Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation
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9353
August 24th, 1943
Albania - In view of the ongoing operations on the Thracian side, the air offensive on the Adriatic coast is limited to a bombing of Elbasan, an important logistic center and road junction serving Albania and Macedonia. The action, carried out by the Blenheims of the 238th Wing and the Wellingtons of the 202nd Wing, is carried out without opposition and without losses.
Albania - In view of the ongoing operations on the Thracian side, the air offensive on the Adriatic coast is limited to a bombing of Elbasan, an important logistic center and road junction serving Albania and Macedonia. The action, carried out by the Blenheims of the 238th Wing and the Wellingtons of the 202nd Wing, is carried out without opposition and without losses.
9354
August 24th, 1943
Between Neapolis and Veria ("Tower West") - The Greek 3rd Mountain Brigade follows closely the German GebirgsJägers, who decamped during the night, in good order. True to their nature, they left behind many mines... and ruins. Leaving the city of Neapolis, from where a single road leads to the Albanian border and the positions of the LXVIII. Armee-Korps, the 1. and 3. GD choose to establish new defensive positions at Vigastisko, about ten kilometers further north.
The 1st ID of General Batas officially liberates the city, interrupting the savage purges that had begun at dawn. Among the crowd that watches the evzones restore the royal order, a 14 years old teenager named Christos Sartzetakis. Enthusiastic like all those of his age, he however retains the lesson of the soldiers: the force must remain with the Right and Justice must never give in to barbarism. He will make live this teaching all his future career as a prosecutor in Salonika, and well beyond.
On the other side of the massif, the 6th Mountain Brigade prepares to advance towards Ptolemaida, without realizing that its opponents are evading them. Would the Greek mountaineers hurry the movement if they knew the German intentions? Probably not, because their action remains a simple operation of securing the allied flank against a possible counter-attack aimed at encircling the leading units.
In the lead, the 1st Armored Brigade (transferred from the 1st to the 2nd Greek Corps) and the 13th ID (Leonidas Stergiopoulos) charges across the plain and enters Makrokori under the midday sun. In the evening, the armoured vehicles are only a dozen kilometers from Alexandria.
Informed of the progress of the Greek forces, which attests to the inaction of the XVIII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps, Fehn goes through all the phases of grief: denial of the reports, then pain because his plan seems to be in trouble, followed by anger towards his colleague Dietl and their superior Löhr... Then comes the bargaining: it must be possible to gain a day by an additional delaying action! He has a little idea that could spare him the depression phase that would precede the acceptance of his fate. But for that, it is absolutely necessary that the 19. PzGr play its role.
Between Neapolis and Veria ("Tower West") - The Greek 3rd Mountain Brigade follows closely the German GebirgsJägers, who decamped during the night, in good order. True to their nature, they left behind many mines... and ruins. Leaving the city of Neapolis, from where a single road leads to the Albanian border and the positions of the LXVIII. Armee-Korps, the 1. and 3. GD choose to establish new defensive positions at Vigastisko, about ten kilometers further north.
The 1st ID of General Batas officially liberates the city, interrupting the savage purges that had begun at dawn. Among the crowd that watches the evzones restore the royal order, a 14 years old teenager named Christos Sartzetakis. Enthusiastic like all those of his age, he however retains the lesson of the soldiers: the force must remain with the Right and Justice must never give in to barbarism. He will make live this teaching all his future career as a prosecutor in Salonika, and well beyond.
On the other side of the massif, the 6th Mountain Brigade prepares to advance towards Ptolemaida, without realizing that its opponents are evading them. Would the Greek mountaineers hurry the movement if they knew the German intentions? Probably not, because their action remains a simple operation of securing the allied flank against a possible counter-attack aimed at encircling the leading units.
In the lead, the 1st Armored Brigade (transferred from the 1st to the 2nd Greek Corps) and the 13th ID (Leonidas Stergiopoulos) charges across the plain and enters Makrokori under the midday sun. In the evening, the armoured vehicles are only a dozen kilometers from Alexandria.
Informed of the progress of the Greek forces, which attests to the inaction of the XVIII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps, Fehn goes through all the phases of grief: denial of the reports, then pain because his plan seems to be in trouble, followed by anger towards his colleague Dietl and their superior Löhr... Then comes the bargaining: it must be possible to gain a day by an additional delaying action! He has a little idea that could spare him the depression phase that would precede the acceptance of his fate. But for that, it is absolutely necessary that the 19. PzGr play its role.
9355 - Battle of Korinos
August 24th, 1943
Korinos - Sevasti - Kitros Triangle - This area of about 20 square kilometers will see the largest armored engagement of the Greek campaign since the Germans evacuated the Peloponnese. The 19. PanzerGrenadier of Irkens is positioned in this area, covering the retreat of von Ludwiger's Jägers and von Böhm- Bezing's troops, who are moving up towards Salonika under the taunts of the young Panzerpilots.
The site, resulting from the successive movements of units forced by the hesitations of the German command and the progression of the Allied units, was obviously not chosen at random by Fehn. For him, it presents at least three interests. First, the small width of the plain (6.5 km at the most) will make it difficult to overrun and will hinder the deployment of a large number of Allied armoured vehicles, preventing them from using their numerical superiority. Then, and this is a rarity in this region of agricultural plains, we can notice the presence of several woods and dense copses, which are as much cover for the Brandenburgers and places of camouflage for the tank hunters. Finally, the plain is dotted with streams and irrigation canals, forming streams that can be up to 5 meters deep and will constitute support points for the defense or pivots for maneuvering.
From a topographical point of view, the villages of Korinos, Sevasti and Kitros, connected by the main roads of the sector, roughly form a rectangular triangle, whose hypotenuse Korinos - Kitros measures approximately 6,5 km. From west to east, from Sevasti, located at the foothills, the plots and meadows descend eastward for 3 kilometers to the southeast, with slopes varying from 1 to 10%. Kitros, 3 km to the north, is separated from Sevasti by three wooded valleys where streams flow, as well as by a rather large wood. Finally, Korinos, the most important village and the most southern (in the south-west of Sevasti), is situated in the first third of a plain of 4 km wide, punctuated only by farm buildings. Further to the east, it is the Aegean Sea.
Irkens hopes to hold back the Allies and destroy a large number of opposing armored vehicles on this terrain favorable to ambushes. He therefore plans a drawer system, which he decided on jointly with Major Hans-Gerhard Bansen of the 1. Brandenburg Rgt (2,350 men). He distributed the 1. Abteilung of his armored brigade (24 Panzer III J and 22 Panzer IV G, plus two dozen Sdkfz 221 to 223) in the trees and groves around Korinos, especially in the east. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Brandenburgers and the dozen or so Pak 40s at their disposal, complete this line of defense. The 242. StuG Abt. (Hauptmann Ernst Benz) is deployed north, between Kitros and the road from Korinos to Sevasti; its 45 machines (21 StuG III, 12 StuG IV, 12 JagdPanzer IV) are accompanied by the 2nd Battalion of Brandenburgers (Major Max Wandrey). Irkens guards the 2. Abteilung of the Panzer Brigade (of the same composition as the other) in reserve with him, near Sevasti.
His plan is simple: wishing to hide his forces from the adversary to avoid their crushing by the artillery and the allied aviation, he intends to reveal first his line of defense to Korinos, which will be considered too short. He will thus encourage the Australians in a hurry to bypass it towards Sevasti, falling then in the ambushes of the self-propelled guns marked with the two intertwined. Then, taking advantage of the confusion, he will launch the reserve Abteilung across the plain on the opposing columns, to sweep them as if on parade. All this with the support of the Luftwaffe, whose presence Fehn has just confirmed to him at the end of the morning, intervening under a big half-hour.
An ingenious plan, although complex and dispersing the troops. But Irkens has no choice, given the disproportion of the forces. And he has to deal with the lack of homogeneity of his unit, where the different types of soldiers mix more than they collaborate. He still remembers, at the arms vigil in his tent, the sneer of Hans-Gerhard Bansen, when one of the young tankers proposed to turn Korinos into a "fortress" by concentrating the Brandenburgers and their anti-tank equipment there: "And marking the whole area with Reich flags, I suppose? So that the enemy aviation does not make a mistake!" The city will simply be mined, for the sake of awareness.
The armored vehicles set up in the night, with the roar of their engines. Then, the crunch of the tracks fades, branches are torn off and placed on the steel. Finally, the silence returns, broken by the birds that greet the rising sun.
.........
07:00 - Robertson's 1st Australian Armored Division comes up to three kilometers from the German lines, crossing a small bridge located 1.5 km from Korinos. The 6th Armored Rgt (Lt-colonel James Baker MacBean), composed of 48 Cromwells, moves at the head of the column, behind a reconnaissance squadron of ten Daimler Dingos and ten Daimler armored cars, operating in independent groups of four.
The regiment leads the 1st Armored Brigade (Brigadier D. McArthur-Onslow), the least tired unit of the division. Composed in addition of the fastest tanks, it is normal that it leads the way. The men are vigilant, but relaxed. For three days they have not met the enemy.
Around Korinos, the Germans hold back their fire: the orders are to open fire only at less than 750 meters, to maximize the surprise effect.
07:15 - In his Panzer IV G, well camouflaged behind a hedge, tank commander Mayering observes the allied armoured vehicles. Suddenly, the turret of an armored Daimler turns towards him.
Thinking he was spotted (it was difficult to know if he was indeed spotted), he opens fire, destroying the machine gun. But most of the allied tanks are not yet in optimal range.
07:17 - "Feuer Frei!" yells the commander of the 1. Abteilung into his throat microphone. In all, 45 panzers and twelve guns open fire, at distances of up to 1,750 meters.
Much too far for the 50 mm/L60 of the Pzr III, which could only pierce the flank armor of the Cromwells, let alone penetrate the frontal plastron.
The 7,5 cm of the Panzers IV and Pak 40 are on the other hand very capable, and this (for some) up to 2 500 meters. Eight allied tanks are hit, including the lead vehicle which explodes, victim of two simultaneous impacts ! In his Cromwell, McBean let out a "The Devil!" from the depths of his soul. The allied armoured vehicles immediately deploy in front of what they think is a simple rearguard, and ask for reinforcements while returning fire, guided by the Daimlers which will recognize the enemy positions, at the cost of three of theirs. But the QF 75 mm of the Cromwells lacks terrible punch at this distance - two Panzer IV taken from the flank are still eliminated.
"Suddenly, several A-Squadron armor tanks burst into flames almost at the same time. The tank of Pat Dyas, the squadron's deputy commander, turns next to mine. I see Pat, his forehead is bleeding. At that moment, all the tanks in front of us are burning and I observe a fire in front of me at about 1,200 m. Wow! We are hit. I feel a burn between my legs and I am surprised to be wounded. A lance of fire goes through the turret, and my mouth is full of dirt and burnt paint. I yelled, "Evacuate!" and leapt out of the tank. I look at my evacuating crew when suddenly a machine gun opens fire on me and I throw myself into the grass. The firing continues and Dyas' Cromwell disappears behind a grove of trees, firing. The crash is frightening. I decide to go back to a hedge in the back and try to reach the B-Squadron. When we emerge, I see Dyas on foot, 200 yards behind me. He had hoped to destroy a Panzer IV, but his shell ripped through the faceplate." (Testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
07:25 - In his command Daimler, Brigadier General D. McArthur-Onslow informs General Robertson that the lead regiment has been ambushed, and urgently requests air support to clarify the situation and prevent any over-ambush. He also orders Lt-Colonel T. Mills' 5th Armoured Rgt (30 Sherman M4A3) to go forward to assist the Cromwells.
Robertson passes on the request for air support and calls Freyberg, of the 2nd NZ ID, to inform him of the situation.
07:35 - The Shermans of the 5th Rgt quickly join their colleagues in the fight with the enemy. In the meantime, the latter had moved closer to 750 m to retaliate more effectively, but without much success. If the Panzer IIIs are still not effective (they would have to fire at point-blank range to pierce the chest of their opponents), the Panzer IV and the Pak 40 are deadly : 6 more Cromwell are immobile or on fire in the fields, as well as 2 Daimlers, against only 3 Panzer IV and 1 Panzer III.
Nevertheless, and taking advantage of the diversion provided by their comrades, the Shermans charge towards the enemy lines and fire their 75 mm T8/M3 with gyroscopic sights, equipped with tungsten-tipped AP shells, thus much more efficient than the Cromwell weapon. Five Pzr III and one Pzr IV (which was getting back into position by exposing its flank), are put out of action. This action allows the Cromwells to take off and take some shelter.
07:45 - Informed of the losses suffered by the 6th Rgt (30 % of its strength !), McArthur-Onslow sends his third unit, the 7th Armoured Rgt (Lt-Colonel RM Wright) into the fray. This one has 43 Churchill Mk IV, whose 6-pounder QF gun should unlock the situation...
07:55 - As the 5th Rgt follows the 6th in its withdrawal, leaving behind a smoking Sherman in exchange for a Panzer IV, the Churchills come up heavily in front of the enemy line. But if their gun is able to pierce all the armor of their opponents from 1,200 meters, they are held back by new orders at about 1,900 meters, while they have just destroyed two Pzr III. Uncertain of the exact strength of the opponent, the commander of the 1st Armoured prefers not to expose his men too much.
Indeed, Robertson judges that the enemy line seems decidedly solid (he was unaware that the 1. Abt had already lost 15 tanks out of 46, which was starting to weigh on it!) He asks Freyberg to deploy his divisional artillery, namely the 4th, 5th and 6th Field Artillery Rgt, equipped with 25-pounders. In the meantime, he consults with the commander of his second armored brigade, Brigadier M.A. Fergusson, on the possibility of bypassing the enemy's anti-tank defences.
08:10 - As the intensity of the tank-to-tank firefight subsides, 20 Havocs from GB 1/19 appear from the east - they come from the sea - to take in enfilade the German position. Very roughly guided by the ground controller, who was unaware of the nature of the enemy system, they drop their 250 kg bombs on the hedges and the remarkable elements of the landscape likely to form cover. The idea is not bad: the Brandenburgers have a hundred dead and wounded; moreover a Panzer III is put out of combat by a lucky shot.
08:20 - The exchange of fire is becoming less frequent, as both sides suspect that at this distance they are only wasting ammunition and/or revealing themselves. Fergusson, just out of his meeting with Robertson, puts his brigade in battle order to advance towards Sevasti. Suspicious, he observes from afar the groves that dot the hillsides and organizes his column as follows: in the lead, the 33 Churchills of the 9th Armoured Rgt of Lt-Colonel Alexander E. McIntyre, in order to take advantage of their armor. Last, the 33 Shermans of the 8th Armoured Rgt of Lt-Colonel F.D. Marshall, whose guns can carry a lot of weight. And in the middle, ready to maneuver under the protection of their comrades, the 37 Cromwells of Lt-Colonel R.E. Wade's 10th Armoured Rgt.
To accompany them, Freyberg designates the 21st Btn of the 5th Infantry Brigade (Howard Kippenberger). And in case of a hard blow, the 75 mm howitzers of the 16th Rgt of the Royal Australian Artillery (1st AAD) will be able to support them, their fire regulated by two Piper Cub which have just arrived. The attack will start in half an hour.
08:40 - The 25-pounders of the 2nd New-Zealand Division begin firing on what they assume to be enemy positions, i.e. on the (fortunately deserted) village of Korinos, which suffers quite a lot of damage. Around them, the Bofors of the 14th Light AA Rgt are deployed in protection.
09:15 - The tanks of the 2nd Brigade start to move up the hill towards Sevasti, with the Churchills in the lead as planned. The action starts finally, after a few minutes of delay due to the state of the roads and the general congestion of the area, all to the great annoyance of Roberston, who sees his operation undergoing a new delay.
Near Sevasti, in his headquarters under the trees, Irkens is jubilant as he watches the allied maneuver through binoculars: is his plan working? The heavy green vehicles are forming up, they are going to fall into the trap! However, he can't get rid of a dull worry : the opposing tanks are so numerous... And he has no artillery to take advantage of their traffic jam. It is true that, if he had some, it would already be explaining itself to the gunners on the other side. Well, we can only hope that the ambush of the 242. StuG Abt. succeeds fully. Because, if its forces are perfectly camouflaged, they are not at all concentrated, as the cover is scattered. And what is seen by the most forward machines is not necessarily visible to the StuGs further back. For everything to work, it will be necessary that the Allies fully commit themselves to the trap, like the mouse that stretches its neck to reach the cheese.
09:35 - From the sky, Flying Officer Wilbert observes Fergusson's machines progressing towards Sevasti, cohort of turtles raising clouds of dust. He suspects that the Australians would be reluctant to engage this town, Korinos, without infantry. But it is surprising that the Germans did not see fit to defend the area where the armor is now advancing. This is a strange clumsiness on their part, which Wilkinson is not used to, he having gone through the second Peloponnesian campaign. Are their opponents so badly off?
With an eye sharpened by experience, he looks at the sunny landscape and sees a brief flash of light. Intrigued, he makes a flat turn, to traverse again the trajectory which he has just followed. It came from the forest, from its edge to be precise... going down to a hundred meters from the ground, he flies over the suspicious zone, as fast as his 65 horsepower Continental A-65 engine allows. "Goddamn it!" he bellows.
09:36 - Wilbert yells into the radio on the frequency that puts him in contact with the ground forces: "This is Cub-1, calling tanks going north in column. Abort advance immediatly ! Enemy in front of you!"
The squadron leader at the head of the column thinks it's a joke, or a misunderstanding. The message addressed to the forces remaining in front of Korinos? He replies: "Cub-1, this is C-Squadron, call-name Dragonfly. This path've been given by the Division HQ. Please confirm!"
The answer is unambiguous: "Dragonfly, this is Cub-1. The hell with the Division HQ! Enemy tanks ahead! Retreat! Come on, guy!"
The matter looks serious, and the column stops. Without knowing it, it is 1,600 meters from the first enemy positions.
Rightly estimating that the ambush had been discovered and that every moment lost reduces its chances of inflicting damage, Hauptmann Benz gives the order to open fire, even though only part of his battalion is in firing position.
09:38 - About a third of the strength of the 242. StuG Abt, i.e. 15 tanks, open fire at the same time. And if the firing distance is not optimal, all should be able to destroy their opponents, thanks to their 75 cm KwK 40 (the same as the Pzr IV G2).
Six Churchills are hit, three of which are put out of action. The frontal plastron of the others resist the impact (the penetration capacity of the KwK 40 is at this distance of 97 mm and the frontal armor of a Churchill is 102 mm). The machine of the unfortunate squadron leader is hit at the chassis-turret joint, the latter being projected in the air several meters away. The occupants, who are not killed, are seriously injured by the blast and the heat of the impact.
The Allied tanks immediately returd fire, but their shooting is approximate. At this distance, anyway, their gun is effective, from the front, only against the Sturmgeschütz III.
09:40 - The tanks of the 9th Rgt try to retreat, but they do not succeed, the tanks which follow them block their withdrawal. In the confusion, the exchange of fire continues, without any damage... for the moment.
09:45 - General Robertson, whom McIntyre has just informed, understands that the tanks of the 2nd Brigade have just escaped, by chance or by fate, a death trap. He orders the immediate withdrawal of the whole column, under the smoke of the divisional artillery.
09:55 - Brigadier Fergusson's tanks disappear behind a thick white cloud, not without having lost two more tanks to enemy fire. The Churchills still manage to destroy a StuG III which explodes, mowing down about fifteen soldiers who had taken refuge behind it.
When the smoke clears, the allied tanks are out of range, or hidden by the terrain. The score is unfavorable - five to one - but it could have been worse. Much worse.
10:10 - Robertson takes stock of the situation at his campaign headquarters on the northern outskirts of Katerini. The bad encounter with Mclntyre's armor on the road to Sevasti can only mean one thing: he is facing not a simple rearguard, but a large and complete armored unit. Without wasting time, he draws up his battle plan in agreement with General Freyberg.
The objective is twofold: to resume the advance towards Aginio, of course, but by destroying the column of enemy tanks. The force identified is significant, but not greater than the capabilities of the ANZAC (otherwise, they would have been spotted earlier, and/or they would be attacking, not setting traps). Do not let them escape and go and ambush elsewhere on the road to Salonika. Robertson therefore decides to resume the offensive without delay, so as not to give the enemy time to reposition.
He plans to attack the first positions discovered, near Korinos, from the front. The 1st Armoured Brigade takes charge, reinforced by elements of the New Zealand Infantry Division and the Kiwi organic armored brigade, the 4th (Brigadier Lindsay Merritt Inglis). All this after a careful preparation assured by the air force which is on the way from Attica, and by the 25-pounder, now well in position.
