Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation
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2634
July 23rd, 1941
London - The Admiralty informs the Imperial General Staff that it believes it can release from their present duties and place at their disposal for Operation Countenance a small group of warships detached from its Eastern Fleet.
It would consist of the light cruiser HMS Enterprise, the auxiliary cruiser HMS Kanimbla (which should be transferred to the Royal Australian Navy as soon as possible), and an aviso (sloop), the HMS Shoreham. Their support would be provided by the small supply ship RFA Pearleaf.
The Admiralty adds that it has originally planned to add to this tiny flotilla the small carrier HMS Hermes, which can only embark about fifteen aircraft (currently twelve Swordfish, which proved their worth against the Italian Red Sea fleet). But the old Hermes was unfortunately rammed in the middle of the night by the auxiliary cruiser HMS Corfu. The damage was limited but, after some repairs in Simonstown, she was sent to Durban for a well-deserved refit.
The Enterprise, Kanimbla, Shoreham and Pearleaf would be available from August 1st, in principle. But the Admiralty does not hide its desire to use them for other missions as of September 1st - and earlier if possible.
In Baghdad, Alan Cunningham, immediately informed, does not fail to notice that their Lordships (and his elder brother...) have limited their largesse to two warships built before 1920, the Enterprise and the Shoreham, and to an auxiliary, the Kanimbla. In 1938, the Enterprise (7,580 tons displacement, 33 knots, 7 6-inch guns, 3 4-inch guns, various light flak pieces and 8 21-inch torpedo tubes) had even been placed in reserve at Rosyth: removed from the list of active ships, she had only a guard crew on board; she had to be re-commissioned (readmitted to active service) in 1940. But she bears a glorious name and the White Ensign is still proudly displayed. The sloop HMS Shoreham is just over 1,000 tons, makes about 16 knots, and is armed with only two 4-inch guns and four 0.5-inch machine guns. The HMS Kanimbla is more recent, but it is only an auxiliary without armour and vulnerable to even light projectiles; equipped with seven second-hand 6-inch guns, she can sail at a maximum at 19 knots - in calm seas.
Nevertheless, Cunningham is aware that he would have to make do with what he is given, which is in addition to the units he already has (four avisos, HMS Falmouth, HMIS Hindustan, HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Yarra*, a few launches and various light vessels). In truth, he is more concerned about the fact that Their Lordships have refrained from giving any indication of the tonnage available to bring the units garrisoned in India that the CIGS had designated as reinforcements for the troops already deployed in Iraq. Do the sailors think that the army will invade Iran through Baluchistan? Yet a glance at the map is enough to see that Tehran and the oil wells are much closer to the Iraqi border.
* HMIS Hindustan (Cdr Ivan Heanley), one of the ships assigned to the newly formed Royal Indian Navy, and HMS Falmouth are of the same class as HMS Shoreham. The HMAS Parramatta (Cdr Jefferson H. Walker RAN), more recent, 1,515 tons fully loaded, reaches 16.5 knots and can boast a more powerful and modern weaponry: three 4-inch dual role guns, three 3-pounders (47 mm) and two depth charge launchers, plus four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The HMAS Yarra (Cdr. W.Hastings Harrington RAN), a veteran of the Battle of the Farasan Islands, is much the same as the Parramatta.
London - The Admiralty informs the Imperial General Staff that it believes it can release from their present duties and place at their disposal for Operation Countenance a small group of warships detached from its Eastern Fleet.
It would consist of the light cruiser HMS Enterprise, the auxiliary cruiser HMS Kanimbla (which should be transferred to the Royal Australian Navy as soon as possible), and an aviso (sloop), the HMS Shoreham. Their support would be provided by the small supply ship RFA Pearleaf.
The Admiralty adds that it has originally planned to add to this tiny flotilla the small carrier HMS Hermes, which can only embark about fifteen aircraft (currently twelve Swordfish, which proved their worth against the Italian Red Sea fleet). But the old Hermes was unfortunately rammed in the middle of the night by the auxiliary cruiser HMS Corfu. The damage was limited but, after some repairs in Simonstown, she was sent to Durban for a well-deserved refit.
The Enterprise, Kanimbla, Shoreham and Pearleaf would be available from August 1st, in principle. But the Admiralty does not hide its desire to use them for other missions as of September 1st - and earlier if possible.
In Baghdad, Alan Cunningham, immediately informed, does not fail to notice that their Lordships (and his elder brother...) have limited their largesse to two warships built before 1920, the Enterprise and the Shoreham, and to an auxiliary, the Kanimbla. In 1938, the Enterprise (7,580 tons displacement, 33 knots, 7 6-inch guns, 3 4-inch guns, various light flak pieces and 8 21-inch torpedo tubes) had even been placed in reserve at Rosyth: removed from the list of active ships, she had only a guard crew on board; she had to be re-commissioned (readmitted to active service) in 1940. But she bears a glorious name and the White Ensign is still proudly displayed. The sloop HMS Shoreham is just over 1,000 tons, makes about 16 knots, and is armed with only two 4-inch guns and four 0.5-inch machine guns. The HMS Kanimbla is more recent, but it is only an auxiliary without armour and vulnerable to even light projectiles; equipped with seven second-hand 6-inch guns, she can sail at a maximum at 19 knots - in calm seas.
Nevertheless, Cunningham is aware that he would have to make do with what he is given, which is in addition to the units he already has (four avisos, HMS Falmouth, HMIS Hindustan, HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Yarra*, a few launches and various light vessels). In truth, he is more concerned about the fact that Their Lordships have refrained from giving any indication of the tonnage available to bring the units garrisoned in India that the CIGS had designated as reinforcements for the troops already deployed in Iraq. Do the sailors think that the army will invade Iran through Baluchistan? Yet a glance at the map is enough to see that Tehran and the oil wells are much closer to the Iraqi border.
* HMIS Hindustan (Cdr Ivan Heanley), one of the ships assigned to the newly formed Royal Indian Navy, and HMS Falmouth are of the same class as HMS Shoreham. The HMAS Parramatta (Cdr Jefferson H. Walker RAN), more recent, 1,515 tons fully loaded, reaches 16.5 knots and can boast a more powerful and modern weaponry: three 4-inch dual role guns, three 3-pounders (47 mm) and two depth charge launchers, plus four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The HMAS Yarra (Cdr. W.Hastings Harrington RAN), a veteran of the Battle of the Farasan Islands, is much the same as the Parramatta.
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2636
July 23rd, 1941
Crete - Only two major Luftwaffe raids today, as the supply of aviation fuel available in mainland Greece are beginning to dwindle. A total of 98 Ju 88 escorted by 68 Bf 109s and 44 Bf 110s target Maleme and Suda Bay on the one hand, and Heraklion on the other. The Hermione, moored in Suda Bay and still unable to move, is hit by three bombs and capsizes in the afternoon.
The balance of the day is 19 German aircraft destroyed and 11 damaged for the loss of seven Allied fighters.
Meanwhile, the last 30 Hawk-81 of the Wasp reach Heraklion via Benghazi.
