September 29th, 1940
Tyrrhenian Sea - The accumulation of successes against the Italians gives the Allies (and in particular the French) a feeling of superiority over these adversaries that is very similar to that of the Germans over the Allies. If they recognize their defensive capabilities, they hardly fear any initiatives. Thus, the aerial reconnaissances courageously carried out by SM.79 or Fiat BR.20 (or at least the reports of the survivors) showed that the French had not re-established their air, naval and ground forces in the north of
Corsica on the same footing as before the Sardinia campaign. This is why Vice-Admiral Aimone di Savoia-Aosta, who commands the Regia Marina in the Tyrrhenian Sea considers not to take back the small island of Capraia, but to carry out a coup de main there. He would be to make the maximum of damage and to bring back prisoners, thus bringing down the saying of the "baldanzosi Francesi" [1]. The photographs reported by an SM.79 returning on two engines showing that the enemy had begun to install light anti-ship batteries, it is therefore necessary to act without delay.
The interpersonal skills of King Victor-Emmanuel III's cousin enable him to obtain in a flash the authorization of Supermarina and, in the process, the collaboration of the Regio Esercito and the Regia Aeronautica. In the end, the Regia Marina engages in the enterprise a naval force of two units of the 10th destroyers squadron, the Libeccio and the Scirocco, which returned to the Tyrrhenian Sea after the evacuation of Taranto, two Spica class ships of the 10th torpedo squadron, the Vega and Sirio, the "super-MAS" Stefano Türr [2] and the MAS-530 and 531 (of the 14th MAS squadron). Torpedo boats and destroyers embark a total force of 328 men: 120 infantrymen and as many Blackshirts of the 5th Cosseria Infantry Division and 88 marines of the San Marco Regiment, provided by the Grado Battalion. The men were not chosen at random: they belong to two units that had been involved and tested in the operations in the Alpes-Maritimes. The other side of the coin: they have combat experience and some scores to settle with the French. Sunday, September 29th, Saint Michael's Day, is chosen as D-Day because the moon will be in its 28th day and that the night will be dark.
On the other hand, since the lightning conquest of Capraia (Operation Bicoque), the French have increased the garrison to a complete company of the 373rd DBIA. The French Navy sent 52 men to occupy the observation post at Monte Arpagna observation post and to serve the future coastal batteries. Three were planned. Two (2 x 76 mm
each), intended to defend the entrance to the bay where the port of Capraia is located, are to be located Punta di Portovecchio and Punta del Ferraione. The third one (2 x 102 mm) is to be placed next to the old San Giorgio fort. The six pieces and their ammunition come from the meager booty made by the Navy in Tripolitania: thus, the 102 mm guns were recovered from the wreckage of the Monte Gargano and one of the 76 from that of the gunboat Alula. In fact, if the earthworks and masonry work are underway, none of the batteries are yet in a state to fight, mainly because of the lack of personnel: the need to recruit as many men for the combat units led, for example, to the dissolution of the regional regiment of workers set up in Corsica; only a few companies of workers remain, including one only a few companies of workers remained, one of which had arrived a few days earlier in Capraia. At the end of a long journey, the two 102 pieces have just been unloaded on the quay by the gabare Persévérante, which had come from Bastia with its escort, the Socoa fisheries guard.
Although now converted to the merits of torpedo boats, the French Navy does not have any available to be based in Corsica. The naval "forces" available for the defense of Capraia are therefore limited to the minesweeper Joseph-Elise (AD154), a 113 GRT trawler, which remained in Corsica after having participated in the evacuation of the ports of Provence and the tiny auxiliary patrol boat Ange-Raphaël (VP58). Moreover, the submarine Le Diamant laid a defensive field of 16 mines, the momentary shortage of these devices (which have been used up since June) has forced them to be used sparingly.
.........
According to the established plan, the Italian ships, coming for more discretion partly from Livorno, part of Piombino, arrive in sight of Capraia at 02:00 Rome time (00:00
GMT). The Stefano Türr and the two MAS, which were in the vanguard, surprise the Ange-Raphael, which was patrolling two nautical miles to the east-southeast of the bay. Unable to defend itself, the small boat tries to lure its adversaries towards the mines anchored by Le Diamant, while launching warning rockets (it has no radio). Her tactic is successful: the Türr blows up on one of the devices and, with its duralumin hull smashed, sinks. But the Ange-Raphaël, which has two dead and one wounded and whose engine is destroyed, has no choice but to scuttle to avoid capture: the five survivors are rescued by the MAS, as well as the sailors of the Türr (which have six dead and missing). During this time, the other four Italians make a detour that allows them to avoid the other mines and head for the entrance to the bay. The torpedo boats have to drop off the 88 riflemen and thirty Blackshirts specialized in assault on the harbour quay. The destroyers disembark their 210 passengers in their boats, as their draught forces them to remain outside the harbour.
