The Whale Has Wings Vol 1 - Rebirth (35 page)

In the Far East, The Japanese army and navy agree
d on a southern advance strategy. The army needs considerable time to prepare itself for the Southward Advance even after mobilization was approved formally. When the admirals procrastinated, Tanaka Shin'ichi, head of the Army General Staff's Operations Division, scathingly asked if the navy was up to its old game of using the name of war preparations to secure additional allocations of funds and materials. But he also agreed to a simultaneous attack on Malaya and the Philippines using ten, not six, divisions. This concession got the navy off the hook and, by September 3, it agreed to join the army in pressing for a definitive peace-or-war decision by early October at the latest, as the generals had desired.

In an unrelated move, the US government warns the Japanese government against making aggressive moves in Indochina. The Japanese government is unimpressed
by the warning.

An unexpected change in Luftwaffe tactics is immediately obvious as over 300 bombers escorted by as many fighters raid London D
ocks. The attack caused huge fires, which spread during the evening to cause serious damage to the dock area. Opinion is divided as to whether this change is the final prelude to an invasion, or a last gasp by a failing attacker. There was no sign of any of the barges moving, and signals intelligence as well as Bletchley Park report nothing unusual; there was some cautious optimism that the Luftwaffe has shot its bolt.

Over the next few days, the pattern of a number of small attacks and one large one on the
London area was repeated. Belief in Britain is now that either the invasion will occur within the week, or it will be called off. Bomber Command has now destroyed over 15% of the massed barges, and nightly raids continue. The fleet has been put on alert and all boiler-cleaning stopped; the heavy Home Fleet units are at 2 hours notice for steam at Scapa. The Royal navy continued to saturate the channel with small craft. In order not to make them feel forgotten, the FAA squadrons based in East Anglia mount a dawn strike on two German destroyers in Calais; one is sunk by dive bombing, and the Cormorants strafe barges as they head back home just above the sea. The French channel ports are now so well lit up at night by burning barges and antiaircraft fire that the RAF is referring to them as the 'Blackpool front'.

On the 10th September what wa
s later seen as the final daylight effort of the Luftwaffe was made. Two massive and heavily escorted raids were made, in what was seen as an attempt to find if 11 Group remains in being. Reinforced over the last few days by fresh pilots and squadrons from 10 and 12 Groups, it most certainly is, over 80 German aircraft being shot down for the loss of 30 fighters. This would be the last large daytime offensive for the Luftwaffe; rather than defeating RAF fighter command is steady, high losses have instead gutted the German bomber and fighter force. Small daylight raids would continue, but shortly the heavy attacks would resume at night where the British defences are at the moment less effective.

An Italian offensive started
at Sollum, on the border of Libya and Egypt.
After months of prodding by Mussolini, Marshal Graziani's reluctant army makes a ponderous advance in North Africa and finally crossed the barbed-wire fence that marks the Egyptian border with Libya. Bells are rung in Rome to celebrate the capture of Sollum, a tiny settlement of mud huts.
Graziani has insisted on "digging in" at frequent points along the coastal road, harassed continually by British defenders.

The attack on British forces in Egypt was
originally to coincide with Operation Sealion (the invasion of England by Germany). When it became apparent to Mussolini that "Sealion" was postponed indefinitely, he ordered Marshal Graziani, Governor-General of Libya and Commander in Chief North Africa, to launch an attack into Egypt by the seven divisions of his 10th Army. British tanks and armored cars made bold attacks into Libya in response, forcing the Italians to transfer troops from the 5th Army to the 10th and acquiring 2,500 motor vehicles and gaining the delivery of 70 M-11 medium tanks from Italy. The British retreated to buy time and receive reinforcements. After four days and a 60 mile (97 kilometer) advance into Egypt, Graziani halts his attack due to logistics. Graziani was now 80 miles (129 kilometres) west of the British defenses in Mersa Matruh; to risk going any farther, Graziani said, would risk being defeated until supplies were available. Mussolini, angered over the sudden stop of the 10th Army, urges Graziani to continue 300 miles (483 kilometres) into the port of Alexandria. Graziani is appalled. Eventually Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Chief of the Supreme General Staff, promises 1,000 tanks to Graziani but this promise is never kept. The recent military operations in Ethiopia and Spain have drained Italy of many needed supplies and equipment and Graziani is forced to change his attack plan and he cannot (or will not) penetrate further than Sidi Barrani.

Th
e effects of the war in Europe were making changes in the United States. On the 16th, the US Congress passed the Burke-Wadsworth Bill (the Selective Training and Service Act) by wide margins in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This bill provided for the first peacetime draft (conscription) in the history of the United States but also provided that not more than 900,000 men are to be in training at any one time and it limits military service to 12 months. It also provided for the establishment of the Selective Service System as an independent Federal agency. President Roosevelt immediately signs the bill into law. The first draftees will be selected next month

The first call up of National Guard units also occurs. C
alled into Federal service are four divisions, 12 brigades, 50 regiments and four observation squadrons from 26 states. The divisions are New Jersey's 44th, Oklahoma's 45th, Oregon's 41st, and South Carolina's 30th. Eighteen of the 50 regiments are coast artillery regiments.

The keel of the Iowa-class battleship New Jersey (BB-62) is laid at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania.

The news of the postponement of the invasion came in an Enigma decoding of a message from the German General Staff to the officer responsible for loading the transport aircraft earmarked for invasion. The message ordered him to dismantle his air-loading equipment; without that equipment there can be no invasion.

Night raiders use
d the 1000-kg blast bombs on Britain for the first time. Adapted from sea mines these cylindrical objects were about eight feet long and two feet in diameter. Each descends suspended from a 27-foot diameter silk parachute. Thin case and large charge combine to produce a colossal hollow bang, tremendous shock waves and extensive blast damage over a quarter mile radius. While the damage is of course deplorable, interest is taken at the effectiveness compared to the current designs of RAF bombs.

