Happy and Glorious.

[zeppelin247]

the Italian campaign is not going well for the Germans, one things for sure is I do not think that the allies will be stuck fighting in Italy right up until the end of the war

[Astrodragon]

Dont suppose there is any chance of the German commandoes getting Marc Clark as well???

[abc123]

Originally Posted by Astrodragon

Dont suppose there is any chance of the German commandoes getting Marc Clark as well???

That would have been unfair advantage to the Allies.

[Devolved]

Happy and Glorious

continued

May 23rd - May 28th 1943.


Ostia

In the early hours of May 24th the 13th Infantry brigade of 5th British infantry division plus 141st RCT US 36th infantry division and an independent American tank battalion (Shermans) arrived in Ostia. The US Rangers had already secured the port and were supporting the Italians in their battle to keep the Germans outside the town. The arrival of the troops diverted from the now secure Salerno bridgehead was covered by the battleships USS Texas and HMS Ramillies.

With the arrival of dawn the 14" guns of the Texas and 15" guns of the Ramillies opened up on the Germans outside Ostia. By mid afternoon they were forced back by attacks from the Italians supported by Sherman tanks and British infantry.

Rome

Maxwell Taylor believed he still had 6,000 Italian troops still under his 'command' in Rome fighting the Germans and pro Fascist Italians. Privately he began to feel despondent but in front of the Italians he tried to show the best of America by being positive. He was told to sit tight and in a personal message from Eisenhower himself received on the morning of May 24th, he was simply told,
"We're on our way"

Kesselring was now told of the Allied landing at Ostia. Not aware of the small size of the landing he took this as the final straw. He informed Hitler that 'In order to prevent the destruction of my forces and the loss of the whole Italian peninsula before the summer even begins I have ordered my army to regroup north of Rome.'

Although Hitler was in no mood to order a retreat he didn't directly overrule Kesselring but instead replied with a deliberately vague message that read;
'Resist to the last.' The vagueness was in that he omitted 'man' from the order.

Matthew Ridgway's troops were well supplied by nightly C47 landings on the airfields and by the afternoon of May 24th had become an epicentre for Italian resistance outside of Rome. Around 9,500 Italian troops of all types had filtered in and were now fighting with the 82nd Airborne. The Herman Goring division was under strength and had taken heavy losses and launched no attacks on that day. Instead they waited for reinforcements.

Naples

Mark Clark's forces entered Naples on May 24th. What they found was a port largely intact (except for Allied bombing) but a city in chaos. The Italians were now fighting each other with gangsters, Monarchists, Fascists and a reborn Communist party all trying to seize power.

Mark Clark drove into Naples hoping to meet the mayor but had to retreat quickly after coming under sniper fire from both Fascists and Communists. When he returned to his HQ he received a message from Army Group Commander Maitland Wilson asking him why he was in Naples when the army needed to drive to the Volturno to support the paratroopers holding the river crossings against increasingly stronger German forces. Clark screwed up the message in his hand and muttered something about 'Limeys telling him his job' and then ordered his units to get moving.

However the US 3rd infantry had already got moving and on May 25th reached the Volturno and linked up the paratroopers effectively trapping 4,000 German (slowed by their use of horse drawn transport) and 2,000 pro Fascist Italian troops. Meanwhile the British 5th division pushed north east in order to threaten the flank at Foggia and trapping more German troops that were now evacuating southern Italy.

Foggia

An attempt by the 1st Airborne to take Foggia on May 24th had failed after facing stiff resistance from the German 1st Parachute Division. The British paratroopers lacked heavy weapons and tanks and were told to wait for 56th division and tanks to arrive. The slow arrival of these forces further reinforced the low opinion the airborne were now developing for 'regular' troops. It was May 26th before an attack could be launched.

The troops of 56th division supported by Valentine tanks from an independent tank battalion faced only rearguards as 1st Parachute had already been ordered to withdraw to an area around Pescara where a German infantry division was already digging in. Despite this the rearguards held up the 56th division until the morning of May 27th inflicting 53 dead and 197 wounded on the British for the loss of 22 dead Germans and 6 taken prisoner.

In the centre 8th Army linked up with 5th Army at Potenza trapping another 1,100 Germans and 1,000 pro Fascists.

Drive for Rome

US forces from 1st and 3rd division supported by 2nd Armored took both Caserta and Gaeta on May 26th and reached the area close to Anzio on May 27th. They had faced German rearguards all the way and lost 132 men killed and 4 taken prisoner in return for killing an estimated 74 Germans and 9 pro Fascist Italians and taking 156 German and 307 Italian prisoners.

