The Whale Has Wings Vol 1 - Rebirth (33 page)

Churchill continues to press Wavell for action against the Italians in Ethiopia, using the recently arrives South African Brigade. Wavell
's reply states:

"...South African Brigade is only partially trained at present and requires further training before being employed offensively. They must also become acclimatised and learn anti-malaria precautions,
etc.

Conditions in East Africa necessitate crossing of 200 miles of almost roadless and waterless bush desert before offensive against Italian East Africa can be made. African native troops who have smaller requirements and are more accustomed to bush conditions are more suitable than white troops for forward role...

As to use elsewhere, I understood when the brigade was offered that Smuts had given pledge in Union that South Africans would not be used north of the Equator...

I am sure you will keep considerations of geography, climate, deserts, distances etc., constantly in the minds of Middle East Committee. It all looks so simple to them and others on a small-scale map."

Operation Hurry
(Mediterranean)

On the first of August the first opposed mission t
o fly off fighters to Malta began. This involved both Force H (doing the actual delivery), and the Mediterranean Fleet from Alexandria as a decoy.

Cunningham sought to divert the Italians by a sortie west of Crete with Warspite, Malaya and Implacable, while cruisers and destroyers feinted westwards through the Kithera Channel; at the same time other ships simulated an attack on the island of Kastellorizo in the Dodecanese. This dummy seemed to be sold so successfully that the Italian navy remained in port, apparently unwilling to venture out into such an unknown situation.

Force H launched its own diversion on the 2nd August, when HMS Ark Royal (escorted by HMS Hood) launched an air strike on Cagliari. Just after dawn 15 SeaLance and 12 Cormorants caused severe damage to hangars, aircraft, and other facilities, started fires and laid mines in the outer harbour. One Cormorant was shot down by a defending fighter; due to an error in information, it had been thought there were no fighters based at the airfield. Meanwhile the light carrier HMS Glory (sent out from the UK with 15 Goshawk fighters on deck) had flown off her planes, accompanied by two Cormorants as navigators (the Goshawks were RAF-crewed planes).

The R
egia Aeronautica attacks Force H after the planes have been flown off, and the S-79's run into the combined CAP of the Ark Royal and the Glory, with unpleasant results for the Italians. All the attacks are broken up, and five S.79's are shot down, some others being damaged. Force H returned to Gibraltar on the 4th (HMS Glory would return with the next convoy and resume her role as an escort carrier for the time being)

It had or
iginally been considered to send Hurricanes, but this had been changed to the Goshawk for two reasons; with the current air battle over the UK, Hurricanes were in shorter supply than Goshawks, and it was felt that the longer range of the naval fighter would be particularly useful in Malta in helping to protect the inbound convoys, which were already starting to attract the interest of the Regia Aeronautica. The naval aircraft were also better equipped to manage over water. It was also helpful in that the greater range of the Goshawk allowed an earlier flying off of aircraft, minimizing the risk to Force H.

On the 1st, Hitler set
the date for the invasion of Britain at 15 September, and issued his directive no.17 ordering intensification of the air war from 5 August.

OKW issued
Fuhrer Directive #17: In order to establish the necessary conditions for the conquest of England, air and sea warfare will be intensified against the English homeland.

(i) The Luftwaffe is to overpower the RAF with all the forces at its command. The attacks are to be directed primarily against flying units, their ground installations, and their supply organizations. The aircraft industry (including antiaircraft production) should also be targeted.

(ii) After local air superiority is won, the air war will continue against ports and stores of food and provisions. Damage to ports on the south coast must be minimized in view of our future operations.

(iii) Attacks on enemy warships and shipping may be reduced in order to concentrate on above mentioned operations. Operations should be carried out such that air support can be called upon for urgent naval activity, or an invasion, at any time.

(iv) The Führer reserves the right to order terror attacks as measures of reprisal.