Cyclades - He 111s and Ju 87s (Löhr considers the latter too vulnerable to be employed in the presence of the enemy fighters) bomb repeatedly Syros and Serifos.
Crete - Only two major Luftwaffe raids today, as the supply of aviation fuel available in mainland Greece are beginning to dwindle. A total of 98 Ju 88 escorted by 68 Bf 109s and 44 Bf 110s target Maleme and Suda Bay on the one hand, and Heraklion on the other. The Hermione, moored in Suda Bay and still unable to move, is hit by three bombs and capsizes in the afternoon.
The balance of the day is 19 German aircraft destroyed and 11 damaged for the loss of seven Allied fighters.
Meanwhile, the last 30 Hawk-81 of the Wasp reach Heraklion via Benghazi.
Cyclades - He 111s and Ju 87s (Löhr considers the latter too vulnerable to be employed in the presence of the enemy fighters) bomb repeatedly Syros and Serifos.
2637
July 23rd, 1941
Central Mediterranean - The convoy "Substance" is violently attacked by Axis aircraft while passing south of Sardinia, but the fighters of the Ark Royal and the French fighter groups based in Tunisia are here to defend it.
During the day, Allied fighters destroy 51 enemy aircraft over the convoy, for a dozen planes lost, but the destroyer HMS Fearless is sunk by German bombs and the cruiser Manchester is damaged by an Italian torpedo.
London - Air Marshal Tedder asks RAF Fighter Command to allocate at least one squadron to Crete, to constitute a last line of defence.
Central Mediterranean - The convoy "Substance" is violently attacked by Axis aircraft while passing south of Sardinia, but the fighters of the Ark Royal and the French fighter groups based in Tunisia are here to defend it.
During the day, Allied fighters destroy 51 enemy aircraft over the convoy, for a dozen planes lost, but the destroyer HMS Fearless is sunk by German bombs and the cruiser Manchester is damaged by an Italian torpedo.
London - Air Marshal Tedder asks RAF Fighter Command to allocate at least one squadron to Crete, to constitute a last line of defence.
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2638
July 24th, 1941
Brest and La Pallice - To relieve the pressure of the Luftwaffe on Crete, the RAF starts a series of raids against the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Several attacks are launched in broad daylight, with Short Stirlings and Bristol Beauforts. The Scharnhorst is hit by five bombs, but the bombing of the Gneisenau fails.
Brest and La Pallice - To relieve the pressure of the Luftwaffe on Crete, the RAF starts a series of raids against the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Several attacks are launched in broad daylight, with Short Stirlings and Bristol Beauforts. The Scharnhorst is hit by five bombs, but the bombing of the Gneisenau fails.
2639
July 24th, 1941
Crete and Cyclades - Three large Luftwaffe raids during the day, the first two against Maleme and Réthymnon, the third against Chios. These attacks gather 124 Ju 88, 42 He 111, 108 Bf 109 and 54 Bf 110 in all, which are opposed by 88 Allied fighters, including 16 Dewoitine D-520M and D-523 operating from Chios. 41 German aircraft are destroyed by the fighters and the flak, for the loss of 17 planes. In spite of these good performances, the repetition of the German attacks starts to produce tangible results. Apart from a handful of Hurricanes, the airfield of Maleme is abandoned by the Allied air force. Rethymnon is severely damaged, although still operational. On the other hand, the complex of airfields of Heraklion is still more or less intact.
"Sixth day of fighting. Off Rethymnon, the entire GC Lafayette - the sixteen remaining aircraft, while the group had grown to twenty a week earlier - threw itself head-on into a wave of assault comprising sixty Ju 88s, perhaps 40 Bf 109s and twenty 110s.
"Hit them in the head, they don't like that!" Hugues du Mouzy said as he launched the attack. It seems that Caesar said something similar before a battle in the Roman Civil War, but for us, it means that a single burst of fire in the nose of a Ju 88, where the crew members are grouped, is worth a lot of other shots in the wings or the fuselage. This time again, it works: several swastika planes go into a spin to distract and feed the fish in the Aegean Sea. But this time again, it is insufficient: the others persist and carry out their
bombing, with their usual professional efficiency. And this time again, the duel with the escort costs us a lot of people, even if we return blow for blow.
In the evening, I pointed out to Du Mouzy that the Lafayette, at this rate of victory, would soon be the best group of the allied fighters! "Yes," he murmured. "But at this rate of losses, it will be posthumously." (Jean-Pierre Leparc, "Les gars du "Lafayette", Paris, 1960).
........
The gasoline needs of the air groups based in Greece are still great. This is why an Italian squadron composed of the large DD Carlo Mirabello and six small DD (Calatafimi, Castelfidardo, Giuseppe La Masa, Giacinto Carini, Giacomo Medici and Angelo Bassini) leaves Piraeus to escort a convoy of six transports, including two tankers, coming from Constantza and crossing the Bosphorus.
Crete and Cyclades - Three large Luftwaffe raids during the day, the first two against Maleme and Réthymnon, the third against Chios. These attacks gather 124 Ju 88, 42 He 111, 108 Bf 109 and 54 Bf 110 in all, which are opposed by 88 Allied fighters, including 16 Dewoitine D-520M and D-523 operating from Chios. 41 German aircraft are destroyed by the fighters and the flak, for the loss of 17 planes. In spite of these good performances, the repetition of the German attacks starts to produce tangible results. Apart from a handful of Hurricanes, the airfield of Maleme is abandoned by the Allied air force. Rethymnon is severely damaged, although still operational. On the other hand, the complex of airfields of Heraklion is still more or less intact.
"Sixth day of fighting. Off Rethymnon, the entire GC Lafayette - the sixteen remaining aircraft, while the group had grown to twenty a week earlier - threw itself head-on into a wave of assault comprising sixty Ju 88s, perhaps 40 Bf 109s and twenty 110s.
"Hit them in the head, they don't like that!" Hugues du Mouzy said as he launched the attack. It seems that Caesar said something similar before a battle in the Roman Civil War, but for us, it means that a single burst of fire in the nose of a Ju 88, where the crew members are grouped, is worth a lot of other shots in the wings or the fuselage. This time again, it works: several swastika planes go into a spin to distract and feed the fish in the Aegean Sea. But this time again, it is insufficient: the others persist and carry out their
bombing, with their usual professional efficiency. And this time again, the duel with the escort costs us a lot of people, even if we return blow for blow.
In the evening, I pointed out to Du Mouzy that the Lafayette, at this rate of victory, would soon be the best group of the allied fighters! "Yes," he murmured. "But at this rate of losses, it will be posthumously." (Jean-Pierre Leparc, "Les gars du "Lafayette", Paris, 1960).
........
The gasoline needs of the air groups based in Greece are still great. This is why an Italian squadron composed of the large DD Carlo Mirabello and six small DD (Calatafimi, Castelfidardo, Giuseppe La Masa, Giacinto Carini, Giacomo Medici and Angelo Bassini) leaves Piraeus to escort a convoy of six transports, including two tankers, coming from Constantza and crossing the Bosphorus.
