Sir John Valentine Carden Survives. Part 2.

[allanpcameron]

6 March 1942. Singapore.

Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham had arrived by flying boat a couple of days earlier, and had formally taken command of 12th Army on 4 March. He had requested time with Lieutenant General Percival to familiarise him with the current situation in Malaya. Cunningham was happy to give Percival the credit for a job well done. The Japanese attack could have been disastrous, instead, Percival’s command had brought the Japanese attack to a halt and thrown them back. III Indian Corps stopped the Japanese, and II Australian Corps had thrown them back. Once Schreiber’s V Corps, (1st, 4th and 51st Division) arrived Cunningham could see himself and General Alexander joining forces to take Thailand and push into French Indo-China. That was for the future.

There were a lot of hurdles to negotiate before the Japanese were defeated. The next Durban-Malaya (DM3) convoy was due shortly, and included among the personnel was the core of V Corps’ staff and a good number of engineers to prepare for the arrival of the three divisions. Some of Cunningham’s own 12th Army Staff had arrived with him, but more would be arriving by ship. Cunningham hoped that many of Percival’s staff would remain in place to make the transition as seamless as possible.

The two General Officers Commanding the two Corps that were now at the heart of 12th Army, were on hand to give their updates to their new C-in-C.

Lieutenant-General Heath (GOC III Indian Corps) was delighted to report that his men, who had suffered much, had had time to recover, and with the reinforcements that had come, he was now able to reconstitute his old 5th Indian Division (9th, 10th and 29th Indian Infantry Brigades) under the command of Major-General Harold Briggs. With 5th, 9th and 11th Indian Divisions, III Indian Corps was rested and ready for the next phase of the war.

Lieutenant-General Ivan Mackay (GOC II Australian Corps) gave an update of the situation where his three Divisions (8, 9 Australian, 18th British) had got to. 18th Division had managed to make it to Kroh and were holding there. The two Australian Divisions had pushed up to Gurun where they had halted for the most part and dug in. Aggressive patrolling had taken them as far as the Kedah River, but for the moment, all three Divisions needed time to rest and refit. This was in line with Percival’s orders and Cunningham knew that the Australians would only take the break if it was really necessary. What mattered was that the whole Corps was now linked with reasonable roads, allowing the resupply of 18th Division to be much easier.

Cunningham was tempted to put III Indian Corps back in the forefront of the action, pushing up to the Thai border and beyond. Bangkok was still another 700 miles north, and the remaining time before the onset of the next Monsoon season was limited. Cunningham had met with General Alexander in Rangoon on the way to Singapore and they had agreed to see this part of their combined push as being setting up a solid foundation for the next phase. The two commanders agreed that the combined Empire forces in Burma and Malaya weren’t quite ready to take Thailand.

By holding the Ping River line, Slim was allowing proper lines of communication to be prepared from Rangoon. Likewise, the build-up of forces in Malaya needed to be strengthened by the arrival of V Corps, and be able to replenish stocks of ammunition and all the other things an invasion of Thailand would need. Cunningham wasn't sure just yet about allowing Heath’s Corps just yet to move up and take over from the Australians. Certainly it would give the Australians time to recover and refit. Having the Australians back at full strength at the same time as V Corps would give Cunningham a really powerful force to move up into Thailand. Heath’s Indian Division would be more than capable of keeping up the aggression towards the Japanese not allowing them to dig in too hard, and keep up the pressure on them. But Cunningham believed the Australian Corps had a few more miles in them.

The other good news for Cunningham was that the situation with the RAF was continuing to improve. The arrival of DM 3 would strengthen that situation even further. Along with more replacement pilots, ground crew and crated aircraft, there were some mobile radar units, and the kind of ground echelon support that would allow the rebuilding of airfields and help the RAF transition towards offensive action. Air Vice Marshall Pulford was able to give a full assessment of the current situation. Basically, the air war was evenly balanced, the losses to the Japanese and the RAF were slightly in the RAF’s favour. The Tomahawks were holding their own against the Oscars and Japanese bombers. It was quite different from North Africa where the Hurricanes provided escort to the ground attacking Tomahawks. Here the Hurricanes acted primarily as ground attack aircraft, the Tomahawks were more capable of taking on the Japanese fighters.

The arrival of squadrons of Wellingtons in India, along with the American bombers in Australia, were another sign that the Japanese were shortly going to be at a terrible disadvantage. The losses taken by the Japanese fighters and bombers to the American Volunteer Air Group had been significant, and with the RAF learning from their tactics that had improved the ratio of kills to losses. The other element to this, as Pulford reported, was RAF staff from North Africa were now in place bringing some of their expertise in coordinating between ground and air forces. Generally, Pulford felt quite upbeat about an improving situation.

The senior intelligence officer’s briefing was to Cunningham’s mind the weakest of all he was hearing. It was clear that there just weren’t enough intelligence assets in Thailand to really know what the Japanese were up to. Cunningham had been briefed on the code breaking, and whatever radio traffic intercepts which added to the store of knowledge. Aerial reconnaissance was helpful, but with much of the ground under tree cover, there could be whole Divisions that little or nothing was known about. Battlefield assessment of Japanese dead (there were very few prisoners) gave some idea of what units the Japanese had deployed, but without a completely accurate list of Japanese army units, especially those raised in 1940 and 1941, the intelligence wasn’t entirely helpful.

The only half-decent intelligence was coming from the couple of groups that were working behind enemy lines and radioing reports. Some of these brave men had met brutal ends, but the Royal Navy was still able, especially on the west coast to support and supply the units. Cunningham decided that this was a real priority and put his Chief-of-Staff in charge of developing every possible means to improving the intelligence that as GOC 12th Army he needed.

The Engineer in Chief of Malaya Command gave up an update on the progress of improving the infrastructure allowing for better communications and resupply. Much of the work of his men was fixing the things they had destroyed as the Empire forces had retreated down the Malay peninsula. He presented a fairly positive picture of how it was going, except for two things they were short of: bridging equipment and heavy equipment. It wasn’t completely hampering their work, but it was slowing things down.

The Deputy Adjutant & Quartermaster General’s report included a section on what was expected in the next convoy, the most essential of which were artillery shells. The profligate use (as the QG described it) by the Australian Corps had reduced stocks of 25-pdr ammunition to below acceptable levels. Other ammunition stocks were also low, so the ammunition being brought on the convoy was crucial to looking towards any kind of major offensive or defensive action. This was a deciding factor for Cunningham.

He informed his new command that operations were to halt where they were, though aggressive patrolling would be expected. He would spend the next week touring the various units to get to know the men and see for himself the kind of terrain they were fighting in. Once ammunition stocks were built up, he wanted 18th Division to attempt to get over ‘the Ledge’ towards Pattani, and for the Australian Divisions to put together a mobile force to try to push up towards the border into Thailand. The Corps and Divisional Staffs would need to work up their plans for accomplish this objective, it seemed the Japanese didn’t have much to stop tanks, Cunningham wanted to use this advantage while they still had it. If the Australians managed to make progress, then Heath’s III Indian Corps would replace them in the front line, allowing Mackay’s men time to regroup and rest.

 

[allanpcameron]

7 March 1942. Rangoon, Burma.

General Harold Alexander had certainly lit a fire among the rear-echelon units. On his first visit to the port area, he had been informed that there 972 unassembled trucks that had arrived under Lend-Lease, with 5000 tyres to get them going. The excuses for why this goldmine of equipment was just waiting about for a Japanese air raid to destroy them, were no protection from the normally placid General Officer Commanding’s rage.

Quite a few officers found themselves demoted and shipped off ‘somewhere where they couldn’t lose the war for us’. The initial air raids had scared off some of the local labour, but that was no excuse for the lackadaisical way in which the port was being run. With new men in charge, and under continuous scrutiny to make sure the problems were being fixed in a timely matter, the backlog of equipment and stores began to be dispersed and delivered to where they were needed. Later Alexander would note the exceptional cooperation of the 14th Indian Division in their contributions to this task.

With Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell having established his American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India, at Chungking, Alexander was keen to show British support for his new ally. ‘Vinegar Joe’ was a very different kind of character from Alexander, but sorting out the mess in Rangoon would go a long way towards making relations more cordial. Getting the Lend-Lease trucks assembled and into action really broke the log jam that had built up.

Alexander had met with Stilwell and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The Chinese forces had been sent to support the British in Burma had been much appreciated, though they hadn’t had much to do. They had however allowed Bill Slim to concentrate his own force to give the Japanese a black eye. The discussion about whether the Chinese forces should remain in Burma as a back-up force had been useful. It had given Alexander a chance to evaluate the American and Chinese leaders, and to use his charm to oil the wheels of diplomacy. The Chinese forces would stay, and were receiving some further training while in Burma. The Chinese were also the beneficiaries of the changes in Rangoon, as they tended to get first choice of the Lend-Lease material that was meant for the Generalissimo.

