History of the Second World War (128 page)

Ambleve, River, 650

Ambrosio, General, 401

Amchitka Island, 500

Amery, Leo, 367

Amiens, 84

‘Anakim, Operation’, 368

Anami, General, 615

Ancona, 474, 539

Anders, Lieut.-General W., 534

Anderson, Lieut.-General Kenneth, commands Allied troops in N.W, Africa, 317, 328; orders pause for concentration before advance on Tunis, 335, 337; weather forces abandonment of offensive of, 341; expects attack at Fondouk, 402; takes defensive against Rommel, 409; mentioned, 338, 340, 405, 406, 423

Angers, 557n.

Anglo-American disagreements: about invasion of N.W. Africa, 310-16; about Second Front, 310-12, 438; about invasion of Sicily, 435, 438; about invasion of Italy, 450-1; about Italian campaign and ‘Anvil’, 526, 532-3, 537-8; about ‘Overlord’ break-out, 552-3, 556-7; about cause of missed opportunity in West, 561-6

Anglo-French guarantee to Poland, 3, 11-15, 704-5

Anglo-German: Naval Treaty (1935), 7; pact, negotiations for, 14

Antelat, 198, 268, 272

Anti-Comintern Pact, 205

Antonescu, Marshal Ion, 147, 150, 585

Antwerp, captured by British, 558-9, 565; delay after reaching, 559, 566; operation to clear port of, 560, 566; planned advance to, 561-3; Ardennes offensive aimed at, 645-6; flying-bomb and rocket bombardment of, 677

‘Anvil, Operation’, Anglo-American disagreement over, 523, 526, 532-3, 537-8; suggested abandonment of, 532; postponed to July, 533; renamed ‘Dragoon’, 538

Anzio landing, 526-8; Kesselring’s response to, 528; delay in break-out from, 529; needs aid instead of giving it, 529; counterattacks on bridgehead, 530-1; thrust from bridgehead to meet main armies, 532-3, 535

Aosta, Duke of, 124, 126-7

Apamama Atoll, 511

Aparri, Luzon, 222

Apennines, Rommel’s Army in, 455; capture of ports to E. of, 466-7; winter struggle in, 472-3; dividing two Allied armies, 523; attack on Gothic Line through, 539

Apulia, 459

Arad, 586

Arakan offensives (1942/3), 363, 365-6; (1944), 515-16, 634

Arawe, New Britain, 508

‘Arcadia Conference’, Washington, 310

Archangel, British convoys to, 392

Ardenne, 653

Ardennes, the, 561; thought impassable to tanks, 38, 707; German attack through (1940), 39-41, 67, 69-70, 639, 707; paucity of German defences in (1944), 560, 566; American Army N. of, 564-5; Germans ordered to hold bulge in, 588; German counteroffensive in, 609-10, 639-59; Allies unprepared for attack, 642-3; Hitler’s plans for, 644-9, 657; German defeat in, 658-9; Hitler refuses to send troops E. from, 663

Arezzo, 471; line, 539

Argenta, 672; Gap, 672-3

Argentan, 556-7

Argentia, U.S. Naval base at, 380

Ark Royal
, H.M.S., 370, 379

Armavir, 252, 477-8

Arnhem, 560, 563, 565

Arnim, Colonel-General Jurgen von, in Supreme Command in Tunisia, 341; 21st Panzer Division under control of, 402; 10th Panzer Division under, 403, 406-7; abortive offensive of, 410-12; withdraws forces from Mareth Line, 418; spoiling attack of, 424; forces of, lack food and fuel, 425-6, 429; mentioned, 397, 405, 412

Arno line, 539; River, 541

Arnold, General H. H., 438, 603

Arras, British attack from, 76, 80-1

Arzeu, Gulf of, 323-4

Asia, Japan’s aims in, 204; Russian divisions from, 257

Asmara, 126

Assam, 236, 363-4; Japan invades, 513, 516-520

Atbara, 121

Athenia,
the, 370

Atlantic, Battle of, 370-94; invasion of Europe dependent on victory in, 387; R.A.F. reluctance to take part in, 595

