in the report. While the addition of some experienced and well-trained formations will help, the units already in place need to be brought up to standard.

  5th Aug

  The Germans have wiped out the "Smolensk Pocket", destroying the Russian Sixteenth and Twentieth Armies and capturing 300,000 Russian soldiers, 3,200 tanks and 3,100 guns. It is a shattering defeat for the Red Army. Smolensk itself, the "gateway to Moscow", fell on 16 July and the Russian forces east of the city were surrounded.

  HMS Implacable leaves New York (after a goodwill visit) to return home after having her bomb damage repaired in the USA. She will receive an updated radar fit and then sail with a new airgroup for Trincomalee in Ceylon. She will be accompanied by HMS Prince of Wales and a number of destroyers.

  The first successful sortie of a Mosquito reconnaissance plane flies a mission over French coastal ports. Intercepted by three Me109 fighters, it easily outpaced them. The Mosquito is being developed primarily as a bomber, but it is also to be used in small numbers as a long-ranged reconnaissance plane to supplement the Whirlwind, which is now being trialled for use as a long-range fighter.

  9th August

  The first British landings in the Dodecanese islands start. The men used are the Commandoes of Leyforce, covered by aircraft using the rebuilt Cretan airfields, although a carrier is stationed south of Crete in case additional support is needed.

  The first islands chosen as targets are Kasos and Karpathos, as these are close to Crete and air cover. Both only have small Italian garrisons, and they are seen as a trial before the larger and better-fortified islands of Kos and Rhodes are assaulted. The force for Kasos is Leyforce, around 1,500 commandos, supplemented by 10 tanks. At the same time 1,200 men of the 4th Indian division, again supported by a small number of tanks, assaulted the small island of Karpathos. These forces were the maximum that could be used with the available shipping capability.

  Both attacks went satisfactorily, although there were a number of problems caused by the troops lack of experience at assault landings. There was also a considerable amount of air support given to the defenders by the Italian air force operating from Rhodes. Indeed, without the RAF bases on Crete it was not certain if the landings could have been sustained, as even with fighter cover a number of landing craft and two coasters were sunk. However resistance on the islands themselves was light, and although some of the Italian troops fought well they were outnumbered and outmatched by the invaders.

  As a result of these landings, further assaults were planned for September, once the lessons learn from the first two had been incorporated.

  The battleship HMS Prince of Wales, with Prime Minister Churchill aboard, arrives at Placentia Bay with a destroyer escort. Churchill is here to meet with the U.S. President who arrived in the heavy cruiser USS Augusta two days ago. Churchill calls on Roosevelt on board USS Augusta and the two confer over lunch and dinner. This conference will result in the Atlantic Charter; a statement of principles governing the policies of Britain and America. The conference will last for four days.

  The Australian Prime Minister, Menzies, is back in Australia. The Australian government and people are increasingly anxious about the Japanese, especially with the bulk of their men in the Middle East. Menzies has been criticised in particular by the Labor party (who have refused to join a wartime coalition, preferring to play party politics instead). Menzies has a good hand to play, however. With agreement from Britain, he announces that I Australian Corps, under the command of General Blamey, and including a British Armoured Division, will be sailing for Malaya later this month. Additional British and Empire forces will follow. He also announces that the battleships Warspite and Queen Elizabeth will soon be based in Ceylon, and they will be joined by additional ships, as well as Australia's cruisers which have been aiding the Royal Navy. This announcement - of considerably greater force than anyone had expected - is used by Menzies to justify his time spent in the UK, and shows that the Empire is indeed prepared to help Australia now that she also is threatened. He asks that Australia prepares additional forces herself to back up the Imperial forces. The whole presentation has rather derailed the Labor party and Menzies political opponents. By previous agreement, he does not mention the submarine force that is planned for deployment.

  Britain and the USSR promise to go to the assistance of Turkey in the event of an attack by any European power. In identical statements presented to the Turkish foreign office by their ambassadors, the two Allies have also pledged themselves to "observe the territorial integrity of the Turkish republic."

  The statements are seen as counters to German propaganda that Russia would take advantage of Turkey and invade should the latter enter the war.

  A raid by 24 Wellington bombers on Monchen-Gladbach is the first to use the new experimental Gee system for radiolocation. The results are said to be 'encouraging'. Further tests will follow and it is hoped to have the system in production for the much larger bombing raids planned early next year when the new Lancaster bomber will be added to the increasing Halifax force.