At Ostia the Allied landing drew the attention of the Luftwaffe. On May 24th and 25th heavy air attacks hit the USS Texas with one bomb, HMS Ramillies with two bombs (destroying two secondary guns)and sank a Royal Navy corvette, a supply ship and 5 landing craft and damaging a cruiser, 2 destroyers and 5 supply ships and killing 84 men. AA fire from the Allies brought down 7 German planes while Seafires and Sea Hurricanes shot down 4 more planes.

The troops from Ostia were reinforced by whatever units were still afloat and not committed to Mark Clarks's main force. These hastily assembled troops were able to reach the outskirts of Rome on May 25th where they collected isolated bands of Italians totalling about 5,000 troops. Maxwell Taylor could soon hear the gunfire from the arriving Allies and led his troops (now reduced to 3,800 men) in a break out to link up. This they did late in the evening of May 25th. By this time Kesselring had already ordered a withdrawal from Rome. He was tempted to blow the bridges over the Tiber but he was a fundamentally civilized man so he simply ordered the execution of senior Italian prisoners and had various government buildings booby trapped.

Matthew Ridgway's men were now facing heavy artillery fire and a renewed assault by the Herman Goring division supported by a Panzer regiment. His men soon found out that their bazookas didn't work well against the latest Panzer IV's that broke through their lines and destroyed 9 Italian tanks for the loss of 5 of their own to molotov cocktails and troops jumping on them and killing the crew. Cerveteri airfield fell to the Germans on the night of May 25th with the Germans taking 248 mainly wounded American and 531 Italian prisoners. However the attack on the remaining airfield failed with the Germans losing 172 killed in the process. On May 27th the fighting stopped and later that day a convoy of jeeps and stolen cars arrived from Rome bringing Maxwell Taylor and a random mix of 500 Americans, British and Italians.

Matthew Ridgway could scarcely believe it. He asked Maxwell Taylor what was going on to which his second in command replied that the Pope wanted to meet him and that he should hurry up before Mark Clark arrived and stole the show.

TBC

[Devolved]

Originally Posted by abc123

I would prefer if germans killed the King, so that later Italian Monarchy has some chances of survival.

I know what you mean.

[Devolved]

Originally Posted by Astrodragon

Dont suppose there is any chance of the German commandoes getting Marc Clark as well???

How dare you.

He's a hero and he will make sure every newspaper reporter knows it.

Unfortunately he doesn't get to kiss the Popes' ring. He will just have to stick to kissing George Marshalls'.

[The Oncoming Storm]

Originally Posted by Devolved

Unfortunately he doesn't get to kiss the Popes' ring. He will just have to stick to kissing George Marshalls'.

Sigged!

[67th Tigers]

Originally Posted by Hyperion

Anything can be sunk. That being said, I also take historical context into account, and 67th using the Pearl Harbor battleships as an example isn't really accurate.

Pearl Harbor battleships where all older models, not at battle stations or any kind of battle readiness, and literally sitting ducks for Japanese bomber crews.

By comparison, Fast Battleships of the South Dakota, North Carolina, and Iowa class had better torpedo protection than just about any other ships in US inventory, had superior armor protection to their older cousins, and in the scenario presented, would have been more prepared taking damage and taking action to counter a torpedo hit.

Actually the US made very little progress in armour technology and torpedo protection, whilst the UK, Germany and Italy forged ahead with advances in facehardening that meant their new ships can 25% greater protection for the same thickness of armour vs a new USN ship.

Brown, Nelson to Vanguard, pg 24:

"The early plates had a hard face some 20-25 per cent of the thickness, but the later ones had as much as 33 per cent hard face, and considerable attention to alloying elements and heat treatments to give a gradual transition from the hard face to the tough back. The thick face would break up shells with enough velocity to penetrate so that they would be unfit to burst. Most tests were on 440lb plates attacked by 13.5in APC but some thicker plates up to 600lb were used against 15in APC. From 1937 a bonus was paid for plates which performed better than the specification.

The results were very satisfactory; the armour of the King George V and later ships being about 25 per cent more effective than First World War armour. German developments were similar as shown by post-war tests on plates removed from Tirpitz. The USN failed to make similar advances, and the armour of their Second World War ships was no better than those of the earlier war."

How would much damage would a long lance do? We don't know because no US battleship (or "fully protected battlecruiser" which is a better description of the new US battleships with their high speed and relative lack of protection) was hit by one. No 61cm Type 93 ever hit a US BB.