2640 - Start of the Battle of Syros
July 24th, 1941
Cyclades - The torpedo boats Castore, Centauro, Cigno and Climene and the minesweepers RD-38 and RD-39 escort some caiques that land German troops on the island of Syros.
Central Mediterranean - In the Gulf of Syrte, the "Substance" convoy joins the Alexandria squadron at the end of the day and sets course for Rhodes, while Force H returns to Gibraltar. The last Axis assaults are broken by the fighters of the Armée de l'Air, the RAF and the Eagle.
Among the latter, Yvon Lagadec: "It was easy to foresee that the Germans and Italians would not let the convoy cross the Mediterranean without reacting. Right on time, they offered us the opponents we were expecting. It was quite different from the almost desperate fights of February-March. The Axis bombers had to first fight their way through their Armée de l'Air and RAF colleagues, and we, the Eagle fighters, were a bit of a goalkeeper behind this solid defensive curtain. In addition, we were guided by a very efficient control officer. Thus, from a very high position, I was able to catch up with a Stuka that had managed to escape the vigilance of the Armée de l'Air, and shoot it down while it was already starting its dive: my fourth victory."
Cyclades - The torpedo boats Castore, Centauro, Cigno and Climene and the minesweepers RD-38 and RD-39 escort some caiques that land German troops on the island of Syros.
Central Mediterranean - In the Gulf of Syrte, the "Substance" convoy joins the Alexandria squadron at the end of the day and sets course for Rhodes, while Force H returns to Gibraltar. The last Axis assaults are broken by the fighters of the Armée de l'Air, the RAF and the Eagle.
Among the latter, Yvon Lagadec: "It was easy to foresee that the Germans and Italians would not let the convoy cross the Mediterranean without reacting. Right on time, they offered us the opponents we were expecting. It was quite different from the almost desperate fights of February-March. The Axis bombers had to first fight their way through their Armée de l'Air and RAF colleagues, and we, the Eagle fighters, were a bit of a goalkeeper behind this solid defensive curtain. In addition, we were guided by a very efficient control officer. Thus, from a very high position, I was able to catch up with a Stuka that had managed to escape the vigilance of the Armée de l'Air, and shoot it down while it was already starting its dive: my fourth victory."
2641
July 24th, 1941
Norfolk (United States) - The liner Ile-de-France enters the great American military port at daybreak, coming from New York, where imperative orders lead her to modify her plans. Immediately, while her fuel tanks were are filled, the ship is taken by storm by a crowd of men, technicians, dockers, mechanics... for some lightning maintenance operations and especially for the loading of voluminous boxes marked "Fragile" and "Do not open without an authorized person" in English and French.
The big ship leaves in the afternoon, heading east, surrounded by a few American escorts, who abandon it after a few hundred nautical miles, leaving it to crossing the ocean under the sole protection of its speed - 23 knots on average. Over such a distance, only the Normandie can really do better without refuelling.
Norfolk (United States) - The liner Ile-de-France enters the great American military port at daybreak, coming from New York, where imperative orders lead her to modify her plans. Immediately, while her fuel tanks were are filled, the ship is taken by storm by a crowd of men, technicians, dockers, mechanics... for some lightning maintenance operations and especially for the loading of voluminous boxes marked "Fragile" and "Do not open without an authorized person" in English and French.
The big ship leaves in the afternoon, heading east, surrounded by a few American escorts, who abandon it after a few hundred nautical miles, leaving it to crossing the ocean under the sole protection of its speed - 23 knots on average. Over such a distance, only the Normandie can really do better without refuelling.
2642
July 25th, 1941
Moscow - Impressed by Hitler's new victories in the Balkans and seeing the threat to his southern flank, Stalin breaks off diplomatic relations with Belgium, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece in order to appease Hitler (Poland and the Netherlands are not affected... because they did not have diplomatic relations with the USSR in the first place). The diplomats are expelled to China. This decision puts the governments concerned in fury and strikes with astonishment the militants of the communist parties of these countries.
Thus, in Belgium, the apparatus of the CP tries to explain that the rupture of the diplomatic links between the USSR and Belgium is in fact only a rupture with the bourgeois government of Pierlot subservient to the English and French plutocapitalists, not an abandonment of Belgium, but this speech does not pass. The rupture hurts the militants all the more that the Party, under the pressure of its base, had evolved since the invasion considerably towards a clearer opposition to the occupier.
Moscow - Impressed by Hitler's new victories in the Balkans and seeing the threat to his southern flank, Stalin breaks off diplomatic relations with Belgium, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece in order to appease Hitler (Poland and the Netherlands are not affected... because they did not have diplomatic relations with the USSR in the first place). The diplomats are expelled to China. This decision puts the governments concerned in fury and strikes with astonishment the militants of the communist parties of these countries.
Thus, in Belgium, the apparatus of the CP tries to explain that the rupture of the diplomatic links between the USSR and Belgium is in fact only a rupture with the bourgeois government of Pierlot subservient to the English and French plutocapitalists, not an abandonment of Belgium, but this speech does not pass. The rupture hurts the militants all the more that the Party, under the pressure of its base, had evolved since the invasion considerably towards a clearer opposition to the occupier.
2643
July 25th, 1941
Bandar Abbas - The peeping Toms recruited by the British naval attaché, Commander Iain McDuff DSC, before he discreetly left Tehran for Basra, let him know by radio that the German and Italian cargo ships and oil tankers moored in the large Iranian port seem to be preparing to leave at short notice. They have refilled their tanks with fuel and loaded fresh foodstuffs. McDuff's agents even assure that a mixed refrigerated cargo ship flying the Uruguayan flag, the MV Colonia del Sacramento*, would have discreetly delivered frozen meat to them on the night of the 21st to the 22nd.
In any case, the captains, both German and Italian, imposed a stricter discipline on the crews: the volunteers have to be back on board before 23:00, even on Saturday night, which was traditionally devoted to landmark visits. Such severity seems to indicate that the captains want to be able to recall personnel without notice to the maneuvering stations from midnight onwards (the time to allow some to sober up after their drink of grape raki or aniseed) to cast off on a moonless night and try to slip away under the cover of darkness.
McDuff knows: the German blockade-runners have shown that Raeder's chosen officers are not afraid of anything, not even to take on Her Majesty's squadrons. But he does not see how they could escape the patrols of the Royal Navy and the planes of the Royal Air Force in the Strait of Hormuz and who lock the Gulf outlets to the Indian Ocean. At most, they should be forbidden to scuttle their ships Langsdorff-style, on the high seas, under a high flag, from which only Dr Goebbels would benefit.
.........
Moscow - The General Staff of the Red Army orders General Kozlov to prepare for an action in Iran from August 1st - it being understood that Stalin and the Politburo have decided that the Soviet intervention would be launched, in any case, only twenty-four hours after that of the British: it is a question of being able to demonstrate, to Hitler of course, more than to the public opinion of the USSR, that the entry of the Red Army on the territory of the Shahinchah has no other objective than to "oppose the activities of the City capitalists" and "to protect the independence of a friendly country from Anglo-Saxon imperialism". This is successfully proposed by Anastasios Ivanovich Mikoyan, who, although in charge of transport in the Kremlin, has already shown a sharp sense of diplomacy and a flawless mastery of the diplomatic language.
