Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

April 2nd, 1943

Italian Front - At daybreak, each army HQ receives a terse message from the HQ of the Allied Forces in Italy "Order to switch all your units to defensive mode; any offensive action is strictly forbidden unless specifically authorized in advance. Pass it on to the AC and GU and report back." This message provokes discussions, especially between Devers and Clark, but on the whole it is applied by noon.
Clark could report back to Frere at the end of the day.
To the west of the front, it is dead calm.
The French spend the day in mopping-up operations (without advancing the line) in and around Montefalco.
For the British, the last sequence of offensive operations undertaken in March is launched - it is the main exception granted by Frère to Clark and Alexander, for a few more days.
North and east of Cascia, the 138th Brigade of the 46th ID probe the German position.
Faced with its resistance, it is decided to start with a day of bombing.
On the other side, with the support of the artillery and the air force, the Indians launch themselves to the Sibillini Mountains by the road west of Pretare and in the corridors leading to Belvedere. Losses are heavy, as the 6. Gebirgs Division holds the ridges solidly. The progression is also difficult for the 44th British ID west of Capodacqua on Route 64, which describes many twists and turns on the mountainside above a very steep valley. It will be necessary on several occasions to bring in the heavy pieces of the 6th AGRA to unblock the situation.
There is still a furious fight in the streets of Ascoli Piceno. The South Africans progressing towards the banks of the Tronto, the Germans decide to launch a counter-attack. However, the Transvaal soldiers are able to adapt and show that competent infantry could block, trap or even destroy armoured vehicles venturing into an urban environment.
In the air, it is the British who have to rejoice. Squadron Leader Neville Duke, recently reassigned to Sqn 92, celebrates his 21st and 22nd victories, obtained against a Bf 109 of JG 77 and an Fw 190 of SKG 10, making him the RAF's number one ace in the Mediterranean.

Florence - A ceremony marks both the departure from Italy of the SS PzrGr Hohenstaufen Division and the transformation of the Hermann-Göring Division into a real armored division. The division's strength is increased by the addition of a rifle battalion and another of Sturmgeschutz III armed with a 75 long. Göring's favourite division would henceforth play the role of mobile reserve on the Italian front.
...
Truman and Cabot Lodge are now with the French. Around a copious meal (the French found in Italy culinary possibilities of which they had lost the habit of...), the officers of the Kœltz staff describe the experience they had accumulated since 1940 in the field of modern warfare - and especially in the use of armor - illustrating, if necessary, their remarks with examples from the January battles and in particular from the German counter-offensive.
When Truman asks, with an innocent air, if they shared, from a strategic point of view, if they prefer the British position - in favour of an offensive as soon as possible - or the American positions - much less aggressive - the French affirm (with discipline, some would say) their preference for Devers' attitude, arguing that the Allied armies in Italy still lack the means to mount a major offensive.
The blow inflicted in February by the Panzers on the pursuit and exploitation operations showed the current limits of the Allies' possibilities. However, we must not refuse to help the British when the opportunity arises to unblock a difficult situation - the March operations thus enabled the British X Corps to make significant gains.
When asked about the performance of the Italians, the French concede that they had behaved well and admit that their will to fight against the Germans is real.
But in March, the bite of their troops was blunted, no doubt due to attrition of their divisions and the wear and tear of their poor equipment.
With regard to the French sector in particular, Kœltz states that he would like to be able to go on the offensive quickly to take Perugia, but that he has to take into account the fact that his plans of attack as well as the tempo of the operations would depend on the one hand on the possibility of building up stocks of ammunition and fuel and on the other hand, the units at his disposal. Nevertheless, he does not regret too much the withdrawal of the 3rd armored division, which was placed in reserve for another theater, because he kept a solid army corps well adapted to mountain operations.

 

[Wings]

April 2nd, 1943

Pisa - Before taking the road to La Spezia, Oberst Thom records two other possible sites of launching of the V weapons, a little north of Pisa and thus of the Arno: Massaciuccoli, at the foot of the lake of the same name, and Piano di Conca, a small circus in a deep valley. Of course, these locations are still south of the Gottenstellung, but you never know, if the Allies get stuck...

