Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

April 9th, 1941

North: the Australian offensive - From Amba Alagi to Gondar - The road that crosses the Wolchefit pass runs partially on the side of the mountain. Itclimbs from 1500 to 3800 meters before leading to a plateau. Beyond the pass, there is no serious natural obstacle until Gondar and the road, which passes by Debarech and Amba Giorgys, is passable in all weathers. But it is impossible to bypass the Wolchefit pass, whose defensive position is estimated at 5,000 men well equipped with artillery. Moreover, the quality of the Italian position is such that it is out of reach of most of the artillery pieces of current caliber. In the absence of sufficient heavy artillery, it will be necessary to
to call on the air force.
However, General Lavarack has other assets. In the Chelga area, southwest of Gondar, he can count on the Belgian troops, who arrived in the region several weeks ago and are supported by the partisans of Bimbashi Sheppard. Other partisans, led by Ras Ayalu and reinforced by a company of the regular Ethiopian army under British command, are already on the plateau. Finally, the local scouts reveal to Lavarack of the existence of a mule track that allows access to the plateau from the locality of Bosa, at a distance of about twenty kilometers to the pass.
A complex plan is then developed. A battalion of the 18th Australian Brigade moves towards Bosa to advance to the plateau by the mule track. Its supplies have to be parachuted in by the RAF, which has committed itself to ensuring 30 rotations. The complement will have to be provided by the partisans, which will not be without difficulty...
To support the action of this battalion, a Belgian company and Bimbashi Sheppard's partisans will try to take Amba Giorgis and cut the road between Debarech and Gondar. Another company, assisted by the men of Ras Ayalu, can then attack Debarech.
The rest of the 18th Brigade will organize a diversionary attack on the Wolchefit pass, with support of the RAF and the only heavy artillery battery available.
The success of this plan depends on the coordination of the different offensives and the effect of surprise to turn the defenses of the pass.

 

[Wings]

April 9th, 1941

Baghdad, 10:00 - Britain intends to give the impression that it will stick to the letter of the Anglo-Iraqi treaty to the last extremity. Sir Kinahan himself will inform Rashid Ali al-Gaylani that the 20th Brigade of the 10th Indian Division will disembark in Basra from the 10th "to transit to Palestine". The Iraqi Prime Minister thanks him and declares that he would "study the request submitted to him". However, even before going to al-Gaylani, Sir Kinahan had his second in command, the Hon. D'Arcy Saint-Lewis CMG, study a plan to withdraw all his personnel to the Habbaniyah base.
Persian Gulf - The BM.7 convoy goes up the Gulf towards the Shott-el-Arab. Its escort is progressively reinforced with the arrival of the armed yacht HMS Seabelle, the aviso HMS Falmouth, the gunboat HMS Cockchafer and the minesweeper-aviso HMIS Lawrence. The long-range coverage is provided by the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (with Sqn 814, on Swordfish) and the light cruiser HMNZS Leander. Another light cruiser, HMS Emerald, sails in the vanguard to secure the approach to Basra - it is indeed decided to attempt a direct assault on the port rather than landing in Kuwait City or on the Al Faw peninsula.
Baghdad, 14:00 - Selim Bassij tells Major O'Flanaghan that Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and his friends in the Golden Square are divided on whether to accept help from the Axis powers. Aware of the weaknesses of the Iraqi army, the Prime Minister would like to avoid any aggression. But his entourage, sensitive to the propaganda of the Grand Mufti and the subsidies of Herr Grobba, is more in the mood for war, especially since the victories won in the last few days by Rommel's troops in Albania, culminating in the recapture of Vlöre the day before, have reinforced the morale of the anti-British.
Oasis of Deir Hassem (northern Iraq), 14:30 - Oberleutnant Kalwer and Leutnant von Stroltz radio to Berlin that they would be ready to receive the first Fallschirmjägers the following night.
Basra, 19:00 - Coming from Karachi after a four-day journey via Afghanistan, Bahrain and Oman, 15 transport planes drop off the 360 men of the 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment, on the Shaibah base. This unit is in charge of covering the disembarkation of the passengers of the BM.7 convoy, making sure that the Iraqi troops present in the area (two infantry battalions and several artillery batteries, not to mention the four gunboats of the Royal Iraqi Navy) will not intervene. The battalion is accompanied by Colonel Ouvry Roberts, Chief of Staff of the 10th Indian Division.
Rinas airfield, Tirana, 21:30 - The Kommander of Trasta 789 himself, Oberstleutnant Zapanski, takes the controls of one of the four Ju 90s that take off at 30 second intervals for a long flight, at the end of the spring twilight: 2,600 kilometers at the limit of the distance parameters, that is to say at least eight hours of travel time at least in economic cruise.
Three of the aircraft carry about thirty parachutists with light armament and a light pack. The fourth is loaded with supply and ammunition boxes. It is a moonless night. The Ju 90s leave with all lights off, except for a flashing red light at the top of the vertical stabilizer, invisible from the ground.
The flight plan calls for the Junkers to remain at an altitude of 3,500 meters, following a route marked out by Salonika, the route marked out by Salonika, the islands of Skiros and Kos, then Rhodes, Cyprus, Latakia, Tabakah, Ash Shakada and Sinjar. Sailors will be able to find their bearings on the lighthouses and beacons of the Turkish coast, lit as in peacetime. They are guided to the drop zone by the radio-gonio entrusted to Leutnant von Stroltz. After the drops, the planes will land before dawn at Rasheed Airfield, where Major Pfiffelsdörfer is located.