* According to the Lloyd's experts consulted by the Admiralty, the owner of this ship, the Empresa Sudamericana de Navegación (a company created in 1940 in Montevideo, a few months after the Graf Spee affair, thanks to capital of uncertain origin having transited through Portugal and Romania), would be a front for Franco's Spain.
Bandar Abbas - The peeping Toms recruited by the British naval attaché, Commander Iain McDuff DSC, before he discreetly left Tehran for Basra, let him know by radio that the German and Italian cargo ships and oil tankers moored in the large Iranian port seem to be preparing to leave at short notice. They have refilled their tanks with fuel and loaded fresh foodstuffs. McDuff's agents even assure that a mixed refrigerated cargo ship flying the Uruguayan flag, the MV Colonia del Sacramento*, would have discreetly delivered frozen meat to them on the night of the 21st to the 22nd.
In any case, the captains, both German and Italian, imposed a stricter discipline on the crews: the volunteers have to be back on board before 23:00, even on Saturday night, which was traditionally devoted to landmark visits. Such severity seems to indicate that the captains want to be able to recall personnel without notice to the maneuvering stations from midnight onwards (the time to allow some to sober up after their drink of grape raki or aniseed) to cast off on a moonless night and try to slip away under the cover of darkness.
McDuff knows: the German blockade-runners have shown that Raeder's chosen officers are not afraid of anything, not even to take on Her Majesty's squadrons. But he does not see how they could escape the patrols of the Royal Navy and the planes of the Royal Air Force in the Strait of Hormuz and who lock the Gulf outlets to the Indian Ocean. At most, they should be forbidden to scuttle their ships Langsdorff-style, on the high seas, under a high flag, from which only Dr Goebbels would benefit.
.........
Moscow - The General Staff of the Red Army orders General Kozlov to prepare for an action in Iran from August 1st - it being understood that Stalin and the Politburo have decided that the Soviet intervention would be launched, in any case, only twenty-four hours after that of the British: it is a question of being able to demonstrate, to Hitler of course, more than to the public opinion of the USSR, that the entry of the Red Army on the territory of the Shahinchah has no other objective than to "oppose the activities of the City capitalists" and "to protect the independence of a friendly country from Anglo-Saxon imperialism". This is successfully proposed by Anastasios Ivanovich Mikoyan, who, although in charge of transport in the Kremlin, has already shown a sharp sense of diplomacy and a flawless mastery of the diplomatic language.
* According to the Lloyd's experts consulted by the Admiralty, the owner of this ship, the Empresa Sudamericana de Navegación (a company created in 1940 in Montevideo, a few months after the Graf Spee affair, thanks to capital of uncertain origin having transited through Portugal and Romania), would be a front for Franco's Spain.
2644
July 25th, 1941
China Sea - The Japanese Navy lands infantry and engineer units in the Paracel Islands off the coast of Indochina. These troops immediately begin the construction of a military airfield on Woody Island, the largest of the archipelago.
For the Japanese, this action is only the concretization of the Franco-Japanese agreement of May, but for the French (who had evacuated their garrison in June), it goes far beyond the limits of the agreement. Of course, the protests of Algiers remain without any response other than a barely polite note of receipt.
China Sea - The Japanese Navy lands infantry and engineer units in the Paracel Islands off the coast of Indochina. These troops immediately begin the construction of a military airfield on Woody Island, the largest of the archipelago.
For the Japanese, this action is only the concretization of the Franco-Japanese agreement of May, but for the French (who had evacuated their garrison in June), it goes far beyond the limits of the agreement. Of course, the protests of Algiers remain without any response other than a barely polite note of receipt.
2645
July 25th, 1941
Crete - At daybreak, the Luftwaffe launches two major raids against Heraklion and one against Karpathos. The attackers have a total of 136 Ju 88, 65 He 111, 108 Bf 109 and 64 Bf 110.
But that day, the god Aeolus comes to the rescue of the Allies. An unusually strong east wind forces the Bf 109 to turn back between Santorini and Crete, leaving the Ju 88 and the He 111 under the sole escort of the Bf 110s - and the twin-engine planes are unable to prevent the Allied fighters from multiplying the frontal attacks against the bombers. The German losses tally 87 planes destroyed and 56 damaged out of 265 planes that actually reached the target area, in exchange for the destruction of only 19 Allied fighters (plus 11 damaged).
This massacre creates a deep shock in the whole German command structure. Göring is furious, and even more furious at the idea of what he will have to hear from Hitler when he learns of the extent of the losses: "I will have the commanders of the Bf 109 Gruppen court-martialed! They have cowardly let the bombers to their deaths while they had just received additional tanks from Germany!" The senior officers of the Bf 109 units have to send a formal protest to Löhr HQ and to Hitler himself, indicating that the additional tanks claimed by Göring could not be filled due to lack of fuel and that, under the weather conditions of the day, the short range of their aircraft had prevented them from reaching Karpathos or Heraklion.
This disaster, coupled with the fact that its units are well and truly out of gasoline, leads Löhr to request a suspension of Ikarus. Since July 20th, the Luftwaffe has lost 381 aircraft destroyed and 233 damaged (of which 165 could be repaired quickly), i.e. almost half of the aircraft deployed on the front line airfields around Athens, in Corinth and in the Peloponnese. In a message to the OKW, Löhr affirms the need on the one hand, to stabilize the logistics of the Luftwaffe in Greece, on the other hand, to attack the port installations of Heraklion, Karpathos and Rhodes as well as the airfields to prevent the routing of reinforcements.
The German High Command is unaware that, in the same period, the allied fighters lost 120 aircraft destroyed and 77 damaged. In six days, almost all the fighters sent to Crete since July 15th were devoured by the fighting. However, reinforcements continue to arrive. At the end of the day, the old HMS Argus sends her Hurricanes towards Heraklion, where they are welcomed with gratitude.
Aegean Sea - At sunset, the Italian squadron on its way to the Bosphorus is attacked off the island of Aghios Evstratios (or Aghiestratios) by 14 Laté-298 torpedo bombers. TheItalians do not have any fighter cover and their flak was poor - as a result, the Castelfidardo and Giacinto Carini are torpedoed and sunk, for the loss of a single French seaplane. The commander of the Italian squadron shelters his ships in Limnos and asks the convoy (which was still in the Sea of Marmara) not to pass into the Aegean Sea.
Crete - At daybreak, the Luftwaffe launches two major raids against Heraklion and one against Karpathos. The attackers have a total of 136 Ju 88, 65 He 111, 108 Bf 109 and 64 Bf 110.
But that day, the god Aeolus comes to the rescue of the Allies. An unusually strong east wind forces the Bf 109 to turn back between Santorini and Crete, leaving the Ju 88 and the He 111 under the sole escort of the Bf 110s - and the twin-engine planes are unable to prevent the Allied fighters from multiplying the frontal attacks against the bombers. The German losses tally 87 planes destroyed and 56 damaged out of 265 planes that actually reached the target area, in exchange for the destruction of only 19 Allied fighters (plus 11 damaged).
