Operation Symbol - A Difference Casablanca Conference

[Gemellus]

11 January 1943 – Private Quarters of Sir Alan Brooke

The British Chief of Staff felt a strange pain in his side as he got out of bed. Immediately he cast his mind back to the evening before. He had been finishing up his draft on topics for the conference when he felt the same pain, now it was back, and he realized significantly worse. He tried to get up and out of bed, only to have the nausea drive him prone. Worse, the room seemed to be spinning and hole parts of his vision seemed to be blacking out. Swiping his arm to the nightstand he sent a glass crashing off and then nothing.

13 January 1943 – Aboard the RAF “Commando” outbound from RAF Lyneham

The Prime Minister was in a rather jubilant mood. He was always excited to travel, and this trip promised to be a nice break from the cold wet British weather. The inside of the plane was dark, and he had to struggle to read over the notes from Booke’s staff. They were really quite voluminous, and Churchill sighed at their weight. It was a pity that Brooke had been laid low by appendicitis. He would miss him at the conference, particularly as Franklin was bringing Marshal along. The Americans were going to press hard for France this spring or summer and it was just too damn soon!

The key was here in the Mediterranean, up thought the soft underbelly of Europe. At least Stalin would not be there, it was all too likely that the Russian would back an early return to France as well. What he needed was some sort of hook to keep the Americans in the South here and fixated away from a cross channel operation. He needed a compromise, something to keep the Americans enmeshed in the Southern Theater.*

14 January 1943 – Anfa Hotel, Casablanca

General Marshal stared down at the President. He was making one of his truly awful martinis. Not for the first time he wondered if he should honestly tell the President just how wretched a bartender he was. Still, he mused, Roosevelt was a rather better President and just now he needed his boss to back him against the British. Taking a sip of the drink he began

“Mr. President we have an opportunity here. The absence of the CIGS means that our views can be rather more forcefully presented. If we really want to get back on the continent in 43 then we have an opportunity here.”

The President took a short drag on his cigarette, then spoke “Yes, it is such a pity that Brooke is absent. But Winston was quite animated tonight. I don’t expect the British will just fold. Do you have some suggestion?”

Marshal took a deep breath, “Eisenhower is committed to finishing up Tunisia by early spring the question is where to go then. The British want an immediate attack on Sicily. Following up with a landing in Southern Italy.”**

“And you have an alternative?”

“I do Mr. President. You see Sicily is a trap. Yes, we can take the Island, but it hen compels us to the next step, Southern Italy. The logic of it is so obvious the Germans can’t miss it. Sicily means we must land in the South. But there is an alternative. Brimstone.”

Roosevelt cocked a jaunty eyebrow at the General. “Sardinia?”

“Indeed, Sardinia. We had some staff talks about landing in Sardinia after Sicily or in reverse order. I think we press the British for Sardinia first. Following it up with a quick occupation of Corsica. Then we have three potential options instead of just Southern Italy. We can land in Northern Italy; we can land in Sicily, or we can land in France.”

Roosevelt sat back in his wheelchair. “So, Sicily leads to Italy, but Sardinia leads to France?”

“Yes Mr. President. Plus, Sardinia is weakly defended. We estimate the garrison is smaller than Sicily’s and poorly equipped. Sicily will have a much stronger garrison, Both Islands fall inside our air cover from Tunisia when Africa falls. The Italians also have several naval bases in the Sardina that we can make good use of.”***

Roosevelt stared off into space for a moment. “Winston will like it. It will appeal to the boy in him! Brooke of course would try to crush it, the British seem set on Sicily, but I think you may have an idea here General, you may indeed.”

*Churchill flew in a American made B-24 Liberator – heavily modified.
**Brooke was the strongest proponent of Operation Huskey (Sicily), he discussed it with Marshal for three days at the conference and got Marshal to agree to Sicily where initially Marshal seems to have argued for Sardinia
The British wanted to keep operations in the Med for the year 1943, while the Americans were pressing for a cross channel invasion into Northern France
***The Italians garrisoned Sardina with about 132,000 troops the only good Italian division was the ‘Nembo” division who were paratroopers, in OTL the German 90th Light African Division was stationed on the Island to re-equip after Africa fell, but that is later

 

[Major Major]

“And you have an alternative?”

“I do Mr. President. You see Sicily is a trap. Yes, we can take the Island, but it hen compels us to the next step, Southern Italy. The logic of it is so obvious the Germans can’t miss it. Sicily means we must land in the South. But there is an alternative. Brimstone.”

Roosevelt cocked a jaunty eyebrow at the General. “Sardinia?”

Ah so. Major Martin will be carrying a briefcase that mentions Operation HUSKY, landing in Sicily, as the cover for Operation BRIMSTONE. Montagu, Cholmondley, & Co. will be hard at work devising the hints.

 

[Gemellus]

23 January 1943 – North Africa Front, Tripoli

Major Alexander Jackson had little trouble finding the regional post office. The Italians in a fit of unusual efficiency had marked each of the administrative building on the front in stark black paint. The Major and his postal staff entered to find several confused Italian enlisted men and two officers standing at attention. Slaney noted with surprise again that the men were sharply dressed and that the officer was well groomed and standing at parade attention. Slaney returned his salute and began to speak in clumsy Italian, only to be interrupted by the Italian officer in near perfect English.
“Your attempts are appreciated Major, but unnecessary, I speak passable English”
“A good deal more than passible my dear....”
“Alexander Slaney, Major. I am currently, or was until you arrived, the postmaster of District Seven. “
“Ah, then not formally speaking a military man?” queried the Major
“No, I am on detached assignment for the Poste Italiane, as are my men” he gestured to his staff still standing at attention. “None of us are currently on duty in the Regio Esercito, although some of us where” he gestured again to his men, towards one man who Jackson could see lacked a left arm.
“Well then, we have something in common I am attached to the 8th Army but am on leave from the Royal Mail myself.”
At this Slaney seemed to relax. Each appraised the other recognition of a kindred soul. “It is always a pleasure to meet someone in our service” Slaney offered “I thought it best to remain here to ensure that the smooth and orderly delivery of post continues.”
Jackson nodded approvingly. “Excellent, too many don’t understand the vital necessity of continuity of postal service. Why I have some superiors who feel that postal service is a luxury.” Slaney looked down shaking his head in sad disbelief. “It is left to us professionals to ensure that the mail goes through, eh? Now let sit down and see what we can accomplish shall we?” $$$



