Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Western Mediterranean, 03:00 - The Italian submarine Finzi, returning empty-handed from its mission in the Atlantic, passes through the Strait of Gibraltar without any trouble. It returns to La Spezia on July 13th. Because of the unfavorable strategic situation created by the continuation of France in the war, Maricosom decides not to send any more submarines to the Atlantic for the time being.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Sardinia - French air activity continues. Aircraft based in Corsica attack targets of opportunity in Sardinia and Cagliari is bombarded at night by 18 MB-210.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Central Mediterranean - Off the coast of Tripoli, the large Italian submarine Balilla was heading for the port with spare parts and ammunition when it is spotted (although submerged) and attacked by an RAF Sunderland. Forced to surface, but still able to give 8 knots, it is finished off by a flight of three Laté-298s based in Malta.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Beirut - At the request of General Wavell, British ships begin to embark the Poles of the Carpathian Mountain Brigade. This unit is to be deployed in Cyprus to support the island's defenses.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Rome - While the Archimède, satisfied of its success, leaves the waters of the island of Elba to head towards Monte Argentario (in the vicinity of which it will sink, on July 12th, a second vessel, even more modest, a small coaster of 341 GRT), the Italian propaganda, which does not know the nationality of the attacking submarine, goes on a rampage against the "cowardly Franco-British killers". It is easy to exploit the photos (carefully selected to avoid the bodies of soldiers) of the corpses of women and children washed up on the beaches of Elba, accompanied by shots of the Elbano Gasperi - in its peacetime civilian livery, of course. All these images, as well as the horrifying stories collected from the survivors, are complacently provided to neutral press correspondents.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Rome (Supermarina HQ) - On the premises of Supermarina, Admiral Bruno Brivonesi has the pleasant surprise of finding his brother Bruto, also a sailor, but a division admiral (vice-admiral) and placed at the head of the 5th Division of battleships (Giulio Cesare and Cavour). The latter lets him understand that there is no question of dismissing him, or at least not yet, if he agrees to stop showing a pessimism bordering on defeatism.
- Defeatist, me!" his brother insists. You haven't seen the effect on our North African ports of the combination of air raids and naval bombardments: if you had been there, you would understand that this is not defeatism, nor pessimism, but realism!
The conversation of the two brothers is interrupted by a corvette captain who leads Bruno Brivonesi to the office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Edoardo Somigli. The latter, after having given a vigorous dressing down to ComMariLibia, announces to him that he is going to have the occasion to make useful service of his ships, before these definitively leave the shores, of which one recognizes, between knowing people, that they are not are no longer very healthy to stay at. Somigli then leads Brivonesi (Bruno) to a meeting room where some of the Navy's most senior officials are gathered, including Admiral Inigo Campioni, but also Brivonesi (Bruto).
- Gentlemen," Campioni explains, "you know that the supply of the ASI has become very difficult. Most of the transports are too slow to hope to escape enemy air and naval patrols. The Regia Marina cannot abandon our forces in Libya! That is why we are going to launch a vast operation to reinforce the Italian forces in North Africa using large fast transport ships, the Rex and Conte di Savoia, accompanied by light cruisers Bande Nere and Colleoni, destroyers Da Recco and Usodimare and torpedo boats Grecale and Maestrale.
Campioni then details the route of this fast convoy and the composition of its cargo (which does not include, due to the lack of suitable transport, the 70 M11/39 promised to the late Balbo, although tanks would be the only thing that could change the fate of the ASI). The admiral then explains the role of Bruno Brivonesi's ships: "The Tobruk destroyers, including the Euro, will have to go ahead of the convoy and reinforce its escort on the most dangerous part of the route, while the torpedo boats will have to keep a vigilant watch against enemy submarines. All of them will also have to escort the convoy on the way back, because the enemy, alerted, might try to intercept it." This is not openly admitted, but it is obvious that this escort will allow the Tobruk flotilla to reach the northern shore of the Mediterranean with honour.
As for the fleet of Taranto, some cruisers will advance to the parallel of Catania to collect the convoy, but the battle fleet remains in the background: with at best three battleships in fighting condition, the Regia Marina is not in a position to confront the Franco-British fleets.
On the plane that night, taking him back to Tripoli, Bruno Brivonesi thinks, with bitter satisfaction, that, as he had done in the past, he would soon be an admiral without a ship.
But could the success of the planned operation change things in ASI?

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Libya (Cyrenaica) - Benghazi is bombed by six Farman 223.3 heavy bombers, but the material results of this bombing are minimal.