What we do know is no US battleship was not rated to withstand a Type 93 under even ideal circumstances. The TDS of all new US BBs was rated upto 700 lbs TNT at the optimum point (and ships get get hit at unavoidably vulnerable spots, such as the shaft hit of PoW which was designed for 1,000 lbs TNT and did function correctly where the protection was hit). The 1,150 lbs of TNT equivalent of the Type 93 will simply break the keel of ANY US battleship if a hit can be landed. It is simply a much heavier warhead than the US Bureau responsible considered possible.

[Devolved]

Happy and Glorious
continued


Rome

May 28th -May 30th 1943

Large areas of the government and business districts of Rome were in ruins thanks to 5 days of street fighting and German demolitions. Nevertheless there was a carnival atmosphere in the city. Matthew Ridgway had met the Pope and gave a speech to reporters. He then met some members of the old Italian government, some of whom had been hiding in the Vatican. Among the figures were Count Ciano and Dino Grandi. Although Fascists they had been involved in the negotiations for the Armistice, so technically speaking they were to be treated as friendly. Ciano seemed unmoved when told that his father in law Mussolini was dead.

Sporadic fighting continued in the areas around Rome as German and pro Fascist Italians made their way north to new defensive positions. The Allies themselves, were at the absolute limits of their logistical support and were unable to pursue effectively.

On May 29th (German snipers had prevented a May 28th arrival) Mark Clark arrived in Rome in a convoy of Jeeps, tanks and trucks accompanied by many senior officers and reporters. As he arrived in Rome he found that the roads to the Vatican were already subject to roadblocks from the 82nd Airborne. One group of soldiers asked Mark Clark for identification. When he finally arrived in St Peters Square he was told that the Pope was exhausted after the activities of the last few days and would be able to grant an audience to the American General in the morning.


Washington

Churchill had remained in Washington following the events in Italy (and Greece) with scarcely concealed glee. Roosevelt was also very happy that things had gone so well, especially the role played by his own forces but he dreaded Churchills' 'I told you so' speech that would surely come.

Churchill did indeed say to Roosevelt 'I told you so' and then talked about the Balkans and a link up with the Russians in Romania plus an Allied thrust up into Austria and into the heart of Germany.

"Perhaps there will be no need for a costly and bloody landing in France after all" he said.

Roosevelt was deaf to this. Along with George Marshall his eyes could only see the French coast and a road to Berlin. The Balkans and Eastern Europe meant little to him and he knew that the direction of the war was suiting the British way too much. The Americans continued to insist on a cross Channel invasion.

After one particularly strained meeting, Churchill's advisers General Dill and Air Marshall Portal pleaded with him not to push the Balkans too hard. Churchill, however, was blind to how annoyed the Americans really were. In his opinion his plans had all worked perfectly and he saw no reason why the Americans would oppose anything he said. His own advisers weren't fully aware of the extent to which the Americans wanted to weaken Britain's post war position but they knew that increasing American power meant that it would be wiser not to push them too far.

Eventually Churchill reaffirmed his committment to a cross channel invasion by May 1st 1944. In return the Americans accepted that full scale offensive operations in Italy would be supported until September after which they expected the British to start withdrawing their best divisions to prepare for the invasion. However, they refused to become involved in Greece or the Dodecanese short of the limited air assets that they had already allocated. They also rejected Churchills demand that Chiang Kai Shek and China should be denied a place at the post war conference table.

Finally there was the issue of Katyn. The German discovery of many thousands of executed Polish officers in a mass grave in the Katyn Forest and their claim that they had been murdered by the Russians, was initially dismissed by the Allies as Nazi propaganda. However, the Polish Government in Exile under General Sikorski and Churchill himself suspected the truth. Stalin had already threatened to break off relations with the Polish government over accusations that he was responsible but in the light of the rapid Allied victories in North Africa and Sicily he decided to wait. Churchill's own attitude to the Soviet Union was hardening again as the victories of his own forces boosted his bargaining position.

The Americans were very confused on the issue. Most had been passionate anti Communists but wartime propaganda had successfully painted the Russians as champions of freedom and as brothers in arms. Roosevelt talked glowingly of Stalin and so anti Soviet sentiments were seen as old fashioned and reactionary. The fact that Churchill was (in private meetings not in public) now talking negatively about the Soviets simply reinforced the idea that anti Communist rhetoric was out of step with modern times.


Churchill finally left Washington on May 28th and decided to go straight to Italy, to the obvious discomfort of Roosevelt. All in all, the summit with Roosevelt had gone well but Churchill could scarcely conceal his anger at Amercian intransigence over the Balkans and their continued faith in Chiang Kai Shek. Above all he was starting to fear that the Americans would abandon Britain after the war and leave them to face the Russians alone.