As for the units ambushed on the heights, they are kept at bay by the 2nd Armoured Brigade, which will remain in reserve to, if necessary, deal with the ambushers in question or even to cut off the retreat of the troops who would like to withdraw towards Kitros.
Once the front is broken, the still camouflaged elements will have to be uncovered, otherwise they would be surrounded and eliminated. Moreover, taking the matter very seriously, Lavarack asks for the help of the Navy, whose monitors should appear in front of the coast, very close, in the afternoon.
This plan is perfect! But it does not take into account the reaction of the enemy.
Opposite, about fifteen kilometers away, Irkens weighs his situation on a fine scale: to withdraw when his forces have barely fought is inconceivable (at this moment he has only lost 17 tanks out of 137). If his trap is now defused, he still has powerful means that must be used without delay, because every hour that passes plays against him. It is at this moment that a message from Major Bansen, of the Brandenburgers, informs him that his 1. Panzer Abteilung has just launched an assault. The general begins by launching a barrage of imprecations, before, forced and obliged, ordering the 2. Abteilung to run to support the 1.
10:02 - Let's go back a few minutes to explain what happened. After the first few rounds of combat, the young tankers of the 19. Brigade felt frustrated. They had only a brief action, before hearing the cannon thunder on the road to Sevasti, and they are eating their words. Didn't the opposing tanks run away from them? It is necessary to take the initiative to take advantage of this, to get the better of the enemy! Platoon leader Ludwig Balhure gives the order: "Langsam Vorfahren Dorfrand unter Feuer Nemmen pass auf!" - advance slowly to catch the enemy under fire. Seeing his four neighbors move, platoon leader Karl Veiser protests, "Ludwig, Balden Haben wir einen Sitzen!" - Ludwig, they risk getting us! But not wanting to let his comrades venture out alone, he in turn advances his tanks a little behind. As soon as the first cannon shots were fired, the rest of the battalion starts to march...
This is how the whole 1. Panzer Abt. of the 19. Brigade (30 tanks, at that moment) started to move south in an improvised maneuver.
Panzer III and IV fall first on the Shermans of the 5th Armoured Rgt, who are surprised by this unexpected counter-attack and suffer the first enemy fire at 1,200 meters. Three machines are put out of action by the Panzer IVs, plus one is knocked out by a lucky Panzer III. But, far from running away as the German tankers hoped, they retaliate, and move closer to the enemy. The first salvo, from a little too far for their 75 mm guns, however, destroys a Pzr IV and a Pzr III.
Meanwhile, while accepting the fight, the armoured troops of the 5th Rgt ask for reinforcement.
The 7th Armoured Rgt, equipped with Churchill, responds immediately and moves to the flank. This regiment is covered by the Cromwells of the 6th Rgt, which advance again and ask for support on this road which had already cost them dearly.
10:15 - Allied HQ learns that the battle rebounds in front of Korinos. The artillery is ordered to establish a barrage behind Korinos and the 4th Armoured Brigade is launched forward, followed by the 5th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Howard Kippenberger). An urgent air support is requested in Athens.
10:18 - Irkens orders the Brandenburgers to move forward in turn, "if the situation is favorable". Judging that it is not the case, the elite infantrymen do not move, but support the tanks with Pak 40. Meanwhile, the general asks for immediate help from the Luftwaffe.
In front of Korinos, the battle rages and the distance between the adversaries is only about 500 meters. Within a few minutes, 3 Shermans, 2 Churchills and 3 Cromwell are eliminated, against 6 Pzr III and 4 Pzr IV. The German crews start to pay for their inexperience and enthusiasm. Thus, the platoon leader Ludwig Balhure, who commands as he had been taught, with his chest out of his turret, is cut in two by a shell. The lower part of his body falls on his pointer before bleeding out. The unfortunate man, a young blond, barely 19 years old at the time, will keep a burning memory of this.
10:23 - In their airfield south of Pristina, the pilots of I/StG 3 prepare themselves in a cathedral-like silence. Even if there are only 250 kilometers to go to the objective, it is about 250 kilometers in enemy sky, so much the allied superiority is incontestable. The JG 27 promises an escort, it is doubtful that it could prevent the Mustangs or the Spitfires from reaching their Fw 190Fs, which their bombs make so clumsy... Usually, their efficiency is based on a quick approach, under the radar, and an equally quick disengagement after the bombing. But here, the enemy is already in place, waiting for them !
We are used to heavy losses, at I/StG 3. It is even a kind of tradition for the aircraft decorated with the white lion, which lost 13 Ju 87s and 26 crew members during an exercise in Silesia on August 15th, 1939 - the altitude indicated for the resource after a dive-bombing had turned out to be wrong. The Bad-luck Gruppe... few have the hope to return. During the preparation of the mission, Hauptmann Helmut Naumann asked for volunteers. No one came forward. Naumann then said: "You can't let me go alone!" In the end, the whole group went (all the airworthy aircraft, at least) went: 18 aircraft that rose heavily from the ground. Once in the air, they find three Bf 109G Schwärme sent by 1/JG 27, i.e. 12 aircraft.
The Luftwaffe birds, an endangered species, fly off to the southwest.
10:25 - The Australian 1st Armoured Brigade begins a tactical withdrawal, to join the 4th Brigade and especially to get away from the formidable Pak 40s of the Brandenburgers and to allow the friendly artillery to start firing without risking a deadly "friendly fire" - that would be the last straw, after the losses already suffered. McArthur-Onslow's tanks withdraw south, with R.M. Wright's Churchills at the rear of the formation, some moving backwards to continue presenting their 102 mm thick breastworks to the enemy. This tricky maneuver is not successful by all and two of their number are still on the ground.
On the other side, the men of the 1. Abteilung of the 19. PanzerBrigade, enthusiastic, think they have won the game and the 18 surviving tanks start the pursuit.
10:32 - While the 24 Pzr III and 22 Pzr IV of the 2. Abteilung are moving from Sevasti towards Korinos, the first shells of the allied 25-pounder begin to fall north of Korinos, thus in full on their road. The tanks accelerate to cross the bombed area as quickly as possible, but a Pzr IV and two Pzr III pull a bad number and are put out of combat. The Brandenburgers, much more vulnerable, hide in their shelters.
South of the battlefield, William G. Gentry's 6th Infantry Brigade starts to advance towards Korinos.
10:38 - Hauptmann Ernst Benz, of the 242. StuG Abt, observes with concern the clouds raised by the allied artillery in the plain. He obviously knows he has been spotted and has asked Irkens for instructions, which he is still waiting for.
His radio finally crackles. His superior informs him of the counter-attack of the 1. Abt (without the spontaneous character of it) and asks him to pass on the side of Nea Chrani, to try to flank the allied tanks, thus relieving the pressure on his less experienced colleagues. He has to take with him all the possible infantry, which will be in charge to entrench themselves in the village. The captain, fatalistic, takes with him about 600 men and obeys. After all, the guns of his tank hunters pierce most of the allied armor up to 2,500 meters, perhaps he will not need to expose himself too much.
10:42 - The 1. Abt of the 19. Panzerbrigade reach the stream that the Allies had crossed in the opposite direction at the beginning of the battle, more than three and a half hours ago. Two tanks attempt to cross the small valley - they are immediately caught under fire by the Shermans of the 4th Brigade (18th, 19th and 20th Btn) which arrived as reinforcements, 135 tanks in all! This is a lot for a remnant of the Abteilung. And the young tankers wonder if they have not temoted fate a little. The most advanced machine, a Panzer III, is hit by an AP shell as it clumsily tries to turn around. The projectile penetrates the left side, crosses the whole tank and exits through the right side. Inside, the entire crew seems to have been killed, but one man finally emerges from the outfitter's hatch, rolls to the ground, stands up, looking shocked and collapses in the bushes where he dies, a shrapnel in the throat...
In the minutes that followed, Lindsay M. Inglis' Shermans fire no less than 750 shells on the presumptuous, a good part of them at more than 1,000 meters - too far to carry. But, arriving at less than half a mile, the Allied tankers teach their young opponents a lesson - a lesson hard learned against Rommel's men a few months earlier. Seven more panzers are eliminated in exchange for two Shermans (plus one last victim of the Brandenburgers' Pak 40s, which fire at 2,000 meters). Of the 46 armored vehicles in the initial strength of the 1. Abteilung, ten tanks (8 Pzr IV and 2 Pzr III) remain and flee north. Later on, this episode will be nicknamed in the Panzerwaffe "Der Massenmord der Unschuldigen" - the massacre of the innocent. The survivors run to take refuge with their comrades of the 2. Abteilung, who arrive from Sevasti.
10:57 - The Luftwaffe aircraft appear over the battlefield, coming from the north-west on a confused and critical situation. On the German right flank, the PanzerJägers of the 242. StuG Abt are almost in contact with Fergusson's 2nd Armoured Brigade. In the center, Gentry's 6th Infantry Brigade has been advancing for 30 minutes on the road to Korinos with the support of Australian machine guns. And on the left, the two Abteilungs of the 19. PzrBrigade (in all, 24 Pzr III and 29 Pzr IV) are joining to face a real tide of machines and try to withdraw.
The pilots are perplexed by this Dantesque scene - a wild melee that this front is not used to anymore. The Fw 190Fs aim at the main enemy concentration, the closest to their
to their trajectory - Fergusson's 2nd Armoured Brigade.
But, as they feared, they are expected.
The Allied Air Control decided to entrust the French with the fighter cover over the area for the day. This morning, the French Air Force sends... Czechoslovakians. It is the 9th EC, on NA-89, which patrols the area. And when one of its wingmen signals the arrival of the intruders, commander Franz Patochka lets out an exclamation of joy. Finally! It had been so long since the Allied fighters had nothing to eat! On the radio, when the controllers heard Patochka abandon the usual French-English sabir of the pilots to switch to switch to Czech, they do not understand anything, but they know the essential: the Czechs have the enemy in sight and they attack!
The GC I/9 takes on the Bf 109G, which saw them coming and confronts them courageously, but they can do nothing to prevent the GC II/9 from falling on the Fw 190F. In his headphones, Helmut Naumann hears cries of warning: "Achtung, Mustang!" and someone adds, "Those are Czechs!*. The Hauptmann can only complain that it would have been better to let them have their Sudetenland, before the II/9 planes arrive. Out of 18 Jabos, about a third are shot down while trying to continue to the objective, a third drop their bombs at random and one third succeed in bombing. Three Allied armored vehicles are disabled and about fifteen infantrymen fall around them. But the ordeal of I/StG 3 is not over. Out of eighteen aircraft, only eight return to base. The 109G escorts lose three planes. On the other side, the Czechs, who regroup without pursuing their adversaries too far, lose five aircraft, one of which hit the earth by diving with too much enthusiasm on its prey.
11:00 - The tanks of the 19. PanzerBrigade, still facing the 4th Armoured Brigade, are in a desperate situation. With one against three, they cannot reasonably hope to get out of it. To withdraw to the north is to pass again under the rain of steel shells of the 25-pounder. The commander of the 2. Abteilung then chooses the only solution left and orders his tanks to withdraw to the west, the survivors of the 1. Abt obviously following the movement. But before this stall is effective, no less than eight tanks (5 Panzer III and 3 Panzer IV) remain on the ground, in exchange for four allied tanks. The 19. PzrBrigade has only 45 tanks left, of which seven Panzer IV are all that remain of the 1. Abteilung.
11:04 - But this new sacrifice would not be enough without the intervention at this precise moment of the PanzerJägers of Hauptmann Benz. The latter took his time. To reach the battlefield, he preferred to make a wide detour along the hills and valleys for 3 or 4 kilometers. A winning bet: he is able to unload his infantry without loss. His guns open fire at 1,700 meters: at this distance they will not hit for sure, but if they do hit, they will usually destroy their opponents (except for the Churchills, and then only from the front). On the other hand, Jagdpanzer IV and StuG IV are invulnerable from the front.
"Forward, guys! At this range, they can't reach us!" (Sgt. Clark Boger - last words, quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
The 8th Armoured Rgt (Marshall), positioned the furthest north, takes the brunt of the blow. Seven Shermans blow up before they understand what is happening to them. Their riposte can only reach a StuG IV caught in the flank.
Marshall, while calling for reinforcements, realizes that to destroy these new adversaries, he must get close to them. Courageously, he orders them to advance.
11:10 - To advance, that is precisely the order Freyberg had just given to his 6th Infantry Brigade. The role of the New Zealanders is simple: to break through the defensive line near Korinos, around which they have been fighting for four hours now! The 6,600 men of the brigade advance, supported by the 27th Machine-Gun Btn.
Moreover, L.M. Inglis, who commands the 4th Armoured, sees the tanks of the 19. PanzerBrigade running away across the fields, zigzagging between the wrecks. Well, if the Germans retreat, it is because of Robertson and his Australians. His brigade has better things to do than chase them, they would join their infantry. His Shermans (still more than 120 at this time) are added to the forces attacking in the direction of Korinos. Meanwhile, the 25-pounder divisionals start to hit the known positions of the Brandenburgers again, killing or wounding 60.
All this is an overwhelming force against two battalions, even elite, ten anti-tank guns and two dozen self-propelled guns. Yet the game is far from over.
11:15 - The Czech NA-89s have regrouped over the battlefield - their role is over. But the FAC still has an urgent request for support for the 2nd Armored Brigade, which is obviously having trouble with tank hunters. However, ground support has been devolved to the French for today, and the planes arriving at the edge of the bushes are the P-39 of the I and II/22 G-ACCS... Poles. This is not to the advantage of theGermans, because these men have a furious desire to massacre Panzers - and, in general anything bearing the swastika.
11:18 - The exchange of fire continues between the Fergusson tanks and the PanzerJägers, who have difficulty in positioning themselves in this hilly sector, which allows the tanks to maneuver in the shelter of the terrain. And if the Shermans still suffer (their 75 mm is powerless at more than 500 m against the 80 mm of the front armor of the JagdPanzer IV or the StuG IV), the intervention of the Churchills of the 9th Rgt now provides, with their 6-pounder QF, a counterweight. The Cromwells remain in the background, considering the poor efficiency of their 75 mm QF guns, but they are obviously on the lookout for an opportunity to overrun.
In a few minutes, nine allied armoured vehicles are put out of action, against one Jadgpanzer IV, three Stug IV and three Stug III.
11:20 - The Polish P-39s surge onto the battlefield. Their bombs are raining down, their machine guns spit - only one StuG III, hit by a 225 kg bomb, is eliminated, but the unfortunate Brandenburgers, surprised in the open, are mowed down - more than a hundred and twenty lie dead and wounded.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the Allied tanks, the 5th Infantry Brigade (Howard Kippenberger) goes up to the assault, while, further away, the 16th Artillery Rgt prepares to support the attack.
11:22 - The Germans think they are rid of the P-39s, but the Poles just made a loop by climbing to come back on their objectives, not in low level, but in a dive. Indeed, the PanzerJägers which, at man's height, have a flat silhouette, difficult to see from above, are nothing more than rectangles like the other vehicles. In short, they are targets. And vulnerable targets: from this angle, the 37 mm gun of the P-39, which would be ineffective against their side armor, is perfectly capable of piercing the thin armor of the roof. In a few moments, two JagdPanzer IV, two StuG IV and three StuG III succumb.
The situation could quickly become untenable for the 242. StuG Abt, who has only nine JPzr IV, seven StuG IV and eight StuG III. Without wasting time, Benz orders a tactical withdrawal towards Sevasti, going back to the cover.
11:25 - Near Korinos, the first fire breaks out between the 25th Btn of the 6th Infantry Brigade and the two battalions of Brandenburgers. Contrary to the Panzerwaffe men, the latter show an impeccable fire discipline, opening fire only at the last moment and wearing down the units as they advance. The machine guns sweep the ground, snipers aim at officers and NCOs, and Pak 40s blast vehicles that show their noses - three Shermans and four Daimlers. However, the artillery fire becomes more and more accurate and Major Bansen begins to seriously consider a withdrawal.
11:27 - The retreating panzers are out of the woods, for now. While the 38 survivors of the 2. Abt maneuver to position themselves in support of the defense line, what remains of the 1. Abt joins Irkens at his headquarters, for regrouping and withdrawal. The crews of these seven Panzer IVs are exhausted and short of ammunition - they are no longer able to influence the battle. Moreover, the indiscipline of the formation annoyed the general to the highest point, who gives them a cold and even acidic personal welcome. When he sees them arrive, he takes the time to look for the officer responsible for the ill-advised counter-attack, but the late Ludwig Balhure is nowhere to be found to take in the storm. According to the legend, the general had found the crew of his Panzer IV busy cleaning the turret of the remains of his leader.
Sharp as a flint, Irkens told them: "You won't get a new panzer, nor new uniforms, so wash them carefully!"
11:30, Aegean Sea - A reckless Arado 196, departing from Salonika, spots the Allied fleet off the Halkidiki peninsula. HMS Erebus and Terror are still accompanied by the light monitors of the 2nd Interallied Coastal Fire Support Squadron (three IFSS-G and two IFSS- F), the escort destroyers RHS Kriti (Hunt class), MN L'Impérieuse and La Résolue (Hunt-III class), and the corvettes RHS Pindos, MN Ill and Yser (Flower class). The flotilla remains to clean the approaches to Salonika, covered by the six LCS(L) and the destroyer HMS Middleton (Hunt class).
The ships immediately alert the allied fighters, but the Ar 196 flees without asking for more. All ships in the Aegean Sea being presumed enemies, the pilot had already given the alarm.
11:38 - The 242. StuG Abt and the 2. Battalion of Brandenburgers continued to fight in retreat, trying to maintain distance from Fergusson's 2nd Armored Brigade and Kippenberger's infantry. The PanzerJägers could not hope to stop their opponents, but they gain time while retreating to Sevasti and relatively urbanized terrain, which is more favorable to defense. These rearguard actions cost the Allies another nine tanks (five Shermans and four Churchills). The Benz machines retreat with expertise, often stopping in their movement to seize the Allied tanks at the top of a hill, or at the bend of a slope, before disappearing to ambush further on. Nevertheless, the maneuver does not always work, and the Abteilung is now reduced to twenty vehicles (nine JPzr IV, six StuG IV and five StuG III).
11:45 - Near Korinos, the 6th Infantry Brigade is still blocked in front of the very vigorous defense of the Brandenburgers, supported by Pak 40s and machine guns of the SdkFz 221. On the other hand, the Shermans of Merrit-Inglis are reluctant to get too close. The numerous wrecks of their colleagues serve as an eloquent warning. These same wrecks are however as much cover for the advancing infantry, supported by their mortars. And meanwhile, the divisional artillery continues to sharpen its fire - it is its shells that cause the most losses to the defenders, about a hundred men in the last fifteen minutes.
11:55, Thessaloniki - At his headquarters, Fehn is apprehensive about the intervention of the Allied Navy in the battle of Korinos. In a moody gesture, he notifies Vice-Admiral Förste, who comes out of the small office from which he directs all that remains as Axis warships in the Eastern Mediterranean: two ex-Italian speedboats, the SI-533 and SI-574, and three mini-submarines, the CB-1 (under repair until, probably, the next war, for lack of a spare part), the CB-6 and the CB-10. "Will you not do anything, once again?" he asks the sailor. Stung to the core, Förste salutes in an extremely stiff manner and disappears.
12:00 - The twenty survivors of the 242. StuG Abt finally reach Sevasti, under cannonade. The StuGs take up defensive positions around the village, waiting for an unlikely reinforcement. Benz announces then to Irkens, by radio, that he cannot support any more the defenders of Korinos - he had not had the opportunity to inform him of this before.
The Australians make a pause, stopping 2 kilometers from the buildings, the machines well out of sight of the dreaded PanzerJägers. They ask for artillery support to dislodge the Germans and to prepare what is to be a real assault in an urban environment. For such an action, Freyberg chooses to bring Fred Baker's 28th Btn (Maori) up to the line, 900 elite men. It is his best unit, and the last fresh infantry he has.
12:10 - Under a blazing sun that overheats the engines and wrings out the crews, there is no lull in the fighting.
But, with the fresh wind from the open sea, the small allied squadron signals to Lavarack HQ that it is waiting for the coordinates to start firing. It has seven large guns, whose rate of fire does not exceed two shots per minute. This may not seem like much, but these are four pieces of 15 inches, whose shells weigh 875 kg each (on the two heavy monitors), and three 7.5 inch pieces (on the three IFSS-G).