 

[Wings]

April 9th, 1941

Central Atlantic, off Freetown - The Kormoran boards the British freighter Craftsman, which was to deliver a large anti-submarine net to the port of Cape Town. The crew of the raider scuttles the vessel, but it refuses to sink, held afloat by the buoys that dot the net. Captain Detmers has to resort to using a torpedo. As a result, the gutted hold releases hundreds of buoys that spread out over a vast area.
Looking like mines, they cause some confusion during the following weeks.

 

[Wings]

April 9th, 1941

Albania - Rommel's troops and their Italian allies are reorganizing. The new front established in the south of the country (from Chimara to Pogradec via Tepeleni and Klissoura) hods out, largely due to the fact that the Axis supply, which must cross the Adriatic, has difficulty in following, and that Rommel lacks the mountain infantry to get around and force the Allied bottlenecks in the penetration routes. But the Balkan Fox hopes to play new tricks on his opponents in the coming weeks.

 

[Wings]

April 10th, 1941

Addis Ababa - The Negus' speech - The first visit of the emperor back to his capital is to the monastery of Débré Libanos, on the outskirts of the city. He goes to visit the tomb of the 297 monks and 23 acolytes massacred in February 1937, whose poor remains have just been gathered in a common burial.
He pronounces a speech where he pays homage to Aboune Pétros, bishop of central Ethiopia and martyr of the national cause. He quotes the writings of the bishop defying the invaders and calling for resistance: "The cries of my compatriots caused by your gases and your machines will never allow my conscience to accept your ultimatum. How can I stand before my God if I refuse to see a crime of such magnitude? My compatriots, do not believe the fascists if they tell you that the Patriots are bandits, the Patriots are people who are fighting to free us from the terror of fascism. The bandits are the soldiers who are in front of you and me, who have come from afar, terrorize and occupy with violence a weak and peaceful country: our Ethiopia. May God give the people of Ethiopia the strength to resist and never bow to the fascist army and its violence. May the Ethiopian land never accept the orders of the invading army." But Haile Selassie also asks his subjects to respect the enemies now defeated and especially the non-combatants, in the name of the divine commandments also preached by Aboune Pétros.
.........
North: the French offensive - From Dessie to Debra Tabor - Group M begins its progression towards Debra Tabor.
It takes a week for the engineers, who are hampered by the terrible weather, to open the road to Debra Tabor and allow the progression of part of the group. During this time, 8,000partisans (whose numbers had swollen spectacularly in the last few weeks) cut off the city's communications with Gondar, scattering several convoys in charge of reinforcing the garrison of Debra Tabor.

 

[Wings]