Dodecanese

The drama in Italy was matched by another drama in Greece and the Dodecanese islands. By May 22nd the Germans were fighting over 50,000 Italians in Greece and another 12,000 in Yugoslavia in addition to renewed attacks from partisans. In Greece alone 230 Germans had been killed in two days and the Luftwaffe launched repeated sorties against beleaguered Italian forces. This prevented the Germans from reacting quickly to the British landings in the Dodecanese. By May 22nd Kos, Samos and Leros as well as Kastelorizo had been occupied with little incident. On Rhodes there was heavy fighting as the Germans were obviously superior in training and leadership to the Italians. However, a battalion of the British 1st Airborne had arrived and on May 22nd a brigage of the 44th infantry division as well as 18 Grant tanks landed on the island. Also the RAF had stationed 2 Spitfire squadrons on Rhodes as well as 2 Beaufighter squadrons on Kos. They were also joined by 23 Italian planes escaping from Greece.

The Americans contributed by launching repeated raids by B24's on Crete and one raid on Greece while 2 squadrons of P38's roamed the skies shooting down 4 German planes for the loss of 1. The Beaufighters strafed a German E boat approaching Kos setting it on fire while others attacked German airfields destroying 7 planes on the ground. The Germans, however had seized 4 Italian torpedo boats with 2 more being scuttled by their crews to avoid capture. They also persuaded 2,000 Italians to join them.

The fighting on Rhodes continued through May 23rd as Grant tanks pushed into the German defences inflicting serious casualties. The German commander recommended an evacuation to the mainland which was accepted.

On the night of May 23rd 2 pro Fascist Italian torpedo boats, a German E boat and 7 other ships set off for Rhodes under cover of night to rescue as many Germans as possible. The force was intercepted by the British cruisers Cleopatra and Sirius and 2 destroyers. The result was carnage as the cruisers poured 5.25" shells into the convoy. Soon a torpedo boat and 4 transport ships were sunk and the convoy retreated. The next day the Luftwaffe caught the British ships off the coast of Rhodes and Ju 88's landed 2 bombs on the Sirius killing 27 of her crew and wounded 34 more and crippled a destroyer (that was later scuttled).

On May 24th German troops were escaping in fishing boats and other small craft. Over 100 troops escaped to Turkey but another 150 or so were lost as their boats were attacked and sunk by Beaufighters and destroyers. Another 100 men escaped when Luftwaffe transport planes made daring landings to collect troops. By May 25th the Germans were reduced to a small pocket of 6,000 men and 2,500 Italian prisoners while the Allies were joined by a brigade of the 8th Indian division bringing their strength to 33,000 Italians and 9,000 British Empire troops.

Also on May 25th 2 battalions of the 8th Indian division landed on Karpathos near Crete where the small Italain garrison joined them. The next day they repulsed a small German attack killing 19 Germans for the loss of 2 Indians and 7 Italians. However they were soon subjected to heavy air attacks.

The German garrison on Rhodes finally surrendered on May 26th with a total of 5,400 Germans being taken. In 6 days of fighting the Germans had lost 290 killed, over 650 wounded with just 550 escaping. The Italians had lost 248 killed and 700 wounded with another 180 executed by the Germans. The British forces had lost 152 killed and 390 wounded.

In Germany's favour they had taken the Sporades islands with little Italian resistance but the news of the death of Mussolini dissuaded most Italians from joining the Germans. By May 26th 19 Italian divisions had been disarmed in the Balkans with just one remaining with the Germans, this left 8 more that were largely destroyed with the survivors joining the partisans or escaping in boats to Southern Italy, North Africa and Turkey. It was estimated that 3,200 Italians were killed in the fighting with another 7,500 executed by the Germans.

With the Dodecanese Islands now in British hands the Germans were now caught in a dilemma. Do they try to recapture them in the face of Allied command of the sea or do they go on the defensive and perhaps evacuate Crete too.

TBC

[zeppelin247]

well the whole Med campaign is going very well for the allies at the minute so you would think Churchill would have more strength to convince Roosevelt by this point, I hope though by September the allies are at the Austrian border

[tchizek]

Originally Posted by zeppelin247

well the whole Med campaign is going very well for the allies at the minute so you would think Churchill would have more strength to convince Roosevelt by this point, I hope though by September the allies are at the Austrian border

The trouble is that Italy and the Balkans in general are really traps for the Allies. Trying to invade through the "Soft Underbelly" (which isn't and never was) is bad news because all of that area is great defensive terrain so the Germans can hold the allies back with fewer troops than it takes the allies to attack with. Then to make it into Germany proper you run into mountains before you get to the heartland. Basically you trade a few tens of miles of bad terrain in Northern Europe for a few hundred miles of bad terrain in Southern Europe by going with the "Soft Underbelly" path.