12:15 - Freyberg is jubilant in his forward headquarters: the naval artillery should shake those Nazis! To maximize the psychological effect (but also to avoid any friendly fire on such devastating fire), he gives the order to withdraw. The Brandenburgers will see what they will see...
12:20 - In his advanced headquarters, General Irkens envisaged, as far as he is concerned, a withdrawal by successive jumps in the direction of Aginio. Fast enough not to suffer the anger of the artillery, but slow enough to continue its mission. And in any case, the allied attacks seem to be calming down... "Maybe they're taking a break for tea?" he jokes with a cold smile.
12:24 - In the depths of both the Terror and the Erebus, a winch lifts a heavy metal assembly, which is arranged on a hydraulic elevator. The piece goes up one floor and dirty but expert hands place next to it a round and yellow accessory - its propelling charge, separated for safety reasons that date back to Jutland. The whole thing goes up another floor, then appears in a confined room to be tipped onto a cart, which still raises the object of half a dozen meters. Arrived at the shooting station, the cart stops in front of a long obscure tube of 15 inches (38,1 cm) of diameter. A hydraulic piston pushes the shell inside the tube, then the charge is manually attached to it. The breech closes. Darkness. Then the barrel of the gun rises and suddenly, light again! The charge explodes, propelling the projectile with an infernal roar, which is followed by flames and leaves the tube to rush towards the German positions, some twenty kilometers away. Nearby, the twin gun does the same, with a delay of half a second.
A wink, as the two shells happily exceed 2,500 km/h on impact, which is obviously spectacular.
Two explosions raise huge sprays of earth in front of Korinos' defense line, covering the area with a cloud of dust. The Brandenburgers are completely stunned. A shrill whistle follows the explosions, while the men discover two craters of 5 to 10 meters in diameter. After the astonishment, everyone hides in their holes or behind the self-propelled guns, derisory protections. A few seconds later, two other shells hit the German line of defense, killing about thirty men. One of the of the shells falls between a Panzer IV which had just returned to its defensive position and a Sdkfz 222. The tank is knocked over and falls on its side, with a sinister noise of tortured metal.
The self-propelled gun gracefully flies away and falls back 15 meters away. The three 7.5-inch shells that arrive shortly afterwards seem almost harmless, but kill unlucky soldiers. The gunners of the Royal Navy (and the Royal Hellenic Navy: one of the light monitors is Greek) were relatively lucky on this first salvo, but their target is beautiful, much bigger than a ship, however big it is.
Cheers go up from the Australian positions, who are jubilant. The Germans understand that their position is now a slaughterhouse.
12:27 - Major Hans-Gerhard Bansen announces to General Irkens that he is abandoning the defense line of Korinos, obviously doomed to destruction. It is the fourth salvo that falls, and the losses accumulate (150 dead, as many wounded, two guns and two panzers in two minutes, plus the unfortunate self-gunning machine, whose fellow machines still operational have already withdran). Bansen cuts the communication without giving Irkens time to tell him if he authorizes him to withdraw!
The infantrymen run away towards the north, clinging as best they can to the vehicles which are still operational: the rear areas of the tanks are full of wounded. The gunners of the Pak 40s take the time to try to save their guns, attaching them to their Sdkfz 7 tractors, but they cannot take on board all the deployed material. This professionalism costs them a third gun - and its servants.
In the following minutes, the Axis positions retreat by one or two kilometers, but the disciplined Brandenburgers do not rout. Nevertheless, Irkens orders the general withdrawal before the Allied artillerymen realize that their target has moved - the Terror is well named!
12:32 - The allied artillery temporarily stops firing, the time to send some armored cars on reconnaissance. They find nothing but wrecks, dying men andbodies. The information is passed on to Robertson and Freyberg, who agree that it was safe to move forward in this sector. The servants of the pieces can breathe and take their lunch break...
12:40 - If the problem of Korinos seems to be in the process of being solved, there remains the case of Sevasti. The officers of the ANZAC staff do not see any major difficulty there - just ask the artillery, naval and ground, to raze the village.
- No, you can't do that!" says a loud voice with a rough accent. Everyone turns to the officer who has just spoken. Freyberg answers in person.
- Major Papadakis, what do you suggest? To ask the Germans to surrender?
- I am not that naive, General," replies the Greek liaison officer with a disillusioned look. "Nevertheless, I respectfully point out that the purpose of this campaign is to liberate Greece, and its people, from fascist servitude and occupation. You are not supposed to raze every town and village in your path, especially in the face of a retreating enemy.
Despite the... complications that had to be faced, the Allied forces successfully solved this during the intervention in Volos. We must find a solution here too.
The tone is respectful but firm - however, Freyberg is not in the mood to negotiate.
- I repeat, Major: what do you propose? Would you like to go and personally adjust the fire of our artillery to distinguish between houses with Germans in them and those without?
Robertson intervenes: "Bernard, there is no need to argue. Greece is our ally and these considerations seem legitimate to me. But if it is preferable to avoid an indiscriminate bombardment, you will understand, however, Major, that we use our field artillery to support our troops on demand."
Papadakis cannot refuse. The 25-pounder will not be spared against Sevasti, but the town won't be wiped out a priori. This may make little difference to those who will see the shells coming.
12:45 - Opposite, Hauptmann Benz, of 242. StuG Abt, and the major commanding the 2. Btn of the Brandenburgers have just received their orders. It is obviously out of the question to hope to keep Sevasti, which in any case is of very limited interest for the defense of the Reich. But, as Irkens makes clear to his subordinates, every minute gained facilitates the withdrawal of the rest of the 19. PanzerGrenadier Division (Irkens said "Brigade" before correcting himself, but everyone understood that the term "division" had become excessive for this unit). StuG and Brandenburgers therefore entrench themselves in the city to which they will hold on... for a while.
12:50 - General Irkens evacuates his forward command post, too exposed. It is now clear that the battle is lost, there is no point in risking capture. As soon as he will be sure to have cleared with the 1. and 3. Btn of Brandenburgers, and what remains of the 1. and 2. Abteilung (7 Pzr IV on the one hand, 16 Pzr III and 20 Pzr IV on the other hand), he will give the order to withdraw to the defenders of Sevasti. Hoping that they will not be surrounded by then.
At the same time, the New Zealanders finally seize the defense line of Korinos, deserted by its occupants. The state of fatigue of the men and the losses suffered do not allow to continue immediately. Robertson begins to consider calling on the Yugoslavs to continue the offensive - he consults Lavarack on this subject.
12:55 - Below Sevasti, the 5th Infantry Brigade launches itself, supported by the 2nd Armoured. Once the defenses are recognized, the 28th Maori Btn serves as a shock, as soon as the defenses are bludgeoned. Observing the vehicles as they rush forward, Fred Baker has these words of admiration for Her Majesty's subjects: "The enemy has a superior position and good cover. In the best tradition of the British Army, I suggest we leave. Leave for the assault of course!"
Salonika, 13:00 - Vice-Admiral Förste assesses his fleet: two ex-Italian speedoboats, SI-533 and SI-574, and two mini-submarines of the RSI, the CB-6 and CB-10. In theory, he has two other boats, but the ASW GA-1, which was useless, was scrapped and its crew sent to Germany, while the mini-submarine CB-1 will never be repaired; its small crew has already joined the men of the "Decima" in Italy to make themselves useful.
In daylight, to take out the launches would be to sacrifice them without any gain. Only the two mini-submarines remain. Their commanders immediately volunteer: "For once the enemy comes to us and doesn't force us to make a long journey on our little boats", exclaims EV Pavolino of CB-6. "Andiamo!" confirms his colleague from the CB-10.
Now Förste is watching them set off. How many of them are in each of these small machines? Four. Förste sighs... Pavolino reminded him that a single MAS had sank the SMS Szent István in 1918. This is not enough to reassure Förste.
Sevasti, 13:10 - Fred Baker's Maoris infiltrate the woods near the village to spot the enemy's position. The 25-pounders open fire on the outlying houses occupied by the enemy - all of them, it seems. A StuG IV and a Jadgpanzer IV are hit by shots which neutralizes them but the artillery falls silent after a few minutes, the time it takes for the New Zealanders to get as close as possible. Fergusson's tanks, with Cromwell and Churchill in the lead, appear while the Maoris dash forward.
"Curses! This is Fischer, we are being severely shelled! Gunther is dead. But no enemy troops in sight, the village remains safe. [Gunfire.] Enemy troops! Enemy troops!" (Sergeant Marcus Fischer - last communication with his hierarchy, quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
13:15 - General Irkens, in his Kubelwagen, passes through Kitros with his staff and continues at full speed. A few kilometers further down, what remains of the defenders of Korinos does the same. Consequently, the general sends to the Hauptmann Ernst Benz and to Major Max Wandrey the expected signal: "Get your men out of there!"
13:20 - The exchange of fire between Allied armor and German tank fighters results in six victims among the former (four Shermans and two Churchills), against four among the latter (two Stug III, one Stug IV and one Jagdpanzer IV). The 242. StuG Abt has only fourteen operational vehicles, which start to retreat by reversing in the streets. The Brandenburgers follow suit.
"I was aiming at a Sherman when I saw a flame in my sights. In the action, I think of a shell that goes off. But it was actually a hit to the right of our armor. A second shell arrived from the right, and passed under the driver's seat! A violent fire breaks out. Normally, a fire in a tank burns all the oxygen in the tank and the unfortunate comrades lose consciousness. Except that the experience of our tank commander saved our lives - he had not blocked the access hatch, and had even opened it at the first impact. The tank commander in question was already outside by the time I realized this. I had, and still have, a tremendous will to live. In spite of the heat that lifted my cap, I leapt through the curtain of flames to throw myself out, burning myself badly though. In the process, I break the wire of my wire, which I had not even unplugged, and I fall on my tank commander, who thinks he has taken a bit of panzer in the back!" (Pointer Hermani - testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
13:40 - The Benz tank hunters flee northwards like rodents chased from their burrows. The rear-guard units sacrifice themselves to allow their comrades to free themselves. Thus, a Stug IV which was blocking the main street is dispatched by one of the Cromwells of Wade's 10th Rgt. The latter, arriving from another street, warns the enemy through the windows of a house already very damaged and simply fires through the building.
Because the tanks designed in Birmingham find here the usefulness of their superior speed, which allows them to maneuver to intercept the fleeing enemy. Observing a Jagdpanzer IV running away in front of him, Sergeant Cotton fires two rounds from his 75 mm QF at the tank, which ricochet off the armor. On the third shot, he aims and hits the sprocket. The tank hunter is hit, continues on its way and crashes into a house, which collapses on top of it. But the story doesn't end there: climbing on his chassis to try to set the machine on fire, one of the Maoris of the 28th Btn notices that it is still moving and tries to get out! The crew had simply been stunned by the impact and were perhaps afraid of asphyxiation. The soldier jumps to the ground, gives the alarm and the JPzr is finished off by another Cromwell, firing at close range.
In general, Baker's troops behaved splendidly during the attack, the Maoris wearing the "Hei tiki" pendant competing with the Brandenburgers in ferocity, who were only too happy to leave. These rearguard battles cost 450 men to the Allies (of which 150 for the 28th), as well as 2 Shermans, 1 Churchill and 2 Cromwell. Fred Baker himself is seriously wounded at the head of his men by a shrapnel which partially takes out his jaws and tongue. Repatriated to New Zealand, he is hospitalized for more than a year.
The 242. StuG Abt leaves one last StuG III in the deal. As for the Brandenburgers, they lost almost 400 men in the streets of the town.
"We could do nothing more, overwhelmed, exhausted, bombarded on all sides by an opponent at least three times our number. The Cromwells were incredibly aggressive. As I retreated north, like all my comrades, one of them cut me off as he went through a hedge! His shell ripped through my armor without doing more than shaking us a bit and covering our chassis with dirt. I was able to quickly dispatch it and continue on my way. But not all my comrades were so happy." (Tank commander Ralpe - testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
On the outskirts of the port of Salonika, 14:00 - While the monitors are having fun hammering the German troops, the minesweepers set about their thankless and dangerous mission. On the bridge of HMS Middleton, which watches over the dredgers like a sheepdog over its herd, it's time to relax. As it has always been, and even more so since the surrender of the Italian fleet, Britannia rules the waves!
But under the bridge, indifferent to these considerations, the sonar operator watches attentively. And it is he who gives the alert: a suspicious echo coming from Salonika and moving slowly southward, at a depth of about one hundred feet... Immediately, the shepherd dog shows his teeth and goes on the hunt, gathering two of the minesweepers along the way.
The hunt will last two hours, with its rituals, its strong moments - the depth charges - and its apparent falls of tension - the periods of listening. The prey is small and it maneuvers but the Middleton is a patient and experienced hunter. On the third shot, some debris rises to the surface, amidst an oil slick. The CB-10 is destroyed, poor skiff pulverized by charges designed to kill a submarine of normal size.
Sevasti, 14:10 - Twelve P-39 of the I/22nd G-CCS return on the battlefield, to greet in their own way the departure of the German tanks. This time, they renounce to dive almost vertically on the tanks, preferring to massacre the fragile transports of the 2. Btn of Brandenburgers, who lose 95 men without being able to retaliate.
14:30 - The tanks of the 1st Yugoslav Brigade of General Stefanović, with some advanced elements of the 1st ID, arrive on the battlefield to help secure the terrain. In fact, they pick up mostly dead, wounded and prisoners. Lavarack plans to take them in the lead to continue the offensive towards Aginio.
The ANZAC will need three days to recover, probably more considering the difficulties of supply from Athens. The Australians of the 1st Armoured are in the second line for the moment.. After repairing about thirty damaged vehicles, they will have lost about fifty tanks, nearly a quarter of their strength before the battle, a rate to which they were no longer accustomed.
"There's a trick to treating burns that the infantry didn't know about: motor oil! It sounds silly, but the vegetable fat forms a layer that keeps the skin from blistering too much. I've been coated with it and look at me [Hermani touches his aged but plump face], like new! I even looked good enough in the hospital to scare the nurses. I pretended to grab one of them from my bed, despite my bandaged face and arms, and said "Julietta, I love you!" I didn't even know if she was in love with me. I didn't even know if her name was Julietta, but she ran off like the devil was after her." (Pointer Hermani - testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
.........
"The battle of Korinos was a fierce clash, such as one rarely sees in Greece.
The violence of the confrontations is very understandable, given the concentration of forces in such a small area. It was besides what Fehn hoped for - a battle of annihilation that would allow him to decapitate the allied forces.
Unfortunately for the Axis forces, if the Allied losses were immediately somewhat higher than the German losses (in all, a hundred armored vehicles destroyed against 83), this differential was soon to be reversed: masters of the field, the Australians were going to repair their less damaged tanks, following the example of the Germans themselves, followed by the French, whom the ANZAC tankers then imitated. What the Germans were going to be nearly unable to do... The final score was about 65 to 83. The 1. Abt of the 19. PzrGr was reduced to 7 Panzer IV, the 2. Abt to 36 tanks (20 Panzer IV and 16 Panzer III) and the 242. StuG Abt to eleven machines (6 JPzr IV, 3 StuG IV and 2 StuG III). In short, the Germans went from 137 to 54.
As for the infantry, the 1. Brandenburgers was reduced to 1,385 able-bodied men out of the original 2,350 that is to say nearly 50 % of the strength out of combat! About 300 men could resume the fight - not enough to stem the tide of the Allies. The Allies, however, had not lost more than a thousand infantrymen, many of them wounded. A figure obviously high in absolute terms, but very low in relation to the number of troops deployed.
It is thus a calamitous balance sheet that the unfortunate General Irkens had to send to Fehn, who was nervously awaiting his return to his office in Salonika. Not only has the armored weapon of the ANZAC not been destroyed, but the 19. PzrGr was reduced to less than half of its forces and the Allied advance towards Salonika had hardly been slowed down.
In the Panzerwaffe command, some accused of incompetence the leader of the 19. PanzerGrenadier, who had not been able to hold his men. This judgment, which was not devoid of politicalconsiderations, was certainly unjustified. Unlike the generals of the armored formations of the Eastern Front, who are too often used as a point of comparison for a certain historical literature, Irkens did not have a real coherent and experienced unit, equipped with artillery and other support elements. The various components of the 19. PzGr had all played the score of their leader, but not on the same tempo: the young and impetuous tankers had paid a high price for their inexperience, while the Brandenburgers and the PanzerJäegers had seemed very, even too cautious, but had finally shown great bravery and professionalism. It is significant that Hauptmann Benz was the only officer decorated for his actions during this battle - Iron Cross from General Löhr, who was rewarding men who had gone to the front to be killed in very bad conditions, and largely through his own fault.
Finally, two unexpected factors had played a great role in this confrontation.
First, the impetuosity of the 1. Abteilung, leading its tanks into a fight of attrition that they could have avoided by remaining on the defensive, even once Irkens' trap was broken. And the intervention of the guns of the allied fleet, responsible for the collapse of the western flank of the defenses and which saved many lives on both sides by shortening the battle. But, in any event, the Australians and New Zealanders had risen to the occasion and won the game - the laurels of victory, as a result of their professionalism and the disproportion of forces, were rightfully theirs.
Materially, the battle was rich in lessons. For the Allies, the armor and weapons of the Cromwell were insufficient to face the Panzer IV, while the Sherman was much better. Finally, the much-maligned Churchill proved to be perfectly at ease, its mechanical reliability improving with running-in and its armor giving it a much longer life than its teammates.
On the German side, the Panzer IV G held its rank, especially with the new L48 turret (Panzer IV G2), but the Panzer III J, with its 50 mm gun, was not more at its place than against Russian tanks. Similarly, the Sturmgeschütz IV, and even more the Jadgpanzer IV had shown itself clearly preferable to the Sturmgeschütz III. Finally, for the infantry, the Pak 40 had confirmed its great qualities of anti-tank gun. " (P. Descortes, Batailles et Blindés n° 80 [Editions Caraktère, 2016])
.........
In the evening, the tanks of the 1st Yugoslavian AC, these of French type, are in place to start the pursuit and to progress towards Salonika. It seems then that the rush of the young men of the Panzerwaffe had no other result than the replacement of the Australian tanks by Serbian tanks! But an epilogue to the battle of Korinos is missing.
Czechoslovak Air Force NA-89, Battle of Korinos, August 1943
* The planes of Czechoslovak pilots serving in the Armee de l'Air have French wing patches and rudder flags, but their fuselage patches, which are clearly visible from another plane, are Czech- "after all," the staff reasoned, "these are also blue-white-red roundels".
Korinos - Sevasti - Kitros Triangle - This area of about 20 square kilometers will see the largest armored engagement of the Greek campaign since the Germans evacuated the Peloponnese. The 19. PanzerGrenadier of Irkens is positioned in this area, covering the retreat of von Ludwiger's Jägers and von Böhm- Bezing's troops, who are moving up towards Salonika under the taunts of the young Panzerpilots.
The site, resulting from the successive movements of units forced by the hesitations of the German command and the progression of the Allied units, was obviously not chosen at random by Fehn. For him, it presents at least three interests. First, the small width of the plain (6.5 km at the most) will make it difficult to overrun and will hinder the deployment of a large number of Allied armoured vehicles, preventing them from using their numerical superiority. Then, and this is a rarity in this region of agricultural plains, we can notice the presence of several woods and dense copses, which are as much cover for the Brandenburgers and places of camouflage for the tank hunters. Finally, the plain is dotted with streams and irrigation canals, forming streams that can be up to 5 meters deep and will constitute support points for the defense or pivots for maneuvering.
From a topographical point of view, the villages of Korinos, Sevasti and Kitros, connected by the main roads of the sector, roughly form a rectangular triangle, whose hypotenuse Korinos - Kitros measures approximately 6,5 km. From west to east, from Sevasti, located at the foothills, the plots and meadows descend eastward for 3 kilometers to the southeast, with slopes varying from 1 to 10%. Kitros, 3 km to the north, is separated from Sevasti by three wooded valleys where streams flow, as well as by a rather large wood. Finally, Korinos, the most important village and the most southern (in the south-west of Sevasti), is situated in the first third of a plain of 4 km wide, punctuated only by farm buildings. Further to the east, it is the Aegean Sea.
