Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Attu - Colonel Yamasaki received the day before, without much surprise, the message announcing the departure of the fleet, "mission accomplished" it seems! Fulfilled... except for a lot of supplies which are at the bottom of Massacre Bay with the Sakito Maru. Moreover, the colonel had not been informed that the 4th SNLF would not remain at his disposal. Of course, he does not ask fo reinforcements, but he sends a message explaining that, in spite of the small number of men at his disposal and the lack of supplies, he would go on the attack.
The weather clears up today. Good omen! thinks the colonel before understanding that, if a clear weather (well, less overcast) will allow the G4M of the Navy, coming from Paramushiro, to bomb Chichagof Harbor, it will especially allow the Yankees to launch several dozen bombers of various types against it.
After the first raid (B-26s of the 77th BS), Yamasaki decides that the closer his men are to the enemy, the more difficult they would be to bomb. So, let's attack! And he launches his two battalions to attack the heights above Massacre Valley.
.........
Kiska - The thousand men of the 3rd and 4th SNLF who form the garrison of Kiska do not have the possibility to take refuge in contact with the enemy troops and they suffer the full force of the American raids. The ten "Rufe" do their best, but they are overwhelmed and in the evening, there are only six seaplanes left operational or repairable (three "Rufe" and three "Jake"). The second mini-submarine is spotted despite its camouflage and destroyed by a rain of bombs.
.........
Dutch Harbor - In the evening, a hastily improvised convoy set sail for Attu. The bulk of the Winnipeg Grenadiers is led by the AVP Avocet and Casco and DM Montgomery and DM Ramsay, escorted by the cruiser Richmond and the destroyers Buchanan, Conyngham, Duncan, Dunlap, Lansdowne and Lardner. C-A McMorris commands the group on the Richmond.

 

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Kure - The Imperial Navy is well aware that the forces landing on Attu will need reinforcements, in men and in material. But the mobilization of a large squadron seems excessive, especially since it puts its ships at risk disproportionate with the interest of the conquest of a deserted islet: the misfortunes of the Zuiho and the loss of the Nachi have well shown. This is why it is decided to change tactics.
To supply Attu, we will use from now on fast transports going back and forth with Paramushiro. The tankers Kenyo Maru and Teiyo Maru will take turns in the waters of the strait between Paramushiro and Shumshu to supply the ships in question. Two vessels are designated for the first round trip (which should be followed by a second one): the light cruiser Kashima and the former auxiliary cruiser Akagi Maru (returned to its original role of mixed cargo ship). They will be escorted by the destroyers Inazuma and Yamagumo and will carry elements of the 302nd Independent Infantry Battalion and equipment.
To maintain the link with Kiska, it is decided to use large submarines, converted to carry a Daihatsu barge. The I-6, already ready, is about to set sail. The I-5 will be ready on March 9th and the I-7 on April 21st.

 

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Great Saturn
00:15 - The S-26, S-72 and S-102 arrive in sight of Sevastopol, orienting themselves on the silhouette of Cape Chersonese. With the blackout, the port is largely in darkness. The German sailors can only suspect that a large part of the Soviet fleet has already taken cover, but they still hope to catch some stragglers. The three patrol boats slowly approach the coast between Yevpatoria and Sevastopol, to be undetectable from the open sea.
.........
03:30 - The crews of the S-Boats are considering giving up, when the lighthouse of Cape Chersonese, south-west of Sevastopol, and its counterpart located in the north light up.
Coming from the north-west, it is the battleship Parijskaya Kommouna that the Germans first spot, but it is well protected. The enemy squadron is preceded by a screen of launches and submarine hunters, followed in line by the flotilla leader Tashkent, Parijskaya Kommouna, followed on both sides by the destroyers Bditelny (on starboard) and Bezuprechny (on port) and finally by the Shaumjan. Other light units flank the formation and close the march. After the three German captains estimate that they will have only one opportunity to torpedo a large ship before heading out to sea, they decide to try their luck on the rear of the enemy column.
The German patrol boats let the first enemy ships pass by, but they are still making 10 knots and approaching the Bezuprechny at low speed.
On the Soviet side, the day was very long, especially on the reduced crews of the launches and submarine hunters, and the vigilance has been relaxed, especially as home is close.
Suddenly, the S-26 launches itself, giving the signal to its colleagues and the S-Boats spin towards the rear of the enemy formation, soon reaching 40 knots. However, a lookout on board the Bezuprechny, seeing the bow blades, gives the alert. The destroyer accelerates sharply while turning to port to comb the German torpedoes and opens fire. This maneuver saves it from the two torpedoes launched against it by the S-26, one of which passes about twenty meters behind the Parijskaya Kommouna. But the second one hits the Shaumjan in the front, soon followed by another torpedo launched by the S-72. The old destroyer sees its hull ripped open and capsizes quickly. Soon, the night is lit up by a cloud of tracers and chaos ensues. The S-102, which was trying to get around the enemy formation, is targeted by speedboats and has to launch its torpedoes at random, without hitting anything. The three S-Boats, thanks to their speed, cross the rear of the Soviet formation and get lost in the night. They set course for the Romanian coast without delay. All of them were hit by enemy small arms fire, with several dead and wounded. The S-102 nevertheless resisted better thanks to its armored kiosk. The S-26 also received a 45 mm shell from the Bezuprechny, which will cause it long weeks of repairs.
The Soviet squadron finally reaches Sevastopol, leaving the launches and the minesweepers to collect the few survivors of the Shaumjan.
.........
08:00 - The two German submarines reach about thirty miles south of Sevastopol, but they have to dive to escape the surveillance of the enemy aircraft. However, Kptlt Rosenbaum informs them that the Soviet fleet had returned to its base and that their mission during the next few days would be only to watch for a new sortie.

 

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Great Uranus
3rd Ukrainian Front
After having taken stock during the night, Vatutin decides to mobilize the reserves of his front to complete the breakthrough. An infantry division partially completed from Operation Gallop and an anti-tank brigade set off from Kiev.
Further north, the 56th Army finally gains a foothold in the positions of the 56. ID in the town of Olevsk. Ryzhov is assured to receive the help of a fortress regiment and more air support in order to capture this fortified complex.
Further south, the Soviet artillery begins a new assault on the enemy lines in the hope of facilitating the next offensive. Visiting this front, Vassilievsky is however cautious: taking Novograd-Volynski would already be an achievement in the current conditions.
On the German side, the announcement of the weakening of its left wing worries Paulus enough so that he orders to prepare positions of collection in the southwest, in Lopatichi [Lopatychi]. He is very worried about the losses suffered by his divisions engaged the day before. Consequently, his reserve division, the 62. ID, is ordered to send battalions to support the weakest regiments.