When 9th (Highland) Division had moved from Egypt, they were accompanied by Lt Col Herbert Yeo’s 44th Bn RTR, which had begged, borrowed or stole enough Valiant I tanks to make a Tank Battalion. As well as the tanks, all of which had been repaired at one time or another, its men had been scrounged from various training units, replacement units, and hospitals. The arrival of a battalion of Infantry Tanks in Rangoon had been problematic, the ships’ own cranes had had to lift the tanks onto the dockside.

Yeo’s Battalion had left Egypt with the reputation of being worse thieves than the New Zealanders, something the 44th Bn RTR took as a great compliment. Their thieving ways continued on arrival in Burma, much to the annoyance of CO of 252nd Indian Armoured Brigade, the only other tankers in country. While the Indians had a whole range of different tanks (light and cruisers) there were enough bits and pieces not tied down that the 44th could put to good use.

Yeo had to wait for enough suitable transport to get his tanks from Rangoon to Moulmein, and then wait further for the road and river crossings from there to the River Ping to be improved enough for his tanks to move up. During their wait, the tanks had exercised with different units of both 9th (Highland) Division and 14th Indian Division. They’d also had the experience of working with General Sun Li-jen’s 113th Regiment of the Chinese New 38th Division, something that both sides found ‘interesting’.

The African and Indian Divisions, with the help of the two Regiments of the 252nd Armoured Brigades, had halted the Japanese at the river, but hadn’t been able to establish a crossing of their own. The 9th (Highland) Division had moved up to the border between Burma and Thailand as a backstop in case the Japanese managed to get around the Africans and Indians. Lt-Col Yeo had motored up to the 9th Division’s HQ to get the lay of the land and see whether his tanks would be able to make the journey. There were a couple of points where a bit more work was needed to allow the passage of the tanks, and Lieutenant General Slim had provided a Royal Engineer Field Company to sort out those problems. When Yeo got back to his own HQ, he briefed his men and sorted out the order of march. 44th Bn RTR was going back to war.

 

[allanpcameron]

8 March 1942. Bovington. England.

Twenty new instructors were part of the team that had the newest class of Royal Armoured Corps under instruction. The twenty men had all started the war in Egypt with 1st and 6th Bn RTR, they’d been chosen for home leave and the instructor course. Every unit that had been involved in the fighting in North Africa had picked out men who showed they could identify what had worked and what hadn’t. A preference for older men, men with families was another part of the equation, for who would go home to become teachers, and a good number of NCOs who’d be trained as officers.

The lucky men chosen had sailed away from Egypt shortly after the capture of Tripoli, had a couple of weeks home leave, then taught how to be teachers. A hospital ship had carried home a good number of men with serious wounds, but more were men well on the road to recovery, who in due course could be integrated into new units to season them with experience.

Captain Peter Smith DSO had managed to bring home the whole crew of Adsum, his Valiant I from A Squadron, 1st Bn RTR. Sergeant John Twist MM was now a gunnery instructor, Corporal Bill Jones a driving instructor, and Corporal Jim Wilson was loader/mechanic instructor. Along with the others from the two RTR Battalions, the recruits would get, not only the technical know-how of their jobs in tanks, but the wisdom born of combat, how to fight a tank battle and win.

Smith and the rest of them, as ordered, had spent a lot of time on the long voyage home writing up their experiences, from their training to every exercise and battle they’d taken part in. The orders had been quite clear, everything was to go in, positive and negative. Every gripe, moan and complaint were just as important as every success. There were plenty of both the former as well as the latter. The experience in the desert was different from that of the fighting in France and Belgium, different again from Greece and East Africa. The Royal Tank Regiment (though the old timers still thought of it as the Corps) needed to imbue the new hostilities-only recruits with their esprit-de-corps. They also needed to pass on the real-life lessons of using a tank in battle. The way things had been done at Cambrai and in the Hundred Days were part of that institutional knowledge, but this war so far, had provided many other lessons that needed to be thoroughly understood.

Smith had enjoyed his leave, and being much closer to home, he could look forward to seeing more of his parents. There was also a young lady that he’d visited in London who’d been keeping up correspondence while Smith was overseas. As he looked around, he couldn’t help thank his lucky stars, and his father’s prayers, for giving him the chance to live his life, and perhaps train these young lads fight, and survive.

Having a crew that had worked together was part of the training process was designed to show how the necessary interaction and communication within the tank was crucial to the success of the tank. Smith and his crew had collaborated with the Officer Commanding crew training to build a cut away section of a Valiant I tank. The new trainees would watch the Adsum crew go through their action during Operation Crusader when they fired off every one of the ninety-five 2-pdr shells carried in the tank. The destruction of 75 Italian tanks in a single engagement at Bir Dufan for the total loss of only a few British tanks was one of the great tank battles of the war so far.

Most of the trainees would man Valiant II or Victor tanks, the unlucky ones on Crusaders. The Crusader still carried the 2-pdr, which Twist explained needed to fire three shots into a target to make sure it was disabled. The Valiant II and the Victor I would be armed with the 6-pdr, which looked like it would probably one a one shot, one kill kind of weapon. The fact that the 6-pdr also had a High Explosive shell would help, it wasn’t terribly powerful, but at least it gave the gunner something to use on soft-skinned targets or enemy anti-tank emplacements other than the co-axial Besa.

Reliving that day in November was something the whole crew had done time and again. They had discussed it, written about it, been interviewed on at least four occasions. Trying to piece the whole engagement together was impossible, so much had happened so fast, that all they could do was try to replay their method: Identify the target, halt, aim, fire, load, repeat, repeat; move, identify, halt, aim, fire, load, repeat, repeat. Once the trainees had been taken through the process, then each of the crew helped them digest what each crew members role was, and how it was to be done, coordinated, like a dance. A good crew, like Smiths, got into a rhythm akin to a dance. Working in harmony with one another, anticipating the next move, having the muscle memory to act without having to think. Speed and quick thinking were what they tried to communicate. Of course, the trainees wanted to know more, what it felt like, what went through their minds.

Preparing for battle was a complex process and there would be parts of their training where the psychological questions would have to be explored. For Smith and his crew, all they could do was pass on their own example, an effective team, working together, with the right equipment was the best way of winning battles, and more importantly, surviving the war.

 

[allanpcameron]

9 March 1942. Bataan, Philippines.

The survivors of 192nd and 194th Tank Battalion had become the Provisional Tank Group, and had been either defending the coastline or other important places, trying to prevent being turned into pillboxes. The men, like all on the Bataan peninsula were sick, hungry and fearful.

On 7 March, the Japanese launched an attack supported by artillery and aircraft. A large force of Japanese troops came over Mount Samat and descended down the south face of the volcano. This attack wiped out two divisions of defenders and left a large area of the defensive line open to the Japanese. The next morning, the 57th Infantry, Philippine Scouts, supported by C Company tanks, with only seven tanks, attempted to restore the line, but Japanese infiltrators prevented this from happening.

Companies B and D, 192nd, and A Company, 194th, with all the remaining tanks were preparing for a suicide attack against the Japanese in an attempt to stop the advance. At 18:00hrs 8 March, the tank battalion commanders received this order: “You will make plans, to be communicated to company commanders only, and be prepared to destroy within one hour after receipt by radio, or other means, of the word ‘CRASH’, all tanks and combat vehicles, arms, ammunition, gas, and radios: reserving sufficient trucks to close to rear echelons as soon as accomplished.”

At about 06:45 the tank battalion commanders received the order “crash.” The tank crews circled their tanks. Each tank fired an armour-piercing shell into the engine of the tank in front of it. They also opened the gasoline cocks inside the tank compartments and dropped hand grenades into the tanks. Most of the company waited in their bivouac for the Japanese to make contact, while others attempted to reach Corregidor which had not surrendered.

 

[allanpcameron]

10 March 1942. London, England.

The fall-out from the recent exercise on Salisbury Plain was still reverberating around the army, even to the highest level in the War Office. General Alan Brooke had Major-General Oliver Leese and Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery waiting outside his office. He couldn’t help feel like a head-master about to give two badly behaved pupils ‘six of the best’ for their behaviour.

The exercise itself had done exactly what any exercise should do: have plenty of lessons to learn from. The independence of the Umpires had been undermined by Montgomery, something like the shenanigans with the Mobile Force back in the 30’s. Montgomery had ‘won’ the exercise, but it was clear it wasn’t fair, and in fact, he had very seriously failed in the primary objectives. As an artillery man, Brooke could see that XII Corps’ overwhelming artillery power should have prevented Leese from winning, but, while overwhelming, the Royal Artillery wasn’t a preternatural power as the Umpires would have had it.

The Mixed Division (one Armoured Brigade and two Infantry Brigades) was found to be too unwieldly. Until such time as the Infantry Brigades had enough armoured vehicles to match the speed of the tanks, it was just too difficult to coordinate. The Guards Armoured Division did have its infantry in suitable vehicles, and they managed to take on the Mixed Division piecemeal, even although on paper they were the weaker force.