30 January 1943 – Staff Planning Conference Oran

General Bedell Smith stared at the mounds of papers spread out over the ornate table. General Gale was talking with General Gruenther about lift capabilities of some transports. Gruenther seemed to be walking Gale through some deep technical issues and Smith could see Gale was a little at sea. Smith stifled a laugh, Gruenther was a fine officer, but his command of detail was almost legendary in the service, and anyone first experienced a “Gruenther Special” it was likely to be a humbling experience. He let it play on for a moment and then came to the rescue of the Brit.
“If I could have your attention for a moment gentlemen. “Interrupted Smith “I think that we had best turn a small degree of attention to Brimstone. Ike has tasked me to get someone selected before I hand over the CZ to General Hughes*. We can return to General Fendall's advance afterward, and the seaborne capacity issues.” He raised an eyebrow to Gale in sympathy.
“The timetable is of course dependent on the capture of Tunisia, but I think we can assume that Fredendall and Monty will have the campaign rapped up by early April or perhaps late February. So we best detail who we can recommend to Ike for Brimstone.”
Monty has agreed that either Dempsey or Lee with either the XIII or XXC Corps. Although I hear that Prime Minister King is pressing for the Canadians to be given a slot. I think it likely that Ike will want the II Corp under Fredendall pull out for use after Tunisia, but I think that will depend on casualties and effectiveness. Both the 82nd and the 1st will be available by early spring so we will have airborne options.
I think we may want to curtail some of our bombing of the Island to secondary targets. If we hit the ports too hard it may be difficult to get them operational again after we take Cagliari. I believe Fleet Air Arm has hit the island several times previously so I think we may want the Navy to get involved in some target selections, particularly to preserve the port facilities. Each man nodded in approval.
Smith hesitated, “Now we turn to the real problem. Who gets command? It is likely to be too soon for Monty after he clears Tunisia and I know he is pressing to follow up with a landing in Sicily with the 8th, so who will it be?”

21 February 1943 -Communication from Lt. General Kenneth Anderson, British First Army, to Sir Alan Brook Chief of Imperial General Staff, Marked Urgent and Most Confidential

...while the death of an ally is of course never to be celebrated I think that the fatal strafing of General Fredendall is not a matter of great sorrow for the alliance. He was a man of modest intellectual accomplishment and possessed a distinct lack of military capability. His replacement, General Patton, seems made of sterner stuff. He handled the counterattack at Thala well. In particular he rapid redeployment of the American 1st Armor division was quite timely. I look forward to working with him in the future.

7 April 1943 – Headquarters of 10th Panzer Division

Lt. Colonel Stauffenberg watched the British plane bank away. Awkwardly he patted down his uniform. Finding no obvious holes or blood he shook his head to stop the ringing in his ears from the explosions. He started to stand when a pain shot through his left leg. Looking down he could see a large tear in his boot and his leg below the calf pointing at an entirely unnatural angle. Slowly he tried to press the leg straight, only to feel sharp stabbing of pain.
Just then a field medic ran up. “Colonel, it looks like your leg has been broken.” Stauffenberg was about to comment on this rather obvious observation when the medic took the leg firmly in his hand and abruptly straightened it. Pain shot up again, but almost immediately it passed and while still in great discomfort he felt a strange relief. The medic smiled at him “I could have warned you but that would have spoiled the surprise. It's best to put it back in place at once, then let the doctors check the set. “He stared at the leg, “That looks like a nice clean break and set. Although I warrant it is going to keep you in hospital for a while. I best be off now lots more wounded to look at.”


1 May 1943 – Tunis, Liberation Day ***

Montgomery watched long lines of Axis prisoners marched through the city. The British 6th and 7th Armor divisions fresh off their victory on the plain behind Djebel Dou Anouka stood perched on their tanks. The sullen Axis troops had fought well but the fall of Massicault the week before had sealed their doom. The II Corps capture of Bizerta was just another nail in the coffin.

He had received communications from General Arnim that morning and it could only be a prelude to formal surrender. No doubt the Italian Messe would be close behind. Monty was very pleased. The bag was as large as the Russian tally at Stalingrad. He heard that the Germans even were calling the debacle Tunisgrad. The thought made him smile.

Then suddenly he remembered the pending American adventure. They were now all set to go charging onto Sardinia. Sardinia! If only Brooks had been there to stop them. Now they wanted one of his corps, when he needed both to land in Sicily. Well he would put a stop to that! In fact he thought, why not let the Americans have the whole show in Sardinia, then when it proved to be the dead-end he knew it would be he could land in Sicily. Yes, that might well be just what should be done!

$$$ Stamps for the British occupation of Libya (with British ink on top of Italian colonial stamps

*Smith was not technically Ike’s chief of staff at this time. the NATOUSA or North African Theater of Operations was a weird mix of US and UK officers with rotating titles and changing responsibilities. General Everett Hughs and Smith didn’t get along well and real tension between them impacted the operations of NATOUSA. Later it was Hughes who pushed Ike to name Patton to army command.

**Rommel and Arnim were about the launch Operation “Spring Wind” in early February and spoil the timetable, but Smith and the others didn’t know this

***One week earlier than in our Timeline

 

[Gemellus]

28 May 1943 Cagliari Harbor, Sardinia – VI Corp, 4th Marine Division, 6th Regiment*

Colonel Jackson looked at the reports from Green and Red Beaches. The opposition was light, and the 2nd Battalion reported that they were advancing into the Harbor against only sporadic sniper fire. He sent an orderly forward to tell Carson to keep pressing into the town. It was beginning to look like the Italians hadn’t minded the piers and that was almost as good a piece of news as the light opposition to the landings. Now if he could just keep the Army out of the way.
Suddenly behind him he hears a high-pitched voice, “I just heard that your boys are moving into the Harbor Colonel.” Jackson turned around and faced the Commander. He was somewhat shocked to see Patton so early in the operations, but he expected that the lack of opposition had prompted the General to land much earlier.
The command post was technically outside as the roof had been blown off by the shore bombardment from that morning, so he offered Patton a quick salute. “Yes sir General. We didn’t hit any fixed positions on landing, and we are moving into the port as rapidly as possible. I heard from General Schmidt that the 14th and 23rd also are moving....”
Patton interrupted “I already spoke to the Dutchman. It looks like the Italians only have a partial division here, light on any heavy ordinance and we haven’t seen a tank since we landed.”
Jackson replied “One of our prisoners was a liaison officer with the Germans. They diverted one of their mechanized divisions from here to Sicily. *** I expect they will be Monty’s problem if the Brits draw Sicily card.”
Patton snorted but offered no confirmation. “I want you too keep pressing hard Jackson. If we can take most of the harbor in one piece than I can land the reset of the Corp and drive inland before the Italians know what hit them. I want V Corp to chase those bastards right off the Island and Corsica too.”
“The Corps will give you the harbor General, but it is up to you to keep the army moving.”
Patton laughed “I’ll see what I can do Colonel, I’ll see what I can do.”

15 June 1943 Tunis, Headquarters 8th Army

“Now see here Alexander, just because that American had to race off and occupy a perfectly worthless island against no opposition, that doesn’t mean I won’t face the full wrath of the Germans when I cross over. I need those landing craft and the transports that our American cousins are wasting up in Corsica.”
General Alexander suppressed a sigh. “Monty, the Americans promise to have the rest of the landing craft back for you before the months end. The question is are you still set on Sicily? The intelligence reports show the Germans have reinforced the island, but we still have air superiority, and we can put 150,000 ashore in the first three days.
“Well, I do feel more comfortable having the 1st Army watch my flank than the Americans. I must insist however on absolute priority on air and naval assets.”
“You will have priority all through the month of July and whatever part of August you need to take the Island. But, The Americans won’t give us carte blanche here. At some point Patton up in Corsica will want to do something, and given that means another amphibious operation.
Montgomery looked distinctly unhappy. “We shall see what the liberation of Sicily brings us. Who knows the Americans may wither on the vine while we advance eh?”