This massacre creates a deep shock in the whole German command structure. Göring is furious, and even more furious at the idea of what he will have to hear from Hitler when he learns of the extent of the losses: "I will have the commanders of the Bf 109 Gruppen court-martialed! They have cowardly let the bombers to their deaths while they had just received additional tanks from Germany!" The senior officers of the Bf 109 units have to send a formal protest to Löhr HQ and to Hitler himself, indicating that the additional tanks claimed by Göring could not be filled due to lack of fuel and that, under the weather conditions of the day, the short range of their aircraft had prevented them from reaching Karpathos or Heraklion.
This disaster, coupled with the fact that its units are well and truly out of gasoline, leads Löhr to request a suspension of Ikarus. Since July 20th, the Luftwaffe has lost 381 aircraft destroyed and 233 damaged (of which 165 could be repaired quickly), i.e. almost half of the aircraft deployed on the front line airfields around Athens, in Corinth and in the Peloponnese. In a message to the OKW, Löhr affirms the need on the one hand, to stabilize the logistics of the Luftwaffe in Greece, on the other hand, to attack the port installations of Heraklion, Karpathos and Rhodes as well as the airfields to prevent the routing of reinforcements.
The German High Command is unaware that, in the same period, the allied fighters lost 120 aircraft destroyed and 77 damaged. In six days, almost all the fighters sent to Crete since July 15th were devoured by the fighting. However, reinforcements continue to arrive. At the end of the day, the old HMS Argus sends her Hurricanes towards Heraklion, where they are welcomed with gratitude.
Aegean Sea - At sunset, the Italian squadron on its way to the Bosphorus is attacked off the island of Aghios Evstratios (or Aghiestratios) by 14 Laté-298 torpedo bombers. TheItalians do not have any fighter cover and their flak was poor - as a result, the Castelfidardo and Giacinto Carini are torpedoed and sunk, for the loss of a single French seaplane. The commander of the Italian squadron shelters his ships in Limnos and asks the convoy (which was still in the Sea of Marmara) not to pass into the Aegean Sea.
2646
July 25th, 1941
Cyclades - Shortly after midnight, Force C of the Aegean Squadron (one CL, one DL and three CT, all French), escorting the fast minesweeper HMS Abdiel, loaded with soldiers, reaches Syros. The Abdiel unloads men and equipment while its escort destroys some caiques that had been delayed and carry out a 70-minute shelling on the German troops landed the day before. Before dawn, the ships withdraw towards Rhodes at high speed.
Corinth Canal - At nightfall, RAF Wellingtons drop mines in this narrow but vital Axis logistical artery.
Cyclades - Shortly after midnight, Force C of the Aegean Squadron (one CL, one DL and three CT, all French), escorting the fast minesweeper HMS Abdiel, loaded with soldiers, reaches Syros. The Abdiel unloads men and equipment while its escort destroys some caiques that had been delayed and carry out a 70-minute shelling on the German troops landed the day before. Before dawn, the ships withdraw towards Rhodes at high speed.
Corinth Canal - At nightfall, RAF Wellingtons drop mines in this narrow but vital Axis logistical artery.
2647
July 26th,1941
London - Winston Churchill lunches in a private room at Simpson's* on the Strand with the American ambassador, John G. Winant (who succeeded Joseph P. Kennedy, recalled in the spring at the request of 10 Downing Street for misjudgements - errors of judgement - and, even more, ill-concealed sympathies for the Third Reich, whose authoritarianism he greatly admired and, despite the Pact, approved of anti-communism). Winant indicates to the Prime Minister that Washington, without wanting to interfere with London's action in the Middle East, nevertheless wants to recommend circumspection, "first in Iran, but not only".
"Our neutrality," explains Winant, "requires us to have at heart the interests of all non-belligerents, of which Iran is one". Churchill agrees - which does not commit him too much. But the ambassador continues, without trying to explain his remarks: "Our anti-colonial tradition will always lead us... you Europeans, both in London and in Algiers, must be aware of it... our anti-colonialism will always lead us, I said, to pronounce ourselves in favor of the emancipation of the colonized peoples, and not to accept that one or the other imperialism tries to undermine a country whose independence we have decided to guarantee."
Churchill feels that silence offers him the best response to the undertones and implications of this barely muffled philippic, which obviously concerns Saudi Arabia.
.........
Washington - Summoned politely, but without any warmth, to the White House, Lord Halifax is ushered into the Oval Office late in the morning by the president's personal adviser, Harry Hopkins (whom some in the federal capital referred to as an eminence grise, with some indulgence, and others, more critically, as a damned soul). The Ambassador of the United Kingdom is told by Franklin Roosevelt, who hardly seems to contain hisirritation, that the United States, faithful to the alliance with Riyadh, and (he says openly) very tied to their oil interests in the Arabian Peninsula, would not tolerate the slightest threat from London against the Sauds or the California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. Roosevelt, more formal than he is used to, says, with a combative glare: "You, Ambassador, please convey to Prime Minister Winston Churchill that my feelings of friendship for him personally as for Great Britain, and the pro-British turn... favorable to the Allied cause, I mean... that I have imprinted on the policy of my country in spite of the pressures of the isolationists, and at the risk of alienating the Congress, never let me lose sight... never!... of the true interests of America... yes, of
America, and not only the United States."
Lord Halifax, taken aback, risks a "But we are all persuaded of that, Mr. President." And Roosevelt says: "Well, let's not forget it, not more in London than in Algiers. The United States does not wish to reconsider its policy. But if they are forced to, they will not hesitate."
The content of the algarade was immediately telegraphed, in code, to Anthony Eden. Winston Churchill is informed during his dinner. The Prime Minister, always affectionate, notes that Franklin Roosevelt, with whom he prided himself on having the best personal and political relations, had, however, subjected him to "a volley of fire." He says, resignedly: "Well, pity! What a shame! Our window of opportunity is even narrower than I had imagined..."
.........
Alger - Sir Harold Nicolson tells Paul Reynaud that Winston Churchill's reply to his letter of the 15th would reach him the next day. For Margerie, he adds that King George VI had been "sadly impressed" by the incident in general and, in particular, by the tone and content of the missive that Albert Lebrun had Paul-Boncour give him**. The sovereign, using the royal prerogative of which he is not however inclined to exaggerate the use of it, "advised" the Prime Minister not to become embattled, as strong as the French reaction, and to seek an arrangement with the government of Algiers as soon as possible.
Sir Harold does not, however, reveal to Reynaud what is being whispered in the corridors of 10 Downing Street. A monarchist by conviction and a loyal subject of Her Majesty, Churchill would have muttered, quoting Scripture, that the sinner never ends up falling back into his sin - and that the King remains a supporter of appeasement as he had been in 1938 at the time of Munich. Sir John Colville, the Prime Minister's secretary, even believes he heard him mutter "This fellow has no guts," which for some, is akin to a blasphemy and, for others, to a crime of lèse-majesté, one slips without smile in the lounges of the West End clubs.