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Essen - This attack is carried out on a cold, dark but cloudless night, perfectly suited to the operations of the night fighters. The latter shoot down seven bombers. Nevertheless, the raid, guided by ten Mosquito pathfinders using the Musical Parramatta to mark the target, causes severe destruction. The great Krupp Hafen foundry (one million tons of cast iron per year) is hit hard, the Goldschmitt alloy factory was destroyed (although most of the machines were not hit) and the Wolff machine tool factory is eliminated.
At dawn, eight Victoria of Sqn 109 bomb the Krupp Hafen foundry again, further aggravating the damage even if the bombs fall a little bit randomly, the target being masked by the smoke of the fires.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Mena House Hotel, Cairo, 09:00 - This second meeting sees Inönü and his delegation very often take Roosevelt and his collaborators aside (unless it is the other way around). The British and French representatives are then kept away, which is not without gnashing of teeth on the European side. On the other hand, aunanimous agreement is reached on the formation of a committee of four general officers - a British, an American, a Frenchman and a Turk (an aviator, Roosevelt suggested) - to discuss more concretely the actions that could be carried out from Turkish territory and the deliveries of equipment to be planned.
The Allies having listed the weapons already delivered to Turkey, Inönü replies that the Hurricanes delivered a few months earlier are completely outdated and that the MS-406s upgraded to the 410 standard are only a stopgap measure. As for the order of fifteen Spitfires placed in 1940, it was only very partially honored and the agreement to build under license was never followed up. "Two Spitfires* only, Mr. Prime Minister, two! And we finally sent them back to Egypt for lack of parts. The other thirteen were never delivered!"
- Believe me, Mr. President, they were not too much when London was under the German bombs!" retorts Churchill. He adds that other Spitfires could be delivered by the end of the year and that, even without them, "Turkey is certainly stronger than a year ago."
But Inönü is not so sure: "There is talk of deciding on a date for Turkey to go to war. But shouldn't Turkey wait to declare war until it feels ready to do so?" Similarly, the Turkish president wonders about Turkey's status once allied personnel are installed there: would it not be in a state of war, and therefore exposed to German reprisals?
Churchill is annoyed: "We have had personnel and aircraft in Portugal for a long time, but the Germans have not lifted a finger against the Portuguese, because they need the minerals they deliver to them!"
The session is eventually cut short, especially since, apart from the means of aerial warning, the Allies have little military equipment to distribute to the Turks, especially without guarantee of use. Indeed, the enormous needs of the Allied armies, British and American, but also French and Chinese, to which are added the armies of the "small allies" (Belgians, Poles, Greeks, Yugoslavs...) and, for some materials, the Soviet armies, saturate the production capacities of the Allies.

Residence of Anthony Eden, Cairo, 18:00 - Three foreign ministers, Anthony Eden, Léon Blum and Numan Menemencioğlu -as well as Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt's advisor, and the U.S. ambassadors to Turkey (Laurence A. Steinhardt), of Great Britain (Sir Hugh Knatchbull-Hugessen) and of France (René Massigli) meet to try to clear up the questions raised in the morning and the day before about Turkey's entry into the war. But the Turkish minister shows himself to be as shifty as his president, always agreeing to set a date for the delivery of equipment, never to decide on a date for the dispatch of personnel, and even less to set a date for his country's entry into the war. Harry Hopkins finally decides, rather undiplomatically: "If Turkey does not plan to go to war, I can tell you that you will not see the shadow of a single piece of equipment that you are asking for!"
In order to drown out the fish, the Turk confirms his country's agreement to send three allied generals to Ankara after the conference, "let's say within a month or two", in order to evaluate the Turkish army's equipment needs. He is annoyed to learn that the Allies agree to send him this delegation within eight days!
Léon Blum then seems to have an illumination: "Why not plan the arrival of Allied personnel in Turkey when the Germans are busy elsewhere? At the moment of a great allied offensive! As soon as it is launched, and preferably on the Russian front and on another front, we will be able to send our personnel. The German reaction can only be weak! This delays things a bit, but answers all your concerns, doesn't it?"
To which Menemencioğlu responds...again requesting the delivery of a large quantity of material within a year, "to enable Turkey to join usefully within the Allies".
Hopkins is furious: "No one had what they wanted, no one was ready when the war started. Not the United States, not England, not France, let alone the Soviet Union. And yet we went to war! We want Turkey at war even if it does not get everything it wants."
The Turk then summarizes his position in three points: "(i) The proposals to send Allied personnel are accepted, but subject to counter-proposals from the Turkish.
(ii) If this program is finally accepted, Turkey will not engage in any action which it believes will lead to a state of war with Germany until equipment and supplies have been supplied to it, the nature of such supplies to be determined.
(iii) Turkey will not engage in any action which she believes will lead to a state of war with Germany until supplies and materials have been provided to her, the nature of such supplies to be determined.
(iv) Turkey still has to settle questions of domestic policy."
Without losing his composure, Léon Blum retorts: "We can therefore expect that the conditions for Turkey's entry into the war will be fulfilled between September 1943 and March 1944!"
Menemencioğlu does not even attempt to reply.