April 10th, 1941

Oasis of Deir Hassem, 04:35 - Guided by von Stroltz, the four Ju 90 are on approach, at an altitude of 600 meters. Kalwer lights eight brush fires that delimit the jump zone and a red smoke signal indicating the wind direction: almost in the axis of the field, east-west. A green flare is fired to indicate that all is clear.
Zapanski's plane is in the lead. It makes its first pass, followed by the other aircraft, makes a large 360° and returns for a second overflight. The drops are completed in less than eight minutes. In spite of the night and the rocky terrain, the fierce training that General Student forced his paratroopers to do pays off. There is only one fatality, whose parachute has flared up, four fractures and a few scratches. A box of ammunition explodes when it hits the ground.
The Ju 90s gain altitude and flew almost due south towards Rasheed Air Base, where they land at around 0550 hours.
Palmyra, 13:00 - The DML completes its concentration, with the arrival of the British elements. General de Larminat givesthe units an afternoon break, devoted to resting and maintenance of the vehicles. He takes advantage of this time to call a meeting with the commanders of the corps and explain his intentions. After having proceeded, without any visible ulterior motive, to the exchange of liaison officers with Colonel Arbuthnot, he sets the departure for Deir ez-Zor at 05:00 the next day.
North of the Persian Gulf, 06:00 - At the entrance to the Shott-el-Arab, the minesweeper Lawrence moors off Al Faw to hide the battery that controls the naval traffic. A detachment of the 2/8th Gurkha Rifles disembarks to neutralize the small Iraqi garrison.
While Hermes and Leander remain in the Gulf, the rest of the BM.7 convoy starts to sail up the channel.
Shortly after, the men of the 1st Battalion King's Own Royal Regiment, who had flown a short distance from Shaibah to the RAF airstrip in the Maqil district, deployon the Basra docks.
Rasheed Air Base, 06:15 - Major O'Flanaghan boasts of many similarities with T.E. Lawrence. He has, in particular, the same ability to disguise himself. Dressed as a camel driver - like his model, he masters dialectal Arabic - he drives four meharis to graze at the end of the track. He carefully notes every detail. Without being impressed by the black SM.79B twin-engines that are displayed in front of the hangars, he takes the time to observe with binoculars the midnight blue four-engine aircraft surrounded by mechanics and electricians who are busy preparing them for their return to Tirana. When the time comes, thanks to the major's sketches, the RAF will be able to bomb the German installations without mistaking their objective.
Basra, 09.30 - The BM.7 convoy drops anchor in the port. The arrival of the ships loaded with men causes a stir among the Iraqis, but the Emerald keeps the gunboats at bay, while the presence of the King's Own Royal Regiment on the Maqil docks dissuades the most agitated. Nevertheless, the landing operations last until the next day, as the Iraqi dockers go on strike.
The Iraqi commander of the sector immediately reports the arrival of the British troops to his hierarchy.
RAF Habbaniyah - Air Vice-Marshal Smart forms the "Habbaniyah Strike Force" (Sqn-Ldr W. A. B. Saville), which has no less than four squadrons. The B squadron (7 Fairey Gordon, 27 Airspeed Oxfords proudly displaying their homemade bomb launchers and the unique Bristol Blenheim) and the D squadron (10 Audax) are based on the main runway of the base. A and C squadrons (10 Audax each) and the Gloster Gladiators of the "Habbaniyah Fighter Flight" are based on the polo field, promoted (or degraded, depending on the point of view) to the rank of secondary runway, less exposed than the airfield. The prehistoric Vickers Valentia of Sqn 31, unable to exceed 210 km/h in zero wind, shuttle to the Transjordan to supply the base with ammunition. Despite the martial etiquette of his force, Smart is careful, even for exercises, to fly its planes only towards the west, without ever going over Baghdad, in order to avoid any provocation.
On the initiative of Ambassador Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, who consulted with the French consul and (by radio) with Habbaniyah, more than two hundred British civilians (mainly women and children), as well as some French, leave Baghdad in a convoy under escort in the middle of the day, to join the British base. At the end of the day, at Habbaniyah, nearly 9,000 people are counted, including about 5,400 women and children.* But, if the tents to shelter them and water are aplenty, food stocks are likely to be quickly exhausted, making an evacuation to Shaibah imperative.
At the end of the day, two Hawker Nisr fly low over the base, which they know well - almost all Iraqi pilots have been there during their training. In the evening, Selim Bassij warns O'Flanaghan that after this attempt at intimidation, movements of the Iraqi army towards Habbaniyah are to be expected the day after tomorrow.
Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Berlin, 11:30 - Göring is excited by the report of the first release of "his" paratroopers in Iraq. He wants more than ever, he says it again and again to Jeschonnek, to send combat aircraft to Iraq. But the Reichsmarschall, while not afraid of bluffing, always plays small, and if he can, for sure, especially if he has to disobey the Führer. Wishing to share the responsibility with someone, he summons Ernst Udet.
The Generalluftzeugmeister is deeply bored in his role as a technician confined to an office. He is ready to take any risk to fight his spleen - and, since the failure of the Battle of Britain, his certainty of having failed in his mission, confirmed in his eyes by the losses of the Luftwaffe over Sardinia and Corsica. He nourishes black ideas and drinks too much, hoping to find appeasement in champagne and cognac. This is why Udet accepts without hesitation the extremely risky proposal of his old comrade of the Jasta 11 and the Jagdgeschwader 1 of the Imperial Air Force, Hermann Göring: to try the runway of Deir Hassem at the controls of a plane! His personal Ju 88, with only a navigator and a machine gunner, will be waiting for him the next day at dawn at Tempelhof. He will fly away to Constantza, which he should reach at the end of the day, via Vienna. He will take off early night on the 12th and will cross the Black Sea and then Turkish territory, before finally landing in Iraq.
Once the decision is made, Jeschonnek, as a perfect organizer, does not forget to send a message to Kalwer and von Stroltz to get the aviation gasoline that Udet's plane would need to return. He only neglects to tell them where to find it.
In addition, as a way of saying thank you, Göring finally accepts an old request from Ernst Udet: he admits his navigator, Flugkapitän Thorvald Junck, into the Luftwaffe, with the rank of captain (Hauptmann) and eight years of seniority retroactively. He refused to do so until then, because Junck was classified as a Mischlinge**: he was half Jewish. That is why he was not integrated into the Luftwaffe and he was still on the Lufthansa checklist, but he kept his uniform. But the Reichsmarschall, in fact, used to say, in defiance of logic and the Nuremberg laws: "Ich selbst wähle, wer Jude, oder nicht Jude, ist."*** Hauptmann Junck, by the way, will remain the navigator of the personal aircraft of the Generalluftzeugmeister. He will not be assigned to a unit on the line. Göring's tolerance does not go that far.
Rinas airfield, Tirana, 21:00- The Italians begin their flights to Iraq. The four SM.82s, two of which carry a CR.42 fighter each, take off just after the Fw 200 and two of the Ju 90s of the Trasta 789, carrying a detachment of the Brandenburg Regiment.

 

[Wings]

April 10th, 1941

Indian Ocean - The Orion and the Ole-Jakob meet the supply ship Alstertor, which transfers to the raider a new Arado Ar 196 seaplane, bags of letters (the Orion's sailors had not received any mail since they left Germany), ammunition and torpedoes, allowing the raider to remain operational for another five months. The Alstertor returns to Europe, while the Orion and the Ole-Jakob will head for Madagascar before continuing towards the African coast. The Orion has now traveled more than 100,000 nautical miles, the equivalent of four times the circumference of the globe.
In search of prey, the Orion's captain, Weyher, once again uses his Nakajima seaplane, on which he had painted British cockades, but without success. However, intercepted radio communications show that the Allies are chartering more and more neutral ships.

 

[Wings]

April 10th, 1941

Durazzo - Without giving up command of the Centauro, General Magli replaces General Ugo Adami, who was wounded in his turn, at the head of what remains of the Parma division. Recognizing his merits, Ugo Cavallero calls Magli to the general staff. It is that General Gavino Pizzolato succeeds him at the head of the Centauro, which he will have to continue to rebuild.

 

[Wings]

April 10th, 1941

Casablanca - New arrival of American equipment, including 36 Grumman G-36A for the Greek Air Force and 30 Hawk-81 of the new A2 variant (with self-sealing tanks) for the Armée de l'Air.

 

[Wings]

April 11th, 1941

South Central: The East African offensive - From Addis Ababa to Dalle and Gimma - The fall of Colito demoralizes the garrison of Soddu, which surrenders after a symbolic battle.