It is true that the relationship between the sovereign, shy and introverted, and Winston Churchill, flamboyant extrovert, have never been, all appearances aside, of real warmth***. The propaganda orchestrated at the Ministry of Information by Duff Cooper, whose popular press, from the Daily Mirror to the Daily Mail and from the Morning News to the Evening Standard, echoes every day with a beautiful complacency, nevertheless claims the opposite.
.........
Baghdad and Basra - Without knowing the date yet, Cunningham, Slim and their staffs are preparing the start of Countenance.
- The naval component of the operation will rely on the three Royal Navy establishments in the Gulf area. Command will be provided by Commodore 2nd Class Cosmo Graham RN CB DSC and bar, commander of HMS Juffair, the naval and air base in Bahrain, occupied since the 19th century by Her Majesty's sailors. Commodore Graham, from a British family settled in South Africa, holds the title of Gulf Senior Naval Officer.
Two of the ships of the Bahrain-based naval group, the HMS Shoreham and Falmouth, are to sail up the Shott-el-Arab to enter the port of Abadan, to neutralize the Shah's ships there (the aviso Palang and some barcasses) and put troops on land. Other soldiers are brought in by several of the paddle-ships requisitioned by HMS Euphrates, the Naval Shore Facility in Basra (these paddle-ships have already been used during operations in Iraq) and, if necessary, by various motorized craft (barges).
HMS Euphrates, created de jure only in June 1941, is commanded by Captain Richard Garstin RIN OBE, an elderly but valiant officer, recalled to service for the duration in 1939. The infantry has to protect the refinery and its tanks as well as the terminal facilities, take control of the city and ensure the safety of the foreign executives of the Anglo-Iranian : more than a hundred citizens of the Metropolis or the Dominions, about forty Dutch, four French, two Belgians, a White Russian living under a Nansen passport, with their families - without counting the Indian and Zanzibarite subjects of His Majesty employed by the Iranians for all kinds of work.
The other ships of the Bahrain group (light cruiser HMS Enterprise, auxiliary cruiser HMS Kanimbla, avisos HMAS Yarra and Parramata and HMIS Hindustan) will intervene a little further south, at Bandar-e Chahpour, in cooperation with the Walrus of the Fleet Air Arm of HMS Juffair, which patrols the Strait of Hormuz. Their mission will be to disable the rest of the Iranian navy (the Palang's sister ship, the Badr, some gunboats and launches) and to protect, once again, the oil installations. The Royal Navy does not underestimate the value of Iranian sailors, as the small ports of the Persian coast have, for centuries, launched generations of courageous fishermen and smugglers who are not afraid of the cold - men whose veins carry salt water, as they say, and who know how to sail in all weathers - against ship of all kinds on thei dhows.
But the military potential of their small ships seems almost negligible.
Finally, in Bandar Abbas, in addition to the landing companies of the ships assigned there, the Royal Marines (two sections probably, three at best) from the Muscat base (HMS Al Jalali, commodore 1st class Edward O'Driscoll RN CBE DSC) will have to board the German and Italian ships, whose cargoes will immediately find a job in the service of the Allied cause. The ships themselves, entrusted to the crews of the catch (to be formed by August 30th at the latest from the surplus personnel of the depots of Alexandria, Bombay and Mombasa), will reinforce the shipping potential.
- But most of Countenance will be on land. Slim plans to progress along three axes for his first stage. An infantry brigade, supported by motorized cavalry, will cross the Shott-el-Arab to join the elements landed in Abadan by the Royal Navy and secure the oil field. From Basra, two brigades, supported by armoured (or at least mechanised) elements, will head towards Ahvaz, in order to control the Tehran-Abadan road and railroad and to prohibit any Iranian counter-attack towards the south - while at the same time getting their hands on the pipelines and the "Christmas trees" that cover the black gold wells. The bulk of the British forces, stationed not far from Baghdad, will attack due east from Qankin to seize the oil wells in the Naft-e-Shah area, just over the border, and then will have to rush towards Korramshar.
When they have reached these objectives, the troops of His Majesty will mark a twenty-four hour pause to reorganize, maintain and repair their vehicles, which suffer greatly under local conditions. It is especially a question of allowing the Shah to save face - if he wishes, indeed - by giving in to London's demands before his capital is occupied. If he persists in his unwillingness, Slim would decouple his armored cavalry and motorized infantry to take Tehran as quickly as possible and lead the Shah, "under duress," to submit to British Rule.
As the assurance is given in Moscow, the British will not go beyond, in the north, a line Ourmiyah - Tabriz - Zanjan - Qazvin - Tajrish (a large town located about twenty kilometres north of Tehran) and they will establish themselves eastward south of the railroad line that connects Tehran to Mashad. The Red Fleet will thus act freely on the Caspian Sea (which will deprive Iran of its caviar and could provoke the protests of the amateurs, numerous in theclubs in London), while the Red Army will be able to settle solidly on the foothills of the Elbrus and hold the glacis of Iranian Turkmenistan. There is no question of the red flag to fly in Teheran.
In ignorance of the inventory finally made available to them for Countenance by the Middle East Command, Cunningham and Slim have not yet chosen the units assigned to the various missions. They are also waiting for news from India Command: one or two brigades detached from its reserves could intervene from Baluchistan, to force the Iranian army to fight on three fronts... and remind the Soviets that all Iran's oil must remain the preserve of British finance and engineering. The swap between Sir Archibald Wavell and Sir Claude Auchinleck, which had taken place a few days earlier, obviously does not make the task of the generals of the Iraq and Persia Command any easier.
* Expensive, extremely chic, Simpson's has a well-deserved reputation for serving the best roast beef in London (and an exceptional cellar). It is customary, now as then, to tip the maitre d'hotel handsomely if you want him to slice and place a second piece of meat on the plate.
** Lebrun was never tempted to abuse his powers and violate the 1875 constitution - which, strictly speaking, is not a constitution. He wrote, so to speak, under the dictation of Reynaud and Margerie.
*** It seems that George VI did not forgive Churchill for having taken a stand in 1937 in favour of his brother Edward VIII, and for having embarked on the creation of a ghostly "King's Party" in the weeks before his high-profile abdication due to his marriage to Wallis Simpson.
London - Winston Churchill lunches in a private room at Simpson's* on the Strand with the American ambassador, John G. Winant (who succeeded Joseph P. Kennedy, recalled in the spring at the request of 10 Downing Street for misjudgements - errors of judgement - and, even more, ill-concealed sympathies for the Third Reich, whose authoritarianism he greatly admired and, despite the Pact, approved of anti-communism). Winant indicates to the Prime Minister that Washington, without wanting to interfere with London's action in the Middle East, nevertheless wants to recommend circumspection, "first in Iran, but not only".