1st Ukrainian Front
Kirponos contacts his army commanders one by one, giving his orders.
In the north, the 26th Army had to find a way to break through the line hastily built by the 125., 305., 132. and 141. ID (called "Manstein Line" ... by the Stavka). Sokolov decides to press at the junction between 305. and 132. ID but despite hard fighting, his army can not break through. The Soviet general lacks infantry and can not recieve reinforcements.
Muzychenko's 4th Guards Army moves towards Starokonstantinov, bypassing the German defenses from the south, using the equipment of his armored brigade and its self-propelled anti-tank brigade to transport infantrymen. A little slowed down by the remains of the 24. ID through which it is advancing, Pukhov's 13th Army takes a route parallel to that of Muzychenko's forces, but further south, covered by Krivoshein's 5th Corps.
Finally, the 58th Army sends advance parties to Khmelnik, from where the 1st Armored Corps has finished chasing the 306. ID. Kirponos is dissatisfied with the use of tanks, which were used in urban areas to fight a battle normally reserved for the infantry, but Stalin is less severe, since the objective was achieved.
The 16th Air Force continues to attack the 98. and 295. ID, which lose more and more of their cohesion and their equipment under the bombardment. Finally, deprived of means of communication, the two divisions - or what is left of them - take two different directions: the 98. ID tries to rally Khmelnik, while the 295. ID chooses to cross the frozen southern Bug and infiltrate between Lityn and Kalinovka.
Further west and still at the point, the leading elements of the 1st Armored Corps of the Guards present themselves in front of Starokonstantinov. To deceive the vigilance of the garrison (services and territorial troops, with some volunteers), Katukov uses a ruse: he makes enter in the south of the city a column of captured German trucks and light armored vehicles carrying infantrymen covered with mud and dust, who only open fire once they had passed the controls. At this very moment, Katukov's tanks rush to the west and north of the city, eliminating the defenders or forcing them into a disorderly retreat north of the Sluch River. By evening, the city has fallen and its depots are under control. Several trains loaded with supplies are seized, to the delight of the Frontoviki. However, Katukov does not find any usable fuel reserves. It will therefore be necessary to abandon vehicles, which risks weakening his formation.

2nd Ukrainian Front
Bagramyan faces the most difficult stage of his mission and gives his orders to prepare the attack on Vinnitsa. The 17th Air Army has to attack the city and all visible German positions.
Meanwhile, Kalinovka is evacuated as best it can by the 17. Army. Vinnitsa becomes the refuge of thousands of soldiers of the 68. and 296. ID, as well as service personnel, which disorganizes the activity of the headquarters of the 17. Armee headquarters and provides numerous targets for Soviet aircraft and artillery. Stülpnagel reports, but can only obtain a partial evacuation of his HQ personnel. The OKH reiterates the prohibition to abandon the city and the obligation to launch counter-attacks to clear it.
The 94. ID is thus engaged against the 10th Army whose leader, Golikov, must slow down the progression to take the threat into account. But the second Panzerjäger-Abteilung of the 17. Armee was recalled to oppose the 6th Armored Corps of Bogdanov, spotted on the rear - which forced it to turn around under the fire of the Soviet air force then to drive more than seventy kilometers to the southwest!
Bogdanov's corps finally reaches Moguilev-Podolski, from which it drives out the meager garrison, consisting of elderly soldiers and a few artillerymen. But Bogdanov does not receive any clear order for the continuation: occupied by the fights around Vinnitsa, neither Bagramyan nor Vassilievsky answer clearly, being satisfied to refer to the previous orders, which impose to hold Moguilev... The Soviet tanks remain stationed in the city.
Meanwhile, the martyrdom of 257. and 262. ID is never ending! The 262. ID reaches Tulchin [Tul] as well as Tushin [Tultchyn], while the 257. ID splits into several groups that wander between Rakhny-Lesovyye [Rakhny-Lisovy] and Penkovka [Pen'kivka].

 

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Great Saturn
Odessa Front
After having spent the night organizing the passage of the Tylihul, Batov relaunches the attack on the right bank. In addition to the 127th ID, he now has a good part of the 24th Infantry Division and sets out to expand the bridgehead of the former. Opposite, the 10th Romanian ID do not disarm. The presence of some Renault R35s modified into tank hunters (Vanatore de care) briefly alarm the infantry, which had crossed with few heavy resources. But the Romanian armoured vehicles are too rare to have any influence and are quickly targeted by the air force and anti-tank gunners, which lead them to withdraw. Gradually, the Soviets give themselves air. At the end of the day, the village of Lyubopol, one of the rear bases of the 10th ID, is threatened.
The staff and the Romanian services must withdraw a few kilometers to the north-west, in Butovka [Butivka]. At nightfall, companies of the 24th ID infiltrate towards the south-west to try to cut off the planned retreat of the defenders of Kobleve and give the hand to the other formations of the 51st Army.
Subjected to a fire as intense as ever, the 10th ID has to abandon Koshary to retreat to entrench itself in Sychavka. Questioned by his superior in Odessa, Glogojanu shows himself to be extremely pessimistic about the possibility of holding on for one more day, especially since he now knows that heavy tanks are ready to fall on him.
.........
"The night had not known a single moment of calm along the Tylihul. While the flares and searchlights of the Fascists tried to dispel the darkness, a noria of boats of all kinds, from rowing boats to car-carrying barges, crossed the river.
From his advanced post, in front of Kobleve, Dimitri Aksonov had managed to get a few hours of sleep from a night interrupted by brutal awakenings caused by Romanian artillery. Before daybreak, illuminated by a bad kerosene lamp he had supervised the ascent of his meager reserves to the line and the evacuation of the wounded. A telephone line finally allowed him to contact the starshy serzhant (first sergeant) Ieletcheva.
The situation inside the small town was... complicated. In fact, neither the defenders nor the attackers had control over Kobleve. In spite of the important artillery preparation of the day before and the fierce fighting that had followed, the German-Romanians were still defending themselves without showing the slightest sign of weakness. We were fighting for a heap of ruins and then for the next one, each one being a unique case, to be treated in a different way. The opposition encountered changed each time.
First, there was the infantryman's retreat. These men had transformed into a fortress a more or less defensible ruin into a fort. They had rifles, some machine guns, grenades. This was the most typical case. If the terrain was suitable, the Soviets surrounded it. If you had a machine gun, it protected the advance of the troops. The plan was to force the enemy to take cover, so that they could get closer and throw grenades into the reduction.
Then came the machine gun nest. In fact, an infantryman's shelter where a German MG-34 or a Romanian ZB vz. 26 poked out of. Neither the objective, nor the tactics were different from the previous case. It was just even more deadly for the attackers.
The mortar was a very different form of opposition. In a battlefield as compartmentalized as the ruins of Kobleve, the Soviet soldiers could count on the effect of all direct fire weapons.
But the mortar bomb jumped the barriers. This was the main cause of casualties (40 percent of the wounded and dead were caused by mortar shrapnel).
The lone gunman. Most often with one or two assistants in charge of carrying his equipment, to protect him and above all to locate targets, he was an efficient killer.
But he did not kill at random, sometimes waiting a long time and in areas supposed to be cleared, the passage of an officer, a non-commissioned officer...or even just an experienced soldier explaining to some rookies how to reduce a strongpoint. He was also aiming at the Signal people who were crawling in the ruins with the telephone wire on their backs, thus cutting off communications. Snipers killed far fewer people than other threats, but their influence on morale and the organization of attacks far outweighed their small numbers.
Of all the assignments, the sappers paid the heaviest price.
The Fascists had heavily mined the outskirts of Kobleve. They had used all the classic tricks, such as placing an anti-personnel mine under an anti-tank mine to kill the deminer who was treating it. And in front of Kobleve, they were not short of ingenuity to trap the Soviets.
Clearly, they had had far too much time to prepare their defense. For example, a unit that had just cleared a reduction found a pile of food rations: apparently, the reserve of the enemies they had just eliminated. But by picking up a can, the mine hidden under the cans was primed! The most incredible case reported to Aksonov was that of a German officer found dead after an assault; as he had a beautiful watch on his wrist,and a soldier stripped him of it, activating an infernal mechanism that tore off his hand.
Many of these traps did not kill, and this was probably deliberate. The maimed were a heavy burden to their companions, for they had to be led to the rear,screaming and moaning. It was a cruel calculation: a dead man hardly delayed his comrades, a seriously wounded man could not fight anymore and handicapped the rest of his unit.
Of course, all these dangers combined. Mines could protect the surroundings of an infantry redoubt, placed not far from a machine-gun nest to cover each other. A mortar could wait until the Soviets had taken the position to start shelling it, a sniper could be on the lookout, and the ruins were full of the enemy's sadistic traps."
.........
West of Kobleve, the 79th BMS is still entrenched in Grigoryevka and Starrye Beyary, surrounded by Romanian troops. The marine riflemen have been supported since their lamdimg by the VVS alone, but their tanks, cannons and mortars manage to contain the attacks carried out by their adversaries. All day long, on the other hand, they suffer artillery fire, which inflicts them significant losses.
.........
Further north, the task of forcing the defensive line of the enemy falls to Petrov.
To his three divisions, the commander of the 18th Army adds a brigade of mortars (from the reserve of the Front), whose fire quickly causes damage in tthe positions built by the Romanian 5th Corps. But Petrov soon realizes that a serious mistake had been made: contrary to what had been indicated until then, the Romanian line was not built east of the Tylihul... but west, which was much more logical. Nevertheless, by a succession of errors and failures which will be the subject of an investigation by the NKVD, this false information was integrated into the operational plans. As a result, the meager Romanian outposts were bombed by Soviet rockets, but the positions on the right bank escaped the bombardments... and they hindered the attempts of the 18th Army to cross the river. A whole series of air strikes was urgently needed to allow the 25th ID to begin to cross the river then to avoid being thrown back on the east bank by counter-attacks of the 13th ID. The two other divisions have to content themselves with bordering the river and shooting at the enemy, until the means of crossing are available.
Petrov's disappointment is however largely counterbalanced by the progress of Galitsky. The Romanian Guards are pushed back on all sides, and each time they move, they leave with each move some troops on the ground. The 276th ID, made available by the weakness of the opposition, is sent to help Petrov by attacking the Romanian 21st ID behind him. In the west, the 272nd ID receives the order to push southwards without worrying about its right flank, which is not threatened by the Romanian 15th ID.
Indeed, this one is itself too busy withdrawing to escape an encirclement! But the 272nd ID is soon attacked by the 11th ID at Tarasovka [Tarasivka] and must stop its progression to defend itself. Stalin takes the opportunity to impose to Tolbukhin the use of the 8th Armored Corps, stationed not far away, but Vassilievsky manages, after a long conversation, to convince the Vojd to let Rotmistrov exploit the breakthrough created the day before. The latter having no chance to take Odessa with his his forces alone, it is however decided to reorient his tanks. They are sent to Baranovo [Baranov], about twenty kilometers to the west, in order to overrun the two limans north of Odessa.
Finally, the 9th Army and the last two divisions of the 2nd Shock still do not move and are content with sending a few patrols to study the German and Romanian lines.