Irkens hopes to hold back the Allies and destroy a large number of opposing armored vehicles on this terrain favorable to ambushes. He therefore plans a drawer system, which he decided on jointly with Major Hans-Gerhard Bansen of the 1. Brandenburg Rgt (2,350 men). He distributed the 1. Abteilung of his armored brigade (24 Panzer III J and 22 Panzer IV G, plus two dozen Sdkfz 221 to 223) in the trees and groves around Korinos, especially in the east. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Brandenburgers and the dozen or so Pak 40s at their disposal, complete this line of defense. The 242. StuG Abt. (Hauptmann Ernst Benz) is deployed north, between Kitros and the road from Korinos to Sevasti; its 45 machines (21 StuG III, 12 StuG IV, 12 JagdPanzer IV) are accompanied by the 2nd Battalion of Brandenburgers (Major Max Wandrey). Irkens guards the 2. Abteilung of the Panzer Brigade (of the same composition as the other) in reserve with him, near Sevasti.
His plan is simple: wishing to hide his forces from the adversary to avoid their crushing by the artillery and the allied aviation, he intends to reveal first his line of defense to Korinos, which will be considered too short. He will thus encourage the Australians in a hurry to bypass it towards Sevasti, falling then in the ambushes of the self-propelled guns marked with the two intertwined. Then, taking advantage of the confusion, he will launch the reserve Abteilung across the plain on the opposing columns, to sweep them as if on parade. All this with the support of the Luftwaffe, whose presence Fehn has just confirmed to him at the end of the morning, intervening under a big half-hour.
An ingenious plan, although complex and dispersing the troops. But Irkens has no choice, given the disproportion of the forces. And he has to deal with the lack of homogeneity of his unit, where the different types of soldiers mix more than they collaborate. He still remembers, at the arms vigil in his tent, the sneer of Hans-Gerhard Bansen, when one of the young tankers proposed to turn Korinos into a "fortress" by concentrating the Brandenburgers and their anti-tank equipment there: "And marking the whole area with Reich flags, I suppose? So that the enemy aviation does not make a mistake!" The city will simply be mined, for the sake of awareness.
The armored vehicles set up in the night, with the roar of their engines. Then, the crunch of the tracks fades, branches are torn off and placed on the steel. Finally, the silence returns, broken by the birds that greet the rising sun.
.........
07:00 - Robertson's 1st Australian Armored Division comes up to three kilometers from the German lines, crossing a small bridge located 1.5 km from Korinos. The 6th Armored Rgt (Lt-colonel James Baker MacBean), composed of 48 Cromwells, moves at the head of the column, behind a reconnaissance squadron of ten Daimler Dingos and ten Daimler armored cars, operating in independent groups of four.
The regiment leads the 1st Armored Brigade (Brigadier D. McArthur-Onslow), the least tired unit of the division. Composed in addition of the fastest tanks, it is normal that it leads the way. The men are vigilant, but relaxed. For three days they have not met the enemy.
Around Korinos, the Germans hold back their fire: the orders are to open fire only at less than 750 meters, to maximize the surprise effect.
07:15 - In his Panzer IV G, well camouflaged behind a hedge, tank commander Mayering observes the allied armoured vehicles. Suddenly, the turret of an armored Daimler turns towards him.
Thinking he was spotted (it was difficult to know if he was indeed spotted), he opens fire, destroying the machine gun. But most of the allied tanks are not yet in optimal range.
07:17 - "Feuer Frei!" yells the commander of the 1. Abteilung into his throat microphone. In all, 45 panzers and twelve guns open fire, at distances of up to 1,750 meters.
Much too far for the 50 mm/L60 of the Pzr III, which could only pierce the flank armor of the Cromwells, let alone penetrate the frontal plastron.
The 7,5 cm of the Panzers IV and Pak 40 are on the other hand very capable, and this (for some) up to 2 500 meters. Eight allied tanks are hit, including the lead vehicle which explodes, victim of two simultaneous impacts ! In his Cromwell, McBean let out a "The Devil!" from the depths of his soul. The allied armoured vehicles immediately deploy in front of what they think is a simple rearguard, and ask for reinforcements while returning fire, guided by the Daimlers which will recognize the enemy positions, at the cost of three of theirs. But the QF 75 mm of the Cromwells lacks terrible punch at this distance - two Panzer IV taken from the flank are still eliminated.
"Suddenly, several A-Squadron armor tanks burst into flames almost at the same time. The tank of Pat Dyas, the squadron's deputy commander, turns next to mine. I see Pat, his forehead is bleeding. At that moment, all the tanks in front of us are burning and I observe a fire in front of me at about 1,200 m. Wow! We are hit. I feel a burn between my legs and I am surprised to be wounded. A lance of fire goes through the turret, and my mouth is full of dirt and burnt paint. I yelled, "Evacuate!" and leapt out of the tank. I look at my evacuating crew when suddenly a machine gun opens fire on me and I throw myself into the grass. The firing continues and Dyas' Cromwell disappears behind a grove of trees, firing. The crash is frightening. I decide to go back to a hedge in the back and try to reach the B-Squadron. When we emerge, I see Dyas on foot, 200 yards behind me. He had hoped to destroy a Panzer IV, but his shell ripped through the faceplate." (Testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
07:25 - In his command Daimler, Brigadier General D. McArthur-Onslow informs General Robertson that the lead regiment has been ambushed, and urgently requests air support to clarify the situation and prevent any over-ambush. He also orders Lt-Colonel T. Mills' 5th Armoured Rgt (30 Sherman M4A3) to go forward to assist the Cromwells.
Robertson passes on the request for air support and calls Freyberg, of the 2nd NZ ID, to inform him of the situation.
07:35 - The Shermans of the 5th Rgt quickly join their colleagues in the fight with the enemy. In the meantime, the latter had moved closer to 750 m to retaliate more effectively, but without much success. If the Panzer IIIs are still not effective (they would have to fire at point-blank range to pierce the chest of their opponents), the Panzer IV and the Pak 40 are deadly : 6 more Cromwell are immobile or on fire in the fields, as well as 2 Daimlers, against only 3 Panzer IV and 1 Panzer III.
Nevertheless, and taking advantage of the diversion provided by their comrades, the Shermans charge towards the enemy lines and fire their 75 mm T8/M3 with gyroscopic sights, equipped with tungsten-tipped AP shells, thus much more efficient than the Cromwell weapon. Five Pzr III and one Pzr IV (which was getting back into position by exposing its flank), are put out of action. This action allows the Cromwells to take off and take some shelter.
07:45 - Informed of the losses suffered by the 6th Rgt (30 % of its strength !), McArthur-Onslow sends his third unit, the 7th Armoured Rgt (Lt-Colonel RM Wright) into the fray. This one has 43 Churchill Mk IV, whose 6-pounder QF gun should unlock the situation...
07:55 - As the 5th Rgt follows the 6th in its withdrawal, leaving behind a smoking Sherman in exchange for a Panzer IV, the Churchills come up heavily in front of the enemy line. But if their gun is able to pierce all the armor of their opponents from 1,200 meters, they are held back by new orders at about 1,900 meters, while they have just destroyed two Pzr III. Uncertain of the exact strength of the opponent, the commander of the 1st Armoured prefers not to expose his men too much.
Indeed, Robertson judges that the enemy line seems decidedly solid (he was unaware that the 1. Abt had already lost 15 tanks out of 46, which was starting to weigh on it!) He asks Freyberg to deploy his divisional artillery, namely the 4th, 5th and 6th Field Artillery Rgt, equipped with 25-pounders. In the meantime, he consults with the commander of his second armored brigade, Brigadier M.A. Fergusson, on the possibility of bypassing the enemy's anti-tank defences.
08:10 - As the intensity of the tank-to-tank firefight subsides, 20 Havocs from GB 1/19 appear from the east - they come from the sea - to take in enfilade the German position. Very roughly guided by the ground controller, who was unaware of the nature of the enemy system, they drop their 250 kg bombs on the hedges and the remarkable elements of the landscape likely to form cover. The idea is not bad: the Brandenburgers have a hundred dead and wounded; moreover a Panzer III is put out of combat by a lucky shot.
08:20 - The exchange of fire is becoming less frequent, as both sides suspect that at this distance they are only wasting ammunition and/or revealing themselves. Fergusson, just out of his meeting with Robertson, puts his brigade in battle order to advance towards Sevasti. Suspicious, he observes from afar the groves that dot the hillsides and organizes his column as follows: in the lead, the 33 Churchills of the 9th Armoured Rgt of Lt-Colonel Alexander E. McIntyre, in order to take advantage of their armor. Last, the 33 Shermans of the 8th Armoured Rgt of Lt-Colonel F.D. Marshall, whose guns can carry a lot of weight. And in the middle, ready to maneuver under the protection of their comrades, the 37 Cromwells of Lt-Colonel R.E. Wade's 10th Armoured Rgt.
To accompany them, Freyberg designates the 21st Btn of the 5th Infantry Brigade (Howard Kippenberger). And in case of a hard blow, the 75 mm howitzers of the 16th Rgt of the Royal Australian Artillery (1st AAD) will be able to support them, their fire regulated by two Piper Cub which have just arrived. The attack will start in half an hour.
08:40 - The 25-pounders of the 2nd New-Zealand Division begin firing on what they assume to be enemy positions, i.e. on the (fortunately deserted) village of Korinos, which suffers quite a lot of damage. Around them, the Bofors of the 14th Light AA Rgt are deployed in protection.
09:15 - The tanks of the 2nd Brigade start to move up the hill towards Sevasti, with the Churchills in the lead as planned. The action starts finally, after a few minutes of delay due to the state of the roads and the general congestion of the area, all to the great annoyance of Roberston, who sees his operation undergoing a new delay.
Near Sevasti, in his headquarters under the trees, Irkens is jubilant as he watches the allied maneuver through binoculars: is his plan working? The heavy green vehicles are forming up, they are going to fall into the trap! However, he can't get rid of a dull worry : the opposing tanks are so numerous... And he has no artillery to take advantage of their traffic jam. It is true that, if he had some, it would already be explaining itself to the gunners on the other side. Well, we can only hope that the ambush of the 242. StuG Abt. succeeds fully. Because, if its forces are perfectly camouflaged, they are not at all concentrated, as the cover is scattered. And what is seen by the most forward machines is not necessarily visible to the StuGs further back. For everything to work, it will be necessary that the Allies fully commit themselves to the trap, like the mouse that stretches its neck to reach the cheese.
09:35 - From the sky, Flying Officer Wilbert observes Fergusson's machines progressing towards Sevasti, cohort of turtles raising clouds of dust. He suspects that the Australians would be reluctant to engage this town, Korinos, without infantry. But it is surprising that the Germans did not see fit to defend the area where the armor is now advancing. This is a strange clumsiness on their part, which Wilkinson is not used to, he having gone through the second Peloponnesian campaign. Are their opponents so badly off?
With an eye sharpened by experience, he looks at the sunny landscape and sees a brief flash of light. Intrigued, he makes a flat turn, to traverse again the trajectory which he has just followed. It came from the forest, from its edge to be precise... going down to a hundred meters from the ground, he flies over the suspicious zone, as fast as his 65 horsepower Continental A-65 engine allows. "Goddamn it!" he bellows.
09:36 - Wilbert yells into the radio on the frequency that puts him in contact with the ground forces: "This is Cub-1, calling tanks going north in column. Abort advance immediatly ! Enemy in front of you!"
The squadron leader at the head of the column thinks it's a joke, or a misunderstanding. The message addressed to the forces remaining in front of Korinos? He replies: "Cub-1, this is C-Squadron, call-name Dragonfly. This path've been given by the Division HQ. Please confirm!"
The answer is unambiguous: "Dragonfly, this is Cub-1. The hell with the Division HQ! Enemy tanks ahead! Retreat! Come on, guy!"
The matter looks serious, and the column stops. Without knowing it, it is 1,600 meters from the first enemy positions.
Rightly estimating that the ambush had been discovered and that every moment lost reduces its chances of inflicting damage, Hauptmann Benz gives the order to open fire, even though only part of his battalion is in firing position.
09:38 - About a third of the strength of the 242. StuG Abt, i.e. 15 tanks, open fire at the same time. And if the firing distance is not optimal, all should be able to destroy their opponents, thanks to their 75 cm KwK 40 (the same as the Pzr IV G2).
Six Churchills are hit, three of which are put out of action. The frontal plastron of the others resist the impact (the penetration capacity of the KwK 40 is at this distance of 97 mm and the frontal armor of a Churchill is 102 mm). The machine of the unfortunate squadron leader is hit at the chassis-turret joint, the latter being projected in the air several meters away. The occupants, who are not killed, are seriously injured by the blast and the heat of the impact.
The Allied tanks immediately returd fire, but their shooting is approximate. At this distance, anyway, their gun is effective, from the front, only against the Sturmgeschütz III.
09:40 - The tanks of the 9th Rgt try to retreat, but they do not succeed, the tanks which follow them block their withdrawal. In the confusion, the exchange of fire continues, without any damage... for the moment.
09:45 - General Robertson, whom McIntyre has just informed, understands that the tanks of the 2nd Brigade have just escaped, by chance or by fate, a death trap. He orders the immediate withdrawal of the whole column, under the smoke of the divisional artillery.
09:55 - Brigadier Fergusson's tanks disappear behind a thick white cloud, not without having lost two more tanks to enemy fire. The Churchills still manage to destroy a StuG III which explodes, mowing down about fifteen soldiers who had taken refuge behind it.
When the smoke clears, the allied tanks are out of range, or hidden by the terrain. The score is unfavorable - five to one - but it could have been worse. Much worse.
10:10 - Robertson takes stock of the situation at his campaign headquarters on the northern outskirts of Katerini. The bad encounter with Mclntyre's armor on the road to Sevasti can only mean one thing: he is facing not a simple rearguard, but a large and complete armored unit. Without wasting time, he draws up his battle plan in agreement with General Freyberg.
The objective is twofold: to resume the advance towards Aginio, of course, but by destroying the column of enemy tanks. The force identified is significant, but not greater than the capabilities of the ANZAC (otherwise, they would have been spotted earlier, and/or they would be attacking, not setting traps). Do not let them escape and go and ambush elsewhere on the road to Salonika. Robertson therefore decides to resume the offensive without delay, so as not to give the enemy time to reposition.
He plans to attack the first positions discovered, near Korinos, from the front. The 1st Armoured Brigade takes charge, reinforced by elements of the New Zealand Infantry Division and the Kiwi organic armored brigade, the 4th (Brigadier Lindsay Merritt Inglis). All this after a careful preparation assured by the air force which is on the way from Attica, and by the 25-pounder, now well in position.
As for the units ambushed on the heights, they are kept at bay by the 2nd Armoured Brigade, which will remain in reserve to, if necessary, deal with the ambushers in question or even to cut off the retreat of the troops who would like to withdraw towards Kitros.
Once the front is broken, the still camouflaged elements will have to be uncovered, otherwise they would be surrounded and eliminated. Moreover, taking the matter very seriously, Lavarack asks for the help of the Navy, whose monitors should appear in front of the coast, very close, in the afternoon.
This plan is perfect! But it does not take into account the reaction of the enemy.
Opposite, about fifteen kilometers away, Irkens weighs his situation on a fine scale: to withdraw when his forces have barely fought is inconceivable (at this moment he has only lost 17 tanks out of 137). If his trap is now defused, he still has powerful means that must be used without delay, because every hour that passes plays against him. It is at this moment that a message from Major Bansen, of the Brandenburgers, informs him that his 1. Panzer Abteilung has just launched an assault. The general begins by launching a barrage of imprecations, before, forced and obliged, ordering the 2. Abteilung to run to support the 1.
10:02 - Let's go back a few minutes to explain what happened. After the first few rounds of combat, the young tankers of the 19. Brigade felt frustrated. They had only a brief action, before hearing the cannon thunder on the road to Sevasti, and they are eating their words. Didn't the opposing tanks run away from them? It is necessary to take the initiative to take advantage of this, to get the better of the enemy! Platoon leader Ludwig Balhure gives the order: "Langsam Vorfahren Dorfrand unter Feuer Nemmen pass auf!" - advance slowly to catch the enemy under fire. Seeing his four neighbors move, platoon leader Karl Veiser protests, "Ludwig, Balden Haben wir einen Sitzen!" - Ludwig, they risk getting us! But not wanting to let his comrades venture out alone, he in turn advances his tanks a little behind. As soon as the first cannon shots were fired, the rest of the battalion starts to march...
This is how the whole 1. Panzer Abt. of the 19. Brigade (30 tanks, at that moment) started to move south in an improvised maneuver.
Panzer III and IV fall first on the Shermans of the 5th Armoured Rgt, who are surprised by this unexpected counter-attack and suffer the first enemy fire at 1,200 meters. Three machines are put out of action by the Panzer IVs, plus one is knocked out by a lucky Panzer III. But, far from running away as the German tankers hoped, they retaliate, and move closer to the enemy. The first salvo, from a little too far for their 75 mm guns, however, destroys a Pzr IV and a Pzr III.
Meanwhile, while accepting the fight, the armoured troops of the 5th Rgt ask for reinforcement.
The 7th Armoured Rgt, equipped with Churchill, responds immediately and moves to the flank. This regiment is covered by the Cromwells of the 6th Rgt, which advance again and ask for support on this road which had already cost them dearly.
10:15 - Allied HQ learns that the battle rebounds in front of Korinos. The artillery is ordered to establish a barrage behind Korinos and the 4th Armoured Brigade is launched forward, followed by the 5th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Howard Kippenberger). An urgent air support is requested in Athens.
10:18 - Irkens orders the Brandenburgers to move forward in turn, "if the situation is favorable". Judging that it is not the case, the elite infantrymen do not move, but support the tanks with Pak 40. Meanwhile, the general asks for immediate help from the Luftwaffe.
In front of Korinos, the battle rages and the distance between the adversaries is only about 500 meters. Within a few minutes, 3 Shermans, 2 Churchills and 3 Cromwell are eliminated, against 6 Pzr III and 4 Pzr IV. The German crews start to pay for their inexperience and enthusiasm. Thus, the platoon leader Ludwig Balhure, who commands as he had been taught, with his chest out of his turret, is cut in two by a shell. The lower part of his body falls on his pointer before bleeding out. The unfortunate man, a young blond, barely 19 years old at the time, will keep a burning memory of this.
10:23 - In their airfield south of Pristina, the pilots of I/StG 3 prepare themselves in a cathedral-like silence. Even if there are only 250 kilometers to go to the objective, it is about 250 kilometers in enemy sky, so much the allied superiority is incontestable. The JG 27 promises an escort, it is doubtful that it could prevent the Mustangs or the Spitfires from reaching their Fw 190Fs, which their bombs make so clumsy... Usually, their efficiency is based on a quick approach, under the radar, and an equally quick disengagement after the bombing. But here, the enemy is already in place, waiting for them !
We are used to heavy losses, at I/StG 3. It is even a kind of tradition for the aircraft decorated with the white lion, which lost 13 Ju 87s and 26 crew members during an exercise in Silesia on August 15th, 1939 - the altitude indicated for the resource after a dive-bombing had turned out to be wrong. The Bad-luck Gruppe... few have the hope to return. During the preparation of the mission, Hauptmann Helmut Naumann asked for volunteers. No one came forward. Naumann then said: "You can't let me go alone!" In the end, the whole group went (all the airworthy aircraft, at least) went: 18 aircraft that rose heavily from the ground. Once in the air, they find three Bf 109G Schwärme sent by 1/JG 27, i.e. 12 aircraft.
The Luftwaffe birds, an endangered species, fly off to the southwest.
10:25 - The Australian 1st Armoured Brigade begins a tactical withdrawal, to join the 4th Brigade and especially to get away from the formidable Pak 40s of the Brandenburgers and to allow the friendly artillery to start firing without risking a deadly "friendly fire" - that would be the last straw, after the losses already suffered. McArthur-Onslow's tanks withdraw south, with R.M. Wright's Churchills at the rear of the formation, some moving backwards to continue presenting their 102 mm thick breastworks to the enemy. This tricky maneuver is not successful by all and two of their number are still on the ground.
On the other side, the men of the 1. Abteilung of the 19. PanzerBrigade, enthusiastic, think they have won the game and the 18 surviving tanks start the pursuit.
10:32 - While the 24 Pzr III and 22 Pzr IV of the 2. Abteilung are moving from Sevasti towards Korinos, the first shells of the allied 25-pounder begin to fall north of Korinos, thus in full on their road. The tanks accelerate to cross the bombed area as quickly as possible, but a Pzr IV and two Pzr III pull a bad number and are put out of combat. The Brandenburgers, much more vulnerable, hide in their shelters.
South of the battlefield, William G. Gentry's 6th Infantry Brigade starts to advance towards Korinos.