"Our neutrality," explains Winant, "requires us to have at heart the interests of all non-belligerents, of which Iran is one". Churchill agrees - which does not commit him too much. But the ambassador continues, without trying to explain his remarks: "Our anti-colonial tradition will always lead us... you Europeans, both in London and in Algiers, must be aware of it... our anti-colonialism will always lead us, I said, to pronounce ourselves in favor of the emancipation of the colonized peoples, and not to accept that one or the other imperialism tries to undermine a country whose independence we have decided to guarantee."
Churchill feels that silence offers him the best response to the undertones and implications of this barely muffled philippic, which obviously concerns Saudi Arabia.
.........
Washington - Summoned politely, but without any warmth, to the White House, Lord Halifax is ushered into the Oval Office late in the morning by the president's personal adviser, Harry Hopkins (whom some in the federal capital referred to as an eminence grise, with some indulgence, and others, more critically, as a damned soul). The Ambassador of the United Kingdom is told by Franklin Roosevelt, who hardly seems to contain hisirritation, that the United States, faithful to the alliance with Riyadh, and (he says openly) very tied to their oil interests in the Arabian Peninsula, would not tolerate the slightest threat from London against the Sauds or the California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. Roosevelt, more formal than he is used to, says, with a combative glare: "You, Ambassador, please convey to Prime Minister Winston Churchill that my feelings of friendship for him personally as for Great Britain, and the pro-British turn... favorable to the Allied cause, I mean... that I have imprinted on the policy of my country in spite of the pressures of the isolationists, and at the risk of alienating the Congress, never let me lose sight... never!... of the true interests of America... yes, of
America, and not only the United States."
Lord Halifax, taken aback, risks a "But we are all persuaded of that, Mr. President." And Roosevelt says: "Well, let's not forget it, not more in London than in Algiers. The United States does not wish to reconsider its policy. But if they are forced to, they will not hesitate."
The content of the algarade was immediately telegraphed, in code, to Anthony Eden. Winston Churchill is informed during his dinner. The Prime Minister, always affectionate, notes that Franklin Roosevelt, with whom he prided himself on having the best personal and political relations, had, however, subjected him to "a volley of fire." He says, resignedly: "Well, pity! What a shame! Our window of opportunity is even narrower than I had imagined..."
.........
Alger - Sir Harold Nicolson tells Paul Reynaud that Winston Churchill's reply to his letter of the 15th would reach him the next day. For Margerie, he adds that King George VI had been "sadly impressed" by the incident in general and, in particular, by the tone and content of the missive that Albert Lebrun had Paul-Boncour give him**. The sovereign, using the royal prerogative of which he is not however inclined to exaggerate the use of it, "advised" the Prime Minister not to become embattled, as strong as the French reaction, and to seek an arrangement with the government of Algiers as soon as possible.
Sir Harold does not, however, reveal to Reynaud what is being whispered in the corridors of 10 Downing Street. A monarchist by conviction and a loyal subject of Her Majesty, Churchill would have muttered, quoting Scripture, that the sinner never ends up falling back into his sin - and that the King remains a supporter of appeasement as he had been in 1938 at the time of Munich. Sir John Colville, the Prime Minister's secretary, even believes he heard him mutter "This fellow has no guts," which for some, is akin to a blasphemy and, for others, to a crime of lèse-majesté, one slips without smile in the lounges of the West End clubs.
It is true that the relationship between the sovereign, shy and introverted, and Winston Churchill, flamboyant extrovert, have never been, all appearances aside, of real warmth***. The propaganda orchestrated at the Ministry of Information by Duff Cooper, whose popular press, from the Daily Mirror to the Daily Mail and from the Morning News to the Evening Standard, echoes every day with a beautiful complacency, nevertheless claims the opposite.
.........
Baghdad and Basra - Without knowing the date yet, Cunningham, Slim and their staffs are preparing the start of Countenance.
- The naval component of the operation will rely on the three Royal Navy establishments in the Gulf area. Command will be provided by Commodore 2nd Class Cosmo Graham RN CB DSC and bar, commander of HMS Juffair, the naval and air base in Bahrain, occupied since the 19th century by Her Majesty's sailors. Commodore Graham, from a British family settled in South Africa, holds the title of Gulf Senior Naval Officer.
Two of the ships of the Bahrain-based naval group, the HMS Shoreham and Falmouth, are to sail up the Shott-el-Arab to enter the port of Abadan, to neutralize the Shah's ships there (the aviso Palang and some barcasses) and put troops on land. Other soldiers are brought in by several of the paddle-ships requisitioned by HMS Euphrates, the Naval Shore Facility in Basra (these paddle-ships have already been used during operations in Iraq) and, if necessary, by various motorized craft (barges).
HMS Euphrates, created de jure only in June 1941, is commanded by Captain Richard Garstin RIN OBE, an elderly but valiant officer, recalled to service for the duration in 1939. The infantry has to protect the refinery and its tanks as well as the terminal facilities, take control of the city and ensure the safety of the foreign executives of the Anglo-Iranian : more than a hundred citizens of the Metropolis or the Dominions, about forty Dutch, four French, two Belgians, a White Russian living under a Nansen passport, with their families - without counting the Indian and Zanzibarite subjects of His Majesty employed by the Iranians for all kinds of work.
The other ships of the Bahrain group (light cruiser HMS Enterprise, auxiliary cruiser HMS Kanimbla, avisos HMAS Yarra and Parramata and HMIS Hindustan) will intervene a little further south, at Bandar-e Chahpour, in cooperation with the Walrus of the Fleet Air Arm of HMS Juffair, which patrols the Strait of Hormuz. Their mission will be to disable the rest of the Iranian navy (the Palang's sister ship, the Badr, some gunboats and launches) and to protect, once again, the oil installations. The Royal Navy does not underestimate the value of Iranian sailors, as the small ports of the Persian coast have, for centuries, launched generations of courageous fishermen and smugglers who are not afraid of the cold - men whose veins carry salt water, as they say, and who know how to sail in all weathers - against ship of all kinds on thei dhows.
But the military potential of their small ships seems almost negligible.
Finally, in Bandar Abbas, in addition to the landing companies of the ships assigned there, the Royal Marines (two sections probably, three at best) from the Muscat base (HMS Al Jalali, commodore 1st class Edward O'Driscoll RN CBE DSC) will have to board the German and Italian ships, whose cargoes will immediately find a job in the service of the Allied cause. The ships themselves, entrusted to the crews of the catch (to be formed by August 30th at the latest from the surplus personnel of the depots of Alexandria, Bombay and Mombasa), will reinforce the shipping potential.
- But most of Countenance will be on land. Slim plans to progress along three axes for his first stage. An infantry brigade, supported by motorized cavalry, will cross the Shott-el-Arab to join the elements landed in Abadan by the Royal Navy and secure the oil field. From Basra, two brigades, supported by armoured (or at least mechanised) elements, will head towards Ahvaz, in order to control the Tehran-Abadan road and railroad and to prohibit any Iranian counter-attack towards the south - while at the same time getting their hands on the pipelines and the "Christmas trees" that cover the black gold wells. The bulk of the British forces, stationed not far from Baghdad, will attack due east from Qankin to seize the oil wells in the Naft-e-Shah area, just over the border, and then will have to rush towards Korramshar.
