Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

[Wings]

December 20th, 1940

Um Iddla (Ethiopian locality on the border with Sudan) - At nightfall, under one of the tents pitched outside the village, in what the British call the French camp, an officer is busy recording the events of the day that he witnessed. These informations will soon be transmitted to Algiers, where they will receive the attention they deserve*.

"(...) The supporters of Emperor Haile Selassie are jubilant. It is the first time since May 5th, 1936 that their sovereign is present in Ethiopian territory. The flag of the Lion of Judah was presented to him by the reconstituted imperial guard (or at least by a fraction of this glorious unit). Symbolically, the flag bearer was one of the few remaining survivors of the 10th Battalion of the 2nd Ethiopian Division, virtually exterminated at the battle of Mai Ceu on March 31st, 1936.
The Negus reaffirmed before the troops and the faithful gathered for his return his unshakeable will to liberate the country from the clutches of the Italian occupier. He recalled the darkest episodes of the invasion of Ethiopia, the use of chemical weapons and the poisoning of lakes and water points, causing what he called "a new Massacre of the Innocents".
(...)
The emperor was accompanied by the Ichège of the Ethiopian Church**, who returned for the occasion from his exile in Jerusalem. The presence of the latter indicates the church's strong support for Haile Selassie. Moreover, according to my information, Memhir Abba Gebre Giyorgis was not content with a purely contemplative existence during his exile. The links that he forged with the resistance movements should be an asset in the events that are being prepared.
(...)
The reactions of our British friends to the return of the Negus are more mixed. The government in London must indeed take into consideration the existence within its army and its administration of several antagonistic tendencies. These could influence the political situation on the ground and the balance of relations between the Allies.
- General Platt only authorized the support and equipment of the Ethiopian partisans forced by the British high command. He seems to me to be unconvinced of the value of equipping partisans, as he has already shown at the Khartoum conference.
- We can consider the action of the British Mission 101 of Colonel Daniel Sandford, which was launched last August, can be considered either a half-success or a half-failure. The money distributed to local chiefs and the organization of training centers in Gojjam province did not have all the hoped-for repercussions in terms of military action. In fact, as indicated in the report of the mission I carried out for the Intercolonial Intelligence Service, the Italians have so far been able to maintain local control of the situation due to the wait-and-see attitude and/or lack of cooperation and/or coordination of local leaders. Hopefully, the Emperor's physical presence will mobilize the crowds.
- Our English allies, however, maintain close relations with the emperor thanks to Colonel Sandford, who is also a friend and advisor of the Negus, and of course through the intermediary of the commander of the Anglo-French-Ethiopian "Gideon" force for the English), Major Charles Orde Wingate. These two officers made a strong impression on me (especially the major). However, I fear that the chain of command, which ranges from Platt to Sanford and Wingate, is too loose and the characters of each of them too well tempered for the present calm to be lasting.
(...)
If the relations between the English are sometimes stormy, our allies are united in that the presence of France in this part of the world can only be temporarily tolerated***. Only our military weight on the Djibouti front made it possible for us to be present during the return of the Negaus to Ethiopia, and that I was given the post of second in command of the Gédéon force. Everything that can be done to minimize our action with the emperor will be done!
In the future, the influence of our country on the future free and independent Ethiopia**** will depend on the behavior of our troops, but also on our presence near the Negus
throughout the restoration of his authority. I intend, in accordance with the instructions I have received, to begin this task tomorrow. (...) "
The light goes out late at night. Major Raoul Salan finished his report.

* This report, several passages of which are transcribed here, can be consulted in the archives of the Ministry of the Interior - Correspondence 1940-1941: Georges Mandel - Raoul Salan.
** The Ichège is the Father Abbot of the Debre Libanos monastery, the second most important dignitary of the Ethiopian Church after the Abuna, the archbishop of Ethiopia. In retaliation for the attack against Marshal Graziani, the latter let Italian colonists massacre the 350 monks and novices of the monastery founded in the 13th century. The remains of the victims were only decently buried after the liberation of the monastery in 1941.
*** "That remains to be seen!" (handwritten note by George Mandel).
**** "Therefore on Djibouti" (handwritten note by George Mandel).