 

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Bălţi - The fall of Moguilev-Podolski, at the junction of the 17. Armee and the 11. Armee, causes consternation in Reinhardt's staff, especially since Vinnitsa could fall at any moment. But Reinhardt is lost in conjecture: the 4th Ukrainian Front has not yet attacked and the entire right wing of the Odessa Front has not yet moved. Would the Soviets only lead an attack towards Odessa because they would not have the means to strike elsewhere? If so, should reinforcements be sent to the 4th Romanian Army, already threatened with annihilation? And what can we expect from the 2nd Ukrainian Front?
Unable to decide, the German general reports to the OKH. It is Hitler himself who calls him back. Attack, yes! But with what? Hitler has his idea: by mobilizing the XXX. ArmeeKorps, it is possible to strike the Soviet Stalino salient and then reach out to the Romanian 3rd Corps, provided that they attack as soon as possible. The operation must mobilize the 215. and 225. ID, as well as the 14th Romanian ID.
It will receive a support of the Luftwaffe and receives the operational name Konrad.

 

[Wings]

March 2nd, 1943

Italian Front - In the American sector, no significant progress was made. The 34th and 36th US-ID divisions are effectively blocked, especially in front of Capalbio, by the men of the Hermann-Göring, who had learned to be wary of naval artillery.
On the front held by the Italians, the battle of Valentano rages all day. The infantrymen of the 472nd IR of the 252nd ID stop the advance of the 82nd IR of the Trento division, at the cost of serious losses. Meanwhile, the Testa di Ferro captures Farnese and Ischia de Castro.
To the west of the British front, in the sector of the Xth Corps, the 44th ID asked the 8th Air Force to bomb Mount Civitella. At 10:00, the crash of the explosions still resounds when the 131st Brigade launches its attack, supported by the heavy machine guns of the Cheshire Btn. In the evening, the British had succeeded in infiltrating the German position and are in sight of Lake Campotosto.
Along the Adriatic coast, an energetic artillery support by the Royal Navy neutralizes the counter-attack attempts of the 10. Panzer. The breach is made at several points, which allows the British staff to launch the 4th Armoured Brigade (from the army reserve) in the Collecorvino sector. The tank battles last all day, allowing to see that the new Churchill compares favorably with the Panzer IVs from a material point of view, but that the German crews still have a certain tactical superiority over their British counterparts.
In the center of the British front, the second note of this "Piano" operation is played. Now that the German troops are fixed in the east and in the west, the 5th Indian Division goes on the attack in the Gran Sasso massif, in the Campo Imperatore sector. At the end of the day, supported by artillery, the 29th Brigade is halfway to the summit of Mount Rigopiano, despite the fire of what the Indians call "stoncks", i.e. mortars, which are very numerous in this sector of the front on the German side. The breakthrough is achieved in the Voltigno mountain sector, which overlooks the Angri valley, east of the village of Vestea. The feat of the day is credited to Corporal Sher Bahadur Thapa - he single-handedly silences a German machine-gun nest; wounded, he goes back on the attack, eliminates another enemy position and then brings down the wounded before collapsing, drained of his blood. This action earns him the Victoria Cross posthumously.