14 July 1943 – Rome – Meeting of Fascist Grand Council

Dino Grandi shouted to be heard. “It is apparent El Duce that the situation on the Island of Sicily is terminal. Yet again you have led us to defeat and now the very sacred soil of Italy is threatened. Your time has passed, your leadership has failed and you must go!”
El Duce seemed shocked by the tone of Grandi, he had made the man, fought with him, bled with him and now betrayal....
Grandi looked over at Ambrosio “Our Chief of Staff informs me that you were going to go hat in hand to beg the Germans for more aid. To invite the Teutons into our sacred land. You know what that would mean?! If Badoglio was still alive he would tell you the truth about the Germans! ”*****
Mussolini rallied “Dino you are no longer a member of this council you have not right....”
Grandi interrupted again. “I have drafted the Order of the Day****. The King will remove you if you do not resign. Do not make this necessary my old friend!” Mussolini remained silent. Grandi stood and spoke “I call for an immediate vote and an appeal to the King!”

16 July 1943 – Rome – Il Popolo D'Italia (Fascist Newspaper)

His royal Highness King Victor Emmanuel announced today that the former Duce has resigned his office. In his place Marshal Caviglia. The Marshal has declared that Italy will remain in the war and will fight on to victory against the powers aligned against her....



*The Fourth wasn’t activated until February of 1943 in our TL, here it was accelerated, and the 6th Regiment attached due to its’ service in Iceland in 41-42, the 14th and 23rd Regiments round out the other Regimental units.
**Unlike the movie version of Patton where George C. Scott had a deep gruff voice, the real Patton's was rather high and not a baritone at all.
***This was the 90th Light Division, which in our TL reformed on Sardinia in July of 43, although not all regiments were on the island
****The Ordine Del Giorno was issued in OTL stripping Mussolini of power, he was arrested the next morning when he tried to occupy his office, the King dismissed him and he was placed under house arrest
*****Badoglio had several near misses in 1943, here the fates were a little less kind than in our TL. Badoglio would not be available to take over. The King was known to favor Badoglio over Caviglia, but that isn’t an option here. If you ever read Badoglio’s memoirs you missed a real sycophant, but he did give a real firsthand look at El Duce’s fall in 43.

 

[Gemellus]

Operation Symbol – Part 4


July 14, 1943 - Near Catania, Sicily - 8th Army Sector approaching Etna Line (Operation Fustain)

Lt. Colonel Pearson watched the Dakotas bank away from the drop zone. The drop had gone surprisingly well* he shook his head and began to organize the six pounders that had come down in the gliders. It looked like most of the regiment was moving under command for the bridge. Lt. Stainforth came up and let Peason know that the 1st Battalion had already taken the bridge.
Pearson replied “Right then we need to get the gunners in position to stop Jerry in case he wants to try to take bridge back. Get the second as a reserve if you need it but I want the bridge well covered with fire on enfilade any counter.” Stainforth offered a nod, no salutes in the field, and ran back to his unit.
Suddenly the world erupted in explosions as what could only be a German artillery barrage began. Pearson recognized some 8.1 mortars mixing in with some heavier pieces. Most of the shells were going long and none were close to his own position. Taking out his field glasses he scanned the ridge line to see if any infantry or armor was coming up. So far nothing. If he could get the guns set up he thought he could hold, but if the Corps was late arriving it was going to get sticky.

July 18, 1943 – General Kesselring Headquarters, Rome office

Kesselring** looked at Guzzoni and offered his best smile. “My dear General it looks as if the operation of Sicily is strictly a British affair. So, the advance seems rather slow. They are just now getting what we think is the 1st Army driving into the Western part of the island. I think that we can hold them a good while.”

Guzzoini nodded, “The 6th Army is fighting well, it is after all our sacred soil”

Kesselring did not miss the emphasis on ‘our’ in the reply. But his nickname was not Smiling Albert by accident. “Yes, Monty seems to be fighting a set piece battle up the coast. The 90th Division was quite useful in retaking the Catana bridges and that seems to have slowed them down quite a bit.*** We can keep the bottled up a month or more at the line. They will have to clear the Eastern part of the line until they can flank the line.” he hesitated “Of course, this assumes the current order of battle remains complete.”

Guzzoni replied “I have spoken with Enrico and he remains a firm friend of Germany. The King is steadfast in his loyalty to the alliance. Of course, the situation could be changed by German actions.”

Kesselring answered “The German position is one of support. We have fought together for years now and our spilled blood binds us together. But there are rumors that some in the new government are not happy.” he paused by Guzzoni didn’t rise to the bait “With the Germans in Corsica and Sardinia it is imperative that the mainland be defended. That will require the closest cooperation between our two people.”

Guzzoni paused but then spoke, “Marshal Caviglia is an old man, but brave. The King of course would have preferred Badoglio, but he was still in hospital. I think he may be coming out next week. If Marshal Caviglia was to be convinced to appoint Badoglio would hat defuse any doubts from our ally?”
The German nodded “We are very comfortable with Badoglio, of course this is purely an internal matter for the Council and your government. I just thought it would be imprudent for me not to raise some of our concerns. I have no doubt we will remain fast friends and allies”

Luigi Einaudi

August 2, 1943 – Lisbon, Portugal – Residence of Sir Ronald Campbell UK Ambassador

The Italian civilian took off his glasses and removed a startingly white handkerchief from his lapel. He slowly rubbed the glasses and let the silence in the room draw out. He cleaned one lens than another. Then he looked at the glasses and tilted his head as he stared through the lens, then he slowly repeated the process, all in complete silence.

“Perhaps Mr. Einaudi it would be appropriate to clarify our position?” asked the ambassador. Taking the silence for acceptance Campbell went on. “We are prepared to assist your government by landing allied troops as soon as a formal agreement I reached and....”

“Ah here is the first problem. This assistance is too vague” interrupted Einaudi “if Italy is to leave the war, we have no desire to become yet another German occupied state. You have armies in Sardinia, Sicily and Africa. They all most land in Italy as before the Germans can act.”

General Smith**** spoke “We can land troops on the mainland in coordination with the armistice, but we would need assurance that you control the ports, otherwise it would be an invasion, not a liberation.”

Einaudi replied “I have spoken to the Marshal, and he is prepared to distribute loyal troops to those ports you can reach and occupy immediately.” The Italian took a paper out of his jacket, “In the South the chief port is Naples but there are at least two other supporting ports, Taranto in the South being the more vital. Of course, Rome is to be secured by airborne troops who will support our own units in protecting the capital from German aggression. We will secure Civitavecchia to allow for naval reinforcements. In the North there is Genoa. The Navy and Army will cooperate there to insure unopposed landings. In fact, we find this landing most vital as it will prohibit any German reinforcement of the South and Central areas.”