 

[Wings]

December 20th, 1940

Somaliland - Indian troops, who left Berbera on the 16th, advanced toward Hargeisa in the southwest. They attack the town in conjunction with troops from Djibouti and Zeila. Despite some reinforcements sent by the Italian command, Hargeisa, which had no natural defences, cannot resist the combined offensive of the two Allied columns. However, the rest of the British protectorate would not be completely liberated until six months later. The Somaliland Camel Corps and the 3/15th Punjab took an active part in this pacification, hunting down Italian bandits and deserters, while the 1/2 Punjab returns to Aden. Later on, the Somaliland Camel Corps was considered for reorganization and sent to Burma, but the unit was disbanded in 1943 after a series of disturbances that threatened to turn into a mutiny.

 

[Wings]

December 20th, 1940

Marrakech, Air Force Base 707 - Since mid-November, the training missions of the students of Air Base 707 have led them more and more often, on the various machines of their heterogeneous air fleet, along the border of Spanish Morocco or towards Gibraltar, over the Mediterranean Sea. The instructors imply that it was recommended to them, between Marrakech and the Rock, to fly over the concentrations of troops near Tangier, "for all practical purposes", with the assumed risk of being hit by a few bursts of machine gun fire. Obviously, General Olry, the former boss of the Alpine army, who had been able to stand up to the Italians and the Germans, wanted to show Franco that he would not to be intimidated by possible concentrations of troops in the Rif or in Andalusia. Appointed on October 15th to head the French troops in Morocco, Olry was discreetly charged by the government with reminding Madrid of the unofficial agreements of June. More officially, as a mountain man in the middle of the mountains, he was also responsible for the recruitment in the Berber tribes and to put rigor in the instruction of the tabors to prepare them for a modern war where it will not be enough for them, to assert themselves to shoot well, to climb like goats and to walk with endurance.
In any case, the training of the students has been well underway. In accordance with his habits, Lieutenant Pierre Mendès-France has just finished first in his class of the navigator training course, despite two round trips to Algiers to prepare and vote on the constitutional revision.
- I would never have believed that a lawyer like you could do so well in math", says the base's chief pilot, Captain de Saint-Exupéry- who discreetly gave him a few lessons in scientific subjects to bring him up to speed.
- Come on, Captain," replies the former mayor of Louviers, "who would have thought that an aviator like you could do so well in literature?"
The two men smile together, with that air of melancholy that never quite leave them. They share it like a secret.
At the garrison amphitheatre, PMF asked for the I/33 reconnaissance group, based in Tunis, which was equipped with twin-engine Amiot 351 and 354. Patrols were permanently detached to Cagliari and especially in Malta, in support of the RAF, for the surveillance of the Italian navy.
- The GR I/33 in Tunis", echoes the base commander, Brigadier General Carayon. "Granted."
PMF breathes a sigh of relief: he feared that his chiefs had been ordered to prevent him from flying on operations. Indeed, each time he went to the capital of the France Combattante, Paul Reynaud asked him to leave his uniform and join the government. He and De Gaulle wanted him to replace Laurent Eynac, whom they only kept at the Air Ministry, for lack of anything better, to block the way to Guy La Chambre, who was too close to their taste of Édouard Daladier. Each time, Lieutenant Mendès-France refused the President of the Council.
The newly-certified navigator now had two days' leave, which he was to spend in Algiers, before joining Tunis-El Aouina, where the I/33 is stationed. There he will perform
some transformation flights on Amiot 351/354 before participating in two missions alongside a former pilot, in remarkably uncomfortable conditions because the plane, designed for four people, can barely accommodate five. Finally, he is integrated into a crew, with full responsibility for its navigation, in the first days of January.