The British loosen their grip on Giarabub, but they remain firmly established at Fort Capuzzo and Ridotta Maddalena. Encouraged by the success of the clearing of Giarabub, the Italian staff decides to use the fresh troops of the 2nd CC.NN. Division. XXVIII Ottobre to retake these two forts.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Marseille - After three raids of about twenty aircraft carried out on June 1st and 2nd against Marseille, the Luftwaffe, in accordance with its employment doctrine, spent most of the month of June supporting the fighting on the ground and destroying the road and rail lines of communication. The German command considers that it is time for it to return to the Mediterranean shores.
Since July 2nd, Dornier 17s and Heinkel 111s have been trying to attack the main port of the Grand Déménagement, but they are only escorted by Bf 110s, the Mediterranean ports being still out of reach of the much more formidable Bf 109s based in the Lyon region. The French fighters of the ZOA-Est and the ZOA-Alpes, often alerted in advance thanks to the radars covering the area (as primitive as they are), inflict heavy losses on the Germans. An attempt to bomb Toulon, even out of reach of the Bf 110, is a bitter failure, bringing the losses to more than eighty planes in five days [1].
Like the daytime raids on Toulouse, these attacks are temporarily interrupted. The Grand Déménagement can thus continue on a relentless rhythm, unimpeded.

[1] The French claim 46 He 111, 19 Do 17 and 7 Ju 88, as well as 11 Bf 110. The real losses are of the same order, but half of these aircraft are "only" more or less severely damaged.

 

[Wings]

July 7th, 1940

Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport - The GC II/8, reinvigorated, now counts about thirty operational machines. It has indeed recovered ten new MB-152s and eight MB-155s from Mérignac. Its problem today is the lack of men: hardly more than fifteen survivors. For the past three days, the pilots have been flying up to six missions a day, flying one machine while another is being repaired, but they will not be able to sustain this exhausting rhythm for long.
The MB-155s are put to work because of their superior range, teaming up with four or five Potez 63.11, survivors of groups decimated by the flak. The observer of the Potez 63 on patrol scans the movements on the ground and in the air and calls on the Bloch 155s, flying in pairs, to eliminate the Hs 126 reconnaissance planes, the non-escorted German attack planes (often Hs 123) and isolated enemy vehicles. The classic missions are the lot of the MB-152s, flying in groups of three (or, more and more often, two or four).
Sgt. Dietrich usually pilots an MB-152: "It was a very hot day, the sun was beating down, and every day for a week I took off four to six times. Take off, regroup heading towards the front, which was getting closer by the hour, diving into the furnace without knowing if we would come out alive, the plane shaken by the flak fire to which our 20 and 7.5 mm bursts, returning to Merignac with the fear of being surprised by German fighters, landing, getting out of the plane with the suit soaked with sweat and make the terrible count of the missing... Then start again.
I still think today that it was the only thing that allowed us to hold on to the idea that all this was not in vain, is that elsewhere we were preparing revenge. One day, flying an MB-155 with a greater range, I made a detour to the coast before returning. When I left Le Verdon, the ocean was filled with the wakes of ships of all sizes evacuating to NAF. I remember circling low over a small freighter whose deck was covered with men and equipment - I had been careful to choose one that seemed to have no FLAK. The men finally recognized my roundels and showed their joy with great signs. I returned to Merignac with joy in my heart.
Another great moment was my first aerial victory since May, the third in all - a Henschel 123 biplane that was shooting at our troops and that I sent crashing the ground. But we were so exhausted that I can't even remember what day it was."
(Excerpt from "Fighter Group II/8 in the Defense of the West - From the Unit's Marching Diary", Editions Ouest-France, 1990)

 

[Wings]

July 8th, 1940

Bay of Biscay - The aviso Calais is torpedoed and sunk by an unidentified U-boot.

 

[alspug]

The losses inflicted in the fighting retreat would make the Battle Of Britain harder for the Luftwaffe. The losses in men and Material would weaken the forces available to threaten Great Britain and make upgrading to the 6lb AT gun for example easier. The North Africa Campaign would make losses in men and Material lower and also increase morale. I can not see Greece being a victory as the Germans can still overwhelm the defenders with numbers. Crete would be impossible to take. Malta will now have sufficient resupply ability to be to hard a nut to crack. A short convoy from Tunisia to Malta under heavy air cover is relatively easy to defend. Reinforcing Malta from Tunisia is possible with any and all aircraft.

 

[pjmidd]

The losses inflicted in the fighting retreat would make the Battle Of Britain harder for the Luftwaffe. The losses in men and Material would weaken the forces available to threaten Great Britain and make upgrading to the 6lb AT gun for example easier. The North Africa Campaign would make losses in men and Material lower and also increase morale. I can not see Greece being a victory as the Germans can still overwhelm the defenders with numbers. Crete would be impossible to take. Malta will now have sufficient resupply ability to be to hard a nut to crack. A short convoy from Tunisia to Malta under heavy air cover is relatively easy to defend. Reinforcing Malta from Tunisia is possible with any and all aircraft.

To be honest . given the later fall of France , the Battle of Britain is not happening in 1940, it will be straight to the Blitz. OTL the Luftwaffe was at 75% strength after 6 weeks of fighting in France with pilots exhausted. ITTL with a campaign twice as long, its going to be under 50% operational and have all but used up on hand stores of both munitions and POL. It will go into rebuild mode just like after Poland, especially as far less French plunder to replenish stocks ( evacuated, destroyed or simply used up by the French defenders)

 

[skarosianlifeform]

To be honest . given the later fall of France , the Battle of Britain is not happening in 1940, it will be straight to the Blitz. OTL the Luftwaffe was at 75% strength after 6 weeks of fighting in France with pilots exhausted. ITTL with a campaign twice as long, its going to be under 50% operational and have all but used up on hand stores of both munitions and POL. It will go into rebuild mode just like after Poland, especially as far less French plunder to replenish stocks ( evacuated, destroyed or simply used up by the French defenders)

I wonder how this will impact Barbarossa down the line...