The most effective formation in XII Corps was 53rd (Welsh) Division, along with 25th Tank Brigade. The army had more experience of tank/infantry cooperation of this nature, and Leese’s counterattack ran out of steam when they came up against the dug in and well-prepared Welshmen, whose artillery did indeed act as a deciding factor.

Montgomery and Leese had a very public spat at the debrief about Leese’s use of signal intelligence. Montgomery’s HQ was identified and attacked because of lax radio procedures. Embarrassed by this, Montgomery had called Leese a cheat in front of Brooke and other senior officers. It had already been made clear that the Umpires had been nobbled by XII Corps, so calling the opposition force commander a cheat was, to Brooke’s mind, the pot calling the kettle black.

The Canadian No 1 Special Wireless Section (Type C) had distinguished themselves during the exercise. If there was one lesson that the army had to take seriously was the need for strict radio security. This type of Wireless Section was to be expanded so that at least every Corps would have one, the only changes was the need to have enough interpreters to listen into enemy conversations. Signals Intelligence was already a known and trusted part of the army’s operations. Brooke had already had the heads of the Intelligence Corps and Royal Signals in to hammer home the message that this needed to be strengthened and sharpened. As well as interception, the Canadians had managed some really good direction-finding results. The RAF’s Intelligence had also been copied into this discussion, part of the reason for Montgomery’s HQ being discovered was the length of time the RAF liaison officers spent guiding in the army cooperation aircraft.

In Brooke’s mind, Leese was no doubt conceited about his Guards Armoured Division being ‘elite’. It was a cheeky move to gain the Canadian Wireless group without letting on, but Montgomery had made a fool of himself. Leese, like Montgomery had done a good job in Flanders in the fallback to Dunkirk, and had previously been one of Montgomery’s instructors at staff college back in the 1920’s. The two men had a fairly good relationship up until this exercise, and Brooke was a bit concerned about Montgomery’s over-reaction.

What was worse, from Brooke’s perspective was Montgomery trying to shift the blame for his loss onto others, rather than taking ownership of his own failure. Whereas his infantry did well, Montgomery hadn’t shown that he had a firm enough command of the use of tanks in his plan. It was a problem throughout the leadership of the army, there just wasn’t a consensus about how to use tanks properly. O’Connor’s example was all very well, but tank warfare in North Africa primarily against the Italians, wasn’t going to be transferrable to Europe and against the Wehrmacht. Until tank doctrine was worked out, then hopefully all senior officers would be on the same page. Working it out in exercises on Salisbury Plain was better than picking up the pieces after a disaster on the battlefield. Therefore, he couldn’t be too hard on either Montgomery or Leese, but he settled himself into the headmaster’s role to give them both a good talking to, and make them shake hands, at least figuratively.

 

[allanpcameron]

11 March 1942. Mindoro, Philippines.

With the fall of Bataan, the need to evacuate General Douglas MacArthur, his family and others VIPs from the Philippines had become urgent. While the final battles on Bataan were taking place, MacArthur’s group were evacuated on 8 March by a number of PT boats, initially to Mindoro. The original plan to take the General to Mindanao to be evacuated by air had proven too difficult to organise. The B17s had been used extensively and most were in need of replacement.

The dispatch of four B17s from Darwin to Mindanao had resulted in only one reaching the landing strip, and being judged unsafe to carry the VIPs. The question of when more suitable aircraft would be available was judged to be too long. President Roosevelt had ordered MacArthur out of the Philippines on 22 February and this order was reiterated again on 9 March. It was estimated that suitable aircraft wouldn’t be available until 16 March, and Washington would not countenance the delay any longer.

The two British submarines, HMS Porpoise and Rorqual, had been back and forth from Singapore, bringing in tons of supplies and evacuating as many specialists and wounded as possible. In addition to the American submarines doing the same, it was felt that MacArthur’s evacuation by submarine would be the safest way.

When informed of this, the General could not agree to be evacuated by the Royal Navy, it would have to be a USN submarine or nothing. USS Permit, having already evacuated Admiral Thomas Hart, was tasked with collecting the General and his party. The two Royal Navy Submarines would take turns to enter Corregidor and rescue as many people as they could. USS Permit would have the less hazardous collection of MacArthur’s party from San Jose on Mindoro.

Having sailed from San Jose during the night of 10/11 March, USS Permit’s captain, Lieutenant Commander Adrian Hurst, had planned to follow the same route he’d taken Admiral Hart to Surabaya, from where he could be flown to Australia. The last radio report from USS Permit was received at 22:00hrs, reporting they had been damaged by depth charges and had to surface. The radio message ended abruptly. General MacArthur, his family, staff and the crew of USS Permit were posted missing, believed killed in action.

 

[allanpcameron]

12 March 1942. Catterick, England.

Maj-Gen Evelyn Fanshawe (GOC 11th Armoured Division), having just returned from a Senior Officers’ Training Course, had his subordinates in to try to disseminate some of what he had picked up. Fanshawe’s enthusiasm for the Course was somewhat unfamiliar to the others in the room. They usually dreaded these meeting because Fanshawe tended to pick everything apart and be generally dismissive of whatever ‘learning’ he was supposed to have picked up.

When CO of the Queens Bays in France in 1940, he’d seen his command decimated in an attempt to recapture bridges over the Somme from the Germans. Promoted to command 20th Armoured Brigade in 6th Armoured Division, then given the task of forming 11th Armoured Division, he had constantly argued from experience that any successful battle would need the combined efforts of tanks, artillery and infantry, preferably with air support.

It seemed that the War Office in the latest Training Course had picked up on this and much of what Fanshawe had preached was now becoming doctrine. The fighting in Greece, North Africa and now Malaya had all shown that cooperation between tanks and infantry was essential. The proposal to change the Basic Organisation of the Armoured Divisions to an Armoured Brigade, an Infantry Brigade, with Division level artillery and supporting elements was now going to be implemented in May.

Fanshawe didn’t say to his subordinates that he’d also been informed that he would soon be leaving the Division to command the Royal Armoured Corps Training Establishment. It was right and fitting for the new look Division to have a new GOC, but he felt that the last year he’d done as good a job as he possibly could. The fact that he’d been chosen to take over RAC Training was a reflection of that.

The details that he did give were that 11th Support Group (Brigadier Edward Jones) would become the HQ of the Divisional Royal Artillery, with two more Artillery Regiments to join the 13th RHA, 75th Anti-Tank Regiment and 58th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

Brigadier Christopher Peto’s 29th Armoured Brigade (24th Lancers, 23rd Hussars, 2nd Fife & Forfar Yeomanry) would be staying with the Division. Brigadier Otho Prior-Palmer’s 30th Armoured Brigade (22nd Dragoons, Westminster Dragoons, 1 Lothian & Border Horse) would be reassigned, though where exactly Fanshawe didn’t know. As he understood it, Fanshawe believed that the Infantry Brigade would be coming from 53rd (Welsh) Division which had exchanged an Infantry Brigade for a Tank Brigade as one of the experimental Mixed Divisions.

One of the things that Fanshawe had been leading the way on was the use of the Support Group’s three battalions of Motor Infantry. The 8th Bn Rifle Brigade, 12th Bn Kings Royal Rifle Corps and 12th Bn Green Howards were supposedly to be farmed out, one battalion each to the Armoured Brigades and Support Group. Trying to assault German positions on the Somme with a troop of tanks supporting a C0mpany of Infantry, without artillery support, had failed miserably. In all exercises that 11th Armoured Division had undertaken (both Tactical Exercises Without Troops ‘TEWT’ and field exercises) Fanshawe, with his subordinates, had worked out what they believed to be the best way to coordinate an attack on a strong enemy position using what was at his disposal. The idea some other Infantry Division/Tank Brigade would be on hand to clear strong positions, had led to the notion that Armoured Divisions, like the Cavalry of old, would be the exploitation force, one the enemy’s defences had been breached.

Unfortunately, that tactical doctrine hadn’t been much help in the war up until now, and had led to far too many deaths, in both infantry and tanks. One of the fundamental problems for the Armoured Division was because there was only one Royal Horse Artillery Regiment attached, it was always under powered. Added to the burden was that 2-pdr tank in the Valiant I* or other cruiser tanks couldn’t support the infantry except against enemy tanks. This meant that an enemy anti-tank gun screen became a major liability to an Armoured Division. 11th Armoured Division, when confronted with such a problem had learned to work as one, an Armoured Brigade and using the three Infantry Battalions as if they were one Infantry Brigade. The second Armoured Brigade could attempt to find a way around the enemy, or act as a distraction, or just remain in reserve until a breakthrough could be effected.

In their exercises, Fanshawe’s three Infantry Battalions had worked out various ways to support the tanks, or have the tanks support them, clearing out an enemy position. Like all Armoured forces, the need for more Close Support tanks to have an auxiliary artillery function had been an important lesson, and the original six per Regiment had been trebled to eighteen. Each Squadron therefore had four troops of three tanks, one of which had the 3-inch Howitzer, and two 2-pdrs. The Squadron HQ had two of each tank. With six CS tanks per Squadron rather than per Regiment, the ability of the Armoured Regiment to support infantry with HE in reducing enemy resistance was enhanced.