Bari area - The men of the 4th Mountain ID Cuneense continue their "defascisation" thanks to survivors of the most massacred divisions by the Germans at the end of December 1942. At the same time, they are reorganized with the aim of bringing them back to the line, this time against their former allies.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Stratford-Quonset Point - Lagadec: "Here we go. We leave the Vought factory at 11:00 for our new temporary base, up there at Quonset Point (known as QP, or rather Kiou Pie...). Gathered at the end of the runway, our ten Corsairs are waiting for the green light from the control. At the top, it's the rush, we take off two by two. We gather in patrol over Long Island Sound while gaining altitude: 1,000, 2,000... 5 000, 6 000 feet... A quick turn around brings us back to the runway axis. Strangely enough, not a single other plane is hanging around in the circuit. Prudence of the control, which is always wary of what these damn pilots have in store for them?
- Stratford, Corsair Leader calling. Request permission for a low pass.
- Permission granted. C'mon, Corsair Leader.
We expected the usual refusal, but they had anticipated our request, hence the empty circuit.
Let's not spoil our fun!
- Roger. Corsairs, break right!
One after the other we switch to the right in a slight dive... The end of the parking in the collimator... Taking speed... Not too much... 280 knots anyway... 2,000 feet... 1 000... 500... 100, 50, 30 ! Ahead, the Pacha straightens. In imitation, we follow him in an ascent of the parking lot at less than 10 meters/ground, close to 300 knots... At the end, resource on the acquired speed, wings flat. Arrived at 2 000 feet, we stabilize and gather on the Pacha facing west.
- It was a very low pass!" the radio joked. "Bye bye, guys.
Right turn, heading northwest, towards QP. The adventure continues!"
.........
New York Harbor - At the end of the day, the liner Ile-de-France disembarks the entire SAG 1 and the rest of the BOM 2, i.e. nearly 500 men (and some women). A noria of buses and trucks takes personnel and equipment to Pennsylvania Station, from where a special New Haven Railroad train takes them to Boston during the night. They will reach Quonset Point the next morning.
The only thing missing from QP's staff are the twenty or so young pilots who have just completed their specialty qualification. They will be joining the rest at the end of the week.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

North Atlantic - With the help of Ultra's deciphering of Enigma messages, the Allies are searching for the fifth blockade runner to leave the Far East. The Doggerbank (1926 - JB: 5,154 tx - PL: 8,876 t) has so far managed to escape the planes and ships launched in search of her.
But this evening, at 21:53, three torpedoes hit the vessel which sinks in two minutes. The winning sub is...U-43, whose commander, Oberleutnant Schwantke, identified a steamer of the type "Dunedin Star". An understandable mistake, because the Doggerbank is the former Speybank, captured in July 1940 by the Atlantis.
Three weeks later, the Spanish tanker Campoamor discovers a lifeboat* with a single survivor, Fritz Kürt, out of the fifteen occupants who were able to take refuge in it. Six had drowned when it capsized. Faced with the lack of food and water, four of the survivors asked the commander, Käpitanleutnant Schneidewind, to kill them. He did so and then committed suicide with his weapon**. The human toll of this shipwreck is all the heavier since, in addition to its 108 crew members, the Doggerbank repatriated to Europe 200 survivors of the explosion of the Uckermark on November 30th 1942, who were part of the crew of thissupply ship as well as the privateer Thor and the Leuthen (former British ship Nankin, captured by the Thor).

* Or a simple raft, depending on the author.
** As OTL...

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Sanananda sector - Since the day before, all organized resistance has ceased in the pocket itself. The HQ of the 144th Infantry Rgt has been taken and the enemy artillery neutralized. The fighting continues. Here and there, there are still some unreduced blockhouses, which will fight until their destruction, but the main resistance comes from groups of Japanese dispersed in the jungle.
For the Australians, some of the hardest fighting of Operation Postern takes place today. Soldiers must search a rotting jungle where unhealthy moisture drips from the leaves. A slimy mud closes in on the legs with every step, up to the mid-calf and it takes a lot of effort to get out of it. Coming from the canopy, strange noises make the hearts shiver. Weapons pointed, we advance in single file, preferably in several parallel lines, waiting for the ambush. At one moment or another, we will be attacked... Shots! Everybody stops, Owen machine guns and Enfield rifles pointed in all directions. False alarm! The detonations are muffled by the jungle, it is a fight that takes place maybe two hundred meters away, very far away on this terrain!
The column enters a tiny hamlet of four or five huts. Searching the huts only takes a moment, they are indeed empty. But a little further on the track, here is a bunker of logs and sandbags. It is surely occupied! The radio calls for reinforcements and asks for the support of the company's mortars. Before the shells start raining down on the Japanese position, silhouettes appear between the trees. The Japanese counter-attack, they are more numerous; Sergeant Casey gives the order to disengage, when two other Australian sections appear. We go back to the attack and the bunker is cleanly destroyed, from close range, with a grenade, the guys are beginning to know how to do it!
The advance resumes. The Japanese withdraw, abandoning a large solitary hut to entrench themselves on the other bank of a river. Mortars, grenade launchers and machine guns exchange heavy fire from both banks. Dead bodies drift in the reddish water as attacks and counter-attacks follow one another.
The Japanese are the first to score a point. Taking advantage of the fact that most of the fighting is taking place on the side of the large hut, Japanese soldiers cross the river at some distance and retake the hamlet. The Australians who are fighting on the bank are threatened with encirclement.
The confrontation drags on. There is no longer a clearly defined front. The Australian elements seem to be more or less cut in two, but the Japanese positions are not clearly located. Patrols sent out to make contact are met with guerrilla tactics.
Japanese appear from nowhere, strike and withdraw as soon as their opponents begin to organize themselves. Phantoms set up ambushes and counter-attacks close in on the void. The Australians become so nervous that a sudden flock of birds can trigger a heavy fire... or even a call for mortar fire!
Eventually, the elements that had infiltrated the village are eliminated or pushed back and the river is once again the focus of the battle, with each opponent on one side of the river. Once again, the Japanese take the initiative, this time it is a frontal and massive attack. In spite of the mortars and Brens put in battery by the Australians, the samurais go up to the assault, bayonet on the gun - it is true that the water only goes up to the knee. The attack surprises the defenders, who retreat, and the Japanese seize the lonely hut and the beach.
Throughout the afternoon, fighting continues in the area. The Japanese, entrenched in and around the village repel several Australian counter-attacks with difficulty. The positions change hands several times in less than half an hour, making the fighting extremely confused.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Off Attu - At dawn, the Swasey approaches Chichagof Harbor, escorted by the Charleston. But in sight of the small harbor, the four-piper is shaken by two explosions very close to each other. She had just hit two of the mines laid by the Nisshin. On the Charleston, we believe a submarine attack, but another of the devices is spotted just in time and the escort moves away from the scene of the tragedy - due to the speed of the sinking and the freezing water temperature, there are no survivors among the Swasey's sailors and the 100 men of the Winnipeg Grenadiers.
At that moment, the small reinforcement fleet from Dutch Harbor is heading west. Alerted, Admiral McMorris decides to hover east of Adak, to the great displeasure of his passengers, who do not appreciate the prolongation of this cruise at all. But it is obviously impossible to go further without being accompanied by minesweepers. The DMS Chandler, Long and Elliot leave Dutch Harbor at midday and hurry to join the flotilla.
.........
Attu - The sinking of the Swasey and the delay in bringing reinforcements comes at a bad time for the men of the 9th Infantry Regiment who are defending the heights attacked by the Japanese. The 301st Battalion, in particular, advances towards the Sarana Pass despite the cold and snow.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Shaanxi Province - While in the south, the 1st Army resumes its advance, in the north, the 10th and 39th Divisions split up: while the former marches toward Suide in the southeast, the latter is on its way to Jingbian in the southwest. The Mengjiang cavalry is redeployed on the flanks and rear of the infantry, on the lookout for Communist partisans. Okamura ruthlessly applies the "Three All" policy (loot all, kill all, burn all) that he had already implemented many times since 1940 against the centers of resistance to the Japanese occupation: the cities and villages conquered by the Japanese are methodically burned and all adult men executed on sight. In the absence of clear instructions concerning women and children, most of them are also massacred, except for some young girls who, after being raped, are taken to the rear to serve in military brothels. It is a question of leaving behind only a desert incapable of supporting an organized resistance.
Because of the weakness of the opposing flak and the total absence of aerial opposition, the Japanese dive bombers and ground attack aircraft, although they are now mostly outdated, can support the offensive in an effective way. Also, Yan'an is again the target of an air raid led by 37 Ki-48 and Ki-49; the control of the sky is definitively acquired by the IJAAF, which does not even bother to add an escort to its bombers. The sky over Yan'an begins to resemble the one over Chongqing four years earlier, when the Chinese nationalist air force had practically ceased to exist.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Great Uranus
3rd Ukrainian Front
The breakthrough hoped by Vatutin remains possible, but the 6. Army still does not break. At Olevsk, the 56th Army commits all its resources to the reduction of the positions of the 56. ID positions. In the ruined houses, Landsers and Frontoviki clash in close combat under the shells that fall indifferently on both sides. In spite of their courage, the German soldiers finally have to abandon Olevsk and retreat to Lopatichi, but Ryzhov's men suffered too much to pursue them immediately.
Further south, Vatutin relaunches the assault on the German position. This time, the center gives way. In order not to isolate his most distant units, Paulus has to order a general withdrawal of six to seven kilometers to the rear, under the cover of the tank hunters who fire their rare explosive shells to slow down the pursuit. But this is not enough and the 294. ID, chased by the 5th Army, has to withdraw a few kilometres further.
Potapov spots the gap and obtains from Vatutin to engage the infantry division which arrived at dawn from Kiev. Only the nightfall and the emergency deployment of the main body of the 62. ID prevent the German device from breaking completely. But it is hanging on by a thread.