Smith answered. “I know an ex-cavalry man who is most anxious to land in the North. Last I talked to George he was pressing me to land on both sides of the Alps!”

The Italian smiled “Not the worst idea I have ever heard. We have four divisions in Southern France and we hold the Port of Toulon.”*****

Smith shook his head “That seems a bit too far for us. Still if we can liberate your country and establish control then perhaps, we can assist your divisions in France. But this takes it too far. We are agreeing today on the mainland. Other Italian units will be supported, but only after we complete the main landings.”


*In fact, 1st Para had a more difficult time in our TL. There was some bad luck when the 51st US Troop Carrier wing dropped 1st para. They used mainly C-47 transports that stumbled into some real allied naval fire and took not insignificant friendly fire. The bulk of their heavy supplies came in on British Albemarle's and Hallifaxes. Less than 20% of the regiment hit the silk and landed in the target zone. More than a 1/3 didn’t drop at all and were returned to base.
**Kesselring's’ nickname, let me recommend the short Biography “Kesselring, The Making of the Luftwaffe” by Kenneth Macksey.
***The 90th had reformed in our TL in Sardinia – here it reformed on Sicily. The division had been destroyed in Africa and as was the German pattern the division was ‘revised’ so it didn’t leave the order of battle.
****Ike’s Chief of Staff Bedell Smith conducted the negotiations in our TL and signed for the allies
*****The Italians held Provence and parts of Savoy but it was a very ‘light’ occupation. They confined themselves to the cities (Nice, Toulon and Grenoble. In the countryside the French operated with near complete independence.

 

[Gemellus]

From the Memoirs of General Westphal (Albert Kesselring’s Chief of Staff)

The landings of the Marines at Civitavecchia and the airborne troops inside Rome were decisive. There we only two German divisions in Rome and no others could be brought up quickly enough to defend it. In conjunction with five Italian divisions stationed at Rome, a combined sea and air landing took the Italian capital inside seventy-two hours. Thus, the five German divisions to the south in Vietinghoff’s 10th Army were completely cut off. Effectively all of Italy south of line Rome-Pescara fell into allied hands.*

Of course, much of this falls to the credit of the Italian Army and Navy itself. Somehow, they managed to maintain tight control over upcoming armistice. Marshal Caviglia had excellent relationships with much of the army and more critically the Italian Navy. All Army commanders, as well as the critical Corps commanders and most divisional commanders were prepared to lagger their troops into fortified positions to forestall German advances and to await allied support.

One key player was the Italian Mister of Marine, Admiral Count de Courten. Courten was deep into the plot to take Italy out of the war yet in early August he approached Kesselring and told him he was going to sortie the Italian fleet to seek battle with the British Mediterranean Fleet. He claimed the fleet would conquer or perish, he said this with tears in his eyes. He then described in detail its intended plan of battle, all the while planning instead to leave the war.**

From Military History Channel Documentary – The Orphaned Redoubts

The allied invasion of Italy in the late summer of 1943 had wide ranging impacts beyond the peninsula of Italy itself. While Rommel’s Army Group B***reacted against the mock allied landings at Genoa the Allies quickly bombed most of the rail and road lines between Italy and Southern France. Thus, the Italian Army in France was isolated, and with the transfer of Student’s German divisions to Northern Italy, it actually outnumbered German troops in the area.

The only exception to the early survival of the Italian occupation army in France was the Regia Marina base at Bordeaux. Some three dozen Italian submarines were based here and when the commander was informed of the Armistice, he well knew that his isolated sailors could not survive. Twenty-one Italian submarines were currently in port although only 7 were able to put to sea before the Germans stormed the base. Packed with Sailors, this ad hoc wolfpack made its way first to Toulon and then Nice. There the crews disembarked and began their improbable transformation into soldiers, soldier who wore American uniforms.

While the Allies occupied most of Italy her armies in France, Yugoslavia and Greece were all cast adrift. Had the Germans more time to plan they might well have rapidly disarmed the Italians and a smooth transition of occupation might have occurred, as it was the Germans were lucky to hold onto Northern Italy, although some historians have argued that this ‘victory’ was more fatal than many defeats. As it was the fall of 1943 was to be an interesting time for the Italians inside and outside Italy.

“Ironmen and Steel machines, the Battles or Orel and Belograd” From the Journal for the Study of Military History published December 1, 1960

…leaving Hitler even more ambiguous about Citadel. When it became clear that not only were Africa and Sardinia lost, but that soon Sicily would be invaded it was too much to expect his approval of even the limited offensive that the army pressed for. Instead in early July the offensive was postponed yet again and then by mid-July canceled. Plans were hastily drawn to remove many of the units both air and land for redeployment along the Eastern Front and to Italy. However scarcely had the drawdown begun when the Soviets began their own offensive……

The massive Soviet attacks by Popov, Rokossovsky and Vatutin were simply impossible for the Germans to contain. So long as the Russians were willing to pay the price in blood and machines the Germans could only exact the cost and fall back steadily. Von Manstein in the South was more than prepared to accept this practice as he adeptly contained and parried each Soviet advance. Whenever possible he would seek to separate the Soviet armor from their infantry and deliver a class ‘backhand’ counterattack which would send the Soviets reeling.

Had this been the Soviet army of 1941 or even 1942 it is possible the Russians would have broken or that they would exposed their advances and fallen into large pockets, to be captured by the Germans. But by 1943 the Russians had learned if not mastered the combined arms of armor, artillery, and infantry. Units, sometimes whole divisions, would be cut down but none were routed, and none surrendered in any number. Instead, they moved steadily forward taking Orel in the North and Belgorod in the South. But the cost was significant. By the early fall the Soviets were spent, and Kharkov and Bryansk still anchored the German lines. When the rains came the Russians could look with some satisfaction that they had stood toe to toe with the Germans and pushed them back. Come 1944 there was hope for even greater improvement and perhaps liberation.

Total operational losses remain difficult to establish. The Germans saw the battle as two separate fights, The Northern battle for Orel where they suffered 35,000 casualties and the Southern battle for Belograd where Manstein reported losses of 27,000. Soviet losses are much more difficult to estimate. Officially the Red army lost 177,000 men in the Northern Battle of Kursk and 254,000 in the Southern battle. Offensively the Russian armor was no linger an offensive force with losses of over 6,000 tanks against fewer than 1,000 for the Germans. It would take all winter for them to rebuild, but the Spring of 1944 was to see a different world.



Excerpt for “George Marshal A Biography Debi and Irwin Unger”****

Following the Casablanca conference was ‘Trident’ the Washington meeting of British and American Staff. Unlike Casablanca where the British had come prepared with numerous studies and papers to support their position, now it was the Americans who were stacked deep with support.

The American press for a cross channel invasion in 1943 was countered by the British, but they were compelled to recognize the necessity of landings in Europe during the year, beyond the initial Italian lodgments. Here Marshal sprung his trap, a compromised where the Americans would accept the Mediterranean as the active theater, but the British would commit to a full effort.