* As well as another aircraft, originally intended for Poland and which was delivered to the Turks after the refusal of Romania to let military material transit through its territory.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Quonset Point - Today, Lagadec and Co. prepare a very special outing...
"This morning in flight, from early morning, twelve Corsairs, plus the SNJ equipped by the mechanics with a camera attached to the rear machine gun mount (reassembled for the occasion). Direction Norfolk, Virginia.
Having learned that the Jean-Bart was going to make her first real sea trip*, the Pacha wanted to wish her good luck and we concocted a "little aerial demonstration" for her. He chose the twelve most experienced pilots on the Corsair for this.
When we showed up over Hampton Roads, the Jean-Bart was still about half a mile from the Chesapeake exit. We start circling, waiting for the right moment. On the other side of the channel, several boats are plowing the ocean. In the air, ten twin-engine boats are going back and forth in front of the pass. All these people are looking for a possible U-Boot that would show the end of its periscope. The attack of last August has not been forgotten!
So the SNJ is circling around three patrols of four Corsairs in echelon.
Break! Just as the Jean-Bart starts to cross the pass. Pique on its back, slightly to its left... Straightening up, the three flights bring the boat up to the level of the islet for a full altitude gain, far on its bow.
Stabilize at 1 500 feet, 180° to the left, formation in single file on the opposite heading of the boat...
No visible reaction for the moment... Pass him by the back, new left 180° gear down, flaps, stock down, lights on and in line - as if we were going to land!
We straighten up in order to go up the bridge, not too low all the same, just at the height of the bridge...
Except Jubelin, placed in last position, which presents itself so low that its wheels touch the bridge. He rolls on about fifty meters, tail high, and makes a wave off at full power. Thirty years later, he will still swear he didn't do it consciously. In all bad faith! Finally awake, the radio blares while the red light on the flight deck flashes, while a few sailors, attracted by the racket of the Pratt & Whitney, come out onto the flight deck.
The eight others in orbit up there, the Pacha, Jubelin, Folliot and I start with four planes a small demonstration of prestige before a regrouping and a last passage in formation above the crew gathered on the deck. Some of the acrobatics end up at low altitude because we want to show that we master our aircraft perfectly!
A final salute and return to Quonset Point after a fuel stop at Pax River.**"

* The departure was brought forward by 24 hours, the 4th being a Sunday - a first departure on the Lord's Day would not have been a good omen (at least that's what the Bretons, who were numerous on board, thought).
** Seventy years later, the film shot by the SNJ in Kodachrome, duly remastered, still makes the happiness of the numerous aficionados of the Corsair with phished cockades...