(v) Intensified air and sea operations should begin on or after 5th August, weather permitting.

On the 3rd August General de Simone crossed the Ethiopian frontier into British Somaliland with 12 Eritrean battalions and four Blackshirt battalions. He has six battalions in reserve. The British force of five battalions and a camel corps cannot hold out for ever - something of an understatement considering Somaliland's defence budget of just GBP 900.

The Somali town of Har
geisa fell to the Italian army on the 5th, after being assaulted by infantry and tanks after a three-hour bombardment. It was defended by two battalions of Indian and East African troops plus some of the Somali Camel Corps - most of whom got away.
Any serious defence of Somaliland failed when the pro-Allied governor of neighbouring French Somaliland, General Legentilhomme resigned today and was replaced by General Germain, who was under heavy Vichy pressure to obey the terms of the Franco-Italian armistice.
Elsewhere, on the borders of Ethiopia, Italy's 300,000 man army seemed reluctant to act aggressively, content with the symbolic occupation of a few border towns, such as Moyale in Kenya and Kassala in the Sudan, and in harassing the British in northern Kenya with some remarkably effective guerrilla columns. It is so short of petrol that it can do nothing else.

Attacks have continued by the Luftwaffe on the channel convoys, as well as other targets all over the UK. On the 8th August a convoy of
20 ships was attacked heavily; six ships were badly damage, four were sunk and only four reached their destination. The RAF lost 19 fighters and shot down 31 German aircraft. After this the Admiralty cancelled the channel convoys and moved the cargoes by rail instead.

2nd August.

The funeral is held for Major Werner Molders. One of the most experienced fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe, Molders had been part of the heavy fighter escort for a bombing raid on Dover on the 28th July. He had encountered the leader of the RAF fighter squadron, 'Sailor' Malan, and in a brief but deadly dogfight his Me109 had been severely damaged by the Spitfires
20mm cannon. He had been seen to fall into the Channel with his stricken aircraft.

12th August-23rd August,
Adlerangriff

During
this period the Luftwaffe made determined attacks on the coastal airfields, the fighter squadrons using them, and the Radar system. In addition attacks were carried out during both day and night all over the UK.

The attacks on the Radar system, while serious, were not followed up and the system remained operation and functioning, to the detriment of the Luftwaffe. Although repeated raids were made on the Radar chain, it proved resilient to bombing attacks.
The Luftwaffe seemed unaware that a station put out of action could be quickly repaired.

The raids suffered heavy casualties due to the defending RAF fighters. The cannon-armed Hurricanes and Spitfires were proving the medium Luftwaffe bombers insufficiently protected, and as a result more and more f
ighters were allocated to defence of the bomber formations. The losses suffered by the slow Ju87 were so heavy it was withdrawn from the attack (a point which was immediately noted by the navy, as this was the plane that most worried them from the point of view of air attack on their ships).

With the exception of the rather random attacks across the country, the bombing was concentrated in the South East, meaning that the FAA formations in the north had little to do. The exception came on the 15th, when Luftflotte 5 (operating from Norway) made two separate large scale attacks. It was not clear if this was because they thought all RAF fighters were in the South, or simply to find out if this was the case. One attack , by 50 unescorted Ju88's was made on RAF Great Driffield. This was intercepted by a Hurricane squadron. The squadron was inexperienced (it was in the area to complete the training of many of its new pilots), and the Ju88 was a slippery opponent, but even so th
ey shot down six of them, one Hurricane being damaged. The disruption to the attacks meant little damage was done to targets

The attack on the North East was made by 65 He111's escorted by
34 Me110's. In order to get greater range, the Me110's were using drop tanks and has left their gunners behind. The raid was intercepted by 27 Goshawks (one squadron which had been scrambled, and a further flight of 9 planes which had been already in the air, training, and were close enough (thanks to the Goshawks range) to be vectored onto the raid. The result was a disaster for the Luftwaffe. 10 of the Me110's were shot down (indeed, a couple exploded when the notoriously unreliable drop tanks failed to detach, the petrol vapours exploding when hit by shells). 19 of the He111's were seen to fall (and a further 5 failed to make it home due to damage). Three Goshawks were damaged, but none were lost. The total loss to the Luftwaffe was 40 planes for no losses to the defenders. No further heavy raids against the mainland were made by Luftflotte 5.