The Valiant II* that were replacing the I* would improve on this situation as the 6-pdr gun at least had some HE capacity, though still limited. It wouldn’t be until the Victor with the new 75mm HV’s dual capacity meant that the distinction between gun and CS tanks would be able to disappear. With the arrival of another two Artillery Regiments would be another element in making the Armoured Division capable of all its functions.

What Fanshawe and his men had achieved in the last year was to bring together a new Division from scratch, train it up and then write the training manual that was about to be disseminated throughout the Royal Armoured Corps, and indeed the Army as a whole. What worked for the Armoured Division in terms of tactics of cooperation between tanks, infantry and artillery would also work with Infantry Divisions supported by Tank Brigades.

 

[allanpcameron]

13 March 1942. Ping River, Thailand.

Lieutenant-General Bill Slim pulled himself out of the slit trench, apologising to the men that he’s landed on top of. While inspecting some of the 10th Indian Division positions, a brief warning had been given before a flight of Japanese fighters had flown over, dropping bombs and straffing. The various Anti-Aircraft platoons did their best, but the Bren and Lewis guns weren’t able to do any harm to the Japanese aircraft.

The battle for command of the air was mostly out-with Slim’s control. The nearest friendly air bases were some distance back, whereas the Japanese’ bases were closer. The RAF and AVG were doing their best to provide air cover, and the medium bombers were attacking the Japanese bases regularly. There was a captured Thai landing strip at Mae Sot that the RAF liaison assured Slim would be operational within a week or so. Otherwise, the Hurricanes of 267 Wing were forward based at Moulmein, though the main maintenance unit was back at Mingaladon.

Everything really depended on getting the road from Moulmein via Mae Sot to the Ping River up to scratch. Maybe then the RAF could provide aircover, and the supplies for the forward Divisions could be moved more easily. The 11th African Division had been in the fight longest and needed a rest. The 9th (Highland) Division were currently moving up to replace them, and once the tanks of the 44th Bn RTR were ready for action, Slim wanted to try to force a crossing of the river, which the Highlander’s three artillery regiments, would give them the kind of punch needed.

 

[allanpcameron]

14 March 1942. London, England.

Major-General Brian Horrocks left the interview with some degree of both excitement and nervousness. Having commanded 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division since the previous summer, Horrocks was well pleased with what he had accomplished there. Working under Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, starting as a Battalion, then Brigade commander, his promotion to GOC 43rd Division had much to do with Montgomery’s influence. In the recent XII Corps exercise, Horrock’s leadership of his Division had shone out as one of things that XII Corps could be proud of.

9th Armoured Division had been formed in late 1940 under the command of Major-General Montague Burrows, who’d done a good job getting them equipped and trained. Between (acting) General Paget (GOCinC Home Forces) and General Brooke (CIGS), there’d been a lot of discussion about the state of some of the Divisions under their command.

Two major problems were firstly ‘aid to civilian powers’, which all too often had soldiers off helping with harvests, clearing up after air raids, even mending roads. This hampered the training schedules and often left the soldiers ‘browned off’. The second problem was the uneven levels of training. This was a problem harking back to the days when training was the responsibility of the unit commander. For some, like Montgomery, this was taken very seriously, for others, less so. A recent innovation (or rather recreation) was of Battle Schools, where men could be exposed to the sights, sounds and reality of the battlefield as much as possible. The arrival of combat veterans of North Africa was benefiting these schools.

Horrocks was asked to take over command of 9th Armoured Division. Like the rest of the Armoured Divisions, it was about to undergo a change in Basic Organisation. While Major-General Burrows had done a good job up until now, Brooke had an idea that he wanted to test out. The RAF had given a demonstration of No 1426 (Enemy Aircraft Circus) Flight at Duxford to the General Staff and Brooke had noted that they were being used to familiarise the RAF Squadrons with the enemy aircraft they were fighting. There was a growing bounty of captured German and Italian tanks, vehicles, artillery and other equipment of all types, and Brooke thought an Enemy Panzer Circus would be a good idea to help with training.

During the recent exercise the Guards Armoured Division had played the Opposition Force to Montgomery’s XII Corps. The problem was that British tactics were being used against British tactics, without great thought going in to thinking as the enemy. Horrocks had been offered was command of 9th Armoured Division with the proviso he was to turn into a Panzer Division. Not only were there plenty of captured German equipment, there were also plenty of POWs, and from their interrogations a pretty good idea of German training and tactics had been gleaned. Brooke wanted Horrocks to learn those tactics, and reform 9th Armoured Division into the same basic organisation as 9th Panzer Division. In doing so, it would give all the British units the chance to take on a panzer division on the training fields.

Horrocks had wondered why he’d been chosen, he was not expert on the German army and, as an infantry officer, had no real experience of leading an Armoured formation. This was precisely why Brooke and Paget had marked him out. In taking command of an Armoured Division, Horrocks would have to start from scratch, learning the ways of armoured warfare. 9th Panzer Division had fought against Charrington’s Armoured Brigade in Greece, which had given a decent account of itself. By having a standing Opposition Force, including some of the captured enemy vehicles and equipment, the British army could be trained to meet and fight an enemy, rather than just a mirror image of itself.

Brooke had the latest intelligence assessment of 9.Panzer Division, which was currently in Russia, and gave to Horrocks as a starting point. Paget put a unit from MI19 at Horrocks’ disposal, giving him access to all the POW materials, including from MI9 which they had taken over from. Brooke assured Horrocks that whatever reasonable requests he had to form this unit would be granted. The only thing he could think of immediately was translators, he would need plenty of German speakers if he was going to be able to get into the mind of the enemy. Paget took a note of that and promised he’d do his best, even though pretty much everyone was looking for people who spoke German.

One of the other reasons for choosing Horrocks was he’d spent most of the Great War in German POW camps, and had picked up fluency in both German and Russian. Before his appointment, Brooke was keen for Horrocks to make his way to the Eastern Front. Brooke wanted Horrocks to be able to get an idea of how the Germans were fighting in Russia; to see if there was anything that could be learned from the Red Army’s tactics; and seek the latest German equipment that the Russians might have captured. He would only have a short time to achieve all this, and get back to make 9th British Panzer Division a reality.

 

[allanpcameron]

16 March 1942. Canberra, Australia.

John Curtin, Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Coordination, had greeted General Claude Auchinleck at the door of the Lodge (official residence of the Australian PM). Auchinleck had been delayed, so when he walked into the meeting room, Peter Fraser, the New Zealand Prime Minister, rose and shook his hand and that of Auchinleck’s deputy, Lieutenant General George Brett USAAF.

As well as the Prime Ministers, the Chief of the General Staffs of Australia and New Zealand, Vernon Sturdee and Edward Puttock, were also present. Later there would be a larger meeting involving staff members and other interested parties, but this meeting, ostensibly drinks before lunch, was in fact a chance to hammer out the main point of the agenda before the official meeting after lunch.

The focus of attention for both Australia and New Zealand had become the Pacific and South China Sea since the Japanese declaration of war. While strengthening Malaya with Australia’s 6, 8 and 9 Infantry Divisions, 7 Australian and 2nd New Zealand Infantry Divisions were still in the Middle East. The New Zealanders had played an important part in the defeat of Italian North Africa, and were currently underemployed. Although 7 Division was preparing to go into action in Rhodes, the New Zealanders were now back up to full strength in men and equipment, were sitting around keeping an eye on the Vichy French.

It was becoming very difficult politically to keep such strong and important forces in the Middle East when they could be doing something to knock out the Japanese threat. Curtin and Fraser wanted Auchinleck’s thoughts on how things were going, and particularly, what the end of American resistance on the Philippines meant.

Feelers had been put out to Washington DC to ask about American plans. The gathering of the infantry force on New Caledonia, and the build up of the USAAF in Australia and on Java were concrete signs that the Americans were starting to get onto a war footing. It was only a few months since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, and while no one expected miracles of the Americans, the resources of the allies in the area weren’t going to be anywhere near enough until the Americans were fully deployed.

Strategically, the Americans would naturally want the Philippines back, but getting to it, needed the Netherlands East Indies secured. If the war had to be taken all the way back to Japan, there would either have to be an island-hopping exercise across the vastness of the Pacific, or, possibly, go through China, for which French Indo-China would need to be taken, and that would involve seizing Thailand.

If Churchill would agree to release the ANZACs from Wavell’s command to Auchinleck, ABDA would have an extra battle-hardened Corps to play with. The fact that 7 Division was trained for amphibious warfare was another desirable skill set. Coupled with the British reinforcements heading for Burma and Malaya, then the Japanese enterprise would be thrown off the rails completely.