Yes Roosevelt and the US was out to screw the British Empire, but the British didn't have all good ideas either...

Tom.

[Devolved]

Happy and Glorious


continued


June 1943


UK

The Battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth had completed her full repairs in America and returned to the Home Fleet. She then undertook further sea trials beofre being ordered to the Far East to join the growing Royal Navy force in the Indian Ocean.

The Spider Crab jet flies with Geoffrey de Haviland jr at the controls. An attempt to delay the flight in order to provide the Americans with a replacement jet engine (which had been damaged) had been delayed until another new engine had been developed. This was later blamed on Churchill who was suspected of blocking the order in a fit of pique over the lack of American support for a landing in Greece but this was never proved. Nevertheless it delayed the development of the American P80 Shooting Star for almost 4 months.

Full development now began on what would later be the Sherman Firefly. A Sherman with a 17 pounder gun. The development had been spurred by the experience of the German Tiger tank which had been used in small numbers in Tunisia but had proved more powerful than any Allied tank. The Challenger development also continued with the first examples already delivered by June. The Army had placed an order for 250 but some already thought that its rate of fire would be too slow and it could suffer on a battlefield.


Italy

Kesselring now had 6 German divisions available for frontline operations plus 1 Italian Fascist division. This was not nearly enough but he was helped by the logistical problems faced by the Allies for most of June. Their stunning victory in just 7 days had surprised them even more than the Germans (achieved with just 4,800 Allied casualties and the capture of 7,500 German prisoners). As a result the Germans began to set up a defensive position south of Florence and close to Lake Trasimene. Of the divisions he had, 2 were Panzer Divisions but they only had 124 operational tanks between them, none of them Tigers, although Hitler had promised some soon.

-----

Hitler had been deeply shaken by the death of Mussolini and out of respect for his old comrade he decreed that Mussolini was still the head of state. The problem was who would now represent Mussolini on Earth and this was something Hitler still hadn't resolved by the end of June.

For the Allies, the problems with logistics were compounded by political problems. Who would lead Italy? Badoglio was dead so the King was forced to assume more powers.

With the arrival of Churchill on June 2nd there was renewed pressure to form a government. The monarchist Churchill accepted the King as though there had never been a war (something which stunned his advisers and supporters). At first the King wanted to appoint the old Fascist Grandi as Badoglio's replacement. This was initially supported by Churchill as he had been Ambassador to Britain before the war but that was too much for the Americans who feared a British puppet. Obviously Ciano was unacceptable too so Churchill suggested that the King's son Umberto should act as caretaker Prime Minister until Italian politics adjusted to the new situation. The Americans didn't like this either but Churchill got his way and the King loved it.

Another problem were the Russians. They accused the West and more specifically the British of imposing their own government without consulting them. Stalin of course was privately happy about this, as it meant he could do the same himself to the countries he planned to 'liberate'. In public, however, he made a big show that embarrassed Roosevelt but left Churchill unmoved.

Meanwhile a low intensity civil war had broken out between unreformed Fascists, Communists, Conservative Monarchists and even some Anarchists. A wave of strikes also spread throughout the cities.

On 4th June and again on June 7th the Luftwaffe launched heavy air raids on Rome killing over 400 people.


Greece

The fighting in Greece continued into June with British and Greek SOE agents flown in to help organize the resistance. The Americans withdrew their aircraft after the Dodecanese appeared secure so it was left to the British to launch raids and give support. The RAF had now deployed 3 Spitfire, 2 Beaufighter, 1 P40 and 1 Wellington squadron to the Greek Islands. This was enough to keep the Luftwaffe at arms length but their raids had killed over 100 British troops in June and sank 2 supply ships and a Minesweeper. There was also a nasty battle involving British submarines and German ships supplying Crete and the Cyclades. One British submarine was lost while sinking 2 supply ships 4 converted trawlers and a torpedo boat in return.

Germany

RAF Bomber Command launched two heavy raids on heavy industry in the Ruhr with Mosquito pathfinders being used to find and illuminate the targets. These raids plus the attacks in May cost Germany 100,000 tons of planned steel production for 1943. The British also bombed Kiel and Bremen with a daylight attack by 16 Mosquitoes on shipyard facilities at Rotterdam.