By the summer of 1943 the Germans were badly split. Italian garrisons were holding out in Greece, parts of Yugoslavia and Southern France. Allied bombers had sealed the trans-Alpine roots and cut the North South Railways in France. The Italian Riviera campaign was already underway with Free French Units lead by Giraud landing the XIX Corps. Thus the seeming absurd situation of French troops landing in France to Support (Formally) fascist Italian troops who where occupying France. In Yugoslavia the Germans had driven most of the Italians off the mainland but several garrisons clung to different enclaves or islands, either too well entrenched to easily overrun or too distant from Germans lines. Greece was the worst of all. Some Blackshirt units openly cooperated with the Germans, some Italian units lost all discipline, selling weapons and materials to the Greeks, others followed orders and formed defensive perimeters waiting for they knew not what.*****

The Allies lacked the interior lines of the Germans but retained the advantage of strategic flexibility. With air and naval superiority, they could support operations in Northern Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia and France. The American Fifth Army had stood up and was facing Rommel North of Leghorn to Ancona line. Tactically they faced an advance up to the Po before running into the Alps. In British having completed the occupation of Southern Italy were ideally suited to strike into either Greece or Yugoslavia. In the latter the Italians had been largely displaced but Greece included several ports that could be easily occupied as a basis for advance. Finally General Patton’s Seventh army was free to land either in France in support of the Italians/French or into Italy in Support of Clarks 5th Army.





*This quote is taken nearly verbatim from Liddell Hart’s “The Other Side of the Hill” pp 364 – 365 where Westphal expressed that such landings would have compelled the Germans to abandon South and Central Italy at once. Kesselring himself said “An air landing on Rome and sea landing nearby, instead of at Salerno, would have automatically caused us to evacuate the southern half of Italy.”

**This also happened in our TL – although a little later – on September 7

***As in our TL Rommel had been in charge of Army Group B which formed in late 1942. It was initially sent to secure the Alpine passes then grew into a larger three Corp Army. It was dissolved and the troops fed into Kesselring’s command w some troops going East.

****A real book from our TL. A nice short concise history of Marshals life with lots of crossovers to other figures, has some great background stories, well worth the read. This section about Trident and Algiers is obviously fiction

*****Let me recommend ‘Inside Hitler’s Greece” by Mark Mazower which focuses on the Germans but incudes some good material on the Armistice of September 43 and the reaction of the German troops.

 

[perfectgeneral]

The logistic troubles of the Redball express and no big ports are TTL now the multi-port issues of logistics around Iberia and into the Med. Less of a problem, I believe, until you push north to the Rhine. Railway repairs.

 

[lukedalton]

Wow a well organizated and executed Italian surrender in WW2, not something you see everyday, big change from the italian armed forces keeping cohesion to the King not running away in such humiliating and cowardly way to the Nazist not occupy the great part of Italy and looting all the possible from her and more importanly no long and costly advance of the allied troops from the south to the north
Oh well big loser is the PCI as no resistance myth and i hope Einaudi had negotiated the fate of the italian Pow in allied hands

 

[Gemellus]

14 August 1942 – Rastenburg (East Prussia), Wolf Lair

Count Von Stauffenberg watched the plan circling the small airfield. He turned to von Haeften and spoke “You know I appreciate the rescue from Africa, but I am not sure the weather is any better here in this swamp.” The Oberleutnant smiled, “Yes I have often said that everything West of Berlin is too damp to be a forest and too dry to be a sea.” The Colonel stifled a laugh. Even innocent jokes could draw the attention of the SS.

“So we are playing to good King Boris today?” asked Stauffenberg

“Yes, we are. The Bulgarians are very reluctant to continue the war. I hear from some of my contacts that the King’s Italian wife is suspected of covert contacts with the new government in Rome. But Boris is not a big fan of our brothers in black.” he stole a quick glance over at some SS guards lounging at the landing field. “In fact he won’t turn over any Jews to them at all, or damn few I hear. It is enough to drive them crazy” he gestured to the SS.

“That is the first good thing I have heard about the Bulgarians” countered Stauffenberg

“The Fuhrer is going to try to put the screws to Boris today.” offered Haeften “But Boris has aleady refused to get involved with Russia. He did send a fair number of troops down to Greece but they haven’t been mixing it up with the Italians. More a sort of slow motion occupation. We don’t have the troops to put in and for now we are trusting the loyalty of the ‘Greek’ Italians.”
Von Stauffenberg watched the plane come in for a near perfect landing. He straightened his uniform and brushed off some of the debris cast by the wind from the propellers.

“Well we best go represent the Home Army.” he addressed Haeften, and walked to the plane.

18 August 1942 – Sofia, Bulgaria – Residence of Ivan Bagrianov

The Bulgarian diplomat gestured to his guest to have seat. “Won’t you have a seat Mr. Smith?” asked Ivan. The man carefully dusted off a nice leather chair opposite his host and sat. “I appreciated your time and effort to meet me.” His guest nodded but remained silent. “I am glad that Heuvel* could pass on my note.” The Bulgarian hesitated and the silence drew out, suddenly he plunged on. “As you know the King had a rather stormy meeting with the German chancellor. It was so dramatic that his majesty contacted me to see if any of my acquaintances could be induced to discuss some changes in political alignment.”

For the first time the man spoke, Bulgarian but with more than a hint of an English accent “That will not endear him to Filov or his supporters**.”

“Yes quite. In fact the King was upset enough to fly directly how and speak with me and others, like Peshev our Deputy Prime Minister.” The Bulgarian stopped awaiting some reply but when his guest was silent he continued. “As you know the Germans have few troops inside the country and we have significant garrisons inside our new territories and providing some garrisons duties in Greece and Yugoslavia. The recent ‘realignment’ of Italy into the allied camp suggests that other regimes might expect similar treatment.”

The Englishman took out a pipe and lit it. He took several short drags then spoke. “Unofficially I would think I could say that his majesty’s government would look with some favor on the termination of our war with Bulgaria.”

Bagrianov sighed and the half answer. “My government would like assurances that if we were to leave formal alliance with the Germans that we would be received like the Italians as partners.” The Englishman was silent, taking another long and slow drag on his pipe; “We could of course offer support to our new allies. Most of the Troops in Southern Yugoslavia and Northern Greek are ours. They could ease the way in any Allied operation in the Balkans.”
The Englishman tapped his pipe against an ashtray, “What a most interesting thought. “***





*Frederick Vanden Heuvel who was MI6 station agent in Switzerland during the war
**Bogdan Filov who is still Prime Minister in this TL as well as ours in August of 43. A rather vicious anti-Semite and pro-German
***In this TL King Boris is still alive (he was just 49 when he died in our TL on August 28. There is a good deal of historical debate if his sudden death was natural (Heart Attack) or the result of poison (German, Italian, British or Russians were all suspected). I choose for this TL to believe that if it was poison that whoever was behind it doesn’t act, or if it was a heart attack that it was at least delayed.