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Berlin, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße - Heinrich Himmler is not looking his best. The report written by the RSHA would have brought a wry smile to his face if the matter it contained had not been so serious. The affair started in France, when the Gestapo got hold of Rudolf Stallmann, alias Rodolphe Lemoine, a trafficker in false papers and various black market commodities, whose allegiances were delicate to establish. It appeared that Stallmann, a rather careless man (which led to his arrest), was totally lacking in convictions, which made it possible to turn him around. It didn't take long for him to start talking. And the reports of his interrogations contain such potentially explosive information that they have been traced directly to the Reichsführer SS. For there is reason to be concerned.
If Stallmann is telling the truth - and there is enough evidence to suggest this - the French and Polish SR have had a source in Germany for years, before the beginning of the war.. This source did not only provide them with intelligence but also with the possibility of decrypting communications through the Enigma machine. Of course, this did not help the Poles in 1939 nor the French in 1940, but the betrayal is proven.
The identity of the mole was provided by Stallmann: Hans-Thilo Schmidt, a former officer reconverted as a civilian employee in several cipher offices...and, above all, the brother of General Rudolf Schmidt, one of the officers who had recently covered himself in glory in Ukraine at the head of the armored divisions that repelled the Soviet attack. He is still on the front line.
General Schmidt is not known for being a fanatical Nazi, but he is appreciated by Hitler, who recognizes his great qualities as a soldier. To have him arrested would be to take political risk: beyond the Führer himself, Himmler knows that his arrest would immediately lead to tensions with the Wehrmacht and in particular with the OKH. Although the position of the SS is increasingly secure, the army remains a sufficiently powerful group of influence within the Third Reich to be able to show itself to be very troublesome. Therefore, no unnecessary risks should be taken.
After reflection, Himmler decides to act in two stages. First, he would discreetly arrest the brother of General Schmidt, and then, armed with the necessary information, he would go to Berchtesgaden to discuss the subject with Hitler.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Burma Front, 06:00 - Japanese troops stationed along the Salween report the overflight of their lines at low altitude by a dozen aircraft, heading east. Immediately, 10 Ki-43 and 3 Ki-44 take off to intercept them. It is a formation of 8 Curtiss H-87 Kittyhawks from Sqn 340 (B), apparently on a Rhubarb mission, but they turn back as soon as they see the Nakajima. Having advantage of numbers and altitude, the Japanese launch themselves in pursuit of the Belgian aircraft. But it is a trap: shortly after, a formation of 8 Spitfire V of Sqn 17, posted at very high altitude, attack the Japanese while the Belgians make a front. Surprised, the Japanese end up breaking up, having lost three Hayabusa (another one will crash on landing). The Allies only lose one H-87, which manages to return but could not be repaired.
During this time, Beaumonts from Sqn 45 appear at low altitude over Moulmein airfield and place their bombs on the runway with precision before running away. The flak is totally caught off guard, no bomber is hit.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Buna Pocket (Operation Postern, Phase 3) - The main Australian objective of the day is a bunker stopper between the Triangle and the coast. The position, attacked the day before, seems strong. One or two tanks - maybe three - come several times to support the defense of the weakest points of the perimeter.
Today, the Japanese are the first to attack. But their counter-offensive, if one can say so, is only a desperate attempt led by a few poor skeletal men, who fall to the last man under the fire of the FMs of the thwarted assailant. When Potts' men advance, they find only devastated positions. Except for a few half-crazed wounded who blow themselves up with grenades while trying to take some Australians with them, they do not meet any enemy... alive, at least.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Buna pocket, during the night of the 3rd to the 4th - For the Australians, the night is calm. There is hardly any shooting and the soldiers can rest for the first time in days. However, patrols report some activity in the Japanese lines. But the flares do not reveal any movement toward the Australian lines.
Indeed, the Japanese are very agitated, but this is not the sign of an offensive, on the contrary. Many soldiers left their positions to reach the beach. The landing craft of the Imperial Navy, commanded by captain Yasuda Yoshitatsu, immediately begin their evacuation.
Believing that the fall of Buna is only a matter of days, the command of the Imperial Army in Papua New Guinea gave orders to evacuate a maximum of troops from the pocket. Officially, it is a redeployment to the "fortress" of Lae. Some 700 soldiers are saved from the massacre. Those who remained (including the commander of the place) will allow, at their expense, to maintain the fiction that Buna has not been evacuated!