Atlantic Ocean, U-boat attacks in, 370-7, 380, 383-6, 388, 390; surface-raiders in, 371, 374, 377, 380; long-range aircraft in, 371, 389; U.S. involved in, 375, 380; Italian submarines in, 376; American ‘Security Zone’ in, 380; U-boats withdrawn from S., 382; Brazilian bases in S., 385; U-boats withdrawn from N., 389, 391; air-cover over N., 390

‘Atlantic Wall’, 543

Atomic bomb and Japan’s surrender, 691-8; reasons for dropping, 697-8

‘Attila, Operation’, 153

Attlee, Clement R., 694

Attu Island, 352, 500-1

Auchinleck, General (later Field-Marshal) Sir Claude, replaces Wavell in N. Africa, 184; determination after ‘Crusader’, 190-1, 193, 195; intervention of, in Rommel’s January 1942 attack, 268; wants time for preparation, 269; intends making stand W. of Tobruk, 276; takes over command of Eighth Army, 278; at Alamein, 283-90; regains initiative, 284; plans of, 284, 287; Rommel’s tribute to, 289; replaced by Alexander, 290; defence plan accepted by Montgomery, 291, 293; Commander-in-Chief in India, 515; mentioned, 270, 272

Audacity,
H.M.S., 382

Aurunci Mountains, 534

Ausa, River, 540

Ausente Valley, 534

Australia, escapes Japanese attack, 203-4; MacArthur in, 223, 346; threat to British sea-route to, 237; Japanese Navy wants to attack, 343, 498; threat to American sea-route to, 344-5; anxiety in, 499

Austria, German take-over of, 6, 9, 14, 701; oil of, 24; Alexander plans invasion of, 537, 542

‘Avalanche, Operation’, 460-5; obvious objective for, 456-60, 469, 474; Eighth Army landing not co-ordinated with, 457; near failure of, 463-4

Avranches, 551-2; break-out at, 556-7, 582

Awa dam, Luzon, 689

Axis Powers, lack of raw materials in, 23-4; Russia asked to join, 145; Yugo-Slavia agrees to help, 151; Japan joins, 205-6; Japan encouraged by successes of, 210; reinforce Tunisia, 328, 341-2; Spain the ‘non-belligerent’ ally of, 333; deprived of battle-tested troops against invasion of Sicily, 432; ultimate defeat certain, 711

Azores, U-boat group off, 385; British air bases in, 390

Azov, Sea of, Russian drive towards, 480-2

B.17.
See
Flying Fortress

B.25.
See
Mitchell

B.29.
See
Superfortress

Bab el Qattara, 281, 286

Badoglio, Marshal P., 451-3; escape of, 454, 467; replaced by Bonomi, 537

Bagramyan, Marshal I. K., 579, 581-2, 587-8

Baku, 253

Balaclava, 576

Balaton, Lake, 587

Balbo, Marshal I., 590
n.

Baldwin, Stanley, 591

Balikpapan oil centre, 689

Balkan campaign, 133-5, 145, 151-2; causes delay in invasion of Russia, 131-2, 150; Yugo-Slav coup precipitates, 132-4, 151; German troops pass through Rumania for, 133, 147, 150-1

Balkans, Churchill hopes for opposition to Germany from, 115, 118; overrunning of, 131-5; Italy invades, 145; plan to exploit, after victory in Italy, 526; German lines of communication through, 574; Allied bomber raids on, 574, 577; pressure for peace in, 576-7

Baltic flank of Russian advance, 579-82, 584, 587-8

Baltic Sea, U-boat training delayed in, 384, 393

Baltic States, Russian control of, 13-14, 43, 143; German advance through, 149; Russians enter, 579-80; German army group isolated in, 663

Banmauk, 635

Baqqush, 306

Baranov, 582, 664-5

Baranovichi, 162

‘Barbarossa, Operation’, 146-50, 157-70; delayed by Balkan campaign, 131-2, 152; new date for, 152-3; British warnings of, 153-4