 

[Sport25ing]

An pro-Western Bulgarian, now that interessing

 

[Gemellus]

September 8, 1943 – Headquarters of Ersatz Heer (Replacement) Army, Berlin

General Olbricht sat wearily in his chair. It had been another long day and he wanted nothing more than a to lay his head down and sleep, but instead here he was with Stauffenberg again. It wasn’t that the colonel wasn’t pleasant company, nor that they disagreed on the topic, it was just that all careful planning seemed so pointless. Tresckow was being posted to the East*, Oster had been dismissed from the Abwehr and every attempt seemed cursed.

Stauffenberg looked at the map on the wall, then at the General. “It doesn’t look good, does it?” He moved his hand first to France. “Patton’s army seems to have stalled only because of logistics. Certainly, it wasn’t because we stopped him. It was the narrow railway up from the South.” He moved his hand to Italy “I will give credit to der Wustenfuchs, he stopped the allies well South of the Po. But Army Group B has nowhere to go. No flanks in Italy, no grand advances and the Allies continue to wear him down.” He moved over to Greece, “Now Montgomery is in Greece and our Bulgarian allies have turned tail. That loses us not only Greece and Thrace but puts them on the Romanian Border if the British move.” Then he moved over to the East “How long can we even stay in Russia if we lose the Southern Balkans?”

Olbricht stared away. “I spoke Speer last night. He told me that it isn’t the Bulgarian mess that frightens him but Romania. If we lose the oil fields there, we will only have synthetics, then it is only a matter of time. A short matter of time.”

“Can we hold onto the fields?” asked the colonel.

“We are pouring troops into Ploesti, it will hold. For now, it will hold.” answered the general. “I think we can stop the rot over the fall and hold on through the winter. But come the Spring they will all be ready to take us down. We are like a stag surrounded by a pack. We can kick one, maybe two back, but in the end, they will take us down.”

“Then we must act. We must end the war before Germany is overrun. He must die, and his whole gang.” The general didn’t reply. They had plowed this ground many times. Suddenly an idea formed. He went to his desk and began to pick through some files. He found a thin brown folio and handed it to Stauffenberg. The colonel opened the folder and studied the papers. He looked at the general, “This could be a real opportunity, but it would be suicide to move openly. Would anyone do it?”

“I know just the man.” replied the General



September 9, 1943 – On the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul

The steward brought three more gin and tonics up and discreetly placed them on the sideboard before leaving the cabin. The British Ambassador handed one of the drinks to the Hungarian. Veress took the drink and held it in his left hand as he scanned the document in his right.

“The conditions are a little less generous than I would have liked.” he said.

“Well, my dear Veress, they are likely to grow worse not better over time. The Americans might take a hand in this, and you know they make little distinction between you and the Germans.” The Hungarian reread the document hoping it might have more.

The Englishman took out an ornate pen and removed the cap. He silently set it down on the sideboard where the drink had been a moment before. Veress could see him do it. He sighed and picked up the pen. Slowly he signed the armistice. **



October 12, 1943 – Outskirts of Moscow, Stalin’s Dacha

It was another very late night. ‘The Boss’ seemed to function on no sleep and cheap tobacco. Even the hardened military men in room were flagging, not so the Georgian. He stood while the other men remained seated. He took out his pipe and pointed the stem at Rokossovsky. “The fact remains that our summer offensive did not accomplish what the people demand. The revolution is still in peril.” Rokossovsky remained silent. Stalin continued to pace.

He stopped in front of a large wall clock that was nearing 3 AM. “Our allies have landed in Greece and the Bulgarians have switched sides. I don’t think the Imperialist can go much further in this weather or the winter but come the spring they will press the Germans out of the Balkans. We may find ourselves after this ends back where we were in 39 or 40.” He drew on his pipe again.

“Then deal with the devil.” a voice offered. Stalin turned and stared at Molotov. He nodded for him to continue. The Minister of Foreign Affairs removed his Pince Nez glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The Germans have feelers out in Sweden, they want out of the war. Their last offer was a demand to keep the Ukraine and the Baltic. With the threats in Italy, France and Greece they would offer better terms now.”

“What do we demand?” asked Stalin.

“The border as it was in 40 plus more.” answered Molotov.

“What Poland? Romania? Finland?” asked Stalin

“As much as we can get.” replied the Minister “But just the fact that we are negotiating can be useful. The Imperialist know that if we leave the war they will be thrown back into the sea.” he paused and looked over at the military “What 2/3 of their army is fighting here. It would be like 18 all over again, all those Germans heading West.”

Suddenly Rokossovsky spoke “1914”

Stalin and Molotov both stopped and stared at the General. He hesitated for just a moment then continued. “The borders of 1914. Comrade Stalin will restore what has been lost, will heal the wound and liberate the land.”

Stalin smiled at Molotov. It amazed him sometimes that even the dullest of men could shit a diamond. “1914. It has symmetry. We tell the world we fight for the revolution, and we tell the people we fight to regain what was lost. I think some in Germany would be glad to be rid of their eastern war, but others see things differently. Perhaps it is time to do something to shake up the players.”***







*(Major) General Tresckow was posted in October in our TL to the Eastern front, not due to some suspicion of treason but because he was promoted.

**If you read “Agent Cicero” by Mark Simmons you will discover one of Germany’s few successful spies. Elesa Bazna who was an Albanian working for the British Ambassador to Turkey, luckily he didn’t start till after September, when on the 8th in our TL the British and Hungarians did actually sign an agreement whereby the Hungarians agreed to leave the war the moment British troops arrived at the border of Hungary. The whole story of Banza is like a trashy spy novel from the 50s and even the Soviet Spy Kim Philby puts in an appearance, plus 300,000 counterfeit British pounds! There is also a great old James Mason movie based on the spy angle.

***I was reading B.H. Liddell Hart’s “History of the Second World War” and came across his claim that Molotov had negotiated with the Germans (behind German lines in 1942). I pondered using it as a jumping off point but I can’t find any confirmation of the claim and suspect that Hart was either too sympathetic to some of the German officers after the war who fed him such stories or wanted to drop a rumor to spice up his book. There is good evidence the Germans and Russians did talk in 42, but in Sweden and at a lower level. By 43, after Kursk a negotiated peace between the two became very unlikely. Here with Kursk being a tactical German victory and a strategic stalemate the talks might well be revived.

 

[Gemellus]

October 31, 1943 – Weapons Exhibit, Berlin Museum Compound– Southern Gate

The SS security squad watched as three large trucks and one Kubelwagen pulled up to field. Haptsturmfuhrer Weitz cold see three SS officers in the open car and marched with some formality up to the convoy. He snapped a obligatory salute and spoke “Welcome, to Erfurt. Can I see your papers?”

A tall and badly scarred Oberfurhrer reached into his tunic and pulled out some papers and passed them over.