For the first time in the war the USAAF bombed Germany with 82 B17's attacking Wilhelmshaven. They lost 7 aircraft in return for shooting down 3 German fighters. Their bombs did damage the U Boat yards further.

At the end of June the B17's attacked Lille escorted by P47 Thunderbolts for the first time. Although some bomb damage was done to Lille the real reason for the raid was to fulfill the USAAF's plan to bring the Luftwaffe to battle and destroy it. The raid cost 6 B17's and 2 P47's in return for shooting down 4 Me 109's and a FW190.

Battle of the Atlantic

Between March and May there had been vicious convoy battles made worse by the Germans altering the enigma keys which hampered evasive techniques for 2 weeks in March. However, Coastal Command, Hedgehog ASW motars and more escort carriers began to have an effect. The Allies sank 17 U Boats in March, 19 in April and 38 in May for the loss of 548,142 tons in March, 356,311 in April and 254,643 in May.

The losses in May forced Donitz to change tactics and he recalled many U Boats to base. His plan was to wait for new and better U Boats and then resume the offensive.

The Allies had won the Battle of the Atlantic.

TBC

[Devolved]

Originally Posted by tchizek

The trouble is that Italy and the Balkans in general are really traps for the Allies. Trying to invade through the "Soft Underbelly" (which isn't and never was) is bad news because all of that area is great defensive terrain so the Germans can hold the allies back with fewer troops than it takes the allies to attack with. Then to make it into Germany proper you run into mountains before you get to the heartland. Basically you trade a few tens of miles of bad terrain in Northern Europe for a few hundred miles of bad terrain in Southern Europe by going with the "Soft Underbelly" path.

Yes Roosevelt and the US was out to screw the British Empire, but the British didn't have all good ideas either...

Tom.

The Allies had an easy time because everything has happened much faster than OTL, unbalancing the Germans and not giving them time to do the things they did from Tunisia to Monte Cassino. The Germans are now getting troops into position and have largely secured their rear. It won't be easy anymore.

The Americans have already said that after September they won't support any more offensives. Possibly they will try to take Florence and push up to Bologna but the Germans will start to hurt them from now on.

Italy's best use is to make sure the Med is open and to serve as a good base to bomb the Ploesti oil refineries and targets in Southern Europe.

Churchill is wrong to refer to Italy as a Soft Underbelly but so far nothing has happened to prove him wrong.

[Devolved]

Happy and Glorious


continued


Italy

June 25th - 30th 1943

With the Allies now organized and supplied they decided to resume the offensive before the Autumn. An attack by the US 3rd division was launched along the west coast and met heavy resistance. The next day the 2nd Armored join in and took heavy losses from well concealed anti tank guns and self propelled guns. After 5 days the Americans had advanced 4 miles and had lost 34 tanks and 390 killed.

Kesselring's forces had now grown to 8 German divisions thanks to one division coming from France and another from Russia. He had also impressed thousands of Italian prisoners into constructing defensive positions and bunkers with many of them being killed by Allied air attacks.

As the American attack in the west failed the British 8th Army under Montgomery attacked on the same day along the Adriatic coast. The British attack was supported by a heavier barrage and was spearheaded by 6th Armoured division and supported by 56th division and 4th Division. This attack did breakthrough for a short time but the Germans were able to block the advance before the 8th Army were able to roll up the front. Like the Americans the British armour suffered heavily in countryside that wasn't suited to tanks. The British lost 49 tanks and 387 killed but had advanced 7 miles and took 119 prisoners.


Greece

General Gott arrived in Rhodes as the commander of a new front optimistically termed the Aegean Front. It consisted of 8th Indian division and one brigade of 1st South African division (which replaced the 44th div) plus 15,000 Italians (the rest were sent back to Italy) giving him a total of 50,000 men. His orders were to hold the islands and then launch raids to keep the enemy unbalanced and provide support to the Greek resistance.


Trincomalee

Admiral Somerville was now promised significant reinforcements for the months ahead and was now instructed to prepare for offensive operations against the Japanese. By the end of June he had HMS King George V, Valiant, Warspite, Repulse and the carrier Indomitable (Queen Elizabeth and Howe were on their way). plus the Resolution and Royal Sovereign for convoy escort duty, although Somerville now thought that with the Mediterranean now open again there was little for the 'R' class ships to do. He also had 5 cruisers and 10 destroyers.

Pearl Harbor

HMS Hood had completed her repairs after her fight with the Yamashiro but was retained in Hawaii for new operations pending.