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Nanjing - Li Shiqun, head of security for the collaborationist regime, is killed in the early morning by a car bomb. The Kuo-Min-Tang radio is quick to rejoice at this "execution carried out by patriots", despite the use of anunusual means!
At the beginning of the evening, very shaken by this bad news which spoils the celebrations organized to celebrate the destruction of the Yan'an communist base, Wang Jingwei decides to go and comfort himself with the young socialite whom he had been seeing more and more assiduously. She suggests that he meet her discreetly in a luxury hotel so that she helps him to "change his mind", leaving pleasant undertones. But in the night, worried not to see Wang come out of the room, her bodyguards, who had stayed in the corridor, forced the door to find two lifeless bodies inside. Wang, after having drunk a glass of alcohol to which had been added a powerful soporific, was garroted by his mistress with the help of a cord that the schemer had hidden in her hair; the young woman then poisoned herself with cyanide.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Odessa - A rather disconcerting scene takes place in the city. Perched on a wooden tower that he had specially built, Roman Karmen films... the surrender of the Romanian defenders. Finding that the real one did not correspond to his expectations, and especially to what he considered necessary for the Soviet propaganda, he succeeded in having Stalin himself approve the shooting of a real film, with thousands of extras. The Romanian prisoners, playing their own role, are going to surrender once again to the Soviets!
Four generals (Batov and Petrov, for the Soviets, Ciuperca and Glogojanu, for the Romanians) are thus obliged to ape themselves in a choreography imagined by the filmmaker.
The new signature of the act of surrender obviously has no value, but its recording will be reused for a long time in films and documentaries as the one of the real ceremony. It is not until 1993 that the story of the "second signature" of the surrender resurfaced. The film of the real signature will be considered as lost until 2008, when it was found in an attic by Roman Karmen's grandson.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Berlin, Ordenspalais - Joseph Goebbels distributes his instructions to his departments in charge of propaganda. The new keyword to be inserted in all broadcasts and publications is the word "Ostwall". The idea is to make the most of the fact that the German armies are on the defensive on the Russian front.
It is necessary to play on the number, on the image of Bolshevik hordes made up of wild barbarians, hordes surging over Western Europe and ruining everything in their path. We use the usual clichés of the fall of the Roman Empire and the Great Invasions, calling Stalin a new Attila, the Red Army a new Vandal. Faced with this red tide, the Wehrmacht will have to be presented as the new army of a unified Europe, courageously fighting on this Ostwall, this defensive wall built in the East and which prevents the enemy from advancing. The emphasis will have to be placed on the men, but also on the leaders. In particular, Goebbels intends to put forward General Model, whom he likes very much and whom he considers to be one of the rare German leaders of valor on the Russian front. Everything must be done to convince the public that the fate of the war is being played and that only a vigorous defense could prevent the "Asian barbarians" from committing the worst depredations in the Reich.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Italian Front - Kœltz obtains (taking advantage, the nasty American tongues will say, of good relations with Olry, and therefore with Frère) a first "exceptional authorization" to improve the front of his army corps locally by taking advantage of the advance of his British neighbors. As a prelude to these operations, the French infantrymen resume their progression northwards and come into contact with the new enemy line of defence. Some clashes see the anti-tank units of the 29. PzrGr Division destroy several armoured vehicles of the 1/5 and 1/7 Rgt de Chasseurs d'Afrique.
On the British side, the 138th Brigade of the 46th British ID launches its first attacks towards Serravalle and in the hills north-east of Agriano. The German resistance remains strong despite the bombardments of the day before. At the end of the day, the British are forced to return to their starting positions.
Further east, on the other hand, the 6. Gebirgs Division's position is breached at Belvedere, west of Pescara del Tronto, by the 161st Brigade of the 5th Indian Division. The Gurkhas and Punjabis suffer no less than three counter-attacks the same day, which they manage to repel with the help of effective air support. Subedar Singh testifies: "When we reached the pass, the matter was quickly settled. We pushed them back quickly, but we knew they would come back very quickly, as they always do. So we quickly put our machine guns in battery and protected them as well as we could. An hour later, we saw movement and when they launched the assault, we were ready. The first time, we fought them off alone, but we had to expend a lot of our ammunition. Fortunately, Captain Sahib spoke with the planes that protected us when the Germans' planes arrived and helped us to repel their second attack. The Hurricanes were going over our heads, very low, and heading straight for the Huns! When it calmed down, I sent a patrol to check that everyone was dead and if not, to sort it out. When they launched their third assault, in the afternoon, they knew it was bad for them: our guys were climbing up the other side and we were supported by two or three mortars. They still came to fight and as we were short of ammunition, and also of men. But in contact, we Gurkhas can count on our faithful friend the khukri, and he made the difference". The photo of the subedar showing his broad blade with a bright smile will be on the front page of many allied newspapers.
There is still fighting in the streets of Ascoli Piceno, but it seems that the German fighting spirit is waning; the men of the 292. ID and the 10. Panzer begin to withdraw to the other bank of the Tronto.
...
Visiting the GIs of the 34th Division and the tankers of the 752nd Battalion (formerly of the 1st Armored, Cabot Lodge could not consider neglecting the armor), the two senators spend the day chatting and joking, sometimes getting within a few hundred yards of the front lines.