 

[Wings]

April 11th, 1941

Palmyra, 05:15 - Standing in his Laffly ST 20 6x6, General de Larminat raises his arm to give the signal for the departure of the DML. His 3rd Bureau is counting on an average speed of 15 km/h and hopes to arrive in Deir ez-Zor on the 11th around 18:00. It is not possible to drive at a higher speed on the sand and rock track, because of the age of the tank carriers of the 6th RCA. These Berliets and Saurers have already been through a lot and require daily maintenance.
Baghdad, 09:00 - Rachid Ali al-Gaylani summons Sir Kinahan Cornwallis. He tells him that, if he intends to comply with the Anglo-Iraqi treaty of 1930 and therefore accepts the arrival of troops in Basra, under no circumstances would new units be allowed on Iraqi soil until the 20th Indian Brigade had left Iraq for Transjordan and until the British forces in the country should not exceed the size of a brigade at any time.
Cornwallis reaffirms that compliance with the treaty is a given, but that the transit of other troops is already in progress, "to reinforce the Middle East theater". This ambiguous attitude does not fail to worry the Iraqi Prime Minister - Iraq is part of the Middle-East!
Rasheed Air Base, 09:30 - Major Pfiffelsdörfer reviews the elements of the 2. Kompanie of the Brandenburg Regiment that arrived before dawn on board the Fw 200 and two Ju 90 of the Trasta 789. He then speaks for a few moments with ambassador Grobba, who had come to discreetly greet his compatriots and to inform Pfiffelsdörfer of the worrying rumors that British troops had arrived in Basra. Herr Grobba suggests to study the possibility of scuttling a German or Italian merchant ship in the Chott-el- Arab to counteract enemy movements. But Pfiffelsdörfer retorts that he does not have enough information and manpower for such an operation, that his orders are primarily to organize the Iraqi army and to facilitate the arrival of reinforcements. Moreover, to his knowledge, the potentially usable ships are stuck in the rare neutral ports of the Indian Ocean.
The entire planned complement of Brandenburgers is now in Iraq, and the following rotations will be devoted to bringing in equipment and supplies, as well as a number of specialists that the Iraqi air force needs most urgently. Mechanics and even pilots have been gathered in an unorthodox way, sometimes in Wehrmacht prisons, or even civilian prisons. Some of them - Spaniards or Slovaks for example - are not Germans... It is true that, unlike the Wehrmacht, the Brandenburgers arenot obliged to recruit real Germans!
The main part of the 2.Kompanie, under the responsibility of Hauptmann Stellenbrünn, is first of all to ensure the surveillance of the terrain. As soon as the Heer company that is to relieve the commandos has arrived to take control of the airport, the Brandenburgers will move south. In squads, they will have to position themselves at strategic points along the railroad and at the main bridges to delay the march of the British, who would not fail to move from Bassorah.
For his part, the major decides to leave immediately to join the team of Kalwer and von Stroltz. All of them, the Major insists, must act according to the method of Schlacht und Flucht*, theorized by the great Clausewitz in his chapter on partisan warfare, without ever letting themselves be fixed. They must conserve their potential for the decisive battles that will probably be fought around Baghdad.
In addition, Pfiffelsdörfer is ordered to sabotage the oil installations if Operation Ostmond should fail. But he thinks it would be very difficult to carry it out, given the number of men and equipment at his disposal.
However, in a separate hangar, the Italians unload the two CR.42 fighters carried by the SM.82 and prepare them for the return flight scheduled for the next night. It will take another twelve days before the 155th Squadriglia is fully operational.
Baghdad, 11:00 - Rashid Ali al-Gaylani receives the German ambassador this time. Herr Grobba tells him that, according to Major Pfiffelsdörfer, the troops that had arrived in Basra would inevitably be reinforced. It would therefore be important not to provoke the British in order not to precipitate other arrivals, especially since German sources report a resurgence of activity among the French in Syria.
In the early afternoon, this succession of news, as well as the insistence of the soldiers of the Golden Square, convince the Prime Minister to take action. He decides, on the one hand to send a sizeable force the next day to blockade the Habbaniyah base and to block the roads from Basra.
Luftplatz Deir Hassem - Oberleutnant Kalwer and Leutnant von Stroltz have a great sense of opportunity. Together with his men, the former steals a Royal Dutch Shell tanker on the Mosul airfield, under the noses of the sentries. The other one raids the warehouse of a company in Sinjar, stealing a steam roller-compressor to level the runway of the makeshift airfield. The fruit of the two thefts is immediately hidden under camouflage nets.
Basra, 17:00 - The landing operations completed, the first two battalions of the 20th Indian Brigade take up their positions: the 2/8th Gurkha Rifles is in charge of the defense of the RAF ground at Shaibah, while the 3/11th Sikh Regiment secures the Maqil docks. No large-scale operation, starting with the takeover of the whole Basra area, can not be undertaken until reinforcements arrive. Major-General Fraser has a brief and inconclusive contact with the Iraqi authorities.
Luftplatz Constantza, 19:00 - Udet's plane lands at the small airfield in Constantza, which a Luftwaffe detachment shares with two Gruppe of the Fortele Aeriene Regale (these, still equipped with Gloster Gladiators, were supposed to participate in the protection of the refineries of Ploesti). The Generalluftzeugmeister is welcomed with warmth by the Germans and the Romanians, happy to see in flesh and blood this pilot of legend. Their reception is all the more friendly as Udet brings a case of twelve bottles of champagne, vintage Mumm Cordon Rouge, bought in Épernay the week before uring an inspection of the fighter units in occupied France.
Some note that he wears no rank insignia on his flight suit, but wears the Kaiser's Cross of Merit, awarded a quarter of a century earlier.
His Ju 88, painted in the standard Luftwaffe camouflage colors (medium and dark green above, light blue underneath), is named Der Alte Karl, in black letters on a blue-white-red background, as a tribute to Guynemer and his Vieux Charles**.

* Hit and run.
**In his Recollections of the First War, Udet recounted how the French ace had given up trying to shoot him when his machine gun was jammed and he was unarmed: "Ich glaube, daß auch heute noch ein Stück von ritterlichen Heldentum alter Zeiten lebendig geblieben ist. - I believe that even today a bit of the chivalrous heroism of ancient times still survives."