At 02:39, the two torpedo boats meet the Joseph-Elise in the bay, which, having seen the rockets fired by the Ange-Raphaël, set sail to support it. The small trawler is knocked out by the fire from the Vega and the Sirio, which cannon it without slowing down.
Helpless, the Joseph-Elise is finished off by the Libeccio. Of its fourteen crewmen, only three manage to swim to the shore of the Punta del Ferraione; hidden in the rocks, they escape capture.
At 02:42, the Vega enters the harbor, turns on its searchlights and, soon imitated by the Sirio, engage the Socoa, anchors along the starboard side of the Perseverance, with the gun. Very weakly armed, the two French boats had no chance. Having received several shells, including two at the waterline, the fisheries guard sinks while burning. As for the gabare, hit by two 100 mm shells and sprayed with shrapnel, it is scuttled when some marines of the San Marco want to take it by storm. At 02:47, the first riflemen and Blackshirts start to disembark and set off without delay to the attack.
Meanwhile, to prevent the Armée de l'Air from launching a counter-attack against the Italian ships, the Regia Aeronautica launches the first of a series of raids with the 82 Fiat BR.20s of the 7th, 13th and 43rd Land Bomber Regiments. The airfields of Calvi, Ajaccio, Borgo and Ghisonaccia are targeted. The infrastructures are damaged, but the planes suffered little thanks to their loosening (an exercise which the beginnings of the Campaign of France had harshly taught the value to the French). The squadron of Petits Poucets of the GC II/4, moved from Ajaccio to Borgo, lose nevertheless one of its Curtiss and its liaison Caudron Goëland. However, the main objective of the Italians is achieved: the French cannot react against Capraia's invasion force. The darkness of the night limits the effectiveness of the intervention of the Corsican Night Fighter Squadron. However, warned of the arrival of the enemy aircraft by the embryonic barrage of DEM (electro-magnetic detection) installed in Corsica, this squadron claims a sure victory (near Calvi) [3] and two probable ones [4]. Moreover, two bombers fall under the blows of the flak, one in Calvi and the other in Ajaccio.
In Capraia, the observation post of Monte Arpagna plays its role. As soon as the rockets are fired by the Ange-Raphaël, it immediately signals to Marine-Bastia: "Enemy ships
in front of Capraia". His next message is more explicit: "Enemy light units attack Capraia". The third message announces the landing. But the French Navy has no force able to intervene in Bastia itself. The nearest ships are in Bonifacio and Santa Teresa di Gallura. It is necessary to give up using the avisos, which were too slow, but the 13th Division of torpedo boats (Baliste, La Bayonnaise, La Poursuivante) is alerted. But its three units are not able to leave the port of Bonifacio simultaneously: if the Baliste is patrolling north of the Maddalena archipelago, La Poursuivante is half an hour away and La Bayonnaise at one hour. At 03:14 (01:14 GMT, 02:14 French time), La Baliste and La Poursuivante are ready to sail towards Capraia. But another information dampens the ardor of the French sailors. Having misinterpreted a communication from the Perseverance, the Monte Arpagna announces that the attacking force is composed of two Baleno destroyers and three modern torpedo boats. It is necessary to wait not only for La Bayonnaise, but also for two destroyers based in Olbia, the Mistral and the Ouragan, which are able to put to sea. But when the French concentration was completed, the Italians had already set off for home.
Indeed, on land, the fighting (or rather the succession of skirmishes), carried out in the light of the Italian ships, easily turns to the advantage of the attacking troops, more seasoned and supported by the artillery of the four warships. The most deadly confrontation takes place around the defense post located on the semaphore road: four Black Shirts and and eight French infantrymen lose their lives. The defenders who could retreat in the direction of Monte Arpagna. The Italians remain in control of the port, the village of Capraia and their surroundings, a few well-placed shells from the Libeccio and the Scirocco persuade the handful of men who are in the old Fort San Giorgio not to be obstinate. The Italian soldiers can then, before re-embarking, recover some equipment and materials and destroy, in particular, the two 102 mm cannons stored on the quay of the port (not without having noted with bitterness that they were Italian guns).