UK

With the Allies now in Europe it was clear that the Valentine tank, although sometimes useful was obsolete and was inferior to every tank the Germans had (the Panzer II was now gone and the Panzer III disappearing fast). A decision was made to halt mass production of Valentines in Britain from August 1943 with some tank chassis continuing for testing and for self propelled guns. Canada would continue mass production a little longer to supply tanks for Russia.

It was also decided that the legendary Hawker Hurricane was simply too outclassed for use in Europe and so it was decided to end mass production in December 1943 and make room for Typhoons which were now being fitted with rails for rockets and were showing the potential to be much better than the Hurricane for ground attack roles. Some Hurricane production for training and for the Royal Navy was to continue until March 1944.

Finally the return of the battleships Ramillies and Revenge resulted in a decision that the since the Ramillies had suffered bomb damage off Ostia she would be the one to be reduced to the status of a training ship and as a source of spare parts for her 3 surviving sister ships.

TBC

[Devolved]

Happy and Glorious


continued


New Guinea

June/July 1943

Japanese troops from 51st Division took Wau after a tortuous track through the jungle despite the fact that the Allies had warning thanks to codebreakers. The Allies lacked the transport planes and troops to do much and so the Japanese force of 4,000 were able to take the town on June 10th. The Allies retreated into the jungle and down the Kokoda track burning all the stores and leaving the Japanese force stricken with hunger.

The Japanese quickly tried to fly supplies into the small airstrip but were constantly raided by Australian and American aircraft. In a series of air battles the Allies shot down 4 Zeros, 2 Ki 21 bombers and 7 transports planes and destroyed 6 more on the ground for the loss of 5 Allied planes. Despite this the Japanese held on and started to expand the airstrip.

The loss of Wau set back MacArthurs' plan for an offensive to take Lae and Salamaua. There was also criticism of the Americans who had failed to support Wau effectively. In MacArthur's defence his forces were limited and he berated Washington for its lack of support.

The Japanese meanwhile had decided that holding New Guinea should be given a higher priority and 2 divisions were transported from China to New Guinea while more troops were sent to Bougainville and Rabaul. It was soon clear that any Allied advance in this area would come at the cost of huge casualties. This at a time when the Americans were counting the huge cost of Guadalcanal.


Aleutian Islands

As if to justify the Japanese effort to take the Aleutians the Americans began their own expensive operations to retake the islands. Landing on June 28th the Americans avoided the worst of the frostbite but still found themselves facing awful conditions against a well entenched enemy some 3,000 strong. A US naval bombardment from HMS Hood and 5 US cruisers as well as extensive bombing covered the landings.

The campaign was ultimately successful at getting lots of people killed in a battle that was largely forgotten by everyone except the combatants themselves. The island of Attu was declared clear by July 21st at the cost of 520 Americans killed. Only 37 Japanese were taken alive.


China

Despite the best efforts of the Japanese to inderdict the Burma Road with air attacks and the rains of the Monsoon, supplies were now flowing into China. In the 6 months to June 1943 the Americans had successfully delivered 42 Stuarts, 20 M3 Grants, 106 jeeps, 1278 trucks, 74 artillery pieces, 23 AA guns, 199 mortars, 342 heavy machine guns, 27,000 rifles and 423 sub machine guns. The Allies also delivered 24 Airacobras, 23 P40's, 11 Baltimores, 6 Havocs, 5 C47's and 22 training aircraft to the Chinese airforce. In Burma there were now 60,000 Chinese undergoing rigorious training in British army camps. US airpower within China had also grown to 3 P40, 1 P39, 2 B25, 1 B26, 2 B24 and 4 C47 squadrons. Although this was modest it was just the beginning of a big increase for the second half of the year.

A plea by Chiang for the Americans to send 10 US divisions to China was politley rebuffed but Roosevelt was willing to agree to the dispatch of some RCT's for the second half of the year to defend the new US air bases being built.

Germany

June/July 1943

Hitler now began a series of discussions with his staff about future strategy. He still believed ultimate victory was possible but few around him shared this belief. The scale of the defeats between October 1942 and May 1943 deeply shook the German hierarchy with the Western Allies now being only a few hundred miles from the southern border of the Reich. To add to this, the pinprick British air raids on the U Boat bases were now becoming damaging raids on the Ruhr which Speer admitted was hurting production for the first time in the war.