  12th Aug

  The Free French offer the fast battleship Richelieu as part of the naval deployment to the Far East. They wish to show they are part of it, especially as they consider French Indo-China to be occupied territory no matter what the French government claim. The offer is accepted by the RN; she will ac
t with the fast battleship squadron planned for the area.

  In a supplement to his war directive no. 34, Hitler orders increased efforts by Army Group North to capture Leningrad and a new offensive by Army Group South to take Kharkov, the Donets Industrial Basin and the Crimea, suspending military activity by Army Group Centre in the central front around Moscow. Instead it is to aid the other Army Groups in achieving their objectives.

  Production of the Canadian Grizzly tank starts. This will mount the British 6-pdr as standard, as O'Connor has stated that a reasonable HE shell capability is a specific requirement of any new tank. The tank is almost as heavily armoured as a Matilda, with superior speed and reliability, and with the 6pdr gun much superior firepower. Tests against German tanks in the desert have indicated it should be better than the current German tanks. The design has already started in production in the USA for the Free French, although the first batch will use the 2-pdr gun. Negotiations are taking place to produce the British 6-pdr under license for the French if the British production is insufficient.

  A new version of the Valentine is put into production, which will incorporate the turret from the Grizzly. This is seen as an intermediate design until the new Churchill tank is ready. As there are, for the moment, sufficient tanks in North Africa for the perceived threat, the time is being used to work on the defects of the tank. This tank will also mount the Grizzly turret and 6-pdr, but will not be available until the defects are fixed. The current Valentine, with the 2-pdr, is still being manufactured for use in the Far East and to supply to Russia. Given the light armour of the Japanese tanks, the 2-pdr is seen as adequate.

  A new cruiser tank has been in development for some time. This was specified with 75mm of armour and a large turret ring to take a bigger gun. The Cromwell tank will be available soon, but the biggest problem is lack of a suitable engine. It has been decided that the Mk1 will use the American engine as used in the Grizzly, with a turret mounting a 6-pdr. O'Connor would prefer heavier armour, and a new version is under development which will use a derated version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the Meteor. The extra power will allow thicker armour, and a new turret based on, but larger that, that used on the Grizzly will allow a gun of up to 75mm to be mounted. While the 6-pdr is currently adequate, now it is in production its successor needs to be considered, and a prototype 17-pdr gun is under development.

  14th Aug

  Evacuation of the Russian Black Sea naval base at Nikolayev begins. During the next three nights thirteen ships under construction will be towed away. Eleven remaining ships, including a battleship, will be blown up along with other supplies

  Britain and the USSR protest to Iran about the large number of German "tourists" in Iran.

  15th Aug

  HMS Warspite and her escorting destroyers set sail for Ceylon. The ship will refuel there, and will then make a visit to Sydney and some other Australian cities before returning to Ceylon for exercises.

  The first production Gloster Sea Eagle naval fighter is delivered. This plane, built around the Centaurus engine, is much more powerful and faster than the Goshawk. It is also capable of carrying some 2,000lb of bombs, thus able to act almost as a bomber in many circumstances. The first carrier to be equipped will be HMS Bulwark, due to commission in September. The other new naval plane, the Fairy Spearfish TBR, is expected next month. It also employs the Centaurus engine.

  19th Aug

  A joint Anglo-Canadian-Norwegian expedition lands on Spitzbergen to sabotage the coal mines and bring the miners back to Britain.

  The Wake Detachment, 1st Marine defence Battalion, arrives in the cargo ship USS Regulus to begin work on defensive positions.

  The first convoy leaves Iceland for the USSR. It includes the carrier HMS Colossus who is ferrying Hurricanes to Russia.

  Hitler rejects proposals from General Franz Halder, the chief of staff, and Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, the army C-in-C, for an attack on Moscow. Hitler also authorizes the development of the V-2 rocket

  21st August

  Hitler orders the investment, not capture, of Leningrad, and the transfer of several divisions from the North and Centre to capture the Crimea and the Donets Basin, an industrial region vital to the Soviet war effort. Hitler has been unimpressed by the arguments of General Guderian that Moscow should be the priority target.