 

[Wings]

April 3rd, 1943

Gibraltar - After nearly two months of intense diplomatic pressure, Spain gives in and gives the Allies a new proof of its good will by authorizing the towing the Olterra to Gibraltar. But at this date, there are only three Italian sailors on board, all three of them civilians. In fact, alerted by Forza, Borghese took the initiative in February: the swimmers of the Decima Mas were discreetly exfiltrated, without the Spanish authorities, anxious to avoid a scandal that would have tarnished them, really trying to prevent it.
After a thorough examination of the ship, the British discover special modifications: the middle deck is transformed into a very discreet assembly and maintenance workshop, and has been opened up to the lower level, which is still submerged. At this level, an opening was cut in the hull to allow the SLCs to leave the ship and return to it by diving, thus without being seen. The Italians obviously sabotaged all their equipment before abandoning the ship, but Crabb's men gathered enough pieces to succeed in reconstituting a whole ship!

 

[Wings]

April 4th, 1943

Mena House Hotel, Cairo, 18:00 - It is the closing meeting of the negotiations between Turkey and the Western Allies. The Western Allies suggest from the outset the delivery of material under the mask of civilian commercial agreements and that Allied personnel be sent to Turkey in civilian clothes. Having no doubt no avowed motive for refusing, President Inönü changes the subject and argues that if the Germans discover the Turkish-Allied plans, Turkey would face the German army alone for weeks or months before allied ground reinforcements could reach her. He adds - and this is hardly disputable: "Don't the Germans always attack preventively?" Finally, making a pitiful picture of the Turkish army, Inönü asserts that, even without passing through Bulgaria, the Germans have the means to take Istanbul quickly.
Roosevelt then proposes to Turkey that the deadlines mentioned iin the plan proposed by Churchill are imperative. The phases of arms deliveries and sending of personnel could be spread over several months in order not to worry the Germans and to allow the Turkish army to reinforce the divisions present on the European side of the Bosphorus.
But Churchill begins to lose patience: "Come on, Mr President, you will not make me believe that European Turkey is indefensible when your army fought two of its most glorious defensive battles there a few years ago, Edirne [Churchill is careful to use the Turkish name and not the Greek one, Andrinople] and Gallipoli. I have good reason to be familiar with the latter and I assure you that I have conceived the highest esteem for your army and your people."
The flattery is a bit big - Inönü took part in both battles, that of Edirne in 1913 and that of Gallipoli, against the British, in 1915 - but it comes at the right time to restore the Turkish president's battered self-esteem. He even begins to think that he might use these historical references in a future speech to the Grand National Assembly.
Churchill continues: "The Turkish army has been mobilized for nearly four years, it is powerful, certainly much more so than the Bulgarian army. The latter is moreover far too occupied in Yugoslavia for you to have to worry about them.
As for the Germans, they have mobilized considerable forces to try to pierce Ukraine, to slow down the Allied advance in Greece and Italy, and to defend the Romanian oil fields. In Bulgaria, they now have only token forces.
Besides, if you want to divert their suspicions, nothing could be easier. As everyone suspects, the Russian forces should not be long in reaching the Danube valley. At that moment, nothing will be more natural for Turkey than to reinforce its defenses on her European borders. I can assure you that Marshal Stalin will not mind a few rather firm statements about the USSR, he will know that you are talking for the sake of a show. The fifteen divisions that you could then show to the Germans will be enough to avoid an invasion. For the bombing, once your air bases have been reinforced, it will only take a few days to put our fighter squadrons there and protect your cities from any retaliation. I beg you, Mr. President, don't let the right moment pass to sit at the table of the United Nations!"