 

[Wings]

December 21st, 1940

Um Iddla - The Gideon force is composed of about 2,800 men: an Anglo-Sudanese battalion of the Sudanese Defense Force, an Ethiopian battalion of the former regular army, and the 1st Group of Moroccan auxiliaries, composed of the 108th, 110th, 147th and 208th Goums. This group, whose leader is Major Leblanc, numbers a little over 800 men. It joined the Sudanese front after Operation Scipion, in which it took part (the French command judged that the goumiers would be at ease in the Ethiopian mountains). These forces are accompanied by a train of more than 18,000 camels (and more than one hundred and twenty Moroccan mules). In addition to the stewardship of the force, the camels carry sound equipment to attract the attention of the population and recruit supporters.
Men and animals begin to move towards Mount Belaya. The Franco-British troops should arrive there between December 26th and 28th; the Ethiopians and the camel train will join them between the 1st and the 5th of January. The offensive operations will begin at that time.
The roar of the lion will be heard again in Ethiopia!

 

[Wings]

December 21st, 1940

Southwest Pacific - The German raiders Komet and Orion separate after supplying at Emirau, near Kavieng (New Ireland, Bismarck Islands), where they landed more than 500 prisoners. A few days later, they are picked up by a British ship, and provide information on the operational activities of the raiders, their camouflage and the use of secret supply points and Japanese installations.

 

[Wings]

December 22nd, 1940

From Kassala to Keren - Biskia is taken by the 5th Indian Brigade, which continues towards Agordat, in the east. Meanwhile, the northern column occupies Gheru, which the Italians had evacuated without fighting.

 

[Wings]

December 22nd, 1940

North Atlantic, 600 nautical miles west of Cape Finisterre - The heavy cruiser Hipper passes without any problem in the Atlantic despite the Allied patrols, thanks to the very bad weather conditions that hampered aerial reconnaissance. On Christmas night, Kapitan zur See Wilhelm Miesel thought he had a present: he spotsa superb convoy of more than twenty ships heading south. Cautious, he tries to torpedo the convoy at night, but without success.
At dawn, he discovers with dismay that this convoy, the WS.5A (Winston Special 5A), is well protected: the heavy cruiser HMS Berwick is certainly less powerful than him, but it engages its opponent in the respect of Navy traditions... and, above all, after a while, he received help from his teammates, the light cruisers Dunedin and Bonaventure, as well as the corvette Clematis. After an hour and a quarter of firefights in appalling weather conditions, the Hipper, slightly hit, gives up. It hit the Berwick (including a direct hit on the front turret which will require several months of repairs) and placed a few shells on two unlucky merchantmen, who escaped without too much trouble.

 

[Wings]

December 22nd, 1940

South Atlantic, Andalusian Point, 15°S. 18°W. (north of Tristan da Cunha Island) - The German auxiliary cruiser Thor and the oil tanker Eurofeld (which had supplied it three days earlier) are joined by the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and the oil tanker Nordmark. The SKL proposes to the commanders of the two raiders to operate together, but the proposal is rejected: the two ships have too different speeds and Kähler, in command of the Thor, fears that his ship would be reduced to the role of a supply and prison ship for the Panzerschiff.
However, the Duquesa, with its eggs and meat, is missing. The Nordmark has its (bad) news. It received a message from the captured freighter that it was about to be boarded by an Allied patrol boat and that it was being scuttled. The captured crew was taken... The French auxiliary cruiser El Mansour was responsible for the incident, and had a nice stroke of luck. Nailed for a few days in Oran by a machine problem, while it was supposed to be escorting a convoy to South America, CF Pesqui, its commander, took advantage of the situation to bolt a double 25 mm AA gun (an army model of questionable origin) to the deck and decided to head for Argentina without passing through Brazil, taking a very unusual route which led to him running into the Duquesa. For Krancke, the episode seems to confirm that the allied surveillance network is tightening.