 

[Wings]

April 11th, 1941

Bucharest - Air Force General Alexander Löhr arrives in the Romanian capital with a reduced staff, but a busy agenda. He has to study the military and especially air potential of the small Balkan partners of the Axis, in view of the Barbarossa operation. The Romanian welcome is warm. German instructors are indeed at work in Romania since it joined the Tripartite Pact on November 23rd, 1940, while some light units were assigned to secure the oil installations in Ploesti. Löhr has to study the reinforcement of the anti-aircraft defenses of the latter, as well as the redeployment of a large part of its LuftFlotte 4, currently being reconstituted in Germany. At the end of the interview, almost carelessly, Löhr announces to his interlocutors the imminent passage to Constantza of Generalluftzeugmeister Udet, in transit towards the Middle East.

 

[Wings]

April 11th, 1941

Alger - In three days, General Cochet's report, immediately relayed by Groussard, has several consequences. A "Request for verification of the provisions relating to passive defense" is sent to the prefects (at least those of the Algerian departments); a state of the forces of the DCA in Algeria is urgently requested, finally, an aerial reconnaissance of Perpignan is decided.
The revival of passive defense, sometimes a little neglected, causes some excitement in the administration (less in the population). While, in the prefectural offices, one lists the cellars listed as public anti-aircraft shelters, elsewhere, they make sure that the sirens are working properly (in other words, that they are supplied with electricity and not only on test days), posters in French and Arabic reminding them of the curfew hours and the amount of the fines in case of infringement, we control the preparation of the means of immediate help such as the fire department, and the network of volunteers and block leaders set up (at least in theory) since the beginning of the war.
As for the order to launch a reconnaissance on Perpignan, it has just arrived at the GR II/33 and its newly promoted chief, Major Gelée, who had replaced Major Alias, who had been appointed to head the GR I/33. The II/33 is passing through Maison-Blanche after the last operations in Corsica and Sardinia, to check the equipment and (briefly) rest the men, before heading for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Having asked the captain in charge of the mechanics to prepare an aircraft for a distant reconnaissance mission, Commander Gelée begins to study to choose the crew. After half an hour, after having been disturbed several times by volunteers, the mechanics having spread the information by commenting "it will certainly on France", he resolves to ask the advice of Lieutenant Bouchedé, observer and especially chaplain of the group. On his advice, he assigns the position of observer and flight leader to Lieutenant Chery. In May 1940, Chery, who had come from the mechanized cavalry, had identified the German tank attack in the Ardennes, without being believed by the staff, in spite of his skills in the field of armor. He was a few days away from leaving the group before returning to his original weapon, with an extra stripe. The place of pilot is given to the lottery (Gelée sighed with relief when he thought that Captain de Saint-Exupéry was convalescing in the United States - "He would have been foolish to leave the hospital to claim the mission!"). Lieutenant Hochedé wins the jackpot (and the right to buy a round of drinks). As for the machine gunner, there will be none, to lighten the plane and extend its autonomy.
In the evening, the "Air" command of the base organizes a small reception to greet the presence of the GR II/33 and to celebrate the arrival of the EB 60 elements, which will continue their training on the four-engine Consolidated 32, started in Morocco a few weeks earlier, before they too left for the East. But Hochedé and Chery are only thinking about their next mission.

 

[Wings]