De Gaulle seems weary: "I understand very well, Mr. President, that you wish to spare your people the misfortunes of war... However, remember that Turkey had once obtained satisfaction on important points thanks to the generosity of France and the USSR [reference to the agreement with the USSR on the Kars region, in 1921, and to the cession of the sandjak of Alexandrette by France, in 1939]. This is why, if you consider it impossible to enter the war on our side within a reasonable time, you could at least avoid any unfriendly behavior towards the United Nations."
And as Inönü cries out - unfriendly to the Allies, to Turkey! Certainly not! De Gaulle continues: "In this case, Mr. President, understand that, like the United Kingdom and the United States, France would find it unfriendly for Turkey to continue to trade with Germany and its satellites, in particular to deliver strategic materials. We would also consider it unfriendly if Turkey give the right to cross the Straits to German ships and those of Germany's satellites including those sailing under the Italian pseudo-pavilion of Mr. Mussolini."
Relieved, Inönü immediately undertakes to close the Straits to Axis ships and to cease "in the very short term" all trade with Germany (which would not be very difficult, as the said trade had collapsed since the beginning of 1943, as well as the Axis naval traffic through the Straits). He reaffirms that German demands for Turkish chromium had already been rejected.
Roosevelt and Churchill immediately express their satisfaction - finally a positive conclusion to be drawn from this conference!
The conference ends with the promise that an inter-allied military mission would be sent to Ankara as soon as possible to discuss a collaboration "as close as imminent", according to the word of a British officer goguard. De Gaulle launches then, in a friendly tone, an arrow from the Parthian: "Would you like Russian officers to be part of this mission, Mr. President? Remember that Russia is very close to Turkey and would be the best placed ally to help her in case of German aggression."
Inönü, who remembered very well the demands made in October 1939 by Stalin and Molotov about the Straits, clearly does not have the slightest desire to see his country receive from the USSR an aid of which he fears the ulterior motives. He blurts out that the participation of Soviets in the allied mission seems to him "a little premature". We will stop there...

 

[Wings]

April 4th, 1943

Berlin - Hans-Thilo Schmidt is apprehended some distance from his home by a team of plainclothes policemen. He is immediately transferred to Gestapo headquarters and his apartment is searched. The whole procedure is kept strictly secret in order to avoid any escape.

 

[Wings]

April 4th, 1943

Burma Front - Burma Volunteer Air Service (BVAS) Sqn 2 has changed its last Fury biplanes for Hurricane IIIs (or more exactly re-engined Hurricane IIs). Today is the baptism of fire of the new equipment. Eight of them are escorting a formation of 8 Hurricane IIc from Sqn 342(B); the whole is covered by 10 brand new Spitfire V of Sqn 67.
All these people are intercepted by the Japanese cover patrol, but the Allies are three against one and the Belgians can have a great time on the airfield, where their four 20 mm guns make a carnage. At the end of the air battle, two Ki-43s, two Ki-44s, a Spitfire and a Hurricane III go down. Hit by the flak, a Belgian pilot jumps into the sea but is recovered by one of the Sunderland seaplanes newly detached to Rangoon in anticipation of this air campaign.
Meanwhile, the Beauforts of WingCo Gibbs harass Thai maritime traffic, but find that the torpedo is an oversized weapon for attacking junks...