The problem for both Australia and New Zealand was that they were just about at their maximum available manpower. Curtin and Sturdee were conscious that the Civilian Military Force (CMF) consisted on paper of five Infantry and two Cavalry Divisions. As these units were made up by conscripts, under the Defence Act, they were precluded from serving outside Australia or Australian territory. They were also undertrained and underequipped, while not at the same level as the Home Guard in Britain, garrison duties were about all that could be expected of them. Maintaining four AIF Infantry Divisions in the field and an Armoured Division about to join them, didn’t give Australia much leeway.

The New Zealand Army was looking at forming a second Expeditionary Force for the Pacific. They had increased the numbers of Battalions defending Fiji, creating two Brigades. There had been discussions about creating a third Infantry Brigade to augment the two on Fiji and create 3rd Infantry Division. The problem was that Fiji needed to be defended. If the Americans would take over that responsibility, then New Zealand could provide another strong force to the fight. In addition to the two Infantry Brigades, New Zealand had formed its 1st Army Tank Brigade, the previous October. So far, they had received thirty Valiant I tanks from Britain for training. Without more tanks the three Battalions weren’t anywhere near ready for deployment. If they were fully equipped, adding them to the two Infantry Brigades would provide a strong punch. The fighting in Malaya had shown the Infantry tank to be a potent weapon.

From Auchinleck’s point of view the idea of having the ANZACs in his area of responsibility would be an excellent addition, especially if 7 Division arrived with the Royal Navy’s amphibious capability. While that wasn’t likely, the Japanese had shown that amphibious assets didn’t have to be too sophisticated. It also wasn’t an immediate priority. First and foremost, the Japanese had to be stopped dead, and with the fall of the Americans in the Philippines, the Japanese would have more men to put into their efforts to gain the resource rich Netherlands East Indies.

Auchinleck asked Brett to give his assessment of the situation regarding the Philippines. Brett noted that the garrison on Corregidor still held out, and that there were other American forces spread over some of the other islands. However, for all intents and purposes, the Philippines were now under Japanese control. The question was how long it would take the Japanese to regroup and move their main force to somewhere else.

The best Intelligence evaluations suggested that, unless something happened to the Japanese navy’s ability to control the sea lanes, then one or possibly two Japanese Divisions would be available to expand their conquests. The American Pacific Fleet, without the battleships lost at Pearl Harbour, consisted of a few Task Forces based around their aircraft carriers. The British fleet was still in the Indian Ocean while awaiting the arrival of another couple of carriers. The good news was that the submarine forces of both fleets were being strengthened and that Japanese losses in its merchant fleet continued to grow.

Brett’s assessment of the American build up was that by the middle of the year, the USAAF would be a potent force for both offensive and defensive actions. The USN would continue to do its best to jab at the Japanese, while keeping itself intact until the ship building program got into its stride. The US Army and Marine Corps would continue to build itself up in the Pacific and Australia, and hopefully be in a position to go on the offensive in another few months. Curtin and Fraser knew most of this already, but the idea of another two Japanese Divisions being let loose on the overstretched Dutch and allied holdings was frightening.

Auchinleck was more sanguine about the situation. It had become clear that the Japanese had gambled on a fast and furious campaign, trying to take advantage of the general weakness of the European colonies, just as they had with French Indo-China. As far as he could see, they planned to gain the resource rich area to allow them to finally finish off the Chinese. Knowing that it would take time for the allies to gather strength, the Japanese would have time to fortify themselves and make the task of defeating them too expensive to contemplate. That gamble had failed. They had been stopped in Malaya, Burma, Celebes, and unable to take Java. Yes, they had captured Rabaul, the Philippines and Borneo, but had paid a heavy price for it.

While that part of the Japanese gamble had failed, the other thing that they hadn’t taken account of was how long it would take the allies to gather reinforcements on land, sea and air. If indeed Auchinleck got the ANZACs from the Middle East, and the Americans continued to send troops and aircraft at the same rate, then taking back what had been lost wouldn’t be too long delayed.

Waiting for the Americans to build up their forces to go on the offensive would mean it would likely be 1943 before anything concrete could happen. The other problem that the Australians and New Zealanders had identified was a concern about what the long-term cost would be for the American help. They were aware that there was some kind of unspoken animosity towards the British Empire in America, and while New Zealand was more concerned than Australia, it was worrying. The reinforcements to Singapore before the Japanese invasion, had reassured them that they weren’t just being used by Britain. The Australians were particularly pleased with the growing links with Canada and felt that there was still something to be said for the Sterling Zone.

There were other issues to be discussed after lunch, but for the moment, there was a general agreement that the ANZACs would be best placed support the Dutch forces and hopefully stop any more Japanese expansion. Having two, preferably three experienced, some would say ‘crack’, Divisions in theatre would give real stability to the situation. The two Prime Ministers, with Auchinleck’s approval, would cable London and make their request for the ANZACs to be released, but were prepared to allow Australian 7 Division to remain until Rhodes had been liberated.

 

[allanpcameron]

17 March 1942. Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA

Just recently promoted and now commanding 1st Armored Division, Major-General Orlando Ward hung up the phone with a sigh. There was still no sign of where and when his Division was to move. Ever since they arrived back at Fort Knox on 7 December, they’d been on the alert for a move. Like Major-General Bruce Magurder whom he replaced, Ward had been trying to get some kind of movement orders. The loss of all those good men on the Bataan Peninsula was yet another reason why a fully trained and equipped Armored Division shouldn’t be sitting on its tail, while there was a war going on. Frustration was the main emotion being felt all through the Division, probably the entire US Army.

There’d been all sorts of false alarms, they might be shipped to England, they might be shipped directly to the Philippines, then the rumour was they were off to Australia. Ward and his men just wanted to get into the war. They had two battalions of M3 mediums, one of M3 light tanks, an armoured infantry regiment, the full Field Artillery compliment, reconnaissance, engineers, medical, logistics, everything needed to take the battle to the enemy. Instead, they were sitting around waiting for someone up the chain of command to make a decision. Meanwhile men were bleeding and dying in the Philippines, for want of the kind of firepower that ‘Old Ironsides’ could provide.

 

[allanpcameron]

18 March 1942. Palestine.

The Royal Hellenic Army and the Yugoslav Army Outside the Homeland were made up of those who’d been lucky enough to be evacuated from their occupied countries. Arriving in Egypt with a minimum of equipment, the process of bringing both Armies up to scale had been a hard year’s worth of work.

The Greek army at least still held Crete, and a full Division’s worth of men held the island. The Yugoslavs had managed to scrape together enough men for a Brigade. This would have been more, but many of those who’d escaped wanted to return and serve with the Partisans. The British Special Operations Executive were more than happy take them, along with some of the Greeks, to train them in guerrilla warfare techniques.

The Yugoslav Brigade was now fully equipped to British army standards. It had taken a lot of work to get used to the new weapons, but there was a thirst to get back at the Germans as quickly as possible. Yugoslavia was conglomeration of many languages, religions and traditions. The Yugoslav Brigade reflected this disparate background, though the majority were Serbs. The British liaisons wondered if the Brigade could ever work together when there were such strong disagreements among them. One solution had been to have the Yugoslav Brigade exercise with the 5th Indian Division. An Indian Division was similarly made up of men from a wide variety of backgrounds, but the Indian Army had found a way of working together even if it involved a fairly complex support system.

The Greeks were in a better position. The Greek Division on Crete had been named as 5th Cretan Division, while those in Palestine were named 1st Infantry and 19th Mechanised Division. Increasing the numbers of Greek Divisions had been halted at these three currently. General Papagos, at Greek High Command on Crete, knew that he had enough men to form at least one or two more Divisions, but his army lacked specialists and enough trained officers and NCOs. The British had been very helpful in training up the people necessary to have complete Divisions, but Papagos was aware that he needed a pool of reserves.

Having trained with Italian equipment, the 19th Mechanised Division was now at a proficiency that had been lacking before the German invasion. Originally modelled on the French Light Cavalry Division (Division de Cavalerie Légère), the Greek 19th Mechanised Division was now formed more like the new style British Armoured Division with one Brigade of armoured vehicles and one Motorised Infantry Brigade. The armoured vehicles were captured Italian tanks and tankettes, which had proven useful at least for training purposes. The idea of going into action using them just wasn’t acceptable. British or American tanks were both in short supply currently, so there was something of an impasse.

O’Connor’s 8th Army had 2nd and 7th Armoured Divisions. Jumbo Wilson’s 10th Army had 10th Armoured Division in Persia, which was now fully equipped with a mixture of Stuart M3 Light Tanks and Crusaders. 8th Armoured Division hadn’t been allocated yet, they remained GHQ Middle East Force’s reserves. General Wavell was hopeful that negotiations with the Vichy French in Levant and North Africa would bring things to a peaceful conclusion. If that was the case then the French, like the Greeks would need to equipped, realistically with American equipment. Wavell and Papagos had reached an agreement that once Rhodes was captured from the Italians, that Greek troops would garrison the island, and then the other Dodecanese islands in due course. The chance of an early return to the Greek mainland was remote, so the 19th Mechanised Division would have plenty of time to be properly equipped for the role.