April 12th, 1941

"Luftplatz" Deir Hassem, 04:30 - Three Ju 90 of the Trasta 789 drop new paratroopers and their equipment. There is only one casualty. The Fallschirmjägers company of Roland Stiffler, now assisted by Leutnant von Stroltz, is now complete.
Rasheed Air Base, 05:30 - The Ju 90s of 789 land and are immediately taken to the hangars. However, they do not escape Major O'Flanaghan's spotters, whom he called his yaouleds - in memory of a leave spent in Algiers where he had been drawn to the works of Gide, in March 1938.
Moreover, the major and his men do not fail to note the presence, discreet but real, of unusual uniforms worn by soldiers who were a little too blond to be Iraqis. These are the first soldiers of the light infantry company that was to relieve the Brandenburgers and who are now confined to their barracks.
RAF Habbaniyah, 06:30 - Elements of the 1st and 3rd Iraqi Army Divisions, garrisoned in Baghdad, begin to take up positions around the perimeter of the base and mainly on the plateau overlooking it to the south. An Iraqi emissary transmits a message to Air Vice-Marshal Smart, indicating that the plateau is occupied for a training exercise and that all movement - ground and air - from the base must cease immediately. Smart refuses, saying that any disruption of Habbaniyah's operations would be considered an act of war. Nevertheless, he takes care to escort each Valentia during its take-off by a self-propelled machine gun in order to keep the Iraqis away.
08:00 - Two Audax of the RAF sent in reconnaissance at low altitude are shot at with Vickers, without much conviction. They get away with a few holes in their canopy and fuselage. Shortly after, the Iraqi emissary shows up again at the entrance of the base, accusing the British of having violated the Anglo-Iraqi treaty. Smart simply replies that this political question should be addressed to Ambassador Cornwallis.
Al Diwaniyah, 09:00 - The 4th Iraqi Infantry Division begins deploying its three brigades to the Iranian border to block the Euphrates, the Basra-Baghdad railroad and the Tigris river in front of the British troops that could come up from Basra. Its position, in line, takes advantage of the numerous swampy areas of the region.
Deir ez-Zor (on the banks of the Euphrates), 09:30 - The Bloch 200 liaison plane used by General de Larminat and his chief of staff, Colonel Collet, pulls up next to some of the planes of the two Groups of March of the Levant. Larminat proposes that the whole group be named Force Aérienne de Marche du Levant (FAML) and be placed under the command of an experienced officer, former commander of the GC III/6, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Stehlin, from General Massiet's staff. Alsatian and former deputy military attaché in Berlin, Stehlin maintains close ties, almost of friendship, with Göring's entourage and with the Reichsmarschall himself! His relations with the special services are, so to speak, public knowledge - it is said that he once worked with Captain Bonnisseur, the deputy of Lieutenant-Colonel Dujardin.
The entire DML is grouped together in Deir ez-Zor, with almost no stragglers. The section has already requisitioned long boats of smugglers and fishermen. It spends the night equipping them with improvised decking from Tripoli and thrusters cobbled together in Homs to assemble two doors. With the civil ferry, these boats will be used at dawn to cross the Euphrates.
Larminat urges his staff. He wants the entire DML to have reached the Iraqi border by the evening of the 14th, from where it would have to cross some 300 kilometers of desert.
Ar Rutbah (western desert of Iraq), 10:00 - First sign of hostility against the British: the Iraqi desert police, supported by the irregulars of Fawzi al-Quawukji, chases the British workers of the Iraq Petroleum Company from the fort of Rutbah. The technical installations are quickly looted by local Bedouins. A few hours later, a Hawker Audax coming from Habbaniyah to check the situation is fired upon (without damage) while flying over the fort.
Baghdad, 10:30 - The last British and French civilians, the few Belgians and Dutch go to their embassies and the American legation. On the way, they are attacked by crowds heated by the fiery proclamations of Radio Baghdad, where the Grand mufti al-Husseini calls for jihad.
During the day, the Iraqi regime orders all oil installations and refineries to be placed under government control. The Iraq Petroleum Company's pipeline is immediately put out of service.
Jerusalem, 11:00 - General Wavell, arriving from Cairo, convenes an emergency meeting of his principal subordinates. The situation of the Allies in Greece is deteriorating. He declares to General Clark that the Iraqi affair must be settled as quickly as possible, because the units involved would have to be redeployed to Greece very quickly (although the Allies have other troops in reserve). "The Prime Minister hopes, as I do," he adds, "that these units will be ready to leave for Greece as of May 1st." He is well aware that his optimism is perhaps exaggerated, but he does not want to be suspected of softness in this matter.
General Massiet, who comes by plane, is not threatened by Churchill's anger, but Wavell urges him to press on with the movement.
Barring a meteorological incident that nothing foretold, the allied intervention is to begin on the 16th in the south and on the 17th on the north-western front. This delay should, the Allies hope, disturb the Iraqis.
"Luftplatz" Deir Hassem, 11:45 - Arrival of Major Pfiffelsdörfer, driving a Buick bought on the street in Baghdad (the owner had freely chosen between a bundle of English sterlings and some German lead). The major and the four Brandenburgers who serve as his bodyguards have traveled more than 480 kilometers without ever having been arrested or even, it seems, attracted attention. They are dressed in civilian clothes but, according to the rule of the Brandenburg Regiment, wear German uniforms underneath, in case it is necessary to open fire. Pfiffelsdörfer immediately sends Oberleutnant Kalwer back to Baghdad, because he wants to keep a man of confidence on the spot.
RAF Habbaniyah - In the afternoon, several air rotations convoy the 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment from Shaibah to Habbaniyah, where its presence becomes imperative. Colonel Roberts follows the movement in order to assess the situation on the spot, Fraser retains the direction of operations in Basra for the time being.
When he arrives in Habbaniyah, Roberts quickly realizes that he lacked an experienced man to lead the ground operations. Pressed by the RAF officers, he decides to stay on site and starts to set evacuation priorities. On the return to Shaibah, the planes that had brought the King's Own men would have to take about thirty civilians each: first the sick and wounded, then women with children, and finally people over sixty. The others, Roberts believes, should be kept mobilized as long as the base investment lasted - which was not unanimously accepted and provokes various movements, especially among clergymen and other missionaries.
The two BOAC seaplanes parked on the Habbaniyah lake are evacuated.
Rasheed Air Base, 22:30 - The planes of the 789 take off one after the other to return to Tirana.
Luftplatz Constantza, 23:30 - Ernst Udet's Alte Karl takes off, heavily loaded. Instead of bombs, it carries under the wing two additional tanks of 250 liters. It has to use all the length of the runway, badly marked by acetylene lights, to tear itself off from the ground in front of a weak north wind.
Udet takes altitude by describing a large 360°, then brings back the throttles on economic cruise - 380 km/h - and aligns himself on the heading 150. He wants to cross the Black Sea from northwest to southeast and fly over Turkey only from Trabzon - Trebizond. He will benefit from the lights of Erzeroum, on its right, and the mirror of the lake of Van, on its left, as a navigation aid. He fears nothing, except perhaps to be heard and illuminated by a few searchlights near the Turkish-Iraqi border. But the Turkish air force does not possess fighters capable of operating at night, and the army's flak is only effective at very low altitude. However, the crew has to put on their masks, because Udet intends to fly at 4,000 meters to avoid the danger of the highest summits of the Pontic Alps and Taurus, which culminate at more than 3 000 meters.

 

[Wings]

April 12th, 1941

Sofia - General Löhr continues his Balkan tour with a visit to Bulgaria with the Bulgarian General Staff. The principle of the next installation in Sofia of depots for the Luftwaffe is quickly agreed upon, in exchange for military supplies which Bulgaria has the greatest need of.

 

[Wings]

April 12th, 1941

Alger - "A war correspondent with an ankle in plaster, it's not serious!
Too bad, I'm going to try to get on one of the transports that are taking what the French call "l'Armée d'Orient" to Greece. Dr. Solal advised me not to remain inactive, so I am only complying with his prescriptions!" (Letter from Bill Clifton to Robin Meyrson).