On the 12th August
the first Bristol Beaufighters are delivered to the Fighter Interception Unit at Tangmere, They are equipped with A.I. MkIV (airborne interception) radar.

An experimental British radar, using the cavity magnetron which was developed only six months earlier, tracks an aircraft for the first time.

The following day, the same cavity magnetron experimental radar, tracks a man on a bicycle for the first time - though his radar cross-section is enhanced somewhat by the tin lid from a box of biscuits.

For some time the British and US government representatives have been negotiating for some sort of deal over the exchange of the base rights for the USA that have been ongoing for some years for military supplies. Prime Minister Churchill has been suggesting that some old US destroyers could be part of a deal, but this has attracted significant resistance from the navy who view them as old, obsolete and worn out. They would far prefer modern ships in exchange for the base rights.

At the beginning of July, a secret mission was undertaken by Cdr Wright, a Canadian engineering officer in the RN, and two civilian engineers. Masquerading as a USN officer (with the aid and connivance of the USA, in order not to reveal anything to the powerful isolationist lobby in the US), he spent 2 weeks examining a number of the destroyers held in reserve. His report was not promising.

Basically the destroyers were in poor condition, especially their machinery which was suffering from severe defects. His estimate was that it would take 4-8 months of dockyard work to put them into a condition suitable for deployment in a North Atlantic winter. As a result, the Admiralty made some suggestions, and these and the engineering report were discussed with Churchill.

On the 16th August the famous 'escorts for bases' deal between the USA and the UK was announced. This would exchange base rights for the USA in a number of strategic areas (which would significantly aid the USA's security) in exchange for 30 Corvettes and 30 of the new 'frigates' (currently in their final design stage), which would be built in US yards. The corvettes would take around 7-8 months to build, the frigates would commence in October (when the design would be complete and plans supplied to the US shipbuilders), and take an estimated 10 months to build.

Knowing he had to push this past the isolationist lobby, President Roosevelt announced this both as a measure to enhance US security in the face of a dangerous world situation (a phrasing that made it more difficult for the isolationists to object to), and that these ships would be used to defend the lives of the civilian
victims of the U-boats.

While there would be a delay before the ships would be available, they would come into service not very long after the old destroyers would have done, and the Admiralty considered them much more useful as A/S escorts. While damage to destroyers had been heavy during the Dunkirk evacuation and also in the B
attle of Britain so far, the number of ships sunk was far smaller, and the yards expected to have all but a few ships ready for action within a few months.

In the M
editerranean, the fleet bombarded Italian positions at Bardia and Fort Capuzzo The ships had air cover provided from HMS Implacable, in addition to RAF Gladiators. 10 Regia Aeronautica planes were shot down, three by the fleet air arm, and as a result of the disruption to the attackers no successful attacks were made on the fleet.

With the Empire's recent gains in Libya, the Royal Navy begins laying plans to send several of HMS Courageous's Swordfish aircraft to the Bardia area to operate against Italian supply lanes in the Gulf of Bomba.

On the 21st, the FAA demonstrates that it can hurt the Italian navy even when its carriers are not in the area. Having been informed of an Italian "depot ship" at An-el-Gazala, three Swordfish of HMS Courageous's 824 Squadron, FAA, temporarily based at Ma'aten Bagush, are transferred to Sidi Barrani, equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and torpedoes. In the late-afternoon, the three headed out on the 180 mile flight to the Gulf of Bomba, routing 30 miles out to sea so as to approach the target from seaward.