1st Ukrainian Front
Galvanized by their commanders and well held by their NCOs, the four divisions of the "Manstein Line" do not give up against the 26th Army. Sokolov is enraged all the more so as all his requests for reinforcements are pushed back one after the other and that the aviation of the 16th Air Army has too much to do elsewhere to assist him in a mission considered secondary by Kirponos and Stalin. The latter considers that he can be satisfied with maintaining the pressure on four German divisions which will be missing on the rest of the front.
The two leading armies of Kirponos are considered a priority and have all the support available: the vanguard of the 4th Guards Army finally reaches Starokonstantinov to discover that Katukov's armor had not waited for it. The scouts of the 13th Army assisted by the 5th Armored Corps push as quickly as possible towards Khmelnitsky, further south.
But the two formations are split between their motorized vanguards and the rest of the troops who follow in trucks, perched on the armored vehicles... or even on foot.
Large gaps are created, and in these gaps, isolated groups of German soldiers fire their weapons or on the contrary hide to retreat once the convoys have passed.
The Soviet progression also suffers from an increasingly frequent lack of fuel. General Antipenko had to warn Kirponos that not only are the reserves empty but that in addition, it becomes difficult or even impossible to supply the most advanced elements, due to the lack of tankers. The commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front is annoyed, but quickly turns his anger towards Shcherbakov, whose 58th Army is not advancing from Khmelnik. The latter notifies his superior that he had to engage in a real battle against the 98. ID, which had thought for a few hours that it could be able to entrench itself in the city. Its leader, General Gareis, and some surviving officers were taken prisoner. At nightfall, they are sent by plane to Moscow to be interrogated, the troop being sent on foot to prison camps.
Kirponos has another reason for dissatisfaction. The orders and counter-orders of Stalin have changed the trajectory of the 1st Armored Corps of Chanchibadze several times, forcing him to take Khmelnik and then to chase the 306. ID towards the south.
After several hours spent to regain control of the body, Kirponos can finally send it between the 4th Guards Army and the 13th Army to capture Krasilov [Krassyliv], south of Krasilov [Krassyliv], south of Starokonstantinov, and especially an important bridge over the Buzhok River, which forms a final natural protection north of Khmelnitsky.