 

[allanpcameron]

19 March 1942. South of Alor Star, Malaya.

Major Tom Newton, OC B Squadron, 9 Division Cavalry Regiment was fuming. Lieutenant Harry Fyffe, his second in command, had screwed up, and screwed up badly, at the cost of his own life and too many others. Two tanks were burning, as were three carriers. The other tank and three carriers had scattered, but he couldn’t hear much in the way of fighting. So far, Newton reckoned the Squadron had lost at least twelve dead, probably about twenty wounded or worse, missing.

Aggressive patrolling was something the Cavalry Regiment was meant to excel at. Fyffe had led one light tank troop (3 Stuart M3s) and two carrier troops straight up the road as if they were heading for the pub. One of the sergeants in a carrier troop had been gesticulating trying to get Fyffe’s attention, there must have been some kind radio malfunction. A mine blew the first carrier to bits, and a well-prepared ambush was initiated. The Japanese had some kind of anti-tank gun and Fyffe’s tank was the first the brew up. The other tank’s demise followed swiftly, though at least it had gotten off a few shots and probably silenced a light machine gun team. The open carriers were targeted by hand grenades and fire bombs, which caused terrible injuries.

The second troop of tanks and carriers on over-watch reacted quickly, but the ambush had already done its worst. The second Light Tank Troop commander approached much more rationally, and with nine carriers covering each other as they leap frogged forward the surviving Japanese troops seemed to melt away. Something felt off, and Newton ordered everyone back to their vehicles and be prepared to fight.

One of men brought Newton a shoulder patch from a Japanese casualty, one which Newton didn’t recognise. If there was a new enemy unit in place, they would likely want to show some aggression. Setting up an ambush then drawing more Australians into kill zone was a known tactic, and now Newton’s fury was with himself. He’d allowed himself to fall for an old trick. Every vehicle was now manned and Newton ordered the light tank troop to lead the way back towards friendly lines. His own Squadron HQ (two M3s and two carriers) would follow, followed by the rest of the Squadron.

Newton wanted all five surviving tanks near the front, as he expected that there’d be a roadblock and ambush on the way back, remembering the route, he could think of a couple of places that the Japanese could use. Newton jumped into the HQ carrier with the extra radio. He gave a quick situation report, what he intended to do, and requested artillery fire support to be prepared, and if possible, air support.

The chances of either artillery or air support were limited, the patrol was quite far north of the main Australian positions, and the RAF weren’t quite up to speed on the kind of close air support that the Squadron needed. They were improving, generally able to support Brigade level operations, and some squadrons were even able to provide support at Battalion level. Supporting a mobile column was probably beyond their current capacity.

The good thing was that the Australians had got used to dealing with Japanese roadblocks, and unless this new Japanese unit operated very differently from those the Australians had met before, then Newton was confident that he could bring the rest of his Squadron back to base.

 

[allanpcameron]

20 – 23 March 1942. Moscow. CCCP

The plane that had delivered a very tired Major-General Horrocks had taken the very long route via Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Tehran and eventually Moscow. There was mail, both personal and professional in the diplomatic pouch, and Colonel Kenneth Exham had been there to collect his visitor and the mail. After a night’s rest in the Embassy, Horrocks was ready to learn as much as he could about the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union.

Exham had been the Army Section head of the British Military Mission to the USSR (BMM) since its inception in June 1941. Lieutenant-General Noel Mason-MacFarlane, the Head of Mission had asked Exham to sort out this visitor, while he continued to focus on getting the Poles under Major-General Anders out of the gulags and back into the war.

The problem that confronted all three services represented on the BMM was the difficulties of dealing with their Soviet counterparts. Designated primarily as spies, all BMM dealings had to go through Otdel (the Red Army Bureau of External Affairs). Despite Mason-Mac’s best efforts to cultivate as much more positive cooperation, Exham was always somewhat stymied in his task. Having a British general turn up and expect information from the Red Army was asking a lot. Nonetheless Exham had pulled out all the stops and had found that some of his requests had actually been granted.

Because none of the requests involved any information regarding the Red Army or its weapons, instead was to find out about German tactics and weapons had taken Otdel by surprise. There was a clearing house of sorts for German prisoners and captured equipment just outside Moscow. What Exham had requested and Horrocks wanted to see was what front line German equipment was in Russia that the British hadn’t seen in Greece or North Africa.

When the British officers arrived at the clearing house, they were given a grand tour of the boneyard. One of Exham’s aides was given permission to use a camera, much to everyone’s surprise. The Panzer I and II were of no great interest. Likewise, the Czech built P35 and P38 tanks were much the same as had been seen previously.

The Panzer III Ausf J was identified as a newer version of the Panzer III, there were also some Ausf H for comparison, the British only had the Ausf F and G to look at. The primary concern was that the Germans had added 30mm face hardened to double its armour, something that the 2pdr would struggle to match, and, although they wouldn’t admit it, so would the Soviet 45mm. Confirmation that the Germans were using face hardened armour was notable as it meant the need for capped armour piercing shells was needed.

The Panzer IV Ausf E and F were also in the boneyard, which the British noted were still armed with the short 75mm gun, but, like the Panzer III, given double the armour of the earlier versions. Horrocks asked if it might be possible to ship working examples home, as well as some of the other captured German equipment. Exham agreed to ask, but warned Horrocks not to get his hopes up, it was unlikely that the Soviets would agree.

Later in the day the British and Soviet officers visited a holding centre for Prisoners of War. Before the winter offensive very few Germans had been taken prisoner, the Soviets now had more than 100000 behind wire. This particular centre was for German officers, three of whom were brought out to speak to the British. With Horrocks’ Great War experience of being held captive, and his fluency in German, he was able to strike up a conversation with a German Colonel while Exham distracted the Soviet minders with the other Germans. A packet of cigarettes went a long way to getting the Prussian to speak freely. He claimed he was never a Party member and was a professional soldier, held back from becoming a General because of his well-known antithesis to ‘political interference’ in Wehrmacht affairs.

His treatment at the hands of the Soviets since his capture had been fairly brutal and he claimed that his fellow officers had ostracised him, leaving him more vulnerable. Horrocks was prepared to take most of this with a pinch of salt, but asked Exham if it were possible to ask the Soviets to send some German prisoners with the equipment. Exham managed not to roll his eyes, and once again agreed to put the request through the proper channels to Otdel.

For the next couple of days Horrocks had a number of meetings with various Soviet ‘experts’ on the German invaders and when it was time to head back, Exham revealed, to his own surprise, that the Soviets had agreed to send the requested list of German equipment to Murmansk, along with a small number of POWs, to be brought back to Britain in the next QP convoy. Exham couldn’t believe Horrocks’ luck, though having a British General speaking excellent Russian certainly helped.

 

[allanpcameron]

24 – 26 March 1942. Malaya

Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham’s orders were for Mackay’s Corps to attempt to advance further up the Malaya peninsula before the Australian Corps went into reserve. Brigadier Victor Windeyer, (OC 20th Australian Brigade) had been given the task of advancing towards Alor Star, with Brigadier Raymond Tovell’s 26th Brigade in support.

During the campaign the Royal Navy’s small ships had been keeping the west coast of Malaya clear, running supplies up the coast and maintaining the stay behind forces as best they could. With the RAF having the airfield at Ipoh operational, and therefore adequate aircover guaranteed, the Royal Navy were supporting the Australian push. The light cruiser HMS Danae (6x 6-inch guns), with HMS Kashmir (6x 4.7-inch guns), were providing naval gunfire support. The two ships were accompanied by HMS Scout along with the Perak flotilla (a variety of launches, motor boats, including the Yangtze gunboats, HMS Grasshopper and Dragonfly, with increased AA capability). This flotilla had been the main force landing troops and supplies behind enemy lines.

Some Royal Marines, along with men from a variety of units, had volunteered to work with the Perak flotilla to learn how to infiltrate and exploit the Japanese weakness of having no naval support on the west coast. The flotilla carried a Company of Commandoes which would land behind the Japanese to help the Australians at the various river crossings.

As expected, 20 Brigade made good progress for the first ten miles, 2/13 Bn and 2/15 Bn arriving at the river Sala and Pendang respectively. A couple of batteries of 25-pdrs opened fire on the other side of the river, and the first of the 6-inch and 4.7-inch shells landed for the Forward Post Observer to correct the naval gunfire. After a few minutes of intense bombardment, B Company 2/13 Bn moved up and made their assault across the river unopposed. The rest of the battalion followed up, and the engineers started organising a couple of bridges for both men and vehicles.

At Pendang, 2/15th Bn swept in and around finding no sign of the enemy. The Malay volunteers found some mass graves and some locals hiding in the forest. Their account of what the Japanese had done between when they arrived and withdrew was a horror story of terrible proportions. They’d begun with confiscating all the food they could find, executed those who hid food from them, and then used the locals as slave labour. Those who could had escaped into the jungle, but the killings, rapes and exploitation had carried on unabated.