10:38 - Hauptmann Ernst Benz, of the 242. StuG Abt, observes with concern the clouds raised by the allied artillery in the plain. He obviously knows he has been spotted and has asked Irkens for instructions, which he is still waiting for.
His radio finally crackles. His superior informs him of the counter-attack of the 1. Abt (without the spontaneous character of it) and asks him to pass on the side of Nea Chrani, to try to flank the allied tanks, thus relieving the pressure on his less experienced colleagues. He has to take with him all the possible infantry, which will be in charge to entrench themselves in the village. The captain, fatalistic, takes with him about 600 men and obeys. After all, the guns of his tank hunters pierce most of the allied armor up to 2,500 meters, perhaps he will not need to expose himself too much.
10:42 - The 1. Abt of the 19. Panzerbrigade reach the stream that the Allies had crossed in the opposite direction at the beginning of the battle, more than three and a half hours ago. Two tanks attempt to cross the small valley - they are immediately caught under fire by the Shermans of the 4th Brigade (18th, 19th and 20th Btn) which arrived as reinforcements, 135 tanks in all! This is a lot for a remnant of the Abteilung. And the young tankers wonder if they have not temoted fate a little. The most advanced machine, a Panzer III, is hit by an AP shell as it clumsily tries to turn around. The projectile penetrates the left side, crosses the whole tank and exits through the right side. Inside, the entire crew seems to have been killed, but one man finally emerges from the outfitter's hatch, rolls to the ground, stands up, looking shocked and collapses in the bushes where he dies, a shrapnel in the throat...
In the minutes that followed, Lindsay M. Inglis' Shermans fire no less than 750 shells on the presumptuous, a good part of them at more than 1,000 meters - too far to carry. But, arriving at less than half a mile, the Allied tankers teach their young opponents a lesson - a lesson hard learned against Rommel's men a few months earlier. Seven more panzers are eliminated in exchange for two Shermans (plus one last victim of the Brandenburgers' Pak 40s, which fire at 2,000 meters). Of the 46 armored vehicles in the initial strength of the 1. Abteilung, ten tanks (8 Pzr IV and 2 Pzr III) remain and flee north. Later on, this episode will be nicknamed in the Panzerwaffe "Der Massenmord der Unschuldigen" - the massacre of the innocent. The survivors run to take refuge with their comrades of the 2. Abteilung, who arrive from Sevasti.
10:57 - The Luftwaffe aircraft appear over the battlefield, coming from the north-west on a confused and critical situation. On the German right flank, the PanzerJägers of the 242. StuG Abt are almost in contact with Fergusson's 2nd Armoured Brigade. In the center, Gentry's 6th Infantry Brigade has been advancing for 30 minutes on the road to Korinos with the support of Australian machine guns. And on the left, the two Abteilungs of the 19. PzrBrigade (in all, 24 Pzr III and 29 Pzr IV) are joining to face a real tide of machines and try to withdraw.
The pilots are perplexed by this Dantesque scene - a wild melee that this front is not used to anymore. The Fw 190Fs aim at the main enemy concentration, the closest to their
to their trajectory - Fergusson's 2nd Armoured Brigade.
But, as they feared, they are expected.
The Allied Air Control decided to entrust the French with the fighter cover over the area for the day. This morning, the French Air Force sends... Czechoslovakians. It is the 9th EC, on NA-89, which patrols the area. And when one of its wingmen signals the arrival of the intruders, commander Franz Patochka lets out an exclamation of joy. Finally! It had been so long since the Allied fighters had nothing to eat! On the radio, when the controllers heard Patochka abandon the usual French-English sabir of the pilots to switch to switch to Czech, they do not understand anything, but they know the essential: the Czechs have the enemy in sight and they attack!
The GC I/9 takes on the Bf 109G, which saw them coming and confronts them courageously, but they can do nothing to prevent the GC II/9 from falling on the Fw 190F. In his headphones, Helmut Naumann hears cries of warning: "Achtung, Mustang!" and someone adds, "Those are Czechs!*. The Hauptmann can only complain that it would have been better to let them have their Sudetenland, before the II/9 planes arrive. Out of 18 Jabos, about a third are shot down while trying to continue to the objective, a third drop their bombs at random and one third succeed in bombing. Three Allied armored vehicles are disabled and about fifteen infantrymen fall around them. But the ordeal of I/StG 3 is not over. Out of eighteen aircraft, only eight return to base. The 109G escorts lose three planes. On the other side, the Czechs, who regroup without pursuing their adversaries too far, lose five aircraft, one of which hit the earth by diving with too much enthusiasm on its prey.
11:00 - The tanks of the 19. PanzerBrigade, still facing the 4th Armoured Brigade, are in a desperate situation. With one against three, they cannot reasonably hope to get out of it. To withdraw to the north is to pass again under the rain of steel shells of the 25-pounder. The commander of the 2. Abteilung then chooses the only solution left and orders his tanks to withdraw to the west, the survivors of the 1. Abt obviously following the movement. But before this stall is effective, no less than eight tanks (5 Panzer III and 3 Panzer IV) remain on the ground, in exchange for four allied tanks. The 19. PzrBrigade has only 45 tanks left, of which seven Panzer IV are all that remain of the 1. Abteilung.
11:04 - But this new sacrifice would not be enough without the intervention at this precise moment of the PanzerJägers of Hauptmann Benz. The latter took his time. To reach the battlefield, he preferred to make a wide detour along the hills and valleys for 3 or 4 kilometers. A winning bet: he is able to unload his infantry without loss. His guns open fire at 1,700 meters: at this distance they will not hit for sure, but if they do hit, they will usually destroy their opponents (except for the Churchills, and then only from the front). On the other hand, Jagdpanzer IV and StuG IV are invulnerable from the front.
"Forward, guys! At this range, they can't reach us!" (Sgt. Clark Boger - last words, quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
The 8th Armoured Rgt (Marshall), positioned the furthest north, takes the brunt of the blow. Seven Shermans blow up before they understand what is happening to them. Their riposte can only reach a StuG IV caught in the flank.
Marshall, while calling for reinforcements, realizes that to destroy these new adversaries, he must get close to them. Courageously, he orders them to advance.
11:10 - To advance, that is precisely the order Freyberg had just given to his 6th Infantry Brigade. The role of the New Zealanders is simple: to break through the defensive line near Korinos, around which they have been fighting for four hours now! The 6,600 men of the brigade advance, supported by the 27th Machine-Gun Btn.
Moreover, L.M. Inglis, who commands the 4th Armoured, sees the tanks of the 19. PanzerBrigade running away across the fields, zigzagging between the wrecks. Well, if the Germans retreat, it is because of Robertson and his Australians. His brigade has better things to do than chase them, they would join their infantry. His Shermans (still more than 120 at this time) are added to the forces attacking in the direction of Korinos. Meanwhile, the 25-pounder divisionals start to hit the known positions of the Brandenburgers again, killing or wounding 60.
All this is an overwhelming force against two battalions, even elite, ten anti-tank guns and two dozen self-propelled guns. Yet the game is far from over.
11:15 - The Czech NA-89s have regrouped over the battlefield - their role is over. But the FAC still has an urgent request for support for the 2nd Armored Brigade, which is obviously having trouble with tank hunters. However, ground support has been devolved to the French for today, and the planes arriving at the edge of the bushes are the P-39 of the I and II/22 G-ACCS... Poles. This is not to the advantage of theGermans, because these men have a furious desire to massacre Panzers - and, in general anything bearing the swastika.
11:18 - The exchange of fire continues between the Fergusson tanks and the PanzerJägers, who have difficulty in positioning themselves in this hilly sector, which allows the tanks to maneuver in the shelter of the terrain. And if the Shermans still suffer (their 75 mm is powerless at more than 500 m against the 80 mm of the front armor of the JagdPanzer IV or the StuG IV), the intervention of the Churchills of the 9th Rgt now provides, with their 6-pounder QF, a counterweight. The Cromwells remain in the background, considering the poor efficiency of their 75 mm QF guns, but they are obviously on the lookout for an opportunity to overrun.
In a few minutes, nine allied armoured vehicles are put out of action, against one Jadgpanzer IV, three Stug IV and three Stug III.
11:20 - The Polish P-39s surge onto the battlefield. Their bombs are raining down, their machine guns spit - only one StuG III, hit by a 225 kg bomb, is eliminated, but the unfortunate Brandenburgers, surprised in the open, are mowed down - more than a hundred and twenty lie dead and wounded.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the Allied tanks, the 5th Infantry Brigade (Howard Kippenberger) goes up to the assault, while, further away, the 16th Artillery Rgt prepares to support the attack.
11:22 - The Germans think they are rid of the P-39s, but the Poles just made a loop by climbing to come back on their objectives, not in low level, but in a dive. Indeed, the PanzerJägers which, at man's height, have a flat silhouette, difficult to see from above, are nothing more than rectangles like the other vehicles. In short, they are targets. And vulnerable targets: from this angle, the 37 mm gun of the P-39, which would be ineffective against their side armor, is perfectly capable of piercing the thin armor of the roof. In a few moments, two JagdPanzer IV, two StuG IV and three StuG III succumb.
The situation could quickly become untenable for the 242. StuG Abt, who has only nine JPzr IV, seven StuG IV and eight StuG III. Without wasting time, Benz orders a tactical withdrawal towards Sevasti, going back to the cover.
11:25 - Near Korinos, the first fire breaks out between the 25th Btn of the 6th Infantry Brigade and the two battalions of Brandenburgers. Contrary to the Panzerwaffe men, the latter show an impeccable fire discipline, opening fire only at the last moment and wearing down the units as they advance. The machine guns sweep the ground, snipers aim at officers and NCOs, and Pak 40s blast vehicles that show their noses - three Shermans and four Daimlers. However, the artillery fire becomes more and more accurate and Major Bansen begins to seriously consider a withdrawal.
11:27 - The retreating panzers are out of the woods, for now. While the 38 survivors of the 2. Abt maneuver to position themselves in support of the defense line, what remains of the 1. Abt joins Irkens at his headquarters, for regrouping and withdrawal. The crews of these seven Panzer IVs are exhausted and short of ammunition - they are no longer able to influence the battle. Moreover, the indiscipline of the formation annoyed the general to the highest point, who gives them a cold and even acidic personal welcome. When he sees them arrive, he takes the time to look for the officer responsible for the ill-advised counter-attack, but the late Ludwig Balhure is nowhere to be found to take in the storm. According to the legend, the general had found the crew of his Panzer IV busy cleaning the turret of the remains of his leader.
Sharp as a flint, Irkens told them: "You won't get a new panzer, nor new uniforms, so wash them carefully!"
11:30, Aegean Sea - A reckless Arado 196, departing from Salonika, spots the Allied fleet off the Halkidiki peninsula. HMS Erebus and Terror are still accompanied by the light monitors of the 2nd Interallied Coastal Fire Support Squadron (three IFSS-G and two IFSS- F), the escort destroyers RHS Kriti (Hunt class), MN L'Impérieuse and La Résolue (Hunt-III class), and the corvettes RHS Pindos, MN Ill and Yser (Flower class). The flotilla remains to clean the approaches to Salonika, covered by the six LCS(L) and the destroyer HMS Middleton (Hunt class).
The ships immediately alert the allied fighters, but the Ar 196 flees without asking for more. All ships in the Aegean Sea being presumed enemies, the pilot had already given the alarm.
11:38 - The 242. StuG Abt and the 2. Battalion of Brandenburgers continued to fight in retreat, trying to maintain distance from Fergusson's 2nd Armored Brigade and Kippenberger's infantry. The PanzerJägers could not hope to stop their opponents, but they gain time while retreating to Sevasti and relatively urbanized terrain, which is more favorable to defense. These rearguard actions cost the Allies another nine tanks (five Shermans and four Churchills). The Benz machines retreat with expertise, often stopping in their movement to seize the Allied tanks at the top of a hill, or at the bend of a slope, before disappearing to ambush further on. Nevertheless, the maneuver does not always work, and the Abteilung is now reduced to twenty vehicles (nine JPzr IV, six StuG IV and five StuG III).
11:45 - Near Korinos, the 6th Infantry Brigade is still blocked in front of the very vigorous defense of the Brandenburgers, supported by Pak 40s and machine guns of the SdkFz 221. On the other hand, the Shermans of Merrit-Inglis are reluctant to get too close. The numerous wrecks of their colleagues serve as an eloquent warning. These same wrecks are however as much cover for the advancing infantry, supported by their mortars. And meanwhile, the divisional artillery continues to sharpen its fire - it is its shells that cause the most losses to the defenders, about a hundred men in the last fifteen minutes.
11:55, Thessaloniki - At his headquarters, Fehn is apprehensive about the intervention of the Allied Navy in the battle of Korinos. In a moody gesture, he notifies Vice-Admiral Förste, who comes out of the small office from which he directs all that remains as Axis warships in the Eastern Mediterranean: two ex-Italian speedboats, the SI-533 and SI-574, and three mini-submarines, the CB-1 (under repair until, probably, the next war, for lack of a spare part), the CB-6 and the CB-10. "Will you not do anything, once again?" he asks the sailor. Stung to the core, Förste salutes in an extremely stiff manner and disappears.
12:00 - The twenty survivors of the 242. StuG Abt finally reach Sevasti, under cannonade. The StuGs take up defensive positions around the village, waiting for an unlikely reinforcement. Benz announces then to Irkens, by radio, that he cannot support any more the defenders of Korinos - he had not had the opportunity to inform him of this before.
The Australians make a pause, stopping 2 kilometers from the buildings, the machines well out of sight of the dreaded PanzerJägers. They ask for artillery support to dislodge the Germans and to prepare what is to be a real assault in an urban environment. For such an action, Freyberg chooses to bring Fred Baker's 28th Btn (Maori) up to the line, 900 elite men. It is his best unit, and the last fresh infantry he has.
12:10 - Under a blazing sun that overheats the engines and wrings out the crews, there is no lull in the fighting.
But, with the fresh wind from the open sea, the small allied squadron signals to Lavarack HQ that it is waiting for the coordinates to start firing. It has seven large guns, whose rate of fire does not exceed two shots per minute. This may not seem like much, but these are four pieces of 15 inches, whose shells weigh 875 kg each (on the two heavy monitors), and three 7.5 inch pieces (on the three IFSS-G).
12:15 - Freyberg is jubilant in his forward headquarters: the naval artillery should shake those Nazis! To maximize the psychological effect (but also to avoid any friendly fire on such devastating fire), he gives the order to withdraw. The Brandenburgers will see what they will see...
12:20 - In his advanced headquarters, General Irkens envisaged, as far as he is concerned, a withdrawal by successive jumps in the direction of Aginio. Fast enough not to suffer the anger of the artillery, but slow enough to continue its mission. And in any case, the allied attacks seem to be calming down... "Maybe they're taking a break for tea?" he jokes with a cold smile.
12:24 - In the depths of both the Terror and the Erebus, a winch lifts a heavy metal assembly, which is arranged on a hydraulic elevator. The piece goes up one floor and dirty but expert hands place next to it a round and yellow accessory - its propelling charge, separated for safety reasons that date back to Jutland. The whole thing goes up another floor, then appears in a confined room to be tipped onto a cart, which still raises the object of half a dozen meters. Arrived at the shooting station, the cart stops in front of a long obscure tube of 15 inches (38,1 cm) of diameter. A hydraulic piston pushes the shell inside the tube, then the charge is manually attached to it. The breech closes. Darkness. Then the barrel of the gun rises and suddenly, light again! The charge explodes, propelling the projectile with an infernal roar, which is followed by flames and leaves the tube to rush towards the German positions, some twenty kilometers away. Nearby, the twin gun does the same, with a delay of half a second.
A wink, as the two shells happily exceed 2,500 km/h on impact, which is obviously spectacular.
Two explosions raise huge sprays of earth in front of Korinos' defense line, covering the area with a cloud of dust. The Brandenburgers are completely stunned. A shrill whistle follows the explosions, while the men discover two craters of 5 to 10 meters in diameter. After the astonishment, everyone hides in their holes or behind the self-propelled guns, derisory protections. A few seconds later, two other shells hit the German line of defense, killing about thirty men. One of the of the shells falls between a Panzer IV which had just returned to its defensive position and a Sdkfz 222. The tank is knocked over and falls on its side, with a sinister noise of tortured metal.
The self-propelled gun gracefully flies away and falls back 15 meters away. The three 7.5-inch shells that arrive shortly afterwards seem almost harmless, but kill unlucky soldiers. The gunners of the Royal Navy (and the Royal Hellenic Navy: one of the light monitors is Greek) were relatively lucky on this first salvo, but their target is beautiful, much bigger than a ship, however big it is.
Cheers go up from the Australian positions, who are jubilant. The Germans understand that their position is now a slaughterhouse.
12:27 - Major Hans-Gerhard Bansen announces to General Irkens that he is abandoning the defense line of Korinos, obviously doomed to destruction. It is the fourth salvo that falls, and the losses accumulate (150 dead, as many wounded, two guns and two panzers in two minutes, plus the unfortunate self-gunning machine, whose fellow machines still operational have already withdran). Bansen cuts the communication without giving Irkens time to tell him if he authorizes him to withdraw!
The infantrymen run away towards the north, clinging as best they can to the vehicles which are still operational: the rear areas of the tanks are full of wounded. The gunners of the Pak 40s take the time to try to save their guns, attaching them to their Sdkfz 7 tractors, but they cannot take on board all the deployed material. This professionalism costs them a third gun - and its servants.
In the following minutes, the Axis positions retreat by one or two kilometers, but the disciplined Brandenburgers do not rout. Nevertheless, Irkens orders the general withdrawal before the Allied artillerymen realize that their target has moved - the Terror is well named!
12:32 - The allied artillery temporarily stops firing, the time to send some armored cars on reconnaissance. They find nothing but wrecks, dying men andbodies. The information is passed on to Robertson and Freyberg, who agree that it was safe to move forward in this sector. The servants of the pieces can breathe and take their lunch break...
12:40 - If the problem of Korinos seems to be in the process of being solved, there remains the case of Sevasti. The officers of the ANZAC staff do not see any major difficulty there - just ask the artillery, naval and ground, to raze the village.
- No, you can't do that!" says a loud voice with a rough accent. Everyone turns to the officer who has just spoken. Freyberg answers in person.
- Major Papadakis, what do you suggest? To ask the Germans to surrender?
- I am not that naive, General," replies the Greek liaison officer with a disillusioned look. "Nevertheless, I respectfully point out that the purpose of this campaign is to liberate Greece, and its people, from fascist servitude and occupation. You are not supposed to raze every town and village in your path, especially in the face of a retreating enemy.
Despite the... complications that had to be faced, the Allied forces successfully solved this during the intervention in Volos. We must find a solution here too.
The tone is respectful but firm - however, Freyberg is not in the mood to negotiate.
- I repeat, Major: what do you propose? Would you like to go and personally adjust the fire of our artillery to distinguish between houses with Germans in them and those without?
Robertson intervenes: "Bernard, there is no need to argue. Greece is our ally and these considerations seem legitimate to me. But if it is preferable to avoid an indiscriminate bombardment, you will understand, however, Major, that we use our field artillery to support our troops on demand."
Papadakis cannot refuse. The 25-pounder will not be spared against Sevasti, but the town won't be wiped out a priori. This may make little difference to those who will see the shells coming.
12:45 - Opposite, Hauptmann Benz, of 242. StuG Abt, and the major commanding the 2. Btn of the Brandenburgers have just received their orders. It is obviously out of the question to hope to keep Sevasti, which in any case is of very limited interest for the defense of the Reich. But, as Irkens makes clear to his subordinates, every minute gained facilitates the withdrawal of the rest of the 19. PanzerGrenadier Division (Irkens said "Brigade" before correcting himself, but everyone understood that the term "division" had become excessive for this unit). StuG and Brandenburgers therefore entrench themselves in the city to which they will hold on... for a while.
12:50 - General Irkens evacuates his forward command post, too exposed. It is now clear that the battle is lost, there is no point in risking capture. As soon as he will be sure to have cleared with the 1. and 3. Btn of Brandenburgers, and what remains of the 1. and 2. Abteilung (7 Pzr IV on the one hand, 16 Pzr III and 20 Pzr IV on the other hand), he will give the order to withdraw to the defenders of Sevasti. Hoping that they will not be surrounded by then.
At the same time, the New Zealanders finally seize the defense line of Korinos, deserted by its occupants. The state of fatigue of the men and the losses suffered do not allow to continue immediately. Robertson begins to consider calling on the Yugoslavs to continue the offensive - he consults Lavarack on this subject.