At 04:00 (Italian time), everything is over: infantrymen, Black Shirts and marines re-embark on the torpedo boats and destroyers with their booty and their 54 prisoners (the French wounded were left behind, including the ones from the Ange-Raphaël). The ships leave Capraia without delay, heading for La Spezia.
In total, the Italians lose one ship, the Stefano Türr. Their human losses amount to 14 killed and 21 wounded in the fighting on land (Regio Esercito and marines), plus six killed and one wounded on the Regia Marina boats, as well as 10 killed, 4 wounded and 6 prisoners for the bombers of the Regia Aeronautica. The French losses are much heavier. The French Navy lose four small boats ([5]), 22 killed, 7 wounded and 14 prisoners.
As for the infantrymen, 19 are killed, 24 wounded and 40 taken prisoner, without counting 2 killed and 3 wounded among the workers.
At daybreak, the Armée de l'Air wants to react, but by the time the runways of Calvi and Ajaccio Campo dell'Oro, the attacking force had the leisure to disappear and it would take random reconnaissance to find it. Nevertheless, in a hurry to do something, the aviators mount a daylight raid against the island of Elba.
Nine Douglas DB-7 bombers of the GB II/32 and 8 Martin 167F of the GB I/32, operating from Ajaccio, are sent against the island under the escort of 12 Curtiss H-75 of the GC I/5 and 10 Curtiss of the Petits Poucets (GC II/4). The formation reaches the island without any problem and the bombers drop their bombs without any opposition other than the flak, which succeeds in shooting down a a Martin 167F and to damage two DB-7 and a Martin. The port of Porto Ferraio being found almost empty, the DB-7s turned away from it to strike the steel factory of Porto Longone, a little forgotten since the beginning of the operation Marignan and of which the works are well underway. The Martins bomb the port where they damage the auxiliary ship Andrea Sgarallino (F123), sister-ship of the unfortunate Elbano Gasperi, and sink two small civilian trawlers (58 and 63 tons). But, while the French planes were on their way back, they are attacked by 27 Macchi 200s of the 153rd Ground Fighter Group.
In the ensuing melee, three Curtiss are shot down for as many Macchi. But the Italian fighters manage to finish off one of the two damaged DB-7s and to shoot down a Martin 167F, at the cost of one of their own shot down by the gunner of another Martin. If they lose four aircraft, the Italians recover three pilots, while the French lose a total of six aircraft and their crews (1 killed and 2 prisoners for the fighter pilots; 4 killed and 5 prisoners for the bomber crews), not to mention a few wounded on the aircraft returning home. [6]
The beffa (the bad trick) of Capraia is widely celebrated by the Italian propaganda, presenting the affair as a prelude to the reconquest of "every inch of the sacred land of Italy still soiled by the enemy" (Sardinia). During this time, the beaten of the Saint-Michel hasten to reinforce their air and naval forces in the north of Corsica.
[1] Baldanzosi: "Hardis" (to be taken in the sense of reckless), applied to the French, has become for any Italian literate person a quasi-homeric epithet since the undertakings of Charles I of Anjou in the 1260s.
[2] The Stefano Türr is to be the first of a class of MS (Motosiluranti). But, originally equipped with diesel engines (not gasoline engines like the MAS), it suffered from the poor quality of these diesel engines, which had to be replaced by gasoline engines, and of the corrosion of the duralumin constituting its hull.
Characteristics : 61 tons, 16 crew members, 30 knots with its original diesels, 34 with its gasoline engines, 4 torpedo tubes of 450 mm, 3 machine guns of 13.2 mm, 12 ASM charges.
[3] Confirmed by the capture of the three surviving crew members.
[4] In fact, the two BR.20s managed to return and were classified as RD, reparabili in ditta (reparable in the factory)
[5] The Perseverance, scuttled in shallow water, was however refloated and put back into service.
[6] The 153rd CT group was freshly re-equipped with MC.200s, freed from the design flaw which had forced them to be grounded. The presence of these aircraft, clearly superior to the Fiat CR.42, was a bad surprise for the French. Nevertheless, two years later, when some of the Petit Poucets' pilots participated in the air campaign preceding the landing in Sicily, they will have the pleasure to notice that, if their own aircraft had changed, the MC.200 remained the main mount of the Italian fighters...