 

[Wings]

April 13th, 1941

Deir ez-Zor (on the Euphrates River), 03:30 - General de Larminat respects the rules of warfare. A section of legionnaires and a squad of pontonniers cross the Euphrates by boat and occupy a bridgehead on the left bank.
05:15 - The four CPLEs and the mobile marine company of the GRDI will begin to embark on the requisitioned commercial ferry, which can carry loads of up to fifteen tons, and on the two rafts of the Engineers, whose payload is limited to three tons. Voluntary (and duly paid) fishermen agree to load their boats with infantrymen and supply boxes.
07:45 - Escorted by two MS-410s, two Potez 63.11 reconnaissance aircraft take off in an easterly direction. Their mission is to make sure that no enemy elements had entered into Syrian territory.
18:30 - All the DML crosses the river, except for the tank carriers and R-35s of the 6th RCA and the artillery of the 2nd RTA battle group. Furious about what he considers as an unacceptable delay, Larminat decides that the crossings would resume the next day at 04:15 by the light of the lighthouses and that his division would move at noon sharp, despite the heat, with or without all of his tanks and guns.
"Luftplatz" Deir Hassem, 06:30 - As fresh as a second lieutenant after a night in company, Ernst Udet gets off his Alte Karl. His navigator, Hauptmann Thorvald Junck, from Jena, and his gunner, Feldwebel Michael Zbing, from Stuttgart, have more drawn features. Udet neglects the attention of the officers and the presentation of weapons of the ordinary soldiers who greet him, shakes hands at random, lights a cigar and asks for a glass of cognac "um die Ideen ein bisschen klarer zu machen!"* before exclaiming, mixing languages as he likes to do: "Schmeckt ja ganz gut! Really! First class! Und jetzt, ladies and gentlemen, ein Frühstück bien mérité!"**
Sitting on the floor without any concern for precedence, he tastes without manner, but with the same air of penetration as if he were dining in the salons of the Adlon Hotel, the coffee, which is nothing more than a German-style lavash, the canned ham and the toast of margarine and brown bread. Then he gives his instructions for the revision of his Ju 88, announces that he will sleep until noon in the tent that has been reserved for him and demands that a bowl of boiling water for shaving and a basin of cold water for bathing be kept ready for him when he wakes up. We hear him snoring at 07:30. Junck and Zbing quickly do the same.
Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Berlin, 11:00 - Like a child eager to try a new electric train (of which he is a great fan), Göring has two Kampfstaffeln*** sent, under the pretext of maneuvers with the Romanian air force, one of 14 Bf 110s, the other of ten He 111s, to the Constantza airfield. They will be ready, in theory, on the 17th. The Reichsmarschall puts Major Heinrich Bäumler, a trusted Parteigenosse**** , in charge of them. He had been a member of the NSDAP since 1926, and had been trained in the USSR in the underground for the "Black Reichswehr" (the army reconstituted clandestinely by the Weimar Republic with the help of the Soviets), aviator of the Condor Legion and of the campaigns of 1939 and 1940, Bäumler was close to Ernst Röhm for some time. Operation East Moon did not mean anything to this big mouth but he could not refuse anything to the Luftwaffe boss, who had saved his life during the Night of the Long Knives.
"Luftplatz" Deir Hassem, 12:30 - Showered, shaved, in his impeccable tropical uniform of Generaloberst, his Merit Cross around his neck, Udet warmly greets Major Pfiffelsdörfer before having a long talk with him and Hauptmann Stiffler. He then gives himself time to smoke two cigars - and then dictates to Pfiffelsdörfer, only one authorized to use the Enigma machine of the Brandenburgers, a long message intended for Göring. He lists the advantages and disadvantages of the "Flugplatz Deir Hassem",
recognizes the relatively suitable quality of the improvised track and its isolation, but also underlines the difficulties to be foreseen to ensure the supply of gasoline and ammunition and the supply of personnel. The logistical system proposed by von Stroltz makes him bristle: transporting all the supplies to Rasheed Air Base with the four-engine Trasta 789, then transfer them to the Iraqi SM.79B, which would make two rotations a day to Deir Hassem. "The dispatch of of a large number of Luftwaffe fighters to this improvised and almost impossible to refuel would be suicidal", concludes Udet. The loss of the planes and their crews would be assured and the benefits that could be expected from this adventure do not seem to justify it.
Hermann Göring will be very disappointed.
Rasheed Air Base, 14:00 - The first two operational CR.42s of the 155th Squadriglia take off. In agreement with the Iraqis, the Regia Aeronautica will remain in the air until the unit is complete, to missions to protect the capital.
Baghdad, 15:00 - Confirming Selim Bassidj's information, Rachid Ali al-Gaylani tries to meet with Sir Kinahan Cornwallis to suggest that he seek a compromise "in good faith, and in the best interest of both parties". The ambassador refuses, saying that no Anglo-Iraqi dialogue could be envisaged before, at least, the lifting of the siege of Habbaniyah. Then, in a rather fine exercise in understatement, he warns his interlocutor that the encirclement of the Habbaniyah base by Iraqi troops "might lead to an unfortunate incident". In fact, risk of an unfortunate incident or not, Whitehall's instructions forbid any new dialogue with the new Iraqi power.
Al-Gaylani knows that his troops are now far too hot to be obeyed if he orders the withdrawal of the forces surrounding Habbaniyah. He summons Herr Grobba: "The die is cast. The English refuse to negotiate. We will have to fight. Will Germany be on our side?" Grobba assures him of the maximum support of the german forces, while insisting that this support could have been much more powerful if the coup had been launched later... He passes in silence the fact that two companies of Reich troops are already on Iraqi soil, which his interlocutor is not unaware of.
Cairo, 15:30 - The "Enigma" messages concerning Udet's mission, concordant with indiscretions within the Bulgarian air force, do not go unnoticed by London, which communicate to the Middle East Air Command what could be deduced from them. Informed, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore gives instructions to his staff to prepare an operation intended to prevent by all means a deployment of the Luftwaffe in Iraq.
This operation is codenamed "Bertha".
Habbaniyah, 16:00 - A reconnaissance flight by a Hawker Audax verifies that an estimated two brigades of Iraqi forces, supported by self-propelled guns and artillery, are now on the plateau above the base and that the towns of Fallujah and Ar Ramadi are also occupied: Habbaniyah is effectively cut off from the world, except by air. Roberts critically examines the situation: The base is exposed on two flanks and dominated by the enemy. The latter could seriously endanger the garrison if he succeeds in destroying the water tower or the power station. The lack of artillery, which is limited to a few mortars and two howitzers, is very worrying.
At the end of the afternoon, six Gladiator Mk I fighters from an RAF depot in Egypt land on the polo field, accompanied by a Wellington carrying spare parts.
RAF Shaibah (near Basra), in the afternoon - Arrival of ten bombers from Sqn 37, coming from Egypt, and twelve Gladiators from Sqn 94, based in Aden. These aircraft are redeployed to Iraq by the Middle East Air Command.
Rasheed Air Base, 18:00 - On instructions from Air Chief Marshall Longmore, transmitted by Colonel Carbury, Major O'Flanaghan begins the very first phase of operation
Bertha.
Disguised as goat herders, two of his yaouleds distract the attention of the guard posts in the late afternoon by pretending to chase after freedom-loving animals. The major, also disguised, takes advantage of the situation to place two plastic blocks and a delay detonator in the middle of the stock of methanol barrels. Indeed, without the addition of this alcohol, the aircraft gasoline available in Iraq is not suitable for German engines (nor, as the British know very well, for the engines of the few modern aircraft the RAF has in Iraq!).
The explosion must have occurred around 22:30.
At midnight, nothing blew up.
Major O'Flanaghan is once again enraged by the defects of the equipment he was supplied. Rancorous, forgetting nothing of the talking to that was given to him after the coup, he sends a fuming telegram to Colonel Carbury, who only smiles.