Weitz scanned through the documents shaking his head. “I am sorry Oberfurhrer these have not been countersigned by the Furherbegeltkomando. I can’t allow admittance to the field when the…..” he never finished the sentence as a bullet fired from the Oberfurhrer’s revolver entered his skull. The rest of his squad while had been casually watching the exchange froze for perhaps five seconds in shock, those were their last five seconds of life.

The man dressed as an Oberfurhrer stepped over the dead Weitz. He turned to one of the officers in the Kubelwagen. “Take charge of the field phones. Move the bodies into the back of the trucks.” The first man nodded and began to direct the troops in the first truck to get out and began picking up the bodies and equipment. Now the scarred officer turned to the second man in car with him, “Take the third squad forward and set up a patrol along the grounds. Then I want you to scatter what we brought in the back along the South fence. No more than two or three grouped together.” The second officer hurried off. The scarred man grabbed his tunic “Make sure that Karl doesn’t see you. I heard that he is back and I know he has seen us. If you see him and he recognizes you begin at once.”*

October 31, 1943 – “Captured Equipment Pavilion” Berlin Museum**

The “Kursk Victory” exhibit elated the Fuhrer. In particular he was drawn to “Russian Colossus” a late model KV tank. He began to expound on it to Himmler who nodded in agreement. Keitel remained as close to the duo as possible, earning knowing looks from both Goering and Donitz. The area was unheated but the fall day was pleasant with most of the officers keeping their long coats unbuttoned. There was however one exception, Colonel Gersdorff who stood two of three respectful paces behind the main party.

Patiently he watched the party sparing only occasional glances back at the entrance, which was flanks by two of Hitler’s personal bodyguards. At three minutes before noon a SS staff officer appeared carrying a small file. Gersdorff noted with excitement that the file was brown not red, meaning that the perimenter guards had been replaced and that the area was sealed. He watched the file passed to another officer who seeing it as only an unimportant communication waved the faux staff officer back. Gersdorff positioned himself beside the only exit to the courtyard, he also casually lifted up a captured Russian field back marked with red stars. Absently he fumbled with the straps waiting, he could feel the ball bearings inside the pack.

At twelve noon precisely a series of gunshots broke out. The party of dignitaries stopped for a moment to listen. The two guards now alert entered the room and moved towards Hitler. Gersdforff reached into his coat and triggered the bomb, he pressed down on his dead man switch and watched the guards rush to Hitler’s side. Hitler now alert grabbed onto Himmler’s arm and together they began to move towards the exit, Keital and Goering close behind. Respectfully Gersdorff stepped back several paces with the hidden bomb and shrapnel bad positioned directly in line with the door. When Hitler was no less than 3 feet from Gersdorff and Himmler only slightly farther away, the colonel released the switch.

October 31, 1943 – Front Post, Berlin Museum

Shots now rang out as the small garrison at the front of the Museum was overwhelmed. When the last of the SS men went down, the scarred officer grabbed the field telephone. Speaking directly to the watch officer at the reserve unit on standby he screamed in feigned hysterics “The SS are shooting everyone, even each other. It’s a Coup, a Coup! The Fuhrer’s life is in danger!” He then pulled the line out and began to finish planting several more corpses before quietly stripping his own borrowed uniform in favor of a regular Wehrmacht gray field jacket. His men had already followed suit and now they took up positions and began to discharge their firearms in the post.

Moments later the first of the regular army units arrived. The colonel, now wearing the uniform of a military policeman nodded to the responding officer. In a well-rehearsed speech, he shouted. “Some SS bastards stormed the compound; we are trying to clear the gate to reach the Fuhrer!’ Playing his role to perfect the new officer shouted, “The SS are up to something, don’t trust anyone! We need to secure the area!” He looked at the scarred newly minted ‘policeman’ and gestured “You men get back and direct units up here. Leave the attack to us, just make sure any other units come up.” Snapping a sharp salute, the scarred many drifted back with this squad.

October 31, 1943 – Nazi Party Headquarters, Office of Reich minister of Propaganda

Goebbels put down the receiver. The situation was very confused. His man inside the party had however managed to get out of the confusion. Hitler was definitely dead, along with Himmler and Goering. The army was screaming it was an SS plot, but while Goebbels could believe Himmler quite capable of staging a coup, it was more than questionable that a subordinate of his would try it. If Heydrich had been alive he might have tried it, but he was gone.

He had a choice to make. Back the Army story or head over now to the Prinz-Albrecht-Palais***. He picked up the phone and asked to be put through. The phone only rang once and a calm voice picked up. “Admiral Canaris office.” Goebbels replied “This is the Reich minister. Let me speak to the Admiral at once.” With a brief delay a voice came on the line. “Ah, Reich Minster, how may I be of service?” Goebbels spoke quickly “I have heard the news about the SS. It is such a tragedy that Himmler would try such a stunt.” Canaris didn’t hesitate “Yes but what can you expect from a chicken farmer. I suppose you have heard that a dozen SS men tied to Himmler have been found dead, shot storming the compound?” Not one to betray ignorance Goebbels answered, “Yes, a point I will make as soon as I make a broadcast tonight.” “Very wise” replied Canaris “The people deserve to know who took the Fuhrer’s life. I look forward to your broadcast, as do my fellow officers.”

October 31, 1943 – “Zeppelin” Communications Bunker, Maybach I

The long communication room was as bush as he had ever seen it. Every operator was at his post as messages flowed in and out. Colonel Stauffenberg had come over from Maybach II to check on progress. He nodded to several officers and could see that all was moving smoothly. After a moment he ducked out of the room into a small office. Colonel Oster was there just tuning in a radio. The reception was exceptionally clear.

Somber military music was playing when suddenly a voice came over the air.

“Attention, Attention. Reich Minister Goebbels has a critical message to all loyal Germans.” There was a moments, delay and then the poison dwarf spoke

“It is with great sadness and ever greater anger that I speak to you tonight. Yesterday on the very streets of Berlin our beloved Fuhrer was struck down by a Bolshevik plot lead by traitorous elements in the very men who had sworn loyalty to him. A man who the Fuhrer had lifted from the gutter, who had been given every benefit of the National Socialist state conspired with our enemies to end our leader’s life. I am speaking of that Criminal, Henrich Himmler. In the heart of our great country in the clear light of day this monster and his evil henchmen attacked our beloved leader with bombs and guns. Fighting heroically our leader killed the black snake, but sadly was fatally wounded. Shot no less than 10 times by the SS cowards with his dying words the Fuhrer ordered us to carry on, to finish the struggle and to continue this war to final victory!”

Oster clicked off the radio, “A nice bonus Colonel. I didn’t think the little shit would come crawling over so fast. The Admiral had him record the message and more. It will go out to all stations across the Reich immediately and be repeated. His support will add more than a little veneer to the special action.”

Stauffenberg nodded, “Yes, he will be useful. Although I hate to sully our hands by including him in all this. But the orders are going out and soon we will have Vienna, Milan and Paris secure. Then we can pull the rest of the SS’s teeth. I expect a fair number of them will try to come over.”

