The Whale Has Wings Vol 1 - Rebirth (29 page)

The unfortunate consequence to the submarine of attacking a well-escorted convoy was to be heavily depth-charged by the escorting destroyers; after some 20 minutes of this, the submarine was seen to surface. While a destroyer turned to race towards her, she was strafed by a Goshawk as her crew attempted to get up on deck, at which point a white flag was hurriedly waved from the conning tower. Deciding not to ram, the destroyers instead pulled alongside and took the submarines surrender; she would be taken back to Britain for evaluation.

The damage to Formidable, though serious, was not considered dangerous; she would be operational again in two to three months (in fact it would take until September due to the heavy dockyard workload on small craft and destroyers after Dunkirk). Considering the number of U-boats operating off Norway, the Admiralty was quite pleased that this is the only damage to a large ship by submarine in the campaign (it was not realised at the time that a number of ships had been spared by the poor performance of the German torpedos magnetic exploders).

It is suggested that the Kriegsmarine
could sortie Bismark to intercept the Norway-British convoys. This is rejected by the analysts as (a) she is working up, and (b) on her own she is a sitting target for the FAA, and she is then going to face 3-4 battleships of the Home Fleet, with inevitable results.

The King of Norway and the Norwegian government
arrived back in Britain on the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire. The exiled government had not surrendered, and will carry on the fight from Britain.

The last Hurricanes in Norway follow a SeaLance guide out to HMS Illustrious at sea. It had been intended to destroy the planes in Norway, as they did not have the range to make it back to Britain, but fighters are in short supply, and three pilots have volunteered to attempt to land them on the carrier. The carrier heads into the wind at full power, making 32 knots, to make the landing as easy as possible. All three of the planes land successfully, and arrangements are made to fly out the rest of the planes on the following day. This will be the final convoy to leave Norway.

The remaining ten Hurricanes and nine Gladiators are led to Illustrious. As on the previous day, the landings are made with no incidents other than to increase the
number of grey hairs on the RAF pilots. The planes on the deck make it difficult for Illustrious to fly off cover, so the air duties are being handled by HMS Colossus and HMS Mars. The last of 30,000 allied troops, and over 6,000 Norwegian volunteers (who will form the core of the Free Norwegian forces) are evacuated. The Norwegian forces left in the country have orders to surrender as soon as the King and parliament have reached safety.

The convoy is spotted by the Luftwaffe, and six He-111's attack it later that day . In a final end to the Norwegian conflict, the FAA enacts some revenge by shooting down five of the bombers for no loss.

The final naval tally for the Norwegian operation is :

Royal Navy

One light fleet carrier

Two destroyers

A number of submarines and other light vessels such as A/S trawlers

A battleship,
fleet carrier, three cruisers and a number of other ships have been damaged.

Kriegsmarine

One Battlecruiser

One Pocket battleship

Two heavy cruisers

Two light cruisers

Nine destroyers

At least six submarines plus other light vessels

The Royal navy is quietly happy at this result. The Kriegsmarine has been rendered almost non-operational for relatively minor losses. Although a number of warships have been damaged (some quite severely) by the Luftwaffe, the presence or intervention of the FAA has saved more damage. Indeed, if allowed to press their attacks without fighter opposition, it is considered very likely that some of the damaged ships would have been sunk. Apart from the Graf Zeppelin and the Bismark, both of which have only started to work up, the only operational ships in the Kriegsmarine are nine destroyers.

The si
tuation for the Navy got worse, however, as Mussolini finally declared war on the allies. Fortunately HMS Glorious had safely delivered her fighters and convoy to Malta so the exposed island fortress, so close to Italy, had at least some fighter protection. The ending of the Norwegian campaign means there are heavy ships available, although due to damage and losses during Dunkirk, and the need to keep forces in home waters, there is a shortage of light ships such as destroyers. Ships are also needed to cover the evacuation of British troops from France.

In the Mediterran
ean, the Italian air force raided Malta. One Gladiator is lost on the ground. SM79 bombers escorted by Mc200 fighters attack Grand Harbour and two of the airfields. The Italian fighters are small planes with some resemblance to the Goshawk, manoeuvrable but slower and far less heavily armed. The defenders shot down three Mc200 fighters and three of the SM79 bombers for the loss of one Goshawk shot down and one forced to land. On Gladiator was also damaged.

13th June.

The US
Congress votes $1.8B for the Army and $1.3B for naval construction. The first shipment of arms requested leave the US; they have been sold as scrap to a steel company then bought by the UK.

The German Army enters Paris, which has been declared an open city. The swastika now flies from the Eiffel tower.

After a long and sometimes heated conversation with Churchill, Brooke (who is in France to organise the remaining British formations) convinces the Prime Minister that there is little hope of any further French resistance, and that all remaining British troops are to be evacuated to the UK.

A single
Italian aircraft, missed by the defences, dropped bombs on Malta, damaging a few buildings before escaping. The current joke among the naval personnel on the island is that they 'must have learned about mass attacks from the RAF'.

15th June.

The Royal navy commences Operation Aerial, the evacuation of all remaining British forces in France

The Red Army marches into Lithuania, aided by hordes of NKVD agents. The Lithuanians are resigned to their occupation; there is little that can be done with the major European powers busy in the West.

In the USA, President Roosevelt signs a Congressional Act authorising the USN to
have a strength of not less than 10,000 aircraft and 16,000 aircrew. These numbers are not really taken seriously in Germany, although the President is indeed deadly serious.