In warmer climes, units of the Mediterranean Fleet including HMS Valiant sail with HMS Indefatigable for a raid on Benghazi. SeaLance planes from the carrier torpedo the destroyer Borea, and mines laid by them off the port sink another, the Aquilone. On the return to Alexandria,
the heavy cruiser HMS Kent was detached to bombard Bardia. She is torpedoed and badly damaged by Italian aircraft. While she was escorted by fighters, poor control of them from the ship allowed some of the torpedo bombers to get through without interception. It is clear that more work needs to be done on directing fighters, and on equipping all major warships with better radar.

In
North Africa, Italian forces came to a halt and started fortifying their position. The Italian 10th Army halted, officially because of supply difficulties. They began building fortified camps and do not stay in contact with British forces. British intelligence describes the Italians as 'unenthusiastic'. The British troops themselves are rather more blunt.

In order to strengthen the RAF force in North Africa, a regular air-bridge has been opened across Central Africa by the RAF, over which short-range aircraft can be transported to strengthen the units in Egypt. A base has been set up in Takoradi, the Gold Coast, where aircraft arriving from England by ship can be equipped and then moved to Cairo via a 4,350 mile route across Nigeria, French Equat
orial Africa and the Sudan. The aircraft are mainly Hurricanes , which can be easily re-assembled after unloading, although a small number of Goshawks are also shipped (these cannot be so easily assembled, so have to be carried as deck cargo). The flights are accompanied by a twin engine plane to help the fighters navigate.

Having suffered 20% losses, the barge concentrations start
ed to disperse back to Germany. More will be lost during this withdrawal to the mines the RAF have been persuaded to sow along the coastal shipping routes and harbours.

A British delegation, sent to the USA some weeks earlier to discuss technology exchange
s between the two nations, showed the US scientists one of the cavity magnetrons they have brought with them. The USA has had no idea that such a breakthrough had been made in the transmitting power of microwave radar, and indeed had some difficulty believing the British figures.

The delegation
had covered a number of areas where the British think that exchange or cooperation will be in the interest of both countries, while trying not to look as if they are desperate; the magnetron was the crown jewel they had to show, and it made a significant impression, especially when the American scientists involved explained exactly how critically useful centimetric radar could be. As a result of the British information, a number of decisions were made on the transfer of data , and on joint research projects.

For techniques and information where both sides had made progress, but differed in their technique and results, each country would share this with the other for a nominal fee. This basically covered technology of use in the war effort of both countries, but which was not critical. If research programs were ongoing in these areas, they would be coordinated to avoid too much duplication of effort.

For technology such as radar, where both countries had invested heavily, it was realised that this was a critical invention to the British war effort and the development of American armaments. It was agreed a joint program of research would be set up, with both countries sharing in the information. In order to help the USA, the British would license the cavity magnetron for the nominal fee of $1 per unit built, and give full information on them. It was agreed that a number of other projects would be set up to develop specific products, such as the radar proximity fuse.

A number of British projects such a jet engines were discussed, but these were not considered advanced enough as yet for any joint work, it was agreed that the two countries would supply each other with developmental information as research progressed.

The one item the British were not offered was the Norden bombsight; the acquisition of this had been pushed by the RAF, who were happy to give away just about anything in order to get it. However before the delegation had left it had been pointed out that this was hardly a critical invention; the Navy at least had no difficulty hitting precision targets in daytime, and since the RAF had decided to go to night bombing, where the bombsight would be of relatively little use, it was not by any means a critical item. Indeed, some of the British technical people were rather of the opinion that its performance had been exaggerated, since they had not seen any demonstration of it under a typical European combat condition.

Chapter 21

Operation Menace

On the 23rd September, all
ied forces commenced Operation Menace, the occupation of the French port of Dakar in French West Africa. The port was far superior to the only allied port in the area (Freetown), but so far had been a staunch supporter of Vichy France. Only a few days ago a French force of three cruisers and three destroyers from Toulon had passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on their way to reinforce the Dakar naval forces, which now consisted of the still-damaged battleship Richelieu, two cruisers, three destroyers, three submarines and shore batteries.

The allied force was based around Force H plus the escorts that had attended the convoy from Britain - the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Glorious, the battleships Barham and Resolution, three heavy and two light cruisers and 10 destroyers. They were also accompanied by two of the Free French destroyers which had been captured in the UK and which were now crewed by the Free French. The original plan had included some 8,000 troops, mainly Royal Marine commandoes. However a few weeks before the troopships were to sail, the commander of the Free French army in the UK, General Bethouart (who had been in command of the French army in Norway), had pointed out two facts; first, that despite the enthusiasm among the Free French leadership (especially DeGaulle) that Dakar would defect to the allies, this had not happened when an earlier visit had been made to the port. And secondly there was a very important resource to be captured at Dakar, which made its capture much more important to the Free French cause. At his suggestion, additional Free French forces were assigned (mainly the French Foreign Legion troops he had commanded in Norway, bring the invasion force up to 12,000 men.

Initially an emissary was sent to the port on a Free French ship under a truce. It was still hoped that the display of force would encourage the authorities there to surrender, or at least agree to honourable terms such as had been agreed at Mers-el-Kebir earlier in the year. However the commander refused to even see the emissaries. Accordingly a message was left stating that unless the commander agreed to negotiate surrender terms (including selecting one of the naval options, similar to those offered the French ships in North Africa), the allies would neutralise the French ships in the harbour (a polite way of pointing out that the Royal Navy would sink them) by 1600 that day the allies would have no choice but to take military action. It was also stated that any attempt by the French ships to leave harbour would be taken as a hostile act and responded to accordingly.