When they have reached these objectives, the troops of His Majesty will mark a twenty-four hour pause to reorganize, maintain and repair their vehicles, which suffer greatly under local conditions. It is especially a question of allowing the Shah to save face - if he wishes, indeed - by giving in to London's demands before his capital is occupied. If he persists in his unwillingness, Slim would decouple his armored cavalry and motorized infantry to take Tehran as quickly as possible and lead the Shah, "under duress," to submit to British Rule.
As the assurance is given in Moscow, the British will not go beyond, in the north, a line Ourmiyah - Tabriz - Zanjan - Qazvin - Tajrish (a large town located about twenty kilometres north of Tehran) and they will establish themselves eastward south of the railroad line that connects Tehran to Mashad. The Red Fleet will thus act freely on the Caspian Sea (which will deprive Iran of its caviar and could provoke the protests of the amateurs, numerous in theclubs in London), while the Red Army will be able to settle solidly on the foothills of the Elbrus and hold the glacis of Iranian Turkmenistan. There is no question of the red flag to fly in Teheran.
In ignorance of the inventory finally made available to them for Countenance by the Middle East Command, Cunningham and Slim have not yet chosen the units assigned to the various missions. They are also waiting for news from India Command: one or two brigades detached from its reserves could intervene from Baluchistan, to force the Iranian army to fight on three fronts... and remind the Soviets that all Iran's oil must remain the preserve of British finance and engineering. The swap between Sir Archibald Wavell and Sir Claude Auchinleck, which had taken place a few days earlier, obviously does not make the task of the generals of the Iraq and Persia Command any easier.
* Expensive, extremely chic, Simpson's has a well-deserved reputation for serving the best roast beef in London (and an exceptional cellar). It is customary, now as then, to tip the maitre d'hotel handsomely if you want him to slice and place a second piece of meat on the plate.
** Lebrun was never tempted to abuse his powers and violate the 1875 constitution - which, strictly speaking, is not a constitution. He wrote, so to speak, under the dictation of Reynaud and Margerie.
*** It seems that George VI did not forgive Churchill for having taken a stand in 1937 in favour of his brother Edward VIII, and for having embarked on the creation of a ghostly "King's Party" in the weeks before his high-profile abdication due to his marriage to Wallis Simpson.
2648
July 26th, 1941
Washington - The U.S. government responds to the Japanese military occupation of the Paracel Islands. President Roosevelt orders the freezing of Japanese assets in the United States and the implementation of an embargo on oil to Japan. The freezing of assets is also implemented by France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. At the same time, the President signs an order "Americanizing" the armed forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Marshal Douglas MacArthur, of the Philippine Army, becomes an American general commanding U.S. Army forces in the Far East.
Washington - The U.S. government responds to the Japanese military occupation of the Paracel Islands. President Roosevelt orders the freezing of Japanese assets in the United States and the implementation of an embargo on oil to Japan. The freezing of assets is also implemented by France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. At the same time, the President signs an order "Americanizing" the armed forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Marshal Douglas MacArthur, of the Philippine Army, becomes an American general commanding U.S. Army forces in the Far East.
2649 - End of the Battle of Syros
July 26th, 1941
Cyclades - During the night of the 25th to the 26th, the Courbet group (Force D of the Aegean Sea Squadron, Rear Admiral Godfroy) enters the Cyclades. At daybreak, it shells with virgour the German troops deployed on the island of Syros.
Force D then withdraws towards Samos, but is attacked at 11:00 am by 20 Ju 87. This first raid is not very effective: the DD MN Mistral and the aviso HMS Egret are shaken by bombs which miss them by a small margin, but they can continue their route with the rest of the force. A new raid of the same importance, at about 13:25, is covered by a double patrol of D-523 (six planes) coming from Chios. Seven Stukas are destroyed and the others forced to flee.
During the day, in spite of the tactical support missions assured by Ju 87 and Bf 110, the German troops of Syros, whose entire supply was destroyed by the shells of the Courbet, ar forced to leave the island. They are evacuated at the end of the afternoon by speedboats. The Franco-Greek troops take 278 soldiers prisoner, most of them wounded.
Cyclades - During the night of the 25th to the 26th, the Courbet group (Force D of the Aegean Sea Squadron, Rear Admiral Godfroy) enters the Cyclades. At daybreak, it shells with virgour the German troops deployed on the island of Syros.
Force D then withdraws towards Samos, but is attacked at 11:00 am by 20 Ju 87. This first raid is not very effective: the DD MN Mistral and the aviso HMS Egret are shaken by bombs which miss them by a small margin, but they can continue their route with the rest of the force. A new raid of the same importance, at about 13:25, is covered by a double patrol of D-523 (six planes) coming from Chios. Seven Stukas are destroyed and the others forced to flee.
During the day, in spite of the tactical support missions assured by Ju 87 and Bf 110, the German troops of Syros, whose entire supply was destroyed by the shells of the Courbet, ar forced to leave the island. They are evacuated at the end of the afternoon by speedboats. The Franco-Greek troops take 278 soldiers prisoner, most of them wounded.
2650
July 26th, 1941
Crete - To the astonishment of the Allies, the day is quiet. Today, the Luftwaffe has other plans.
At the beginning of the night of the 26th to the 27th, the Germans resort, for the first time in the battle, to the formula of night raids. A total of 56 He 111 attack Heraklion and
Rhodes. The results are not very conclusive, even if some bombs fall not far from the docks of Rhodes harbor. The French and British flak reacts energetically, but without more efficiency than the bombers. However, the radar-equipped NF-I Beaufighters shoot down four He 111.
Attica - At the same time as the He 111s bomb Heraklion, RAF Wellingtons attack the Athens marshalling yard and the Eleusis and Tatoi airfields. There too, the results are not very conclusive.
Crete - To the astonishment of the Allies, the day is quiet. Today, the Luftwaffe has other plans.
At the beginning of the night of the 26th to the 27th, the Germans resort, for the first time in the battle, to the formula of night raids. A total of 56 He 111 attack Heraklion and
Rhodes. The results are not very conclusive, even if some bombs fall not far from the docks of Rhodes harbor. The French and British flak reacts energetically, but without more efficiency than the bombers. However, the radar-equipped NF-I Beaufighters shoot down four He 111.
Attica - At the same time as the He 111s bomb Heraklion, RAF Wellingtons attack the Athens marshalling yard and the Eleusis and Tatoi airfields. There too, the results are not very conclusive.
2651
July 27th, 1941
Montenegro - The Italians having expressed their intention to annex what had been an independent kingdom, the Montenegrins launch a popular insurrection. These mountaineers have the heroic fiber and seize a certain number of Italian positions. But they will quickly find themselves short of food and ammunition.
Montenegro - The Italians having expressed their intention to annex what had been an independent kingdom, the Montenegrins launch a popular insurrection. These mountaineers have the heroic fiber and seize a certain number of Italian positions. But they will quickly find themselves short of food and ammunition.
- Status