12:55 - Below Sevasti, the 5th Infantry Brigade launches itself, supported by the 2nd Armoured. Once the defenses are recognized, the 28th Maori Btn serves as a shock, as soon as the defenses are bludgeoned. Observing the vehicles as they rush forward, Fred Baker has these words of admiration for Her Majesty's subjects: "The enemy has a superior position and good cover. In the best tradition of the British Army, I suggest we leave. Leave for the assault of course!"
Salonika, 13:00 - Vice-Admiral Förste assesses his fleet: two ex-Italian speedoboats, SI-533 and SI-574, and two mini-submarines of the RSI, the CB-6 and CB-10. In theory, he has two other boats, but the ASW GA-1, which was useless, was scrapped and its crew sent to Germany, while the mini-submarine CB-1 will never be repaired; its small crew has already joined the men of the "Decima" in Italy to make themselves useful.
In daylight, to take out the launches would be to sacrifice them without any gain. Only the two mini-submarines remain. Their commanders immediately volunteer: "For once the enemy comes to us and doesn't force us to make a long journey on our little boats", exclaims EV Pavolino of CB-6. "Andiamo!" confirms his colleague from the CB-10.
Now Förste is watching them set off. How many of them are in each of these small machines? Four. Förste sighs... Pavolino reminded him that a single MAS had sank the SMS Szent István in 1918. This is not enough to reassure Förste.
Sevasti, 13:10 - Fred Baker's Maoris infiltrate the woods near the village to spot the enemy's position. The 25-pounders open fire on the outlying houses occupied by the enemy - all of them, it seems. A StuG IV and a Jadgpanzer IV are hit by shots which neutralizes them but the artillery falls silent after a few minutes, the time it takes for the New Zealanders to get as close as possible. Fergusson's tanks, with Cromwell and Churchill in the lead, appear while the Maoris dash forward.
"Curses! This is Fischer, we are being severely shelled! Gunther is dead. But no enemy troops in sight, the village remains safe. [Gunfire.] Enemy troops! Enemy troops!" (Sergeant Marcus Fischer - last communication with his hierarchy, quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
13:15 - General Irkens, in his Kubelwagen, passes through Kitros with his staff and continues at full speed. A few kilometers further down, what remains of the defenders of Korinos does the same. Consequently, the general sends to the Hauptmann Ernst Benz and to Major Max Wandrey the expected signal: "Get your men out of there!"
13:20 - The exchange of fire between Allied armor and German tank fighters results in six victims among the former (four Shermans and two Churchills), against four among the latter (two Stug III, one Stug IV and one Jagdpanzer IV). The 242. StuG Abt has only fourteen operational vehicles, which start to retreat by reversing in the streets. The Brandenburgers follow suit.
"I was aiming at a Sherman when I saw a flame in my sights. In the action, I think of a shell that goes off. But it was actually a hit to the right of our armor. A second shell arrived from the right, and passed under the driver's seat! A violent fire breaks out. Normally, a fire in a tank burns all the oxygen in the tank and the unfortunate comrades lose consciousness. Except that the experience of our tank commander saved our lives - he had not blocked the access hatch, and had even opened it at the first impact. The tank commander in question was already outside by the time I realized this. I had, and still have, a tremendous will to live. In spite of the heat that lifted my cap, I leapt through the curtain of flames to throw myself out, burning myself badly though. In the process, I break the wire of my wire, which I had not even unplugged, and I fall on my tank commander, who thinks he has taken a bit of panzer in the back!" (Pointer Hermani - testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
13:40 - The Benz tank hunters flee northwards like rodents chased from their burrows. The rear-guard units sacrifice themselves to allow their comrades to free themselves. Thus, a Stug IV which was blocking the main street is dispatched by one of the Cromwells of Wade's 10th Rgt. The latter, arriving from another street, warns the enemy through the windows of a house already very damaged and simply fires through the building.
Because the tanks designed in Birmingham find here the usefulness of their superior speed, which allows them to maneuver to intercept the fleeing enemy. Observing a Jagdpanzer IV running away in front of him, Sergeant Cotton fires two rounds from his 75 mm QF at the tank, which ricochet off the armor. On the third shot, he aims and hits the sprocket. The tank hunter is hit, continues on its way and crashes into a house, which collapses on top of it. But the story doesn't end there: climbing on his chassis to try to set the machine on fire, one of the Maoris of the 28th Btn notices that it is still moving and tries to get out! The crew had simply been stunned by the impact and were perhaps afraid of asphyxiation. The soldier jumps to the ground, gives the alarm and the JPzr is finished off by another Cromwell, firing at close range.
In general, Baker's troops behaved splendidly during the attack, the Maoris wearing the "Hei tiki" pendant competing with the Brandenburgers in ferocity, who were only too happy to leave. These rearguard battles cost 450 men to the Allies (of which 150 for the 28th), as well as 2 Shermans, 1 Churchill and 2 Cromwell. Fred Baker himself is seriously wounded at the head of his men by a shrapnel which partially takes out his jaws and tongue. Repatriated to New Zealand, he is hospitalized for more than a year.
The 242. StuG Abt leaves one last StuG III in the deal. As for the Brandenburgers, they lost almost 400 men in the streets of the town.
"We could do nothing more, overwhelmed, exhausted, bombarded on all sides by an opponent at least three times our number. The Cromwells were incredibly aggressive. As I retreated north, like all my comrades, one of them cut me off as he went through a hedge! His shell ripped through my armor without doing more than shaking us a bit and covering our chassis with dirt. I was able to quickly dispatch it and continue on my way. But not all my comrades were so happy." (Tank commander Ralpe - testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
On the outskirts of the port of Salonika, 14:00 - While the monitors are having fun hammering the German troops, the minesweepers set about their thankless and dangerous mission. On the bridge of HMS Middleton, which watches over the dredgers like a sheepdog over its herd, it's time to relax. As it has always been, and even more so since the surrender of the Italian fleet, Britannia rules the waves!
But under the bridge, indifferent to these considerations, the sonar operator watches attentively. And it is he who gives the alert: a suspicious echo coming from Salonika and moving slowly southward, at a depth of about one hundred feet... Immediately, the shepherd dog shows his teeth and goes on the hunt, gathering two of the minesweepers along the way.
The hunt will last two hours, with its rituals, its strong moments - the depth charges - and its apparent falls of tension - the periods of listening. The prey is small and it maneuvers but the Middleton is a patient and experienced hunter. On the third shot, some debris rises to the surface, amidst an oil slick. The CB-10 is destroyed, poor skiff pulverized by charges designed to kill a submarine of normal size.
Sevasti, 14:10 - Twelve P-39 of the I/22nd G-CCS return on the battlefield, to greet in their own way the departure of the German tanks. This time, they renounce to dive almost vertically on the tanks, preferring to massacre the fragile transports of the 2. Btn of Brandenburgers, who lose 95 men without being able to retaliate.
14:30 - The tanks of the 1st Yugoslav Brigade of General Stefanović, with some advanced elements of the 1st ID, arrive on the battlefield to help secure the terrain. In fact, they pick up mostly dead, wounded and prisoners. Lavarack plans to take them in the lead to continue the offensive towards Aginio.
The ANZAC will need three days to recover, probably more considering the difficulties of supply from Athens. The Australians of the 1st Armoured are in the second line for the moment.. After repairing about thirty damaged vehicles, they will have lost about fifty tanks, nearly a quarter of their strength before the battle, a rate to which they were no longer accustomed.
"There's a trick to treating burns that the infantry didn't know about: motor oil! It sounds silly, but the vegetable fat forms a layer that keeps the skin from blistering too much. I've been coated with it and look at me [Hermani touches his aged but plump face], like new! I even looked good enough in the hospital to scare the nurses. I pretended to grab one of them from my bed, despite my bandaged face and arms, and said "Julietta, I love you!" I didn't even know if she was in love with me. I didn't even know if her name was Julietta, but she ran off like the devil was after her." (Pointer Hermani - testimony quoted by P. Agte in Panzer! [Heimdal, 2002])
.........
"The battle of Korinos was a fierce clash, such as one rarely sees in Greece.
The violence of the confrontations is very understandable, given the concentration of forces in such a small area. It was besides what Fehn hoped for - a battle of annihilation that would allow him to decapitate the allied forces.
Unfortunately for the Axis forces, if the Allied losses were immediately somewhat higher than the German losses (in all, a hundred armored vehicles destroyed against 83), this differential was soon to be reversed: masters of the field, the Australians were going to repair their less damaged tanks, following the example of the Germans themselves, followed by the French, whom the ANZAC tankers then imitated. What the Germans were going to be nearly unable to do... The final score was about 65 to 83. The 1. Abt of the 19. PzrGr was reduced to 7 Panzer IV, the 2. Abt to 36 tanks (20 Panzer IV and 16 Panzer III) and the 242. StuG Abt to eleven machines (6 JPzr IV, 3 StuG IV and 2 StuG III). In short, the Germans went from 137 to 54.
As for the infantry, the 1. Brandenburgers was reduced to 1,385 able-bodied men out of the original 2,350 that is to say nearly 50 % of the strength out of combat! About 300 men could resume the fight - not enough to stem the tide of the Allies. The Allies, however, had not lost more than a thousand infantrymen, many of them wounded. A figure obviously high in absolute terms, but very low in relation to the number of troops deployed.
It is thus a calamitous balance sheet that the unfortunate General Irkens had to send to Fehn, who was nervously awaiting his return to his office in Salonika. Not only has the armored weapon of the ANZAC not been destroyed, but the 19. PzrGr was reduced to less than half of its forces and the Allied advance towards Salonika had hardly been slowed down.
In the Panzerwaffe command, some accused of incompetence the leader of the 19. PanzerGrenadier, who had not been able to hold his men. This judgment, which was not devoid of politicalconsiderations, was certainly unjustified. Unlike the generals of the armored formations of the Eastern Front, who are too often used as a point of comparison for a certain historical literature, Irkens did not have a real coherent and experienced unit, equipped with artillery and other support elements. The various components of the 19. PzGr had all played the score of their leader, but not on the same tempo: the young and impetuous tankers had paid a high price for their inexperience, while the Brandenburgers and the PanzerJäegers had seemed very, even too cautious, but had finally shown great bravery and professionalism. It is significant that Hauptmann Benz was the only officer decorated for his actions during this battle - Iron Cross from General Löhr, who was rewarding men who had gone to the front to be killed in very bad conditions, and largely through his own fault.
Finally, two unexpected factors had played a great role in this confrontation.
First, the impetuosity of the 1. Abteilung, leading its tanks into a fight of attrition that they could have avoided by remaining on the defensive, even once Irkens' trap was broken. And the intervention of the guns of the allied fleet, responsible for the collapse of the western flank of the defenses and which saved many lives on both sides by shortening the battle. But, in any event, the Australians and New Zealanders had risen to the occasion and won the game - the laurels of victory, as a result of their professionalism and the disproportion of forces, were rightfully theirs.
Materially, the battle was rich in lessons. For the Allies, the armor and weapons of the Cromwell were insufficient to face the Panzer IV, while the Sherman was much better. Finally, the much-maligned Churchill proved to be perfectly at ease, its mechanical reliability improving with running-in and its armor giving it a much longer life than its teammates.
On the German side, the Panzer IV G held its rank, especially with the new L48 turret (Panzer IV G2), but the Panzer III J, with its 50 mm gun, was not more at its place than against Russian tanks. Similarly, the Sturmgeschütz IV, and even more the Jadgpanzer IV had shown itself clearly preferable to the Sturmgeschütz III. Finally, for the infantry, the Pak 40 had confirmed its great qualities of anti-tank gun. " (P. Descortes, Batailles et Blindés n° 80 [Editions Caraktère, 2016])
.........
In the evening, the tanks of the 1st Yugoslavian AC, these of French type, are in place to start the pursuit and to progress towards Salonika. It seems then that the rush of the young men of the Panzerwaffe had no other result than the replacement of the Australian tanks by Serbian tanks! But an epilogue to the battle of Korinos is missing.
Czechoslovak Air Force NA-89, Battle of Korinos, August 1943
* The planes of Czechoslovak pilots serving in the Armee de l'Air have French wing patches and rudder flags, but their fuselage patches, which are clearly visible from another plane, are Czech- "after all," the staff reasoned, "these are also blue-white-red roundels".
9356
August 24th, 1943
19:00, off Katerini - The fleet cruises at a slow speed (monitors are not greyhounds...) while waiting for the people who still need to be helped. It is planned that, tomorrow, when the minesweepers have cleared a suitable sector, we will go and shell various objectives observed by the aerial reconnaissance during the previous days.
Suddenly, between dog and wolf, the alarm horn sounds on the Terror. A lookout has seen two torpedo wakes! But it is already too late (and the heavy monitors of the Erebus class, 123 m for 8,450 tons, are not known for their manoeuvrability as much as for their speed). The Terror takes the two torpedoes to starboard. Commander Thomas M. Beach quickly understands that his old ship, which was hastily built in 1915-1916 with a turret much too big for its hull and already already torpedoed in 1917, might not survive this time. The coast being very close, he gives the order to beach the ship on a beach near Katerini. With the help of the escort, the operation is successful and the 223 crew members are almost all saved. However, the monitor is considered a "constructive total loss". Franklin's curse, some sailors would say.
After a moment of confusion, the officers of the squadron, assured that it was a torpedo, hesitated between a very clever submarine and a very stealthy speedboat. But the searches did not give anything, not more than some shots and grenades on ghosts...
It is only after the war that we will be sure, thanks to the examination of the German archives, that that the winner of the Terror was indeed the CB-6 of Ensign Pavolino. For no one has ever seen the little submarine nor its four crew members. It is assumed that on its way back to Salonika, it tried to bypass the flotilla of minesweepers and hit one of the German mines that were defending the port.
19:00, off Katerini - The fleet cruises at a slow speed (monitors are not greyhounds...) while waiting for the people who still need to be helped. It is planned that, tomorrow, when the minesweepers have cleared a suitable sector, we will go and shell various objectives observed by the aerial reconnaissance during the previous days.
Suddenly, between dog and wolf, the alarm horn sounds on the Terror. A lookout has seen two torpedo wakes! But it is already too late (and the heavy monitors of the Erebus class, 123 m for 8,450 tons, are not known for their manoeuvrability as much as for their speed). The Terror takes the two torpedoes to starboard. Commander Thomas M. Beach quickly understands that his old ship, which was hastily built in 1915-1916 with a turret much too big for its hull and already already torpedoed in 1917, might not survive this time. The coast being very close, he gives the order to beach the ship on a beach near Katerini. With the help of the escort, the operation is successful and the 223 crew members are almost all saved. However, the monitor is considered a "constructive total loss". Franklin's curse, some sailors would say.
After a moment of confusion, the officers of the squadron, assured that it was a torpedo, hesitated between a very clever submarine and a very stealthy speedboat. But the searches did not give anything, not more than some shots and grenades on ghosts...
It is only after the war that we will be sure, thanks to the examination of the German archives, that that the winner of the Terror was indeed the CB-6 of Ensign Pavolino. For no one has ever seen the little submarine nor its four crew members. It is assumed that on its way back to Salonika, it tried to bypass the flotilla of minesweepers and hit one of the German mines that were defending the port.
9357
August 24th, 1943
Alexandria - The 153. FD arrives in town in the middle of the afternoon, exhausted by the successive retreats. The unit of von Böhm-Bezing is alone in town - the 104. Jäger had split off from it at Aiginio to turn east towards Chalastra, not far from the position he had been attributed on the future defense line.
The training division will take time to breathe in Alexandria, before heading back to Adendro. There, its soldiers will have to entrench themselves in this humid plain... and wait for reinforcements. Von Böhm-Bezing takes the time to consider his soldiers who are progressing in the column, exhausted but without complaining. They are now veterans! And since Agios, they have earned the thanks of the Reich!
But here is that bursts of voices are heard from the next crossroads, where there seems to be a traffic jam. Civilians who show unwillingness to clear the road, perhaps - these Greeks are unbearable! The Prussian officer goes up in his Kübelwagen and goes to the place. He finds four of his men fighting like ragmen, Greeks indeed... But they are in German uniform, and their insignia are not unknown to him!
- You here?" he says angrily. His Landsers stand at attention, but not their opponents. No wonder, they are hardly soldiers. They were obviously looting a house whose door was broken down, their booty is scattered around them.
- So you have nothing else to do but loot houses and annoy us?" he says with rage.
- General, may I beg you to hold your troops... and watch your language in front of my men!
It's a too well known officer who appears. The traffic jam is due to a group of his acolytes, a hundred or so gangsters in light vehicles, who are partially blocking the road. Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller! "How can such an individual bear two emperor's names," chokes von Böhm-Bezing.
The hostility between the two officers is palpable, as was the tension between the two units. The irregulars of the KampfGruppe ostensibly carry their rifles in their hands, while the men of the training division start to prepare their heavy weapons.
After a while, the colonel gets out of his car and takes some steps towards his interlocutor, deceptively respectful, wearing a debonair smile and with both hands open in front of him.
He embodies for the general a recidivist scoundrel sure of his impunity.
- Welcome to Alexandria, General!" he says, visibly implying, "We're not going to kill each other, are we?
- What are you doing here?" replies Von Böhm-Bezing in a tone devoid of kindness.
- The same thing you are doing, General! The troops of the Jews and the plutocrats have forced me to leave my position.
With that, he reaches into his pocket, triggering an instinctive movement of Böhm-Bezing's orderly, who had kept his hand on his pistol holster all along. Müller ostensibly ignores him and pulls out an elegant holster monogrammed (but not with his initials), from which he takes out a cigarette which he proceeds to light. He continues with a sigh: "I'm afraid I won't be able to join my Corps in Skopje. So I was about to continue to Salonika to put myself at the disposal of General Fehn. We stopped in town to requisition the necessary supplies and... pacify the city."
The general turns to the four looters, whose uniforms seem particularly disheveled. No sound comes from the house from which they came out... except the crying of children.
- Mamá, ti sou kánoun? Mamá!
The Prussian replies acidly: "I must take control of this town, then continue to the north. Do me a favor and evacuate my defensive perimeter, will you? For Thessaloniki, it's the road to the east.
- Gladly. I'll leave you to deal with the complications caused by the enemy's partisans and others.
The colonel throws out his cigarette, puts it out and salutes, "Sieg Heil, zum befehl, Herr General!"
A small laugh is heard among his men. Then, the band of truck drivers turns on their heels and disappears, singing:
"Gib' mir deine Hand, deine weiße Hand,
leb' wohl, mein Schatz, leb' wohl, mein Schatz,
leb' wohl, lebe wohl,
denn wir fahren, denn wir fahren,
denn wir fahren gegen Engeland, Engeland!"
The 153. FD will camp in town for the night. No particular incident will be reported. Its leader plans to resume his route in the morning...
Meanwhile, Müller continues his route towards Salonika, to the great misery of the village of Platy. He spends the night in Adendro and the village never fully recovered - at the 1993 census, it still had fewer inhabitants than before August 24th, 1943.
Alexandria - The 153. FD arrives in town in the middle of the afternoon, exhausted by the successive retreats. The unit of von Böhm-Bezing is alone in town - the 104. Jäger had split off from it at Aiginio to turn east towards Chalastra, not far from the position he had been attributed on the future defense line.
The training division will take time to breathe in Alexandria, before heading back to Adendro. There, its soldiers will have to entrench themselves in this humid plain... and wait for reinforcements. Von Böhm-Bezing takes the time to consider his soldiers who are progressing in the column, exhausted but without complaining. They are now veterans! And since Agios, they have earned the thanks of the Reich!
But here is that bursts of voices are heard from the next crossroads, where there seems to be a traffic jam. Civilians who show unwillingness to clear the road, perhaps - these Greeks are unbearable! The Prussian officer goes up in his Kübelwagen and goes to the place. He finds four of his men fighting like ragmen, Greeks indeed... But they are in German uniform, and their insignia are not unknown to him!
- You here?" he says angrily. His Landsers stand at attention, but not their opponents. No wonder, they are hardly soldiers. They were obviously looting a house whose door was broken down, their booty is scattered around them.
- So you have nothing else to do but loot houses and annoy us?" he says with rage.
- General, may I beg you to hold your troops... and watch your language in front of my men!
It's a too well known officer who appears. The traffic jam is due to a group of his acolytes, a hundred or so gangsters in light vehicles, who are partially blocking the road. Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller! "How can such an individual bear two emperor's names," chokes von Böhm-Bezing.