 

[Wings]

December 22nd, 1940

Central Mediterranean - The British destroyer Hyperion, part of the escort of an Alexandria-La Valletta convoy, hits an Italian mine in the southeast of Malta.
Seriously damaged, it is taken in tow by its sister-ship the Ilex, but the attempt fails. It is finally sunk by another destroyer, the Janus. The Hyperion fell victim of the small M2 minefield (56 mines) laid during the night of October 7th to 8th by the Altair (C.F. Del Cima) and Ariel (L.V. Ruta).

 

[Wings]

December 23rd, 1940

Gallabat - Belgian troops join forces with troops of the 9th Indian Brigade northwest of the city.

 

[Wings]

December 24th, 1940

Keren - The Duke of Aosta sent all available reinforcements to Keren. These were mainly elements of the famous 65th Infantry Division Granatieri di Savoia* and two colonial brigades, the II BC (Colonel Orlando Lorenzini) and the V BC (Colonel Ferdinando Oliveti).
Aosta would have liked to send more people, but the situation on the Djibouti front did not allowed him to do so. Of the artillery reinforcements initially planned, only the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 60th Grenadier Rgt. (equipped with 65 mm/17) and the XXXVIth Artillery Group (metropolitan, equipped with 105 mm/28) are sent to Keren. General Nicolangelo Carmineo, who commands the entrenched camp, has to deal with these limited reinforcements, which he adds to his colonial brigades and his Blackshirt units, some of which had been stationed in the posts of Barenthu, Tessenei, etc.
Keren, 18:00 - Stuffed, Captain Alvise Trone gets out of the vehicle that had just brought hhim to his destination. His convoy has finally reached its destination, after days of crawling on burning tracks, just in time to celebrate Christmas...
On the way, Count Trone meets Oberleutnant Gustav Hamel, who commands the "Compagnia Autocarrata Tedesca". This German unit (Deutsche Motorisierte Kompanie) is composed of 150 citizens of the Reich present at the declaration of war on the territory of the AOI or having fled the British possessions at the end of 1939. It was the golden child of the propaganda services of Radio Addis Ababa. As commented with his usual irony (but in a low voice) by Guiseppe Togliatti, the Italians were going to fight to the last German soldier and that was worth some radio gesticulations. Officially created on July 1st, 1940, the unit was formed and trained in the Asmara region. The proverbial technical skill of the Germans works wonders and the tinkering with standard Italian equipment provides the small unit with some light armor that was out from the usual inventory. Their planned use as "firemen" on the front line explains their presence in Keren.

* The 11th Grenadier Regiment of Colonel Corso Corsi, a battalion of motorized bersaglieri and the battalion of Alpine troops "Uork Amba" of the 10th Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Luigi Peluselli.

 

[Wings]

December 24th, 1940

Umm Hagar - A small Belgian column advances on the small post of Om Ager (or Umm Hagar), which it is instructed to isolate. The proposal of surrender made by Major Herbiet is refused and the Belgian detachment, which lacks artillery, prepares for a siege to celebrate its first Christmas of the war.

 

[Wings]