2nd Ukrainian Front
While the 98. ID is being cut to pieces at Khmelnik, the 295. ID manages to reach the German lines east of Lityn. It had to abandon most of its heavy equipment, but its men are still happy to be sent to defend the positions of the Lityn to take over the positions of the 86. ID... and especially to escape momentarily from the carnage which takes place in Vinnitsa.
Bagramyan orders at dawn the general assault: the 5th Guards Army attacks in the north, the 10th Army in the east. Everywhere shells fired by the Soviet artillery fall.
The Luftwaffe is unable to approach the city, its aircraft run into clouds of Soviet fighters while the bombers with the red star drop tons of bombs and rockets on the German positions. The fire ravages the residential areas and several ammunition depots are hit. In the east, the 94. ID continues to bleed the left flank of the 10th Army, but Golikov refuses to let go, pushing his men into the outskirts of the city. West of Vinnitsa, Rybalko's tanks jump the Southern Bug and disperse part of the 86. ID, but a final counter-attack of the remnants of the Panzerjäger-Abteilung beaten at Kalinovka momentarily pushes them back.
This local success is enough for the commander of the 17. Armee, von Stülpnagel, to order the evacuation of Vinnitsa. During the whole evening and the following night, thousands of infantrymen, artillerymen, signallers, service personnel and civilians flee the area under the Soviet fire and the very fragile protection of the German units still intact. In the confusion, friendly fire is not rare on both sides and Rybalko twice escapes death in front of Soviet soldiers.
At dawn on the 4th, in the middle of the fires and the last sporadic shootings, Bagramyan goes to the site and is able to call Stalin: Vinnitsa has fallen, the 17. Armee is broken.
.........
Further south, the 262. ID is the second German division to disappear this day, taken aside and exterminated by the 16th Army of Lukin.
The 59th Army continues its progression towards the south-west and reaches the crossroads of Shargorod (Charhorod).
Finally, the 6th Armored Corps finds itself in a curious situation, without orders and soon without means of communication, because the radios of the corps' headquarters had broken down. As the previous day's fighting had damaged the city's bridges too much (Bogdanov will talk about overenthusiastic tankers) for them to be usable, the armored corps stays on the spot the time to repair bridges and radios. It could not be informed of the imminent arrival of the tank hunters of the second of the two Panzerjäger Abteilung of the 17. Armee.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Rovno [Rivne] - The former Polish railway station has been the object of unusual activity for several days. The installation of Flak batteries and the arrival of Panzerwaffe personnel could have been reported by Soviet agents stationed in the area had they not been effectively eliminated by the Ukrainian anti-Communist police and the Abwehr. Since then, the trains have followed one another without interruption. As soon as they arrived, they were unloaded by civilian personnel, forced laborers and requisitioned soldiers.
Even the most casual observer could not miss the large number of flatcars loaded with most of the tank models in service in the Wehrmacht, from the old Czech Panzer 38(t) to the brand new Panzer VI Tiger, nor the variety of divisional badges on the uniforms of the newly disembarked crews.
Personnel and vehicles are immediately taken in charge by Feldgendarmes, spread around Rovno and camouflaged in villages or under tarpaulins.
..................
Chertkov [Tchortkiv] - The same feverish activity reigns in the old Polish fortress-city chosen to gather the means of the southern clamp of the future German counter-offensive. It is here that Manstein decides to send the III. PanzerKorps of Werner Kempf, in spite of the opposition of a part of the OKH, which would have preferred Ternopol or even Kamenets-Podolski as a starting point. But the authority granted by Hitler to the commander of the 8. Armee allowed him to overrule them.
When they arrive, Kempf's forces take advantage of the forest cover around the city to escape the Soviet air force, while elements of the engineers are sent to ensure the condition of the bridges over the river Zbruch, further east. No time should be wasted by engaging vehicles that are too heavy on bridges that are too fragile.
..................
Berlin - Under pressure, Göring convenes his staff to provide support for the future counter-offensive in Ukraine. The requests formulated by Manstein arouse indignation of the airmen: nothing less than two fighter squadrons, one for ground attack and one for bombing, not to mention the fuel and ammunition necessary to complete the reserves of the LuftFlotte 4! A consensus quickly emerges on the exorbitant character of such requests.
Instead, Manstein will receive, to temporarily support the LF 4, three groups of fighters taken from the LuftFlotten 1 and 2 (the III/JG 54 and the I and III/JG 51, equipped with
Bf 109F and Bf 109G) and four ground attack groups: the III/ZG.1 (converted in the fall on the F-6 and G-2 variants of the Bf 110) and the III/StG 77 (on Ju 87D Stuka), both taken from LuftFlotte 2, as well as two composite formations just operational, the I and II/SchG 2 (using an assortment of Fw 190F ground support and Ju 87D, with some Bf 110F-7 anti-tank fighters). A major effort is also made to rehabilitate the airfields of Podolia and Volhynia in order to accommodate the new aircraft.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Great Saturn
Odessa Front (south)
Kobleve - General Schwab has more and more difficulties to hold his men, exhausted and demoralized, especially since the Soviets have carried out several raids during the night.
.........
"Soldier Nuntaneo was a young man of nineteen years old, born in a small village in the Semenic Mountains in western Romania. He had lived the life of a peasant, as in the previous century. In this remote region, electricity, cars, airplanes...belonged to the realm of fairy tales. Unfortunately, his discovery of modern technology: the projectors which illuminated the ruins, the tanks, bombers... had been made in hell.
In the sky, dancing at the end of its parachute, a flare diffused a trembling light on a landscape of the end of the world. Kobleve was nothing but a pile of ruins. In the distance the cannon thundered, one shot after another, slowly. The infernal din of the previous night had subsided a little. Yet, around Nicolai Nuntaneo, the exhausted faces refused to sleep. The hands clutched the rifles and the few Soviet PPsh-41 machine guns. Death lurked in the shadows, beyond the circle of light.
The spotlight came back, chasing the shadows further, and shapes emerged. The spirits fevered with fatigue thought they could discern grotesque, winged monsters, clawed monsters, created by the interplay between electric light and night.
Suddenly, shots were fired. The bullets pierced the wood of the walls of the houses, ricocheted off the wreckage of the T-34 tank that reinforced the little fort, and passed by chirping. The Romanians' ZB vz 30 machine gun fired two short bursts into the void before Sergeant Praetorian snatched it out of the hands of the servant, whose nerves had just given out.
A new rocket shot into the sky, giving birth to a new light, slowed by a parachute, replacing the fading glow of the previous one. The night was only halfway through, long hours would pass before the first rays of the sun would allow the Romanians to face anything but ghosts."
.........
The sunrise is marked by new artillery salvos and then by the din of dozens of engines, those of the 201st Armored Brigade (heavy). Covered by specialized infantrymen, KV-1 and KV-2 take the corridors cleared the previous days by the demining teams and cross the last Romanian positions. Faced with these behemoths invulnerable to their artillery, the Romanian soldiers suddenly give in and withdraw in disorder (an officer who survived spoke afterwards of a distraught flight under the enemy fire).
..........
"Darya Yeletcheva considered Comrade Simonov to be the most courageous soldier under her command. He never went into battle and carried a rifle only for self-defense. However, he would crawl into the middle of the fighting, creeping through the ruins, clutching his satchel filled with tools. His work required the patience of a saint and blindness to danger. He had to operate in the midst of gunfire, while his comrades ran around him, running from one shelter to another. His hands had to remain as safe as a surgeon's. His patients? Cold monsters hidden by the enemy, who hid under their metallic shells a mechanism with deadly intentions. The mines. Since the beginning of the attack, the day before, the priority was to neutralize them. Not the ones that killed men, at least not as a priority. First, the anti-tank mines had to be found and neutralized.
The reason for this order was coming up behind Staff Sergeant Yeletcheva.
A repetitive, mechanical rumble made the ground shake and the stones in the mud rattle. The ruins of a wall collapsed, while the V12 diesel engine swelled its complaint. With the creaking of its tracks and its battered suspension, a forty-five ton mass climbed the low wall formed by the rubble.
The KV-1 stopped and turned slowly before moving forward again, its heavy turret swung around as its coaxial machine gun spat out flames, along with another DT, mounted in a crate. The shots were aimed at a stronghold filled with Romanians desperate enough to return fire with a 37 mm AT gun...
The detonation became a sonic "klonk" as the shell that was supposed to pierce the armor ricocheted against the monster's turret. Except for a scratch, the heavy tank was intact. However, the crew must have been annoyed, because the gun lowered... Like the other Soviet soldiers, Darya threw herself into the shelter, desperately protecting her eardrums with her hands. The ZiS-5 spat out its anger in the form of a 76.2 mm shell that seemed to open a short-lived volcano in the middle of the rubble.
Helmeted soldiers in padded jackets, PPsh-41s in hand, passed Comrade Ieletcheva. Before the enemy could recover from their fright, they invaded the gutted fortress. There was some shooting, but most of the Romanians dropped their weapons and raised their hands in fright.
KV-1s and KV-2s poured into Kobleve, and there were even a few KV-8s with flamethrowers, spewing long orange jets. Around them were fighters specialized in armor protection, methodically cleaning up every hole.
The resistance of the Fascists was collapsing. The invaders abandoned their position and fled, chased by tanks and Soviet soldiers. Kobleve... no, the charred ruins of Kobleve were liberated! After weeks of fighting and so many dead..."
.........
The fortified point of Sychavka is abandoned in a hurry and the survivors go up to Vizirka [Vyzyrka], because the coastal road is still blocked by the brigade of marine infantrymen, who still have five tanks and many cannons and mortars to hold their perimeter. Schwab's men come up against the elements infiltrated the day before by the 24th DIM. It was a real emergency. At night, the 9th Romanian ID ceases to exist as a constituted force and Batov could even send its divisional standards to Moscow.
As for the 79th BMS, it fulfilled its mission, at the cost of heavy losses. Its exploit will be celebrated shortly after the end of the war by a film entitled Morskii Desant!, the most famous scene of which shows the relief of the marine riflemen cleared by the heavy tanks of the 201st Brigade*.
The 10th ID also retreats westward to reach Odessa. Happier than the 9th ID, it will succeed to a great extent.