The account continued that the Japanese troops who had retreated after the battle at Ipoh were even more despicable, there was real evidence of cannibalism. The Australians had been raised in a society where fairness and justice had ruled, at least for most, and their hatred of the Japanese troops grew.

At 06:00hrs 25 March, the Brigade’s artillery began a barrage of the opposite side of the river. The two companies leading the assault already knew from the night patrols that the enemy only had some outposts closer to the Kedah River at Alor Star, and other than some booby traps and a couple of sniper teams, the Brigade was able to make rapid progress northwards. Coming to the site of the ambush of the Cavalry a few days previously, the Australians found that their dead comrades had been desecrated, and evidence that the missing men had been captured alive, tortured and murdered. The treatment of the natives had riled the Australians, but this was of a different measure altogether.

The rest of the day brought the two Australian Brigades to the Kedah River, which they cleared the approaches to. The Royal Navy had landed the commandoes behind the Japanese positions, where they created a roadblock to prevent reinforcements coming or to harass any retreating Japanese. The assault over the Kedah in three places was supported by the Royal Navy and the Australian Division’s artillery. The objectives were to advance towards the commandoes, occupy the airfield and clear out the Japanese. The first two objectives were achieved by last light, but it would take another day or two to dispose of the isolated Japanese positions that continued to resist.

 

[allanpcameron]

27 - 28 March 1942. Victoria Point, Burma.

14th/20th King's Hussars Stuart Light Tanks, had been part of the force that had successfully recaptured the airfields at Tavoy, Mergui and Victoria Point. The fact that the Japanese hadn’t garrisoned the airfields was a sign that they were short of troops. The RAF were working on getting all three airfields repaired and they weren’t far from operational availability. Victoria Point was the crucial airfield, as if provided single engine fighters a place to refuel between Rangoon and Singapore. A small flotilla of vessels had brought fuel, along with all the other necessities, for the air bridge to be reopened.

With the territorial integrity of Burma re-established, the next phase of operations was to cut the railway between Bangkok and the border with Malaya. The Royal Navy once again provided escorts with the Landing Craft Tanks, Lighters and a Landing Ship Infantry to carry a force based around B Squadron, 14/20th King’s Hussars, with 1/4th Bn Bombay Grenadiers to cross into Thailand, aiming for Jumbhorn (Chumphon) to cut the supply route for the Japanese in Malaya.

Two Companies of the Grenadiers had sailed up the Brui River about 20 miles to just short of the township of Kra Brui. The Bombay Grenadiers were confronted by some local Thai police who realised they were outnumbered and without options, so they stood down. Along with the infantry, a troop of the Hussars’ tanks, a battery each of 25-pdrs and 2-pdrs AT with some engineers had been delivered by the flat-bottomed Lighters.

The larger Landing Ships Tank and Infantry, despite their shallow draft, had to unload at Ranong. These ships were carrying the rest of the tanks, artillery and stores. Once again, the local Thai authorities acquiesced to the arrival of the British. The road between Ranong and Kra Brui was better than a cart track, as Ranong was one of the places that tin was exported from. The Stuart tanks were well capable of traversing the road, their problem was water courses which were more of a struggle to cross, bridges were too weak, or the ferries were too fragile.

Rafting the tanks over rivers, or improvising other kinds of crossings, took a lot of time and effort, the rest of the Bombay Grenadier Battalion being used as labourers alongside the attachment of engineers. The Lighters, having dropped their load at Kra Brui, came back and started shuttling elements of the force up the river to join the others. A Platoon of Grenadiers had begun to reconnoitre the road over the hills of the Peninsula towards Chumphon, while the rest of the force gathered its strength.

The arrival of the British forces had not gone unnoticed by the Japanese, who had been informed by the Thai authorities of the incursion. The local Japanese commander had few resources at his disposal, the town of Chumphon was simply part of the logistical network towards the front in Malaya. The size and make-up of the British force was unknown, the intelligence given by the Thais suggested that it was a very large force.

Having requested reinforcements, the Japanese commander set off with about a Company’s worth of men, to find out more about the British strength and to set up some kind of defensive position to hold the enemy away from Chumphon until reinforcements could arrive.

 

[allanpcameron]

29 March 1942. Farnborough, England.

Brigadier George Davy (CO 3rd Armoured Brigade), along with the Commanding Officers of 2nd, 3rd and 5th Battalions Royal Tank Regiment were on hand as the newest tanks in the British Army were put through their paces. The Victor I pre-production tanks were in the final stages of testing, and 3rd Armoured Brigade were preparing to be issued with the first production models.

Farnborough’s Mechanisation Experimental Establishment (MEE) had become part of the Department of Tank Design within the Ministry of Supply. A new site for testing vehicles was being prepared at Chertsey (originally RAF Chobham) in Surrey. The new purpose-built site would be ready before the end of the year, already some administration elements had already moved.

The RTR men’s presence in Farnborough was quite usual, and a number were on permanent loan. The general feeling of the tankies towards the Victor tank was very positive, it was, like its predecessor the Valiant, going to be very much appreciated by its crews. Among those singing its praises was Sergeant Emmin Hall, a pre-war regular. Having joined the army in 1931, he’s served on the North-West Frontier, and having completed six years, entered the reserves, until recalled in 1939.

Having fought the defensive action back towards Dieppe, allowing 51st Division and 3rd Armoured Brigade to be evacuated, Hall had been seconded to Vickers during the summer of 1941. During his time, having the experience of fighting in the A10 cruiser, Hall had proved his value to Vickers during the design and prototype stages of the Victor’s life. His experience in war had, like all the RTR men, including the B echelon fitters and mechanics, plenty of opinions about what they liked and didn’t like about tanks, their maintenance and fighting ability.

Sir John Carden and his team had tried their best to integrate these experiences into the Victor. Compared to the A9 and A10 cruisers they’d gone to war with, the Victor was bigger, faster, better armoured, and with the 6-pdr gun (75mm HV to follow) much more capable. Various efforts had been made to make the fighting compartment as efficient as possible, with a degree of concern about the men’s well-being. A tank would never be a comfortable place to live and fight, but at least there weren’t many inherent problems causing unnecessary injuries.

The fitters and mechanics’ input about the placement of things they needed easy access to, were integrated as far as possible. The engine was relatively easy to be brought out and replaced in the tank (relative being a very broad term). The designers had had to work pretty hard to satisfy their customers. The various engine types were proving Cardin right in his assessment, that Leyland Meteor engine, built from scratch would be the most reliable. Rover and Meadows hadn’t too many problems, but it was obvious that using bits from aero-engines was likely to be the cause of something going wrong.

Sergeant Emmin Hall knew that when the tanks were issued, he would return to 5th Bn RTR as a tank commander. He would in all likelihood be one of the men training the rest of the Battalion on the use and maintenance of the new tank. After that, the Brigade, currently still part of 1st Armoured Division, would be involved in exercises to get them ready to return to the fray.

The fact that the Royal Tank Regiment was getting these tanks first, would mean that they’d write the handbook on the tank for the rest of the Royal Armoured Corps. It was a job that Hall and his RTR comrades were keen on doing, after all they were the professionals who’d brought the era of tank warfare to birth.

 

[allanpcameron]

30 March 1942. Vichy, France.

The American Ambassador, Admiral Bill Leahy, sat opposite Marshall Petain, as he had done regularly since being given his role by President Roosevelt. Initially, Leahy had judged Petain positively, but as pressure from the Nazis increased, Petain had become frailer, older, confused and fatigued.

The Germans had been furious that although they had insisted on Weygand being withdrawn from North Africa, Weygand was still there, despite being ordered back, and Yves-Charles Chatel now seen as Governor in Algiers by Vichy. Now Petain was under pressure to bring Pierre Lavan back into the Government, and specifically to act as prime minister. The Germans were insisting of French workers be brought to Germany to make up for the shortfall caused by the mobilisation of much of the German workforce for war.

The position of the American Government, that Leahy was making clear, was that if Lavan was reappointed, as they suspected he would be, then it would be very difficult for the American Government to continue to see the Vichy regime as legitimate. The Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, Leahy’s link with Washington DC, had made it clear to the Ambassador that the US Government had recognized de Gaulle’s Free French in the territories it controlled. Washington DC would continue to engage with Vichy, though ‘the time may be coming soon when these two policies would no longer be compatible.’

Leahy showed evidence to the Petain that three German warships had docked at Brest and were repaired, resupplied and redeployed. Also, a U-boat had received similar services at Martinique in the West Indies. This was putting pressure on those in Washington who were less convinced that France was still their ally under occupation, and more a willing collaborator with their enemy.

What Leahy didn’t tell Petain was that there was a meeting going on in Algiers, even as they spoke. Jean Monnet, having worked at getting American help to France before May 1940, had been sent by Churchill to Washington to continue his work with the Anglo-French Coordinating Committee, which had been renamed as the British Purchasing Commission.