The hostility between the two officers is palpable, as was the tension between the two units. The irregulars of the KampfGruppe ostensibly carry their rifles in their hands, while the men of the training division start to prepare their heavy weapons.
After a while, the colonel gets out of his car and takes some steps towards his interlocutor, deceptively respectful, wearing a debonair smile and with both hands open in front of him.
He embodies for the general a recidivist scoundrel sure of his impunity.
- Welcome to Alexandria, General!" he says, visibly implying, "We're not going to kill each other, are we?
- What are you doing here?" replies Von Böhm-Bezing in a tone devoid of kindness.
- The same thing you are doing, General! The troops of the Jews and the plutocrats have forced me to leave my position.
With that, he reaches into his pocket, triggering an instinctive movement of Böhm-Bezing's orderly, who had kept his hand on his pistol holster all along. Müller ostensibly ignores him and pulls out an elegant holster monogrammed (but not with his initials), from which he takes out a cigarette which he proceeds to light. He continues with a sigh: "I'm afraid I won't be able to join my Corps in Skopje. So I was about to continue to Salonika to put myself at the disposal of General Fehn. We stopped in town to requisition the necessary supplies and... pacify the city."
The general turns to the four looters, whose uniforms seem particularly disheveled. No sound comes from the house from which they came out... except the crying of children.
- Mamá, ti sou kánoun? Mamá!
The Prussian replies acidly: "I must take control of this town, then continue to the north. Do me a favor and evacuate my defensive perimeter, will you? For Thessaloniki, it's the road to the east.
- Gladly. I'll leave you to deal with the complications caused by the enemy's partisans and others.
The colonel throws out his cigarette, puts it out and salutes, "Sieg Heil, zum befehl, Herr General!"
A small laugh is heard among his men. Then, the band of truck drivers turns on their heels and disappears, singing:
"Gib' mir deine Hand, deine weiße Hand,
leb' wohl, mein Schatz, leb' wohl, mein Schatz,
leb' wohl, lebe wohl,
denn wir fahren, denn wir fahren,
denn wir fahren gegen Engeland, Engeland!"
The 153. FD will camp in town for the night. No particular incident will be reported. Its leader plans to resume his route in the morning...
Meanwhile, Müller continues his route towards Salonika, to the great misery of the village of Platy. He spends the night in Adendro and the village never fully recovered - at the 1993 census, it still had fewer inhabitants than before August 24th, 1943.
9358
August 24th, 1943
Salonika - SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenberg embarks on his operation to pacify the capital of northern Greece, with all the zeal and professionalism that he is known for. He had warned General Fehn and therefore did not take the gloves off. The mass arrests multiply, and the buildings populated with "seditious" are dynamited shortly after a brief summons.
By the end of the afternoon, 122 people have already been executed and 320 hostages arrested. The population learns to live with closed windows, in fear of the passage of the Sdkfz 251 of the 4. SS-Polizei. It is rumored that a child was eaten by the German shepherds of the canine section...
Salonika - SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenberg embarks on his operation to pacify the capital of northern Greece, with all the zeal and professionalism that he is known for. He had warned General Fehn and therefore did not take the gloves off. The mass arrests multiply, and the buildings populated with "seditious" are dynamited shortly after a brief summons.
By the end of the afternoon, 122 people have already been executed and 320 hostages arrested. The population learns to live with closed windows, in fear of the passage of the Sdkfz 251 of the 4. SS-Polizei. It is rumored that a child was eaten by the German shepherds of the canine section...
9359
August 24th, 1943
Thrace - Heer liaison officers are not satisfied, but not satisfied at all with the progress of the 2nd Bulgarian Occupation Corps, which had moved only 20 kilometers in two days. It is however vital that the troops of this excellent ally of the Reich are in place as soon as possible to contribute to the defense of Salonika - their Salonika, after all! Their senatorial pace might cost the lives of good Aryans, an unpleasantly probable eventuality.
All these considerations worry and irritate the Germans, who make it known to the Bulgarian leader, General Trifonov. The latter, whose reserves of diplomacy or goodwill are exhausted, sends them back to regent Kyril without too much delicacy to obtain additional means of transport.
The request is thus transmitted in the evening to the government of Sofia, accompanied by a request for "urgent" intervention of the 1st Occupation Corps. The latter is for the moment in Serbia, but it would be good if it joined the XVIII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps in Macedonia. As a wise statesman, the prince temporizes and answers through his ministry of Foreign Affairs. First of all, the Bulgarian General Staff is going to take stock of the mechanized means available to accelerate the transfer of the 2nd Occupation Corps. As for the 1st Corps... seriously, who is currently fighting against the Partisans if not the Bulgarians? Unless the Heer wants to send more troops to Yugoslavia to pacify the country! These answers will not please the Berlin Chancellery.
Thrace - Heer liaison officers are not satisfied, but not satisfied at all with the progress of the 2nd Bulgarian Occupation Corps, which had moved only 20 kilometers in two days. It is however vital that the troops of this excellent ally of the Reich are in place as soon as possible to contribute to the defense of Salonika - their Salonika, after all! Their senatorial pace might cost the lives of good Aryans, an unpleasantly probable eventuality.
All these considerations worry and irritate the Germans, who make it known to the Bulgarian leader, General Trifonov. The latter, whose reserves of diplomacy or goodwill are exhausted, sends them back to regent Kyril without too much delicacy to obtain additional means of transport.
The request is thus transmitted in the evening to the government of Sofia, accompanied by a request for "urgent" intervention of the 1st Occupation Corps. The latter is for the moment in Serbia, but it would be good if it joined the XVIII. Gebirgs-Armee-Korps in Macedonia. As a wise statesman, the prince temporizes and answers through his ministry of Foreign Affairs. First of all, the Bulgarian General Staff is going to take stock of the mechanized means available to accelerate the transfer of the 2nd Occupation Corps. As for the 1st Corps... seriously, who is currently fighting against the Partisans if not the Bulgarians? Unless the Heer wants to send more troops to Yugoslavia to pacify the country! These answers will not please the Berlin Chancellery.
9360
August 25th, 1943
Province of Emilia-Romagna - It had begun in the early spring, when two partisan bands had temporarily joined forces to successfully chase the Black Shirts out of the Sassuolo area, before holding on to their positions despite some attempts by the Republicchini. In May, this unification was consolidated and other bands had managed to drive the German garrison out of Cerradolo. In June, it was the city of Fassano which fell into the hands of the Partisans.
A fairly large liberated area begins to take shape between Parma and Florence. It receives arms and supplies from the OSS, SOE and DGSS agents based in Switzerland (and in all discretion...). The whole thing has grown so well that today, by communal vote, the Republic of Montefiorino is officially proclaimed! This is not to the delight of the Bonomi government, in Rome...
Province of Emilia-Romagna - It had begun in the early spring, when two partisan bands had temporarily joined forces to successfully chase the Black Shirts out of the Sassuolo area, before holding on to their positions despite some attempts by the Republicchini. In May, this unification was consolidated and other bands had managed to drive the German garrison out of Cerradolo. In June, it was the city of Fassano which fell into the hands of the Partisans.
A fairly large liberated area begins to take shape between Parma and Florence. It receives arms and supplies from the OSS, SOE and DGSS agents based in Switzerland (and in all discretion...). The whole thing has grown so well that today, by communal vote, the Republic of Montefiorino is officially proclaimed! This is not to the delight of the Bonomi government, in Rome...
9361
August 24th, 1943
On the road Hué (Annam) - Savannakhet (Laos), 16:00 - Like every week, a convoy leaves Hué for the south of Laos. It is a column of one car and six military trucks, to which are added this time four civilian trucks belonging to Chinese merchants. A hundred meters ahead, a small armored car, a Type 97 Te-Ke, zigzags from one rut to another, shaking its crew roughly. The old colonial runway has seen better days, to say the least.
Lieutenant Fujimada stands, holding his binoculars in one hand and clinging to the windshield of his car with the other. Every moment, he turns to one side or the other, trying to detect the ambush that he foresees.
For the moment, the risks are low. The convoy crosses an undulating plain where the cover is limited to a few stunted trees in the middle of a sea of sun-scorched elephant grass. The rebels are no fools. You can't set up an ambush here and hope to escape.
In the trucks wrapped in a cloud of red dust, the men grumble about thirst, fatigue and the bumpy road. Most of them, however, are not recruits fresh out of high school. Half of them have been fighting in the Tenno army since the beginning of the "Chinese incident". The others had their baptism of fire in Malaysia. Sitting astride on the wooden benches, they are ready to jump to the ground as soon as their leaders give the order.
Gradually, the clearings are spaced out. Vegetable colossi appear, loaded with lianas and multicolored flowers, and it is soon a true forest which will thicken. In the branches, birds and monkeys argue in an incredible cacophony.
Fujimada orders a brief halt and takes the opportunity to walk through the line of trucks shouting: "From now on, silence! Be ready to react to the first order."
When the convoy leaves, the men check their rifles and FMs. The atmosphere suddenly becomes heavy and tense. The smart guy on duty doesn't have time to boast that the lieutenant's apprehensions are confirmed by a loud bang and bursts of from the 7.7 machine gun of the snowcat. The latter is the first target of the ambush, the Vietminh are trying to set it on fire with Molotov cocktails, not realizing that the Te-Ke's armor is lined with asbestos.
Fujimada: "Deploy! Quickly! Hurry!"
The gunfire envelops the entire convoy. On each military truck, a non-commissioned officer armed with an FM lifts the tarp to return fire. Meanwhile, the soldiers jump to the ground, taking advantage of the covering fire. No words are exchanged. The veterans know their role by heart. Some slip under the trucks while others leap into the jungle. This is the standard maneuver to counter the ambush. While the remaining soldiers answer the guerrillas' fire, two platoons pass them, one on each flank, and prepare to fall back.
But the Viet Minh machine gun fire is dangerous. The driver of the command car collapses on his steering wheel, blocking the horn. In the first truck, the sergeant in charge of the FM who had so effectively attracted attention, paid for it with his life. Fortunately, already, shots are being fired on both sides of the road. Taken by surprise, the Vietnamese fall or run away. An FM - apparently the only automatic weapon of the assailants - is neutralized by a grenade. A sniper in a tree narrowly misses Fujimada before crashing to the ground, hit in the head by a soldier with a sniper's rifle, who was stationed between two trucks for that very purpose.
In total, the Japanese have only four dead and as many wounded. The Vîêts - irregulars in black pajamas - have sixteen dead, plus the wounded that the jungle will finish off. The booty of the weapons captured is meager: a dozen Arisaka rifles, a 6.5 mm FM model 11, two old Lebel rifles.
On the road Hué (Annam) - Savannakhet (Laos), 16:00 - Like every week, a convoy leaves Hué for the south of Laos. It is a column of one car and six military trucks, to which are added this time four civilian trucks belonging to Chinese merchants. A hundred meters ahead, a small armored car, a Type 97 Te-Ke, zigzags from one rut to another, shaking its crew roughly. The old colonial runway has seen better days, to say the least.
Lieutenant Fujimada stands, holding his binoculars in one hand and clinging to the windshield of his car with the other. Every moment, he turns to one side or the other, trying to detect the ambush that he foresees.
For the moment, the risks are low. The convoy crosses an undulating plain where the cover is limited to a few stunted trees in the middle of a sea of sun-scorched elephant grass. The rebels are no fools. You can't set up an ambush here and hope to escape.
In the trucks wrapped in a cloud of red dust, the men grumble about thirst, fatigue and the bumpy road. Most of them, however, are not recruits fresh out of high school. Half of them have been fighting in the Tenno army since the beginning of the "Chinese incident". The others had their baptism of fire in Malaysia. Sitting astride on the wooden benches, they are ready to jump to the ground as soon as their leaders give the order.
Gradually, the clearings are spaced out. Vegetable colossi appear, loaded with lianas and multicolored flowers, and it is soon a true forest which will thicken. In the branches, birds and monkeys argue in an incredible cacophony.
Fujimada orders a brief halt and takes the opportunity to walk through the line of trucks shouting: "From now on, silence! Be ready to react to the first order."
When the convoy leaves, the men check their rifles and FMs. The atmosphere suddenly becomes heavy and tense. The smart guy on duty doesn't have time to boast that the lieutenant's apprehensions are confirmed by a loud bang and bursts of from the 7.7 machine gun of the snowcat. The latter is the first target of the ambush, the Vietminh are trying to set it on fire with Molotov cocktails, not realizing that the Te-Ke's armor is lined with asbestos.
Fujimada: "Deploy! Quickly! Hurry!"
The gunfire envelops the entire convoy. On each military truck, a non-commissioned officer armed with an FM lifts the tarp to return fire. Meanwhile, the soldiers jump to the ground, taking advantage of the covering fire. No words are exchanged. The veterans know their role by heart. Some slip under the trucks while others leap into the jungle. This is the standard maneuver to counter the ambush. While the remaining soldiers answer the guerrillas' fire, two platoons pass them, one on each flank, and prepare to fall back.
But the Viet Minh machine gun fire is dangerous. The driver of the command car collapses on his steering wheel, blocking the horn. In the first truck, the sergeant in charge of the FM who had so effectively attracted attention, paid for it with his life. Fortunately, already, shots are being fired on both sides of the road. Taken by surprise, the Vietnamese fall or run away. An FM - apparently the only automatic weapon of the assailants - is neutralized by a grenade. A sniper in a tree narrowly misses Fujimada before crashing to the ground, hit in the head by a soldier with a sniper's rifle, who was stationed between two trucks for that very purpose.
In total, the Japanese have only four dead and as many wounded. The Vîêts - irregulars in black pajamas - have sixteen dead, plus the wounded that the jungle will finish off. The booty of the weapons captured is meager: a dozen Arisaka rifles, a 6.5 mm FM model 11, two old Lebel rifles.
9362
August 25th, 1943
Over Laos - Reconnaissance and fire support missions on both sides are hampered for most of the day by dense clouds. Nevertheless, an improvement in the afternoon allows the dispatch of twelve Mitchells of the 62nd EB protected by six H-87 of the II/40, in the direction of Savannakhet. After one hour of flight, the formation splits in two; one group goes to Dongen village and the other to Phalane-Muong village. Five minutes from the objectives, teams on the ground guide them by radio before marking the areas with smoke bombs.
In both cases, the garrison is violently bludgeoned by explosive and incendiary bombs. The few machine guns that try to show up immediately attrac the vindictiveness of the 12,7 mm of the allied planes. A Siamese Ki-36 that had the misfortune to arrive on the scene is promptly dispatched. The aircraft take the road back to Épervier after twenty minutes with one bomber and three fighters slightly damaged.
Over Laos - Reconnaissance and fire support missions on both sides are hampered for most of the day by dense clouds. Nevertheless, an improvement in the afternoon allows the dispatch of twelve Mitchells of the 62nd EB protected by six H-87 of the II/40, in the direction of Savannakhet. After one hour of flight, the formation splits in two; one group goes to Dongen village and the other to Phalane-Muong village. Five minutes from the objectives, teams on the ground guide them by radio before marking the areas with smoke bombs.
In both cases, the garrison is violently bludgeoned by explosive and incendiary bombs. The few machine guns that try to show up immediately attrac the vindictiveness of the 12,7 mm of the allied planes. A Siamese Ki-36 that had the misfortune to arrive on the scene is promptly dispatched. The aircraft take the road back to Épervier after twenty minutes with one bomber and three fighters slightly damaged.
9363
August 25th, 1943
On the road from Hué (Annam) to Savannakhet (Laos), 17:00 - While graves are being dug for the victims, a distant roar of planes is heard, followed by muffled explosions. The lieutenant rushes to the radio installed in one of the trucks, between two improvised armour plates. The French are transmitting in clear and their frequencies have been detected by the Hanoi wiretapping service. The man sitting next to the radio, who owes his position to the fact that he understands the language of the "colonizers", writes feverishly, one hand on his headphones. The message he transcribes is laconic: "Target 1 and target 2 treated".
Worried, Fujimada hurries the movement.
20:00 - Savannakhet, a town on the border with Thailand, is occupied by the Royal Thai Army. On the other hand, according to the Laotian occupation plan, the neighboring sectors such as the village of Dongen, where a small garrison has been installed, remain under Japanese responsibility.
But after a day of trudging along bad tracks, the vision of the village in question has nothing to reassure the men of the convoy. The French planes bombed the town. It is in flames.
All that remains is to continue towards Phalane, the next outpost.
On the road from Hué (Annam) to Savannakhet (Laos), 17:00 - While graves are being dug for the victims, a distant roar of planes is heard, followed by muffled explosions. The lieutenant rushes to the radio installed in one of the trucks, between two improvised armour plates. The French are transmitting in clear and their frequencies have been detected by the Hanoi wiretapping service. The man sitting next to the radio, who owes his position to the fact that he understands the language of the "colonizers", writes feverishly, one hand on his headphones. The message he transcribes is laconic: "Target 1 and target 2 treated".
Worried, Fujimada hurries the movement.
20:00 - Savannakhet, a town on the border with Thailand, is occupied by the Royal Thai Army. On the other hand, according to the Laotian occupation plan, the neighboring sectors such as the village of Dongen, where a small garrison has been installed, remain under Japanese responsibility.
But after a day of trudging along bad tracks, the vision of the village in question has nothing to reassure the men of the convoy. The French planes bombed the town. It is in flames.
All that remains is to continue towards Phalane, the next outpost.
9364
August 25th, 1943
Vitebsk region ("Suvorov-North") - The uncertain weather of the day before turns to gray with a few showers. But this does not prevent General Eremenko from issuing the 20th Army a simple order: attack, whatever the cost. From the Soviet point of view, now that the German defenses north of the city have been destabilized at such great cost, it is appropriate that Kurushkin should push his advantage and capture at least Vitebsk. Moreover, it seems obvious to him that his forces have done the hardest ... And the 2nd Air Army is obviously invited to disregard the conditions of flight to support this action to the maximum which must allow to seize finally the so coveted city.
The frontovikis launch a vast frontal assault from Piestunica to Lužasna, advancing another 5 kilometers. On the other side, the LIII. AK, now completely exhausted, can only gain time to allow the 3. Panzer to deploy on the road leading to Polotsk via Šumilina. Franz Westhoven's forces could probably stop the red wave once again by fighting with their backs to the river... but at what cost? For how long? And will they be able to manage a probable offensive return of the 63rd Army, from the south of the Daugava?
The commander of the 2. Armee, Hans von Salmuth, is therefore reduced to asking Minsk for permission to slightly withdraw his left flank in order to shorten his lines and to deploy his 14. PanzerGrenadier (Rudolf Holste), currently in reserve at Polotsk. In truth, and even if he does not want to say it too loudly for the moment, Salmuth is now asking himself the question of the defense - or rather the evacuation - of Vitebsk.
On the other hand, for Vasily Kuznetsov, the situation is getting better! Now free from the clutches of the 3. Panzer, the latter can quietly - although probably for a very short time - join his 63rd Army, repair his machines and give his men a break before the next move. Indeed, his victorious defense of extreme narrowness in front of the German counter-attack should not deceive: the 63rd Army felt the breath of the scythe. This formation is only a reminder of what it was only six days ago - it will take time to regain some potential.
Vitebsk region ("Suvorov-North") - The uncertain weather of the day before turns to gray with a few showers. But this does not prevent General Eremenko from issuing the 20th Army a simple order: attack, whatever the cost. From the Soviet point of view, now that the German defenses north of the city have been destabilized at such great cost, it is appropriate that Kurushkin should push his advantage and capture at least Vitebsk. Moreover, it seems obvious to him that his forces have done the hardest ... And the 2nd Air Army is obviously invited to disregard the conditions of flight to support this action to the maximum which must allow to seize finally the so coveted city.
The frontovikis launch a vast frontal assault from Piestunica to Lužasna, advancing another 5 kilometers. On the other side, the LIII. AK, now completely exhausted, can only gain time to allow the 3. Panzer to deploy on the road leading to Polotsk via Šumilina. Franz Westhoven's forces could probably stop the red wave once again by fighting with their backs to the river... but at what cost? For how long? And will they be able to manage a probable offensive return of the 63rd Army, from the south of the Daugava?
The commander of the 2. Armee, Hans von Salmuth, is therefore reduced to asking Minsk for permission to slightly withdraw his left flank in order to shorten his lines and to deploy his 14. PanzerGrenadier (Rudolf Holste), currently in reserve at Polotsk. In truth, and even if he does not want to say it too loudly for the moment, Salmuth is now asking himself the question of the defense - or rather the evacuation - of Vitebsk.