December 24th, 1940

Meknes, Air Force fighter school - "It's a very sad Christmas," says Jacques Noetinger. Like most of the young pilots in Meknes, the ebullient young man thinks sadly of his family back in France. Flanked by his inseparable friend, aspirant Pierre Delachenal, a few months older than him, they survey the base, devoured by a feeling of frustration which leaves them only when they fly. The training seems to them quite long... It is at this moment, he will tell, that the chance (or the destiny) offers them a beautiful
gift.
"Suddenly, a sound of engines in the sky. Not the usual Miles or Tigres Mous, not even the new American training planes, no, it sounds like... fighter jets. Meknes being far from the enemy bases, it is probably equipment taken from the front line, which is being given to us as a gift so that our youthful mistakes would be completed with dignity.
The school has a real hardware inherited from the French campaign, including some fabulous prototypes, but out of condition to fly. We venerate these machines as holy relics.
Three aircraft arrive in the approach circuit, land. In-line motorized fighters but they are obviously not MS-406s, nor of course the D-520s of which we dream day and night. Pierre and I head for a ferry pilot to ask him questions. I open fire: "Nice cab you have here. Never seen one like that before!"
- It's an Arsenal VG-33", he replies.
Behind me, I hear Pierre swear "Holy crap! An Arsenal!"
I put my hand on the flaking paint on the wing. Wood. This thing is real...
The plane that was supposed to save our lives. A legend... We had come to believe that it was a propaganda creation.
- I thought they had all ended up in a bonfire in Metropolitan France," murmurs Pierre.
- But no! We saved a handful of them, just enough to do reconnaissance for a few months and taunt the Italians over Sicily. Obviously, without spare parts, it couldn't last very long... you're looking at the very last Arsenal available. Make good use of them !"
Pierre and I are jubilant. What a Christmas present ! It is true, alas, that the beautiful aircraft are to be doomed to perish as instructional material for the apprentice mechanics of Meknes. But not before we have taken advantage of it.
We will find the help of Major Pierre Fleurquin for that. Former member of the Patrouille of Etampes, inventor of the term "aerobatics", instructor in Salon de Provence, he logically found himself in Meknes, where he trained us. Luckily, he fell in love with our little wooden wonder. By luck or by misfortune".

Armée de l'Air Arsenal VG-33 Reconaissance aircraft, 1940

Armée de l'Air Dewoitine D.520, 1940

 

[Wings]

December 26th, 1940

Gallabat - Belgians and Indians attack Gallabat. The town falls in the evening.
General Ermens notes in his march diary: "We have taken the town of Gallabat. Our forces performed admirably alongside our Indian allies. The Congo can be proud of its children...".

 

[Wings]

December 26th, 1940

Keren - General Carmineo, commander of the "fortress of Keren" (as the Italian propaganda call it) presents to General Luigi Frusci, commander of the Eritrean theatre, the defense system prepared for the now inevitable confrontation*. Many officers are present in the room: the commanders of the main units on site, Colonel Renato Lamborghini (in charge of the artillery) and Amedeo Gabrielli (in charge of the engineers), as well as Captain Trone.
The outcome of the fighting that took place on the borders leaves little hope, as General Carmineo points out: "The objective of the English troops is obviously Keren. I am sure that our troops holding Tessenei and Barenthu will bravely resist the attacks but, without reinforcements, they will last at best 3 to 4 weeks." General Frusci adds: "The orders given to all our garrisons were clear: to hold on to block the enemy advance, but to try to disengage before the units are destroyed."
- Gentlemen," Carmineo resumes, pointing to a large map of the area, "I'm going to give the newcomers an overview of the topography of the area. As you know, our position, at an altitude of 1,300 meters, controls the Dongolaas pass, the only access to the highlands from Agordat in the west. We therefore lock the road to Asmara, in the east, from where the roads go to Massaoua, to the northeast, and to Addis Ababa, to the south.
Despite the efforts of Colonel Gabrielli's men, the garrison was not able to build bunkers or trenches on the heights overlooking Keren, because the ground is rocky. We therefore have no fortifications, but the city remains a good terrain for defense. It is located in a cirque, in the middle of natural rock walls. The enemy can only access it through the Dongolaas Gorge, to the west, where the road and the railroad pass Agordat-Asmara (west-east), and by the Anseba ravine, to the north, where a track leads to Cubub and Karora.
The Dongolaas Pass, the most important strategic point in the region, on the road from Agordat, is easy to defend: it is overhung on the south-east by the massif of the mounts Zeban and Falestoh, at the top of which we installed the defenses of the Fort Dologorodoc. The other side of the pass, to the northwest, is dominated by Mount Sanchil and a series of small peaks**.
The enemy, arriving from Agordat, will come up against well entrenched positions covered by our artillery, protected by the configuration of the terrain against the British counter-battery fire. In addition, the engineers blocked the Dongolaas gorges with landslides which blocks the passage of armored vehicles and even hindered the infantry.
For the northern axis, the military information transmitted by Captain Trone indicated that a British column*** had crossed the northern border, coming from Port-Sudan.
The aim of this column is obviously to put pressure on our lines of communication with Asmara. We will keep some reserves to avoid any unpleasant surprises on this side."
.........
A little later, Count Trone, resuming his notes of the meeting, completes his diary with annotations of a less serene tone than the speech of the commander of the "stronghold" (...) With only 18,000 men instead of the 25,000 hoped for and half as much artillery as the operational plans of last autumn had foreseen, the lack of reserves remains the Achilles heel of the camp. Now we wait..."