* "To clear your head a bit."
** "This is excellent! It really is! First class! And now, ladies and gentlemen, a well-deserved breakfast!"
*** Marching squadrons.
**** A comrade (member) of the (Nazi) Party.

 

[Wings]

April 13th, 1941

Moscow - The USSR and Japan, represented by their respective foreign ministers Molotov and Matsuoka (the latter assisted by ambassador Tatekawa) sign a pact of neutrality, also known as a non-aggression pact.
After the brief conflict that opposed them in 1939, the two countries have a great nneed of this agreement. The USSR wishes, without fearing for its eastern border, to be able to concentrate its forces on the European theater and to prepare itself for the inevitable confrontation with Germany, while France has a knee in the ground - if not both - and that the Reich has practically taken over the Balkans. For its part, Japan, mired in its interminable war with China and seeing its relations with the United States deteriorate, seeks to improve its image on the international scene and secure the vassal state of Manchukuo.
Unprecedented and revealing of the importance he attaches to this treaty, Stalin himself accompaniesMatsuoka to the Trans-Siberian Railway station. In front of the entire diplomatic corps, he takes the opportunity to invite Germany to new negotiations. The German ambassador, Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, visibly approves of this speech.* The allied ambassadors Sir Stafford Cripps and Charles Corbin, who had carefully avoided their German counterpart, looked grim instead.

* Von der Schulenburg has held this position since 1934 and was instrumental in the signing of the non-aggression pact of 1939. A supporter of the friendship between Germany and Russia as advocated by Chancellor Bismarck, he went so far as to inform Berlin that the state of the USSR's military forces was better than indicated by the very precise information provided by his military attaché, General Köstring, or to affirm the invulnerability to the air attacks of the Soviet industries. Von der Schulenburg also allowed the escape of Polish diplomats under the nose of the Soviets after the invasion of Poland.

 

[Wings]

April 13th, 1941

London and Alger - The deciphering of the "Enigma" communications by the French and British radio interception services confirms the concentration of German troops in Austria. Winston Churchill and Paul Reynaud call the Yugoslav Prime Minister, Mr. Cvetkovic, to urge him not to give in to German demands. In an attempt to compensate the disastrous impression produced by Rommel's successes in Albania, both of them confirm the promises of military support in the event of German attack made the previous month by Blum and Eden.

 

[Wings]

April 13th, 1941

Casablanca - At a new staff conference, the British delegation confirms the dispatch in May of very important reinforcements to BEFIG (a fast convoy carrying new tanks and equipment).
As the redeployment of the Xth FliegerKorps in the area of Foggia and Bari and the concentration of its operations on Albania have considerably reduced the air activity in the area of the Strait of Sicily, France agrees to send to Greece "as soon as possible" the 4th EC, with three Hawk-81 equipped Groups (60 aircraft), as well as the 62nd and 63rd EB, each with two groups equipped with Martin 167 Marylands (80 aircraft in all).
The same conference decides to prepare Operation "Coronation". The two first RAF squadrons equipped with Stirlings (n°7 and 15) are designated to move towards the Mediterranean. On its side, the Armée de l'Air starts to receive its Consolidated 32s (B-24 Liberators for the Americans) purchased in 1939. A new bomber wing, the 60th EB, is created for the 120 32s ordered. Its three Groups (I/60, II/60 and III/60) start their training at Oran-La Sénia.