  In a ceremony at Rosyth HMS Theseus is formally renamed HMAS Brisbane. She will transfer to the Australian navy, heading out to the Far East once her new crew have worked up. HMS Eagle will return to Britain for a much-needed refit before being redeployed with the Atlantic convoys.

  6th Sep

  In Washington, the Japanese Ambassador Nomura hands Secretary of State Cordell Hull a draft proposal outlining what the U.S. and Japan will do to establish peace in the Pacific. Two of the items that the Japanese purpose to undertake are that Japan will not make any military advancement from French Indo-China against any of its adjoining areas, and likewise will not, without any justifiable reason, resort to military action against any regions lying south of Japan. Japan will endeavour to bring about the rehabilitation of general and normal relationship between Japan and China, upon the realization of which Japan is ready to withdraw its armed forces from China as soon as possible in accordance with the agreements between Japan and China.

  Cadre from I Aus Corps and its divisional commands arrive in Singapore to prepare for the troop deployment. The first large troop convoy is expected in a few weeks, carrying the 7th Australian Division. Blamey and his senior officers and NCO's are not at all impressed by what they see of the troops already in place, and discussions are started immediately with General Alexander as to ways of bringing them up to what the experienced Australians think is a suitable standard.

  8th Sep

  HMS Warspite arrives in Trincomalee. She will be joined shortly by the cruisers HMAS Australia and HMAS Sydney, and then sail for Australia.

  11th Sep

  In a broadcast to the nation, President Roosevelt issues a "Shoot on Sight" order to naval forces in the Atlantic in regard to German U-Boats. This action is partly in response to the USS Greer incident of September 4th. In fact, it is more or less what is going on at the present. He describes the attack last week on the Greer as "piracy, legally and morally." He said that the outposts the USA has established in Iceland, Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland would protect Atlantic shipping of all nations. He stressed that the US Navy only provides "invincible protection" if Britain's Royal Navy survived.

  The president emphasized the difficulty of defending ships from torpedoes fired from submarines; "When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do wait until he has struck before you crush him, these Nazi submarines and raiders are the rattlesnakes of the Atlantic - they are a menace to the free pathways of the high seas."

  Admiral Stark advises Admiral Hart that Washington had declined to endorse Allied mobilization plans proposed by the British for joint operations in the event of war. Hart is ordered to defer plans to move the Asiatic Fleet to Dutch or British ports when hostilities began. Hart was ordered to ensure his fleet operations were "coordinated" with British and Dutch operations, although it is not made clear how this is to be done.

  In Britain, the prototype Airspeed Horsa troop-carrying glider is flown. It has a crew of two pilots and can carry 20-25 troops. The failure of Operation Mercury has made the British more dubious about the viability of large-scale airborne attacks, but they see small-scale assaults on specific targets as being useful.

  12th Sep

  The 2nd and 3rd Panzer Armies join up near Rovno, completing the encirclement of Kiev and a pocket of 600,000 Soviet soldiers to the east of the city. However as they do the first snows of winter fall - General Winter has arrived early to help Russia.

  The Free French air force try out their new B-17's for the first time, in a raid from bases in North Africa on Italy's royal arsenal at Turin. At the same time, the RAF strikes Messina and Palermo in Sicily, hitting merch
ant ships, oil tanks and a power station.

  While it is not expected to match some of the other routes, supplies are starting to be shipped from Alexandria to Russia via the Black sea, using Russian coastal shipping. Turkey, keen to be seen to be neutral to both sides (both of whom are heavily armed and worryingly close to her) has allowed use of the Bosphorus for unarmed merchant ships. The small ships hug the coast as much as possible, hoping to evade the attention of the Germans, whose air force is at the moment rather busy supporting the army operations.

  Two squadrons of Beaufighters (one RAF, one RAAF) arrive in Malaya from the Middle East. It is hoped that it will be possible to send more in a few months, but in the meantime they are waiting on the convoy carrying their support and equipment. The planes have flown in via India, where a new base is being fitted out in East India to handle and maintain aircraft in transit.

  HMS Implacable, HMS Prince of Wales and four escort destroyers sail for Trincomalee via the Cape. Implacable carries the new Sea Eagle, but is still equipped with SeaLance TBR - her squadron of Spearfish will set out in a couple of weeks to meet her there, and the SeaLance will then go on to Malaya as a land-based anti-shipping force. The carrier also carries an additional 18 Cormorant divebombers which will be flown off to Gibraltar to make their own way to Malaya.