Monnet had become a regular visitor to the White House and Roosevelt found Monnet’s advice, and perspective, very helpful. Discussions about what should happen regarding the French Empire, had led to Monnet being dispatched from Washington as an envoy to Algiers to make (secret) contact with Weygand under American auspices. In addition to the Frenchman, the President had also sent Douglas MacArthur II, the nephew of the General, a diplomat in the American embassy in Vichy, with a personal letter from the President. They were joined by the French diplomat Rene Massigli, whose presence in France was becoming untenable.

In the letter, Roosevelt spoke of his continuing respect for Weygand, and assured him that the United States was not at war against France, but instead would devote its work to the repatriation of France and French power. MacArthur gave Weygand greater details about American policy. With there no longer being any danger of Germany occupying French North Africa, then plans to mount an American preventative operation to thwart that had been shelved. MacArthur noted that if French warships were used against the US Navy, or if Petain’s government was replaced by an out-and-out pro-German government, then the American response would have to be strong. The question was whether Weygand would lead and rally of the population and local military, in alliance with the United States, and move towards a defeat of Germany and the liberation of France?

The appeal of Monnet was for Weygand to deal directly with the Americans. The position of De Gaulle in London, led many in France to reject him as a puppet of perfidious Albion. This meant that if Weygand was to appeal to America for military support, by-passing the British (at least in theory), then all of France could rally to Weygand. As a soldier, with no interest in getting involved in politics, Weygand’s military appeal was broader than De Gaulle’s, and Monnet was clear that Roosevelt had no time for De Gaulle.

Weygand had got used to being fêted by a variety of interests. His meetings with the British General Wavell had been friendly, as fellow soldiers, they’d much in common, not least an antipathy towards the Boche. The various ‘Free French’ agents had been dismissed out of hand as De Gaulle’s puppets. The Italians, who were technically overseeing French application of the terms of treaty signed after the fall of France, had gone from being overbearing to being obsequious. As for the Germans, well the least said about them the better. The fact that the Americans had never broken off diplomatic relations with Vichy gave them something in their favour. Weygand recognised Petain as the legitimate ruler of France, and as long as that was the case, he could never be overtly disloyal. On the other hand, if a large military force of Americans arrived off the coast of French North Africa, there would be very little that Weygand could do to stop them invading.

 

[allanpcameron]

31 March 1942. Murmansk, CCCP.

The surviving fourteen merchant ships of PQ13 began arriving in port, and work began unloading them immediately. Of the nineteen merchant ships that had sailed from Iceland, two had been sunk by German U-boats, two by Luftwaffe aircraft and one by a German destroyer. The Royal Navy escorts in reply had sunk two U-boats and the destroyer Z26, but HMS Trinidad had been struck by a torpedo (believed to be self-inflicted), and would need substantial repairs. The weather was partly to blame, HMS Trinidad, Eclipse and Fury the main escorts, like the merchant men, had been scattered by severe gales, allowing the German attacks to concentrate on individual ships rather than them having the collective protection of the convoy.

The loss of five ships, more than a quarter of the convoy, was a matter of great concern. The Home Fleet, including HMS Duke of York, Renown, King George V and the carrier HMS Victorious, had provided distant cover for both the outbound PQ 13 convoy, and the returning QP 9. During the previous convoys (PQ12 and QP8) Albacore aircraft from HMS Victorious failed to hit the German battleship Tirpitz with a single torpedo, which meant that Tirpitz, Admiral Scheer, Lutzow and Hipper were still threats, but the concern in the Admiralty was that the weather was every bit as much a threat.

Work on creating a route through Persia into southern Russia to bring Lend Lease Aid was still at a very early stage of development. Until it was fully operational, the convoys would have to continue, with all the inherent risks that involved. The Soviets were adamant that the material arriving in its northern ports was essential to keeping them in the war. While the numbers of Valiant, M3 Medium and Light tanks were an important part of the cargoes, there were many other crucial supplies that had been shipped from Halifax, New York and Liverpool.

Note: All this is as OTL

 

[allanpcameron]

1 April 1942. Singapore.

Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham, with his staff, listened to the latest update from Lieutenant-General Ivan Mackay (GOC II Australian Corps). Japanese resistance was firming up, it seemed that reinforcements, probably 2nd Infantry Division, had arrived in northern Malaya. The Japanese troops were fresh, while the Australians were fast running out of steam. The desire to knock the Japanese back past Jitra to the Thai border was realistically not feasible, in Mackay’s opinion. Cunningham listened to various staff reports, especially the Quartermaster General, and finally agreed that Mackay’s men had done as much as humanly possible for the moment.

Lieutenant General Lewis Heath (GOC III Indian Corps) agreed to move his three Divisions up to Alor Star to allow the Australians to move back for a rest and refit. Once in position Cunningham asked Heath to give an assessment of the chances of attacking the Japanese, or whether to dig in until after the monsoon rains. The next Durban-Malaya Convoy (DM 4) had departed South Africa and was expected to arrive in the next week or so. This convoy would bring all of 51st (Highland Division) and part of 1st Division. WS 17, had just departed Glasgow and Liverpool with the rest of 1st Division and 4th Division, so they could expect DM 5 in mid-May, completing V Corps. It would take time for V Corps to become ready, which would mean it would be after the Monsoon anyway before Cunningham’s 12th Army was complete and ready to go.

In addition to V Corps, Cunningham was happy to confirm that part of the Australian 1st Armoured Division were about to leave Australia for Malaya. The first echelon had sailed and their first task would be to set up their depots alongside the Royal Armoured Corps’ in Johor. The 1st Australian Armoured Brigade (1st AAB) would follow, equipped with Stuart M3 Light tanks. 2nd AAB was now fully equipped with Grant M3 Medium tanks, but weren’t yet ready for deployment. 4th Motor Brigade (formerly 4th Cavalry Brigade [6th, 7th and 14th Light Horse]), like 2nd AAB weren’t ready for overseas operations.

Lt-Gen Cunningham then asked for an update from Brigadier Michael Hedderwick, CO of the Malaya Tank Brigade (4th, 7th & 11th Bn RTR). Hedderwick noted that 7th Bn RTR were still forward supporting Australian II Corps, and were in a poor state regarding serviceability of the tanks and the tiredness of the men. 11th Bn RTR, the first tank Battalion in Malaya had now been refreshed and rested, it was back at full strength and 4th Bn RTR, having arrived in January, were finishing an exercise to test their readiness to become operational. Another Tank Brigade was due to arrive to join V Corps, and hopefully there would be enough spare Matilda II tanks aboard DM 4 to bring 7th Bn RTR back up to strength. 11th Bn RTR had worked well with the Indian III Corps previously, if a tank battalion was to be attached to Indian III Corps would be ready, willing and able. Hedderwick expressed the anxiety that normally a Tank Brigade would provide one Battalion (58 tanks) to each of the Divisions in the Corps. Until 11th Bn RTR was back and restored, then Hedderwick could only offer two Battalions to Lt-Gen Heath. Heath was delighted, previously he’d only had one, double that was a real advantage, even if three would have been perfect.

Air Vice Marshall Pulford then gave his assessment of the situation of the war in the air. The reinforcements for the RAF that had arrived in DM3 were beginning to become operational. While listening to the army’s update, Pulford had pressed for the seizure of the airfield of Alor Star to enable it to be brought back into service. With the information given he accepted that the chances were that it would be too close to the front line to be of much use. Pulford was happy to report that Sungei Patani and some of the landing fields around Butterworth were operational. Squadrons of Hurricanes, Tomahawks and Bristol Blenheims were now based at Sungei Patani, giving the aircraft and their crews more time above the front line and able to reach some of the Thai airfields used by the Japanese. The establishment of a robust radar and early warning system was the next priority to be completed, and was on course to be so.

The Blenheim bombers had given a great service, but were becoming more and more obsolescent. The Desert Air Force was meant to be receiving Martin Baltimores, but they would carry on with the older Marylands in the meantime. The Baltimores were now being earmarked for India and Malaya, with No 223 Squadron RAF being an Operational Training Unit working in India. No 52 and 55 RAF and No 454 and 459 Squadrons RAAF, withdrawn from the Middle East were currently training on the Lend Lease aircraft. These four squadrons would be based in Malaya, arriving sometime in May/June, to provide 12th Army with reconnaissance/bomber support. More squadrons would transition in due course and support General Alexander’s command.

Pulford was able to report that Bristol Beauforts and Beaufighters were increasingly active. The Beauforts were acting in the maritime reconnaissance/torpedo bombing role, while the Beaufighters were a mixture of night fighters and long-range fighters. The arrival of two squadrons of Wellingtons, now based in Singapore, with two more to follow, at long last gave the RAF the kind of offensive bombing capability that it desperately needed. All in all, Pulford was quite upbeat about the situation in his area of command. He did note that Spitfires had finally been shipped out of England and were operational on Malta. It was his greatest desire to see the arrival of these fighters in Malaya, but, he admitted, he wouldn’t hold his breath!