North of Kobleve - While the 51st Army completes the cleaning of the city, the 18th Army continues the crossing of the Tylihul. Deprived of the support of the 21st ID, now too busy protecting itself from the attack of the Soviet 276th ID, the 13th ID fights alone. However, due to the lack of sufficient means of crossing and facing dissuasive slopes, Petrov has to send the 109th ID to bypass the widest part of the river from the north - crushing the Romanian 21st ID in the process.
The 25th and the 280th Soviet ID remain alone to fix the 13th Romanian ID around Petrovka [Petrivka]. Petrov also delays the crossing of the 2nd Cavalry Corps, whose two divisions must wait until the boats are freed.
The 2nd Shock Army continues its march southward, but with increasingly reduced means. Galitsky has to eliminate the 21st Romanian ID, but also to finish with the Guards Division. entrenched in Serbka, the survivors of this unit are surrounded by elements of the Soviet 274th ID. At the same time, the 272nd ID must be supported by the 4th Air Army to be able to continue its march despite a counter-attack of the 11th ID. This counter-attack allows the Romanians to gain enough time to extract the 15th ID from the Silovka salient and to throw it southward in the hope of blocking the road to the 8th Armored Corps. But the tanks are not there and General Cosma-Popescu has to be content to deploy between Baranovo and Belka [Bilka].
In reality, Rotmistrov is "victim" of a new order from Stalin. The latter, informed of the start of a German-Romanian counter-offensive against the Stalino salient (the Konrad operation), demanded that the 8th Armored Corps go to assist the 267th ID isolated in the salient.

Defending Odessa
Faced with the growing risk of the Red Army attacking Odessa, the Romanian forces and in particular the personnel of the 11th Army Corps increase their efforts to strengthen the defensive installations, including a number of captured artillery pieces. Indeed, although much equipment and ammunition had been destroyed during the previous autumn's siege, there was enough material to significantly reinforce the defenses.
The Romanian coastal defense then had ten 122 mm guns (two batteries of three pieces, one of four), two batteries of three 130 mm pieces (three B7 and three B13, more modern) and, above all, two large (and old) 8-inch Vickers guns. These last two guns, pride of the workers who refurbished them, however, are worn out and do not seem to be able to reach their theoretical fifteen kilometers of range. In addition to this already impressive equipment, there are three batteries of four captured 76 mm guns - used by the Soviets for flak, they are equally useful for ground troops.
Moreover, the Kriegsmarine also contributes to the defense of the city, and its resources are not negligible. The Bruno Lange battery has three 280 mm guns on the railroad (thirty-six kilometers range). The Breslau battery consists of three guns of 170 mm (twenty kilometers range). In addition, it aligns two coastal defense battalions: the first one has three batteries of four 105 mm K.335(h) 105 mm guns (taken from the Dutch forces) and the second with three batteries of four 105 mm K.35(t) guns (ex-Czechoslovakian).

* Some film critics will claim that the Belgian film The Shortest Night (1983) had somewhat plagiarized this scene for the similar scene showing the Belgian parachutists being cleared by Allied tanks.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Bălţi - Launched at dawn, Operation Konrad mobilizes three divisions of the XXX. ArmeeKorps. In accordance with Hitler's promises, the Luftwaffe is relatively present and provides a minimum of fire support. The Soviet planes, surprised, arrive over the battlefield and do not linger there.
Caught in a vice by the 215. ID and the 14th Romanian ID, the 267th ID suffers heavy losses but manages to maintain itself. It soon receives the assistance of the 8th Armored Corps, which manages to enter the salient.
Questioned by Halder, Reinhardt is however very optimistic about the success of the attack. It is not the most urgent problem he has to deal with!

4th Ukrainian Front
Reinhardt has to take care of his left wing, because the long awaited offensive of the 4th Ukrainian Front finally starts at dawn. Four armies (the 38th, 47th, 14th and 62nd) throw themselves on the lines of the XLII. ArmeeKorps and the Romanian 6th Corps between Ladyzhinka [Ladyjyn] and Sukhoy Tashlyk [Sukhyi Tashlyk]. Here, the Soviet air force is particularly active and chases its opponents out of the skies without difficulty.
If the 38th Army is countered by the 46. and 72. ID, the situation is quite different in the southeast. Violently attacked, the Romanian divisions are already showing signs of weakness. The most critical case is that of the 4th Mountain Brigade, which is attacked by the 47th Army and suffers heavy losses. The only reserve in the sector, the Artillery
Kommandeur 107 (ArKo 107), is engaged to relieve it.
As a failure of the 6th Corps could lead to serious difficulties, Reinhardt took the precaution of ordering the three German divisions present in the salient of Krivoye Ozero salient to prepare for evacuation.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Italian Front - The two American divisions are given a day of relative (but welcome) rest to reorganize in order to avoid any bad surprises. It must be said that they had made significant progress despite very "limited" supplies. The discussion (confidential but visibly stormy) which took place the evening before between Devers and Clark, who was informed by Lee of the logistical situation, is not unrelated to this new pause.
Fifty kilometers to the northeast, the battle for Valentano continues. The infantrymen of the Trento end up occupying the town, not as a result of the fierce fighting of the previous day, but because the Germans withdrew, seeing the threat of encirclement by the Testa di Ferro growing. The men of the 252 ID withdraw to the Gradoli sector, a little further north, where their divisional engineers had plenty of time to set up entrenchments.
On the British side, Operation Piano continues. The 44th Division has now succeeded in taking the German position, but the British have been fighting for five days and have only advanced less than ten kilometers, and sometimes only five. The 133rd Brigade, which had been held in reserve until then, replaces the 131st at the front. On the other side of the Gran Sasso, the 5th Indian Division completes the capture of the peaks; to the north, Farindola is threatened, and to the east the Indians arrive in sight of Vestea without encountering any notable opposition.
In the plain of Pescara, on the shores of the Adriatic, the situation is blocked in a bloody draw where the superiority of the German armor and anti-tank units balances the artillery and air support of the British 6th ID. However, what the German interpret as passivity is mainly due to the prudence of General Scobie, who wants to systematically eliminate any pocket of resistance in his rear but also to fix the maximum number of troops in the valley.
.........
This day is marked by a reaction of the Luftwaffe, which launches a raid of Do 217 of the IV/KG 100 against the ships in charge of the naval support in the Adriatic. But the allied fighters have learned to be wary of guided missile carriers and the affair gives Lieutenant Sachs, of Sqn 7 (SAAF), the opportunity to distinguish himself. He is in command of a P-40 patrol over the coast when he spots the bomber formation 3,000 feet below. He launches his patrol into the attack and scores two victories: one against a Bf 109 of the escort which saw him arrive too late, the other against one of the bombers which took flight after getting rid of its missile. Sachs is credited with the DFC for this action.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Vis/Lizza (Dalmatia) - Commander Louis Huot, an American despite his French name, arrives in this island torn between royalists and titists. The American General Staff asks him a report on the Yugoslav Partisans and the cooperation that has been established between them and the French. He can testify that a tenuous but regular flow of men and material circulates between the island and the mainland: wounded and evacuated civilians, combatants in training, small and medium calibre weapons. Thanks to the information transmitted by the Yugoslavs, the Allied fleet and air force are able to operate effectively against the German bases. An air base is under construction on the island: "The work is progressing less quickly than if we had taken charge of it, but it should be operational by the end of the month," notes the American.

 

[Wings]

March 3rd, 1943

Thrace and Greek Macedonia - The Bulgarian occupation police rounds up 9,000 Jewish inhabitants. The surprise is total, as Bulgaria had so far shown itself to be less anti-Semitic than its Axis partners. But the Bulgarians did not forgive the Greek Jews their pro-Hellenic feelings, in a region that Bulgaria intends to keep at the end of the war. The captives are regrouped in Drama, then in the camps of Gorna Djumaya and Dupnitsa, in Rhodope.