16th June.

The UK government offers to form a Union with France to continue the war. France declines, and instead asks to be released from its obligation not to make a separate peace with Germany.

General Charles de Gaulle, who became undersecretary for national defence in the last days of the Reynaud government, flies to England and broadcasts this appeal:

"Speaking in full knowledge of the facts," he said, "I ask you to believe me when I say that the cause of France is not lost." He called on French officers and men, including civilians, to get in touch with him. "Whatever happens," declared the general, "the flames of French resistance must not and shall not die."

The U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull directs the Deputy U.S. Ambassador to France to advise the French government that if the French fleet falls into German hands, France would "permanently lose the friendship and goodwill of the Government of the U.S." The French reiterate their statement that the French fleet "would not be surrendered to the Germans."

The French government asks Italy for armistice terms.

In Libya, Italo Balbo writes to Marshall Badoglio,

“Our light tanks, already old and armed only with machineguns, are completely outclassed. The machineguns of the British armoured cars pepper them with bullets which pierce their armo
ur easily. We have no armoured cars. Our antitank defences are largely a matter of make-do: our modern weapons lack adequate ammunition. Thus the conflict has taken on the character of steel against flesh…” The British, badly outnumbered but highly mechanized, had surprisingly seized the initiative from the start, mainly via their armoured car patrols, which raided on the Italian side of the frontier with impunity. Balbo wrote of “infernal armoured cars, which run over all types of ground at fifty kilometres per hour”

Balbo is given a provisional go-ahead for his project to invade Egypt.

Japan takes advantage of the fall of France by warning the French administration in Indochina that it must stop helping the Chinese Nationalist government in Chungking immediately.

The protest was delivered by Japan’s foreign minister, Mr. Tani, to the French ambassador. He was warned that France’s governor in Indochina must stop the transit of war materials across the Chinese border or face severe repercussions. At the same time Japan has formally asked Germany and Italy to preserve the status quo in Indochina.

Reports that Japanese forces are massing on Hainan island have increased fears that Japan is about to invade the French colony. French and British ships have been told not to call at Indochinese ports.

Churchill orders a body of 5,000 men to be 'trained in parachuting'
. The British Army has been impressed by the use of German airborne troops in Norway and in the West.

Evidence about "Knickebein" , a German radio navigation aid, is given to a British cabinet level committee, by R.V. Jones. The actions taken after this meeting result in progress and plays a large part in lessening the effects of the German Blitz.
The eminent scientist Henry Tizard, who argued that the beams did not exist, is persuaded not to resign due to giving misleading advice; the original evidence had, after all, not been conclusive.

The French receive
d the terms for Armistice by the Germans in a railroad carriage at Compiègne, France. There will be no discussion of the terms allowed by the Germans. This is the same location and the same railroad carriage used to present the Allied terms to the Germans in 1918.

France
agrees and signed the terms of a harsh armistice with Germany. The remnant of the Polish army sails for England on the liner Batory

In Japan, a new Japanese cabinet is formed by Prince Konoye Fumiaro, with General Tojo Hideki as Minister
of War and Matsuoka Yosuke as Minister of Foreign Affairs

Force H is formed at Gibraltar under Sir James Somerville. The force is joined by the new fleet carrier Implacable on her first operational duties.

Over the last week actions have been taking place off the coast of Africa between Italian submarines and British destroyers, sloops and light forces. Consideration is giving to basing a force of Swordfish at Aden to help them; these are available at Alexandria, but there is a shortage of aircrew after the losses off Norway.

Japan formally requests Britain to close the Burma Road, stop the flow of war materials through Hong Kong and withdraw its garrison at Shanghai.
The British government agrees to consider this. While under normal circumstances they would refuse, in view of the current emergency they cannot afford to antagonise the Japanese Empire.

The commander of the French force withdrawn from Norway, Général de Brigade Bethouart and General DeGaulle, speak with the
ir troops, asking them to remain and fight as Free French, despite the 'abject surrender' of the French government. General de Bethouart, who had been particularly moved by the words and actions of King Haakon during the decisions to leave Norway gives a particularly effective speech. Many of the men, who consider that they didn't lose the battle, but had to withdraw due to failure elsewhere, and which include such elite units as the French Foreign Legion, decide to stay. Although most of the French troops recovered at Dunkirk and later decide to return to France, a total of some 15,000 men form what will become the First Free French Division, which will serve with such distinction in North Africa and the Mediterranean later in the war.

The Polish troops who were evacuated from Norway, the Polish Independent Highland Brigade, volunteer as a man to stay and fight.

Despite a call by the Petain government in Bordeaux to cease hostilities, French colonies show no sign of giving up the battle against Germany. At least one commander, General Nogues in North Africa, has refused orders from Petain to return to France. French generals in Somaliland have cabled their support for the Allies; calls have come from Syria and Lebanon for France to continue the fight, and the French governor-general in Indochina has refused to lower the tricouleur. The general overall situation in the French colonies is confusing.

Operation
Aerial ends; the Royal Navy had evacuated over 215,000 servicemen and civilians from France.

Chapter 19

HMS King George V (always referred to in the fleet as KGV) is commissioned. Displacing over 35,000 tons and with 9x15" guns, she is the first of the new battleships to be completed after the building holidays of the Washington and London naval treaties. She immediately starts an intensive workup to be operational as soon as possible.