Bardia, 114, 117, 192, 198

Barents Sea, 392

Barentu, Eritrea, 126

Bari, 467

Barletta, 468

Barlow, Major Rudolph, 338

Barmen-Wuppertal, 600

Barre, General G., 336

Bastia, 672-3

Bastico, Marshal E., 277, 308, 398, 401

Bastogne, 651, 653-7

Bataan Peninsula, 203, 211, 222-4, 629-30

Batan Islands, 222

Battaglia, Monte, 541, 672

Battipaglia, 462-3, 465, 469

‘Battleaxe, Operation’, 174, 177-80; lessons of, missed or misunderstood, 180-1

Batumi, 253-5

Bawdsey radar research station, 94

Bayerlein, Lieut.-General Fritz, 277, 293, 406; in Tunisia, 413, 423

‘Baytown, Operation’, 457

B.B.C., broadcasts announcement of Italy’s capitulation, 453, 460

‘Beat Germany first’ strategy, 312, 356-7

Beatty, Admiral Lord, 53, 230

Beaufighter, Bristol, 364, 601

Beaufre, Captain Andre, 320n.

Beaverbrook, Lord, 11n.; as Minister of Aircraft Production, 92, 94

Beck, Colonel Joseph, 10, 12

Beck, General Ludwig, 6

Beda Fomm, 198; Battle of, 116-18

Beja, 410-11

Belgium, neutrality of, 32; Hitler’s plans for invasion of, 35, 38-40, 707; German plans for invasion in hands of, 37, 41, 706; warned of invasion, 38; Allied plan to advance into, 41, 70, 707; Allied forces cut off in, 65, 69-70, 74-6; German invasion of, 66, 68-9, 707; breakthrough in, 69; retreat of B.E.F. through, 75, 77; surrenders, 77-8; Allies drive into and through (1944), 558, 562; and relax after entering, 567

Belgorod, 249, 480, 483-4, 491

Belgrade, coup in, 134, 151; air attack on, 152; liberation of, 586

Belhamed, 195, 269

Benevento, 469

Bengal, difficulties of using, as base area, 363; new airfields in, 364

Bengal, Bay of, Japanese commerce raiding in, 237

Benghazi, capture of, 115-18; evacuated by Italians, 116; evacuated by Germans, 119; German tank reinforcements at, 198; evacuated by Indian division, 268; Eighth Army H.Q., 308; harbour damaged by gale, 400

Berbera, 124

Berchtesgaden, 149; Hitler tries to control Normandy battle from, 549

Berdichev, 495, 570

Beresford-Peirse, Major-General M. N. de la P. (later Lieut.-General Sir Noel), 113, 126, 178

Beresina, River, 163, 579-80; area of forest and swamp around, 134, 163

Berg, 652

Bergen, 51, 56-7, 61

Bergius hydrogenation plants, 610

Berlin, reprisal raid on, 102; road to, through Ruhr, 565; bombers to raid (1918), 589; air raids on, 596, 601, 603, 608; ‘Battle of’, 602; Russian offensive aimed at, 664; Russians approach, 667-8; Germans speed Western Allies towards, 679; Russians in, 680-1

Bermuda, U.S. installations in, 380

Besancon, 85

Bessarabia, Russia aims at, 14; Russian troops in, 143, 165; Hitler promises return of, to Rumania, 150; German troops compelled to hold to ground in, 575; Germans cut off in salient in S., 584-5

Bethouart, Major-General E., 317, 320-1

Beveland Peninsula, Germans allowed to escape through, 565

Bevin, Ernest, 694

Biak Island, 616, 618

Biala, River, 30

Bialystok, 31, 580-1

Biferno, River, 468, 471

Biggin Hill sector station, 95, 101

Bilin River, 234

Billancourt, 597

Bir Berraneb, 195

Bir el Gubi, 186, 195-6

Bir Gibni, 187

Bir Hacheim, 269, 272-3, 275

Bir Sheferzen, 190

Bir Waid, 176

Birmingham, air raids on, 108

Biscay, Bay of, U-boats destroyed in, 390-1; U-boat concentration in, 391; German bases in, 394

Bismarck,
the, 377-9

Bismarck Archipelago, U.S, plan to capture, 357, 502; Japanese Navy gives priority to, 501; Japanese forces in, 502; classed non-essential to Japanese plans, 506; capture of, 508-9, 613; Japanese aircraft withdrawn from, 513; mopping-up operations in, 688

Bismarck Sea, Battle of, 503

Bitburg, 565

Bizerta, need for quick capture of, 313n., 315; Allied advance on, 334; airfield at, 334; German troops at, 335-6, 427; capture of, 430; convoys for Sicily pass near, 440; embarkation point for invasion convoys, 441, 460, 466