 

[Wings]

March 4th, 1943

Somewhere in the Belgian countryside, in the dead of night - Prince Charles looks out over the meadow before him. At his side, Captain Rombauts, who joined them this morning.
- My lord, the plane should not be long now. Here is a letter from the King to be delivered by hand to the Minister of Defense.
- What are its contents?
- It is the original of his message to the Belgian people during his deportation. This text can be countersigned as it should be...
- Fine, I'll pass it on.
Suddenly, a humming sound is heard.
- Is it him?" asks the prince.
- Yes, we recognize the sound of the engine now... There!
A shadow flies over the meadow, signals are exchanged. The plane lands quickly and arrives at the end of the improvised runway, where it turns around. The prince and Rombauts run towards the plane, covered without knowing it by about twenty men...
- Climb quickly, my lord, and good luck!
- Thank you, captain. Good luck to you too!
- Ready Sir?" asks the pilot, who doesn't know anything about his passenger.
- Yes.
- Here we go...
And the Lysander takes off in the darkness.
- With the grace of God", launches Rombauts, moved.
.........
Manston Air Base, 05:00 - The four pilots have been in their planes for two hours now. Henry Gonnay is beginning to think that this is a long wait. In the next plane, he observes Wil dozing off... "But my word, he snores!
- Indeed, it is indeed him that we hear", answers his mechanic posted on the wing. "Our engines make less noise!
Out of the corner of his eye, Gonnay observes the Spitfires of the 350, which start to prepare themselves. Their mission will be to cover them on the way back... Then several cars arrive near the dispersal site, where Colonel Piot is waiting for them.
- Well commander, it must be really important this mission, considering the people who are getting out of the car...
- Do you see who it is?
- I don't know, but there's a general, no, two generals! And some civilians...
- Yeah, probably a lot of oil!
In his office, Lamarche is waiting... When André's phone rings again.
The man from "Services" picks up, then turns to the major: "Take off!"
Lamarche calls the tower: "Green light, green light! Now!"
In his plane, Gonnay is still watching Wil, wondering how it is possible to fly in these conditions, when...
- Green light!" yells the mechanic.
- Engine on!
Wil, unperturbed, comes out of his torpor instantly and launches his engine at the same time as Gonnay !
- Blue section, we take off, ahead guys ! And a pot to the one who spots the target first !
- Done", answer the three others.
The four Typhoons take off under the eyes of the 350 pilots: "Takeoff in 30 minutes for us!" says Hubert De Bock, who was in charge of the operation. "We have to prevent the Boche from approaching a Lysander returning from Belgium.
- Four Tiffies and us? Well, well, well, it's a big fish coming in!" says Donnet.
.........
In the air, the Typhoon's progress towards Nieuwport, on the lookout... While they have been flying for 20 minutes: "Blue 1 of Blue 3... A plane at 1 o'clock, low... "
- Bleu 3, well spotted! It's our customer! Section Bleue, we tighten our package, be attentive!
In the Lysander : " Our escort, Sir ! "
The four Typhoon flank the Lysander. Gonnay flaps his wings, while wondering who could be in the plane.
.........
At Manston, the tension is palpable. Generals Vinçotte, Pire and Briquet are nervously discussing while trying to wait while Spaak and Delfosse are pacing back and forth...
- What if the Germans intercept the plane?" Spaak whispers.
- Our fighters must already be surrounding it! We must have confidence!" answers Delfosse, to reassure himself.
On their side, Lorent, Tanghe and André discuss with Lamarche: "When will we have news?" asks Tanghe.
- We'll probably have to wait until the planes are over the field," Lamarche replies.
- I see. So we have to wait, no other choice.
.........
Over the Channel, the pilots of 348 anxiously observe the sky...
- From Blue 4, Bandits at 7 o'clock, High!
- And shit," grumbles Gonnay... "Bleu 3 and 4, if they get too close, you stay stuck to the Lysander, Bleu 2 and me we will go to distract them!
- Received...
The minutes pass. The intruders are closer, although they do not go directly towards the Lysander and its escort, when Gonnay announces, in a relieved tone: "Planes at 11 o'clock, High!"
And indeed, "Bleu Leader, this is Bruges Leader, stay put, we're handling the visitors!"
- Roger, Bruges Leader! Phew..." sighs Gonnay
.........
The Lysander surrounded by its escort emerges above the Manston field. For a bit, the pilots could hear the sighs of relief from the men on the ground!
- Well, I think we can congratulate your men, general Briquet...
- Let's wait until we are sure that the Count of Flanders is on board!
The Lysander touches the ground, followed by the Typhoons, and the five aircraft come to join the parking area of 348. The canopy of the Lysander opens and Prince Charles descends the ladder, welcomed by a beaming Paul-Henri Spaak!
- Mr. Minister of Foreign Affairs, you are up early.
- My Lord, it is an honor to welcome you here! You know, I believe, the Minister of Defense...
- Good morning, Mr. Delfosse.
- My Lord... Did your trip go well?
- How can I complain when Belgian soldiers risk their lives every day! We had a few cold sweats when we saw some planes following us, but a group of English fighters took care of them. I would like to thank the RAF for their escort.
- Um, my lord, it wasn't the RAF. In the air, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the roundels, but here, you can see that they are black-yellow-red ...
- Belgian planes ! Wonderful ! But in this case, before leaving, I would like to thank my escort.
- General, would you please call the pilots who escorted the Count of Flanders?
Gonnay's men are still wondering about the personality they had escorted when
Lamarche arrives: "Henry, you and the others, come with me, someone wants to thank you."
- But who is it...
- You'll see!
Gonnay, Ceupens, Engelen and Wilmet approach the Lysander: "My lord, here is your escort: the commander-aviator Gonnay and the lieutenant-aviators Wilmet, Ceupens and Engelen."
- Section, attention!" commands Gonnay by reflex.
- At ease, gentlemen, the prince commands, and thank you for your help in my escape. Seeing your heads, the secret was well kept!
- Indeed, my lord, but we were still hot... Fortunately, the Spitfires of our colleagues and compatriots of Squadron 350 intervened.
- Belgians too?
- Yes, in fact I can hear them coming...
A siren is then added to the noise of the plane engines, while the fire truck and the ambulance start...
- Ouch, some breakage, I fear...
A Spitfire spitting black smoke appears, gear down, hoping that it is locked... It lands, yes the train was locked ! Brief relief, it stops, the pilot jumps fast from the plane which smokes more and more and which the firemen spray with foam...
The other planes arrive, all are present!
- Ah, everything ends well.
- My lord, allow me to introduce you to the men who organized your escape: Lieutenant-General Briquet, of the 2nd Bureau, Lieutenant-Colonel Tanghe and Major Lorent, of the Special Operations, as well as...
- Monsieur André!
- Do you know him, Monseigneur?
- I met him in the Ardennes a few weeks ago, didn't I!
- Exactly, Monseigneur.
- Then our chief of general staff, General Vinçotte, and his deputy General Pire.
- Monseigneur...
- Good morning, Gentlemen. As of now, I would like you to propose for promotion Captain Rombauts, of the King's Military Household. If I am here, it is because of him.