 

[alspug]

The bad point is the distance and supply issues may actually improve the push during the initial stage of Barbarossa. This occurring due to a greater appreciation of the problems with supply at a distance.

 

[Some Bloke]

Do the fixed Vulture/Bustard engine and
Stirling LRP exist ITTL? Tge impact on British development and policy was one of the most interesting parts of the timeline.

 

[Wings]

July 8th, 1940

Atlantic Ocean - Belgian cargo ship Bruges is sunk by German raider Thor.

 

[Wings]

July 8th, 1940

Tan-Son-Nhut Airfield (Saigon) - Instruction begins at IPS. At least, the theory, because the aircraft are not all ready yet, far from it. The pupils are still few (hardly ten young people), but their group is going to grow quickly, especially with the candidates coming from the interior or from the north, who must make the trip and settle down. Moreover, Governor General Catroux has barracks to house these expatriates and releases funds to offer scholarships to the most underprivileged who proved to be gifted, which causes a certain enthusiasm. Here as in the Metropole, aviation attracts young people like flies to honey...
Among the candidates, three 18 year old graduates of Saigon high school: Léon Vandoorne, Pierre van Bielt and Roger MacNab.
"Léon is the son of a merchant from Dunkirk, who, like my father, came from Cassel, in Flanders. After the First War, having lost a lot, father Vandoorne came to to Saigon, and he took mine with him, who was and still is his accountant and his right hand man. Léon and I were born here the same year, give or take a month, and Léon's father enrolled us in the same school, where we met Roger MacNab, who is descended from a Scottish family that emigrated to France in the 17th century. He was quickly noticed, because when a fellow student called him an Englishman, he got a big one in the face! And you see how tall and square he is, Roger... We became fast friends. Because he is calm and kind when he is not provoked, and me because I help the friends who don't understand the lessons, and at the beginning it was a bit his case.
When we saw the posters, we said to ourselves that it would be an opportunity, just after the bachot. And then, we are at war, even if it is far away. We are going to be called up - so if we're going to do it, we might as well serve on a plane." (Pierre van Bielt, Towards the Rising Sun, Seuil ed., 1955.)
In the evening, a cable from Hatfield informs Commander Castex that the next three planes would be sent by boat. As before, it will take two months for them to arrive in Indochina.

 

[Wings]

July 8th, 1940

Western Mediterranean - The Italian submarine Neghelli attacks a French convoy west of Sardinia and sinks the small transport Ginette Le Borgne (1,619 tons), which sinks in two minutes with all its crew.
The Neghelli then attacks what appears to be a straggler in the convoy, but which is in fact the Belgian steamer Kabalo (5,186 GRT), which is participating in the evacuation of the 6th CRI to Algeria. However, technically, Italy is still not at war with Belgium, so the ship is travelling outside of a convoy and is flying huge black-yellow-red flags. The Kabalo is sunk. Among the 783 recruits and crew members on board the ship, only 118 can be saved.
Shortly afterwards, the submarine is detected in periscope immersion by a Loire 130 seaplane, which damages it with ASM grenades. Trailing a long oily plume which betrays it, the Neghelli is bombed an hour later by two Laté-298 based in Corsica and forced to surface. Its commander decides to scuttle it, as French destroyers are approaching.
The crew is saved.
This affair comes at the right moment to allow the Allies to counter-attack in the Gasperi affair, the day before, by denouncing Italy's failure to respect international conventions. Nevertheless, the French and British Admiralty preferr to give their submarine commanders the order to be more careful in identifying their targets.

 

[Wings]

July 8th, 1940

Taranto - The Armée de l'Air organizes regular reconnaissance flights over the Italian military port with its fast Marcel-Bloch MB-174 and 175. These aircraft reach 545 km/h at
5,500 m for the 174 and 555 km/h at the same altitude for the 175 - the fastest Italian fighter, the MC.200, which is still not operational, reaches just 520 km/h at 4,700 m and the Fiat G.50 supposed to cover Taranto at this time reaches a ceiling of 485 km/h at 5,300 m (in comparison, the Hawker Hurricane I, of which only a few examples are already deployed in the Mediterranean, normally reaches 540 km/h at 5,200 m - but 50 km/h less with Vokes sand filters). The French reconnaissance planes, without fearing the Italian fighters, thus ensure a continuous control of Taranto, Reggio Calabria, Bari and the Italian bases of Sicily and Sardinia. Taranto is usually overflown every day in the early morning and at the end of the day, missions that the French crews call respectively "the milkman's round" and "the evening mail".
Thus, an MB-174 of the GR II/33 spots the arrival of two large liners, which are supposed to be the fast Rex and Conte di Savoia.

 

[Wings]

July 8th, 1940

Libya - French air activity is relatively modest (242 combat missions). The sorties are mainly aimed at undermining Italian positions on the border.