On the other hand, for Vasily Kuznetsov, the situation is getting better! Now free from the clutches of the 3. Panzer, the latter can quietly - although probably for a very short time - join his 63rd Army, repair his machines and give his men a break before the next move. Indeed, his victorious defense of extreme narrowness in front of the German counter-attack should not deceive: the 63rd Army felt the breath of the scythe. This formation is only a reminder of what it was only six days ago - it will take time to regain some potential.
9365
August 25th, 1943
Orsha region ("Suvorov-North") - From the morning, and despite all the risks, the 3rd Guards Army launches itself to the assault of Orsha in a thunder of artillery, and under the modest umbrella of a small hundred aircraft offered by general Naumenko. These last ones are quickly intercepted by the IV/JG.51, in marauding in the sector - 14 aircraft of the 2nd Air Force are shot down, against 5 Bf 109. But what does it matter! Because facing the furious assaults of the 50th Guards Rifle Division, reinforced by elements of the 22nd Motorized Rifle Brigade, the 26. ID (Friedrich Wiese) completely loses its footing and has to withdraw, conceding the village of Mozheevka, the control of the railway connection to Vitebsk, as well as a good part of the north-eastern suburbs of the city. The German formation, tested by the clashes of Gallop, had never returned to its full potential and was worn out in the previous battles against the 1st Guards Army. Defending the city of Orsha alone against a Soviet army, even weakened and somewhat dispersed, is simply beyond its strength.
The German forces that are fighting against the 1st Guards of Chistiakov, 20 kilometers more to the north, are forced to redeploy in haste to counter the enemy assault. The 12. Panzer leaves in a hurry towards the south, in order to threaten the right flank of Zakharkin, while leaving its rear under the guard of the very modest 6. ID (Horst Grossmann). In addition, it entrusts the 18. PanzerGrenadier (Werner von Erdmannsdorff) - which is only equipped with Panzer III - the task of leading the attack on Arechaŭsk. The quantitative superiority is no longer present and the assault logically fails. Both the 1st Guards and the 18th Armored Corps benefit from a welcome respite, conceding only one or two kilometers here and there...
Orsha region ("Suvorov-North") - From the morning, and despite all the risks, the 3rd Guards Army launches itself to the assault of Orsha in a thunder of artillery, and under the modest umbrella of a small hundred aircraft offered by general Naumenko. These last ones are quickly intercepted by the IV/JG.51, in marauding in the sector - 14 aircraft of the 2nd Air Force are shot down, against 5 Bf 109. But what does it matter! Because facing the furious assaults of the 50th Guards Rifle Division, reinforced by elements of the 22nd Motorized Rifle Brigade, the 26. ID (Friedrich Wiese) completely loses its footing and has to withdraw, conceding the village of Mozheevka, the control of the railway connection to Vitebsk, as well as a good part of the north-eastern suburbs of the city. The German formation, tested by the clashes of Gallop, had never returned to its full potential and was worn out in the previous battles against the 1st Guards Army. Defending the city of Orsha alone against a Soviet army, even weakened and somewhat dispersed, is simply beyond its strength.
The German forces that are fighting against the 1st Guards of Chistiakov, 20 kilometers more to the north, are forced to redeploy in haste to counter the enemy assault. The 12. Panzer leaves in a hurry towards the south, in order to threaten the right flank of Zakharkin, while leaving its rear under the guard of the very modest 6. ID (Horst Grossmann). In addition, it entrusts the 18. PanzerGrenadier (Werner von Erdmannsdorff) - which is only equipped with Panzer III - the task of leading the attack on Arechaŭsk. The quantitative superiority is no longer present and the assault logically fails. Both the 1st Guards and the 18th Armored Corps benefit from a welcome respite, conceding only one or two kilometers here and there...
9366
August 25th, 1943
Mogilev region ("Suvorov-Center") - The 15th Soviet Army can consider its flanks as defended - if not safe - after seizing Kopani. Although scattered and weakened by its very long march westward, it now approaches Mogilev and seizes Medvodovka and Pudaŭnia - two localities located respectively on the roads leading south and north of the objective. Fediouninski had time to think about his battle plan. He does not plan to risk costly street battles, but rather to approach Mogilev from both flanks to better force the opponent to withdraw.
As for Managrov's 29th Army, it finally returns to Slawharad, evacuated by the XLIII. AK and is now moving up to the northwest and the left flank of the 15th Army.
Faced with this performance, the Stavka orders Managrov to press the pace - he should not hinder his neighbor by clumsiness!
Mogilev region ("Suvorov-Center") - The 15th Soviet Army can consider its flanks as defended - if not safe - after seizing Kopani. Although scattered and weakened by its very long march westward, it now approaches Mogilev and seizes Medvodovka and Pudaŭnia - two localities located respectively on the roads leading south and north of the objective. Fediouninski had time to think about his battle plan. He does not plan to risk costly street battles, but rather to approach Mogilev from both flanks to better force the opponent to withdraw.
As for Managrov's 29th Army, it finally returns to Slawharad, evacuated by the XLIII. AK and is now moving up to the northwest and the left flank of the 15th Army.
Faced with this performance, the Stavka orders Managrov to press the pace - he should not hinder his neighbor by clumsiness!
9367
August 25th, 1943
Chachersk bridgehead ("Suvorov-South") - The hot spot of the day is the sector of the 2nd Guards Army, where there is no respite from the fighting. The pressure inflicted by the Axis is at its peak. To better support the advance of the troops on the ground - and although the weather is not ideal for this exercise, Generalleutnant Ernst Müller concentrated all the ground attack aircraft of his LuftFlotte 2 in the VIII. FliegerKorps (Oberst Torsten Christ), which gave up its II/KG.2 (on Dornier 217) to the II FK to receive instead the I/ZG.26 (on Bf 110 F) instead. These planes will turn all the day on the Soviet bridgehead, hitting also the bridges of boats on the Sozh from Otor to Zalesye, in spite of the furious opposition of the 15th Air Army. The Soviets succeed in shooting down 17 attackers, while losing 31 aircraft against the Bf 109 of the escort provided by the II/JG.51. The score is clearly to the advantage of the Luftwaffe, but it worries some German officers, because they know that with such a ratio of losses, the balance is tilted towards the Russians...
For the Russians, the order given by Ivan Konev to Leonid Govorov and Alexey Rodin is an exhortation: "Not a step back!" The reinforcements go up in line as soon as the river passes, the infantrymen climbing the slopes under the fire of the enemy artillery...
In the evening, the strip still under the control of the Red Army has been reduced to 8 kilometers wide and 4 deep - the Fascists could reach the bank at any moment! The martyrdom of the 7th Armored Corps is over: the latter almost does not exist anymore! Rodin's forces are reduced to about forty operational machines, the others lying in the surrounding plains, burned or sometimes even abandoned in breakdown. On the German side, it seems obvious that tomorrow, the Reds will be thrown back into the river, even if there are only five operational Tigers left...
However, Konev, always so stubborn, does not want to and cannot admit defeat. And while ordering to prepare a massive artillery barrage, he sees a glimmer of hope... The 21st and 22nd Armored Corps arrive at the rear of the conflict zone, under an efficient air umbrella which prevents them from being bothered by the Luftwaffe. Generals Trofim Tanashishin and Mikhail Volkov - decidedly inseparable since Zitadelle - are already on their way to the HQ of the 2nd Belarussian Front, in Dobruch, to take their instructions. They are simple: to pass the Sozh as soon as possible, counter-attack and reject the Fascists towards the west! In the night, T-34 and KV-85 start to cross the waves, which of course puts some disorder in their organization. Those which cannot cross the river immediately are deployed on the bank, for direct fire support!
Meanwhile, the Axis forces discover that the night brought them an unusually large number of annoyances. As if it were not enough to have to defeat this stubborn Soviet resistance, the terrorists took advantage of the night to manifest themselves on their rear. Reinforcements are delayed - sometimes significantly, and sometimes they have to fight through ambushes or mined road sections. The armored reinforcements, already scarce in normal times, are now arriving only in dribs and drabs. Wagons of ammunition explode. Worried about seeing its potential dwindle, HG Mitte is quick to invite the SS, and in particular SS-Obergruppenführer Curt von Gottberg, to be more severe in their management of the rear.
Chachersk bridgehead ("Suvorov-South") - The hot spot of the day is the sector of the 2nd Guards Army, where there is no respite from the fighting. The pressure inflicted by the Axis is at its peak. To better support the advance of the troops on the ground - and although the weather is not ideal for this exercise, Generalleutnant Ernst Müller concentrated all the ground attack aircraft of his LuftFlotte 2 in the VIII. FliegerKorps (Oberst Torsten Christ), which gave up its II/KG.2 (on Dornier 217) to the II FK to receive instead the I/ZG.26 (on Bf 110 F) instead. These planes will turn all the day on the Soviet bridgehead, hitting also the bridges of boats on the Sozh from Otor to Zalesye, in spite of the furious opposition of the 15th Air Army. The Soviets succeed in shooting down 17 attackers, while losing 31 aircraft against the Bf 109 of the escort provided by the II/JG.51. The score is clearly to the advantage of the Luftwaffe, but it worries some German officers, because they know that with such a ratio of losses, the balance is tilted towards the Russians...
For the Russians, the order given by Ivan Konev to Leonid Govorov and Alexey Rodin is an exhortation: "Not a step back!" The reinforcements go up in line as soon as the river passes, the infantrymen climbing the slopes under the fire of the enemy artillery...
In the evening, the strip still under the control of the Red Army has been reduced to 8 kilometers wide and 4 deep - the Fascists could reach the bank at any moment! The martyrdom of the 7th Armored Corps is over: the latter almost does not exist anymore! Rodin's forces are reduced to about forty operational machines, the others lying in the surrounding plains, burned or sometimes even abandoned in breakdown. On the German side, it seems obvious that tomorrow, the Reds will be thrown back into the river, even if there are only five operational Tigers left...
However, Konev, always so stubborn, does not want to and cannot admit defeat. And while ordering to prepare a massive artillery barrage, he sees a glimmer of hope... The 21st and 22nd Armored Corps arrive at the rear of the conflict zone, under an efficient air umbrella which prevents them from being bothered by the Luftwaffe. Generals Trofim Tanashishin and Mikhail Volkov - decidedly inseparable since Zitadelle - are already on their way to the HQ of the 2nd Belarussian Front, in Dobruch, to take their instructions. They are simple: to pass the Sozh as soon as possible, counter-attack and reject the Fascists towards the west! In the night, T-34 and KV-85 start to cross the waves, which of course puts some disorder in their organization. Those which cannot cross the river immediately are deployed on the bank, for direct fire support!
Meanwhile, the Axis forces discover that the night brought them an unusually large number of annoyances. As if it were not enough to have to defeat this stubborn Soviet resistance, the terrorists took advantage of the night to manifest themselves on their rear. Reinforcements are delayed - sometimes significantly, and sometimes they have to fight through ambushes or mined road sections. The armored reinforcements, already scarce in normal times, are now arriving only in dribs and drabs. Wagons of ammunition explode. Worried about seeing its potential dwindle, HG Mitte is quick to invite the SS, and in particular SS-Obergruppenführer Curt von Gottberg, to be more severe in their management of the rear.
9368
August 25th, 1943
Gomel ("Suvorov-South") - The 54th Army (Roginsky) continues its slow advance to the north-west. It now controls half of the Sovetsky district, as the 34th ID is no longer able to oppose a firm static defense on the six kilometers of front it is in charge of. Its commander, General Friedrich Hochbaum, has of course already requested his corps commander, Walther Graessner, to obtain reinforcements. He is therefore forced to order the 31. ID (Friedrich Hossbach) to stretch its lines towards the west in order to take over part of the positions of its neighbor. In doing so, he weakens the defensive system formed by the 31. ID and the division of its XII. AK, the 45. ID (Hans von Falkenstein).
These two units do not lose out, but since Gallop, they do not have any more in line than half of their theoretical strength...
The pressure is therefore relieved a little on the 3rd Shock (Purkayev), which could continue to reinforce itself and even benefits from some new equipment provided by the 10th Armored Corps. It plans to advance in its turn!
Roginsky and Purkayev do not know it, but in truth, if the slow and painful crushing that they imposed on their men cost them dearly, it is also beginning to bear fruit: their opponents are also counting their dead. In addition, the Germans are clinging to the ground all the less as it is announced on all their airwaves that the situation north of Gomel will soon be resolved. And of course, as soon as this is the case, it seems logical that the Russians, who have suffered such terrifying losses, will withdraw as they did last February, under the threat of a counter-offensive and encirclement...
...
"The last news is that we are up to fourteen tanks in the city center - the activity of the Fascists seems to have calmed down a bit. We took the opportunity, with all the crew, to carry out Alexandr's little idea. He proposed to weld on our box and our turret with flexible metal mesh taken from a fence, to form a kind of additional protection. Not armor, of course! At the slightest direct hit of a shell, the tinkering would be torn off like a dead leaf in the autumn wind. But rather a tennis racket - the mesh will send the flaming bottles back out without breaking them. With that (and the close protection of our foot soldiers...), I should be able to admit to exposing our T-34 closer to the enemy-held buildings.
Hopefully, we will not suffer the fate of some of our comrades, whose tanks are now a smoking hulk half-buried under the rubble, visible from barely three blocks away.." (Tankist! - To the heart of the Reich with the Red Army, Evgeny Bessonov, Skyhorse 2017)
Gomel ("Suvorov-South") - The 54th Army (Roginsky) continues its slow advance to the north-west. It now controls half of the Sovetsky district, as the 34th ID is no longer able to oppose a firm static defense on the six kilometers of front it is in charge of. Its commander, General Friedrich Hochbaum, has of course already requested his corps commander, Walther Graessner, to obtain reinforcements. He is therefore forced to order the 31. ID (Friedrich Hossbach) to stretch its lines towards the west in order to take over part of the positions of its neighbor. In doing so, he weakens the defensive system formed by the 31. ID and the division of its XII. AK, the 45. ID (Hans von Falkenstein).
These two units do not lose out, but since Gallop, they do not have any more in line than half of their theoretical strength...
The pressure is therefore relieved a little on the 3rd Shock (Purkayev), which could continue to reinforce itself and even benefits from some new equipment provided by the 10th Armored Corps. It plans to advance in its turn!
Roginsky and Purkayev do not know it, but in truth, if the slow and painful crushing that they imposed on their men cost them dearly, it is also beginning to bear fruit: their opponents are also counting their dead. In addition, the Germans are clinging to the ground all the less as it is announced on all their airwaves that the situation north of Gomel will soon be resolved. And of course, as soon as this is the case, it seems logical that the Russians, who have suffered such terrifying losses, will withdraw as they did last February, under the threat of a counter-offensive and encirclement...
...
"The last news is that we are up to fourteen tanks in the city center - the activity of the Fascists seems to have calmed down a bit. We took the opportunity, with all the crew, to carry out Alexandr's little idea. He proposed to weld on our box and our turret with flexible metal mesh taken from a fence, to form a kind of additional protection. Not armor, of course! At the slightest direct hit of a shell, the tinkering would be torn off like a dead leaf in the autumn wind. But rather a tennis racket - the mesh will send the flaming bottles back out without breaking them. With that (and the close protection of our foot soldiers...), I should be able to admit to exposing our T-34 closer to the enemy-held buildings.
Hopefully, we will not suffer the fate of some of our comrades, whose tanks are now a smoking hulk half-buried under the rubble, visible from barely three blocks away.." (Tankist! - To the heart of the Reich with the Red Army, Evgeny Bessonov, Skyhorse 2017)
9369
August 25th, 1943
HQ of the Heeresgruppe Mitte (Minsk) - Erwin Rommel is unhappy to hear the news from Orsha and Vitebsk. He had not anticipated the resilience of the Soviet formations, and that the resistance capacity of the Russian sub-human seems sometimes superior to that of the German fighter. However, and notwithstanding this inconvenience, it seems obvious to him that the strategic and operational situation has not changed. In the absence of any reinforcements, the communist bridgeheads are doomed - they are not going to raise new armies and armored corps from their chapkas! The head of HG Mitte therefore takes a series of decisions that he considers as wise corrections.
In Vitebsk, he authorizes the 2. Armee to modulate its lines to give its 14. PzG on the flank of the opposing 20th Army.
At Orsha, he orders the 1. PanzerArmee to engage its XXXIX. PzK in a joint action with the 12. Panzer to resolve the situation north of the city. In the meantime, theV. AK, VI. AK and 18. PzGr have to go on the defensive and settle for simple actions of opportunity against the Soviet army holding Arechaŭsk. The latter is no longer threatening and there will always be time to do something to it later if necessary.
In Mogilev, he still trusts the 4. Armee to bleed the Soviets and to stop them on the Dnieper.
Finally, in Gomel, he orders Gotthard Heinrici and Heinrich von Lüttwitz to settle the situation in Chachersk quickly, which should finally force the Russians to withdraw to Gomel.
Nevertheless, under a dark presentiment, he also orders the 18. Panzer (Karl von Thüngen), in reserve of HG Mitte, to approach the front line and to hold in reserve at Buda-Kachaliova (20 km from the bridgehead at Chachersk). In doing so, he scorns without realizing it the subtle logistical considerations that are the joy of the general staffs on the Belarusian front (as on the entire Eastern Front, by the way).
HQ of the Heeresgruppe Mitte (Minsk) - Erwin Rommel is unhappy to hear the news from Orsha and Vitebsk. He had not anticipated the resilience of the Soviet formations, and that the resistance capacity of the Russian sub-human seems sometimes superior to that of the German fighter. However, and notwithstanding this inconvenience, it seems obvious to him that the strategic and operational situation has not changed. In the absence of any reinforcements, the communist bridgeheads are doomed - they are not going to raise new armies and armored corps from their chapkas! The head of HG Mitte therefore takes a series of decisions that he considers as wise corrections.
In Vitebsk, he authorizes the 2. Armee to modulate its lines to give its 14. PzG on the flank of the opposing 20th Army.
At Orsha, he orders the 1. PanzerArmee to engage its XXXIX. PzK in a joint action with the 12. Panzer to resolve the situation north of the city. In the meantime, theV. AK, VI. AK and 18. PzGr have to go on the defensive and settle for simple actions of opportunity against the Soviet army holding Arechaŭsk. The latter is no longer threatening and there will always be time to do something to it later if necessary.
In Mogilev, he still trusts the 4. Armee to bleed the Soviets and to stop them on the Dnieper.
Finally, in Gomel, he orders Gotthard Heinrici and Heinrich von Lüttwitz to settle the situation in Chachersk quickly, which should finally force the Russians to withdraw to Gomel.
Nevertheless, under a dark presentiment, he also orders the 18. Panzer (Karl von Thüngen), in reserve of HG Mitte, to approach the front line and to hold in reserve at Buda-Kachaliova (20 km from the bridgehead at Chachersk). In doing so, he scorns without realizing it the subtle logistical considerations that are the joy of the general staffs on the Belarusian front (as on the entire Eastern Front, by the way).
9370
August 25th, 1943
Moscow - A new bulletin of Radio-Moscow states that "the fighting for the liberation of the Belarusian People's Republic is continuing with violence along the entire front line, while the Red Army is inflicting extremely severe losses on its opponent. Our forces are advancing in Vitebsk, Orsha and Gomel - the recapture of these cities and the collapse of the fascist apparatus is only a matter of time."
Moscow - A new bulletin of Radio-Moscow states that "the fighting for the liberation of the Belarusian People's Republic is continuing with violence along the entire front line, while the Red Army is inflicting extremely severe losses on its opponent. Our forces are advancing in Vitebsk, Orsha and Gomel - the recapture of these cities and the collapse of the fascist apparatus is only a matter of time."
9371
August 25th, 1943
Berlin - On the airwaves of the Reich, the sound of the bell is very different! "With a stubbornness that confirms the criminal nature of its regime, the Soviet army continues to throw itself on the lines of the Army Group Center with waves of attacks doomed to failure, which are repulsed with appalling losses. After six days of uninterrupted offensives, always countered by the vigorous tenacity of our soldiers, the enemy did not break through anywhere and has not won any important locality. His action is therefore undoubtedly doomed to extinguish itself."
Berlin - On the airwaves of the Reich, the sound of the bell is very different! "With a stubbornness that confirms the criminal nature of its regime, the Soviet army continues to throw itself on the lines of the Army Group Center with waves of attacks doomed to failure, which are repulsed with appalling losses. After six days of uninterrupted offensives, always countered by the vigorous tenacity of our soldiers, the enemy did not break through anywhere and has not won any important locality. His action is therefore undoubtedly doomed to extinguish itself."
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