 

[Wings]

April 4th, 1943

Buna Pocket (Operation Postern, Phase 3) - In recent days, the pocket has shrunk to the point where it only includes the Mission and the village of Buna.
The latter is attacked simultaneously by the 18th Brigade (Wootten) in the north and the 21st Brigade (Potts) to the south. In fact, the pocket is so small thatthe attackers completely encircle it. On the other hand, the Japanese troops, after the evacuations of the previous day (and the losses of the previous weeks) only allow the constitution of a thin defensive curtain hung on a few bunkers.
At the first rays of dawn, after a brief artillery preparation, the first attack is made on the center of the system. With the help of machine guns and grenades, the casemate located halfway between the Mission and the village is stormed despite the two FMs of the defenders. These are quickly swept away and the breakthrough spreads, knocking down one position after another.
The second assault is mounted simultaneously on the two main objectives.
The assault on the Buna Mission is stopped by the enraged defense of the bunkers protecting it. The village is also the target of fierce fighting. By mid-day, Wootten's men thought they were taking it twice, and twice they were driven back.
In the midst of the remains of the houses, the Japanese and Australians are now so intertwined to the point that fights are sometimes fought with knives and sharpened shovels.
It is at this point that Wootten and Potts commit their reserves. The last bunkers are finally taken and the Australian infantry approaches the Mission building, which serves as the headquarters of Colonel Hiroshi Yamamoto's South Sea Force. The latter is killed among his men. His radio operator has just enough time to send a last message of loyalty to the Emperor, promising that the soldiers who are still fighting will meet again at the Yatsukuni temple, among the Japanese war heroes.
The death of Colonel Yamamoto is a fatal blow not to the morale but also to the coordination of the defenders. The bunkers defending the beaches and the village of Buna fall less than an hour after the fall of the Mission. At that moment, there is only one bunker defending the northern edge of the pocket.
This bunker is oriented on the wrong side to resist an attack coming from the interior but the fifty or so diehards occupying it manage to repel a dozen assaults. It is only at night that the bunker is finally taken. None of its occupants surrender, none are captured.
The death of these men marks the official end of the battle of Buna-Gona. Only small groups of three or four Japanese are reported during the following two weeks. Australian patrols gradually eliminate them.

 

[Wings]

April 4th, 1943

Kiska - The submarine I-35, at the end of an unsuccessful patrol, stops in Kiska to evacuate about twenty men.

 

[Wings]

April 4th, 1943

Wuhan - Zhou Fohai, vice-president of the pro-Nippon regime, once a good friend of Wang Jingwei and recently recruited by Dai Li (head of the nationalist regime's secret police and in particular the Special Works Department), is in Wuhan, supposedly on an inspection tour. In fact, he went there on Dai's instructions, to make contact with a clandestine network in charge of exfiltrating him to free China. He is unpleasantly surprised to find that instead of the hoped-for smugglers, Kempetai agents are there!
Dai deliberately leaked the fact that Zhou was in contact with him, by letting a known informant know, who immediately relayed it to the Japanese. The Japanese are not fooled by the source, but for Zhou, it amounts to the same thing: his attempt to defect is obvious and he is immediately taken to the local Japanese secret police center. He is executed a few hours later. Dai, who had no intention of letting him live, kills two birds with one stone: he gets rid of a traitor whose death Chiang had ordered, while demoralizing a little more the surviving members of the collaborationist government of Nanjing.
The informant Dai used to reveal Zhou is called Zhao Kong. He claims to be a member of the Buddhist clergy, but he is in reality... Hungarian, born Ignacz Trebitsch! In the course of a long life of adventurer and swindler, he has been successively as a petty criminal in Hungary, an Anglican missionary in Quebec, member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, a far-right agitator in Germany, and finally a Buddhist monk in China, also becoming a spy at every opportunity In Shanghai, he became a double or even triple agent of the Kempetai and the Gestapo (in 1941, he had almost convinced the liaison officer Josef Meisinger to forment an uprising of Tibetan Buddhists). It is for this reason that Dai chose him. This curious character died in troubled circumstances six months later, perhaps a victim of one of his innumerable schemes.