More bad news came when it became known that Donitz had withdrawn many of his U Boats from the Atlantic in response to rising losses. All in all there was little to be positive about. An offensive on the Eastern Front was out of the question when a new army had to be created in Italy and the Italian garrisons in the Balkans had to replaced by Germans. Nevertheless the idea of just sitting and waiting for the Russians to attack was unacceptable to Hitler. He wanted to attack Kharkov again but his officers countered that the Russians would expect this so instead he ordered a limited operation to push the Russians behind the Donets River and set up a more easily defensible barrier. It was reasoned that this would bring them back to within striking range of the Caucasus and the Russians would have no choice but divert their troops to the south.

The operation was scheduled for the end of July and would feature Tiger Tanks in large numbers and the new Panther as well as the giant Ferdinands. Most agreed that the operation was feasible.

The Russians, thanks to the Lucy Spy Ring and information supplied by the British were warned of this and made their preparations.

TBC

[HMS Warspite]

One small detail: the Japanese had abbandoned the islands of Attu and Kiska already, as they proved not worth the occupation, as they were insignificant adn of no strategic value. By early 1943, two transports had embarked the two garizons and took them home to the Japanese main islands. The Allies were not aware of this move, hence the OTL heavy waist of ordonance and manpower used to retake the islands.

[Derek Pullem]

Originally Posted by HMS Warspite

One small detail: the Japanese had abbandoned the islands of Attu and Kiska already, as they proved not worth the occupation, as they were insignificant adn of no strategic value. By early 1943, two transports had embarked the two garizons and took them home to the Japanese main islands. The Allies were not aware of this move, hence the OTL heavy waist of ordonance and manpower used to retake the islands.

Kiska yes, Attu no.

[historyfelon]

"The force was intercepted by the British cruisers Cleopatra and Sirius and 2 destroyers. "

Interesting that you picked those two ships. I spent 4 years in the USN (1970-74) as a Gunner's Mate on 2 ships..a DLG (a designation no longer used) and a DEG (also no longer used). When on the DLG we were in port (Charleston, SC) when the HMS Cleopatra..the newer version, I'm sure, paid a port call. The captain came on board while I was Petty Officer of the Watch..so I got to "ding" "Cleopatra..arriving" over the loudspeaker system. I got a few calls concerning that.

Later, while on STANAVFORLANT (NATO standing fleet of destroyers)..I got to spend several days on the HMS Sirius..again, the newer version, while doing ASW operations.

[stevep]

Devolved

Well, just caught up after a couple of weeks away. Looking good for the allies, although the fact the Germans aren't launching a Kursk type attack could make thing tougher for the Soviets if Hitler doesn't mess things up.

Think you're largely correct with the danger of US aims to destroy British power and although Britain is doing a bit better militarily this is likely to be possibly even more of a threat in TTL, especially if Roosevelt is still fooled by Stalin. Churchill needed to take a harder line earlier, on things like the tech transfers and assets sales rather than now when the die is basically cast.

The RN is doing significantly better but is likely to suffer serious problems post-war when a weakened economy has to consider what can be supported. Also while some elements of other areas seem to be coming along better, such as jets, the government needs to start thinking how to come through the post-war crisis. [They don't know how hostile the US will be but given tension between Roosevelt and Churchill they might have some idea, plus with the strain on the economy there will be problems regardless].

Little to say about the TL itself except that its excellent.

Steve

[Devolved]

Originally Posted by stevep

Devolved

Well, just caught up after a couple of weeks away. Looking good for the allies, although the fact the Germans aren't launching a Kursk type attack could make thing tougher for the Soviets if Hitler doesn't mess things up.

Think you're largely correct with the danger of US aims to destroy British power and although Britain is doing a bit better militarily this is likely to be possibly even more of a threat in TTL, especially if Roosevelt is still fooled by Stalin. Churchill needed to take a harder line earlier, on things like the tech transfers and assets sales rather than now when the die is basically cast.

The RN is doing significantly better but is likely to suffer serious problems post-war when a weakened economy has to consider what can be supported. Also while some elements of other areas seem to be coming along better, such as jets, the government needs to start thinking how to come through the post-war crisis. [They don't know how hostile the US will be but given tension between Roosevelt and Churchill they might have some idea, plus with the strain on the economy there will be problems regardless].

Little to say about the TL itself except that its excellent.

Steve

Thanks Steve.

The weakness of the economy is at the root of everything.

With the war going a little faster in Europe and less of bombing cities (so far) then maybe the damage to Britain and Europe by 1945 will be a little less and so the economy will be able to recover faster than OTL. Obviously there will be a big post war rundown and the RN won't be the force it once was, but after 1945 it didn't really need to be.