* The following account has been reconstructed from the notes of Captain Trone and the writings of Guiseppe Togliatti, Le operazioni in Africa Orientale (Giugno 1940-Novembre 1941). Vol. I : Narrazione ; Vol. II : Documenti (Rome, 1958, Ministero della Difesa, Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Ufficio Storico).
** These are the peaks that the British will call Brig's Peak, Hog's Back and Flat Top. These three summits stretch on a north-west axis towards Mount Sammana. In front of the mount Sanchil and overhanging the Ascidera valley, where the road and the railroad to the Dongolaas pass through, is an escarpment that the British will identify only as Hill 1616.
*** This is the Briggs force.

 

[Wings]

December 26th, 1940

North Atlantic - The heavy cruiser Hipper, heading for Brest, surprises and sinks the armed freighter Jumna.

 

[Wings]

December 26th, 1940

South Atlantic - The Pinguin returns from the Pacific, where it sailed along the southern coast of Australia, crossed Bass Strait and laid mines on the coast of Victoria.

 

[Wings]

December 27th, 1940

Oxford/Berkeley - The British-French team at Oxford's Cavendish Laboratory discovers that a uranium-loaded slow neutron reactor produces quantities of another element
as a byproduct. Uranium 238 absorbs the slow neutrons and forms the unstable isotope uranium 239; the nucleus of the latter emits an electron, and is transformed in about an hour into a new element, of mass 239, but of atomic number 93. This phenomenon is repeated, more slowly and we end up in a few days with a new element of mass 239 and atomic number 94, much more stable. Bretscher and Feather show on credible theoretical grounds that element 94 would be fissile by both fast and slow neutrons; it would have the advantage of having different chemical properties from uranium and could therefore be easily separated from it.
In January, the Concorde team learned that the work of Glenn T. Seaborg (Berkeley, California), which uses a cyclotron and not a reactor, has independently given similar results.
In February, the French and the British will propose the names of neptunium and plutonium for elements 93 and 94, by analogy with elements 93 and 94, by analogy with the planets Neptune and Pluto, beyond Uranus (uranium being element 92). Having probably reasoned in the same way, the Americans will suggest the same names.
Everything is in place...

 

[Wings]

December 27th, 1940

Brest - The heavy cruiser Hipper enters the port. It will repair the slight damage it sustained around Christmas.

 

[Wings]

December 27th, 1940

Micronesia (Southwest Pacific) - After giving up on laying mines off Rabaul, the Komet will bomb the phosphate plant on the island of Nauru, whose security Australia has failed to ensure. The loading facilities are severely damaged; production is not resumed until ten weeks later and only returns to its original level only after the war. The German raider then heads for the Indian Ocean, via a large detour through the waters of French Polynesia.
This incident has three repercussions, two predictable and the third more unexpected. Firstly, convoys are set up between Australia and New Zealand. Secondly, New Zealand
will have to start rationing the fertilizers it uses in the following months. But this shortage will also affect Japan, whose government, irritated, will threaten to reduce its aid to Germany!