- Status
I will make appropriate quasi ret-cons for the Hellanic Army of the Aegean
formion
Banned
The 1940 population of Crete was 438.239. This is a small manpower base but has one qualitative advantage: Cretans were the most warlike Greeks of the period in question. Most families had either guerrilla or military traditions. However in long term they cannot provide that many replacements if the field divisions are thrown in a meatgrinder. So, i guess until the Italian armistice, the Greek army won't be sent into prolonged campaigns. Units will fight in North Africa or the Aegean to get bloodied but they won't be sent in an equivalent of the siege of Tobruk.
Of course come the armistice, we have the majority of Greece occupied by a fledging surrendering Italian Army and only 1 railway line for the Germans to invade. THAT would be interesting ...
Donald Reaver
Donor
I have not been able to find a internet reference for it, but when spending a month on Crete in 1979 was told it was considered a badge of honor/manhood to have taken a pair of jackboots from a German soldier.
I'd think that for mid 1942, not much recon, if any is really needed. You mentioned ~50,000 men in late 1941, I'm calculating circa 56,000 in mid-1942. This in turn is about as many as the Polish II corps in OTL May 1945 when it had 2 infantry divisions, 1 armoured brigade plus support units. Seems about right to me, 1 reinforced division in the Western desert, 1 infantry division defending Crete plus some odds and ends (Sacred band and say a mountain infantry/para brigade). As 1942 gives way into 1943 territorials could take over the defense of Crete freeing that division for action and a third division maybe start forming with escapees from the mainland and new recruits as they become available. Order of battle could be something like this, (deliberately kept regimental numbers from pre-invasion army as much as possible to show institutional continuation)
Western Desert force
I Infantry division
2nd Infantry regiment
4th Infantry regiment
5th Infantry regiment
Armoured Cavalry regiment
1st Cavalry regiment
2nd Cavalry regiment
1st Armoured Infantry battalion
Crete
V Infantry division
14 Infantry regiment
43 Infantry regiment
44 Infantry regiment
1st Raider regiment (TTL Sacred Band)
3rd Mountain infantry regiment
Depends
British Commonwealth a Regiment is often used to denote a given Battalion although in modern documentation it would be shown as for example 2nd Battalion / Princess of Wales Royal Regiment
Very rarely in WW2 did Battalions of the same Regiment's serve in the same Brigade (151 Brigade being one of the exceptions with 3 battalions of the Durham Light Infantry) - so in British commonwealth parlance a Regiment is not a fighting formation.
While outside of the Commonwealth a regiment would be 2 or 3 Battalions and can be considered a fighting formation
Story 1358
A Ukrainian village May 26, 1942
Half a dozen trucks showed up at dawn and soldiers who had never heard artillery or needed to dive for cover from an air attack clambered out of the back. Local collaborators pointed out the targets as the villagers had been forced to gather in the square. The selected men of working ages were split off immediately. The obviously Jewish men were marched to a field on the northern edge of town and handled shovels to dig their own graves. The Party members’ hands were tied together and then a chain was passed between them before being led to the trucks.
Children were led to the trucks while the women were herded into a single house. One squad guarded them, one squad guarded the trucks, one squad began to loot the third of the village’s houses which were now empty while the rest of the Germans began to systemically execute the prisoners in the north field. Every minute, half a dozen rifle shots rang out followed by the occasional pistol shot. By noontime, the squads had rotated through their positions and the women who had started the morning clothed and somewhat possessed where marched out of the temporary prison house with few clothes on and a horror at the morning and hopelessness of the future as they were loaded onto trucks that would eventually take most of the survivors to Polish concentration camps.
Half a dozen trucks showed up at dawn and soldiers who had never heard artillery or needed to dive for cover from an air attack clambered out of the back. Local collaborators pointed out the targets as the villagers had been forced to gather in the square. The selected men of working ages were split off immediately. The obviously Jewish men were marched to a field on the northern edge of town and handled shovels to dig their own graves. The Party members’ hands were tied together and then a chain was passed between them before being led to the trucks.
Children were led to the trucks while the women were herded into a single house. One squad guarded them, one squad guarded the trucks, one squad began to loot the third of the village’s houses which were now empty while the rest of the Germans began to systemically execute the prisoners in the north field. Every minute, half a dozen rifle shots rang out followed by the occasional pistol shot. By noontime, the squads had rotated through their positions and the women who had started the morning clothed and somewhat possessed where marched out of the temporary prison house with few clothes on and a horror at the morning and hopelessness of the future as they were loaded onto trucks that would eventually take most of the survivors to Polish concentration camps.
Story 1359
Kupang, Timor May 27, 1942
Josh Jaroschek jumped out of the cockpit of his Wildcat. The flight from Darwin to Timor was uneventful and the convoy that had carried the ground crews had arrived at the contested island three days before the planes had. The Marine infantry battalion was already in the general reserve as National Guardsmen had been detached from the tired forward units to get the new soldiers acclimated to the fighting as well as impart some veterans lessons to the well trained but green troops.
He inspected the aircraft as he talked to the crew chief even as the rest of the ground crew was pushing the plane between revetments and resetting the overhead netting. One of the pistons sounded a bit off for the last half hour and soon five men were tearing apart the engine. The other planes from his section were also getting worked on as the squadron had been promised at least twelve hours of downtime after they landed before they would be needed.
On the flight line, Army P-40s roared into the sky. Six were going up to replace the standing patrol protecting the harbor. Four had bombs slung underneath the wings and they would be directed to attack a Japanese artillery supply column that a Piper Cub had spotted. Two Australian Whirraways were landing after their bombing runs on the Japanese front lines. A pair of bulldozers and a steam shovel were busy at work expanding another runway.
Josh Jaroschek jumped out of the cockpit of his Wildcat. The flight from Darwin to Timor was uneventful and the convoy that had carried the ground crews had arrived at the contested island three days before the planes had. The Marine infantry battalion was already in the general reserve as National Guardsmen had been detached from the tired forward units to get the new soldiers acclimated to the fighting as well as impart some veterans lessons to the well trained but green troops.
He inspected the aircraft as he talked to the crew chief even as the rest of the ground crew was pushing the plane between revetments and resetting the overhead netting. One of the pistons sounded a bit off for the last half hour and soon five men were tearing apart the engine. The other planes from his section were also getting worked on as the squadron had been promised at least twelve hours of downtime after they landed before they would be needed.
On the flight line, Army P-40s roared into the sky. Six were going up to replace the standing patrol protecting the harbor. Four had bombs slung underneath the wings and they would be directed to attack a Japanese artillery supply column that a Piper Cub had spotted. Two Australian Whirraways were landing after their bombing runs on the Japanese front lines. A pair of bulldozers and a steam shovel were busy at work expanding another runway.
Story 1360
Badad, Java May 28, 1942
If a man was still and the railroad empty of traffic, he could feel the ground rumble. Japanese, Dutch, and Canadian artillery were trading shots thirty five miles away. The railroad was seldom empty and men were even less frequently still as sergeants and VCOs made sure that any still man had a new task that needed to be accomplished.
The 5th Indian Infantry division was using this crossroads town as its primary supply hub as two brigades were advancing to contact while the third was waiting to see which way it should it should shift it weight. A single Dutch armored cavalry battalion consisting of a company of American built light tanks and three companies of tankettes was attached to the division. The Japanese landing at the start of the month had been enough to take over the easternmost third of the richest colonial island in the Dutch empire but the retreat into Surabaya by two continental style brigades and several Dutch militia regiments had denied the Japanese the quick victory that they needed in order to overwhelm the rest of the defenders on the island.
Indian scouts, veterans of battles in Egypt, Libya, Malaya and now Java were probing the forests, seeking to find the Japanese flank while the Dutch and Canadians held the Japanese focus. Experienced artillerymen surveyed their positions and made arrangements for more box cars full of shells to be shipped forward. Well drilled staffers made adjustments to plans that they knew were unrealistic in detail but useful in general.
The division was moving to contact once again.
If a man was still and the railroad empty of traffic, he could feel the ground rumble. Japanese, Dutch, and Canadian artillery were trading shots thirty five miles away. The railroad was seldom empty and men were even less frequently still as sergeants and VCOs made sure that any still man had a new task that needed to be accomplished.
The 5th Indian Infantry division was using this crossroads town as its primary supply hub as two brigades were advancing to contact while the third was waiting to see which way it should it should shift it weight. A single Dutch armored cavalry battalion consisting of a company of American built light tanks and three companies of tankettes was attached to the division. The Japanese landing at the start of the month had been enough to take over the easternmost third of the richest colonial island in the Dutch empire but the retreat into Surabaya by two continental style brigades and several Dutch militia regiments had denied the Japanese the quick victory that they needed in order to overwhelm the rest of the defenders on the island.
Indian scouts, veterans of battles in Egypt, Libya, Malaya and now Java were probing the forests, seeking to find the Japanese flank while the Dutch and Canadians held the Japanese focus. Experienced artillerymen surveyed their positions and made arrangements for more box cars full of shells to be shipped forward. Well drilled staffers made adjustments to plans that they knew were unrealistic in detail but useful in general.
The division was moving to contact once again.
5th Indian troops must be getting a bit miffed by now, constantly being tasked with being an Imperial fire brigade. Still, that’s the price you pay for being bloody good at your job.
"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable" Dwight D Eisenhower
I imagine not as miffed as the Japanese (and Italians, French and Germans?) they keep defeating
Driftless
Donor
That events like this historically occurred( and still do), shows we aren't as civilized of a species as we like to believe we are.
There are credible rumors about one hell of a rest and recuperation period back in India once the battle in Java is over.
The high command is more realistically thinking of using each of the three brigades to cadre three new Indian divisions that are due to form in Q3 1942 and be ready for operations in Q3 1943 but that is a very tentative plan/inkling/wish than something solid.
- Status