Oster nodded, “We have already heard from Rundstedt in Berlin and Rommel in Milan with offers of support. The East is less clear. We can count on Army Group Center for sure, but North and South? It is difficult.”

Stauffenberg replied “There are more than few in the East that sullied their hands with innocent blood. But without someone to rally around they won’t act. They are too used to following whatever the madman said. We can take control, the problem is can we end this war?”









*Karl Wilhelm Krause who was and SS aid to Hitler. He was relieved of his duties in September of 1939 but returned in 1943.

**In our TL the Zeughaus a fabulous old building still standing in Berlin.

***The SS headquarters, more a complex. It was grand old hotel taken over by the SS, largely destroyed during the war, you can still visit some of the basements I believe.

 

[Gemellus]

November 2, 1943 – Washington DC, White House

The President had spent the better part of the early evening going over his stamp collection. It was more than a little peculiar, but he found that it calmed him and often triggered inspiration, two things he was in desperate need of now. He had eaten a light supper alone, Eleanor was traveling and Lucy was not in town. Tonight it would be Averell and Harry*. The President wheeled his chair over to a low bar and began making martinis. While he did, both men came into the room. In deference to the President the hurried to sit down. Hopkins look around the ‘Yellow Oval Room’ and out the windows at the front. He hoped it wouldn’t be too late a night but he knew Franklin and when he was stag it was often a very late evening for Averell and Harry.

Handing the drinks to his two friends Roosevelt lit a cigarette and sipped his own drink. He titled his head back and spoke “We are in a bit a pickle gentlemen. It appears that old Adolf is no more and while that might be bad news for the devil who will now have some real competition, he didn’t bring his whole gang with him!”

“But,” interrupted Averell “Himmler and Goering are gone, right? We can trust that much?”

Roosevelt nodded. “Our best intelligence, confirmed by the neutrals is that both of them are dead, perhaps that admiral too....”

“Donitz” offered Harry

“Yes, Donitz” continued Roosevelt. “although we can’t confirm that. We know that he went to the hospital. The problem is we don’t know who is in charge of Germany now, or who will be in charge next week!” He stirred his martini then continued, “The question is what way the Russians are going to jump.” He looked over at Hopkins, “Harry you’ve met Uncle Joe will he still fight?”

Hopkins replied “The Russians are bleeding themselves white on the Eastern Front. I think what they fear is that after all their sacrifice it might well end with us and the English getting the lion share of the spoils in the war. In particular I think they are….” He hesitated searching for just the right word. “…concerned that the have lost Bulgaria, Greece and likely Romania too. That leaves them what?”

Harriman entered the conversation “The English seem to be fine with screwing the Russians over. Churchill doesn’t care for Uncle Joe or the communist party. He may make favorable references to the devil but he isn’t a satanist!” The three men laughed “The conference*** was difficult. Molotov would not agree to the Casablanca declaration of unconditional surrender. Of course Eden wouldn’t get off his de Gaulle horse so a good deal of time was wasted on that. I barely got either of them to look at the Charter of the United Nations. I think both of them are reverting to the old European order of diplomacy.”

Roosevelt looked at each. “We may have to choose between Winston and Uncle Joe. I have my concerns with propping up the Empire, but if either drops out of the war we could continue with England but not without her. All our efforts, all are troops are next to them. For better or worse our fates are tied together. Our goal,” he paused and looked hard at the two men “your goal is to keep this alliance together to the end. To final victory.”

November 3, 1943 – London, “Churchill Bunker(s)” Whitehall

The British Foreign Secretary looked down at this watch. It was nearing two A.M. and Winston showed little sign of flagging. Another example of what most of his friends called “the Winston hours”, still there was nothing to do but soldier on. “You see Anthony” continued Churchill “what is critical is that we don’t simply substitute a Russian beast for a German one. I am afraid our American cousins are rather less concerned with the East then we are.”

Anthony nodded and replied “Hardly surprising Winston. They are so new at the game. We have been playing with the bear since we pack off Nappy to St. Helena.” The quip brought a quick laugh from Churchill. “After this beastly conference I think the Russians are more than prepared to seek a separate peace with the Germans, if it means they can grab more of Eastern Europe than if they stay in the war. We continue to hear rumors out of Stockholm.”

“What do you think about Snatch’s****little game with the Hungarians?” asked Churchill

Anthony answered “Well he didn’t quite make it across the line but it was a good shot. If we can get past Rommel in Italy or if Monty can move up from the South, then it might mean something. Certainly it would make getting to Vienna much less Berlin a good deal easier. But all this relies on what goes on with the Germans and the Russians.”

“Who do you put your money on in Berlin?” asked the Prime Minister.

Eden hesitated and swirled the whiskey in his glass. “The Army has the advantage, but Goebbels seems to have rallied much of the party behind him. Not surprising as he controls most of the newspapers and controls the radio. It looks like a collation for now. If I had to pick I expect some nasty little mandarin in the party, unless it comes to shooting.”

Churchill pointed over at the map tacked up on the near wall. “The Americans face Rommel in Italy and Von Rundstedt in France. Monty is nearing the border with Romania but we still have a chip to play if we want to plunge into the North” he gestured not to the North Sea but to the Adriatic. “A landing here could put us in Hungary. As a bonus it would rid the world of Ustasa.”

Eden had heard the clarion call for a landing at Istria before, but he played along. “Yes, that is a pleasant thought, but we would need the Americans. They control most of the lift and landing craft now. Particularly that Monty is holding on to what he used.”

Churchill grimly nodded. Took a long drink and drag on his cigar. “I expect we will hear from the Germans soon, or the Russians will make their move. Have our side prepared for three contingencies; one the Russians leave the war and we fight on with the Americans, two the Russians leave and we make peace or three we all keep trying to reach Berlin together.”

November 3, 1943 – Berlin, Offices of the Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production

Slowly the conference room filled up. Speer noted that many of Goebbels people had opted for civilian dress, although the man himself war a plain uniform. The army was there, mostly in their best uniform but a few in more utilitarian trim. At that moment Admiral Canaris entered the room with another man in naval uniform. Speer hadn’t seen Canaris’ companion for some time and was a little taken back. None the less he advanced to the pair and offered his hand. “It is good to see you, Admiral Raeder. It has been too long.” The Admiral shoot Speer’s hand but was markedly cold. Speer was unsurprised he hadn’t gotten along well with the old head of the Navy, much preferring the late Admiral Donitz who was a proponent U-boats.

Slowly all the men in the room took their seat. Speer took the head of the table and spoke, “Gentlemen welcome. I know that the death of our Fuhrer is still fresh in all our minds, but given the confusion of the last week it is apparent I hope to all of you that some decisions must be made. I would like to thank Admiral Canaris for organizing this meeting and it is my hope we can all arrive at a rapid and beneficial solution to our problems.

“I would like to begin,” said General Fromm. Many of the Men in the room suppressed a groan. Canaris held up his hand to interrupt, “General Fromm I am sure what you have is quite valuable and we shall attend to it as soon as practicable but first gentlemen I think we should recognize Admiral Raeder the restored head of our Navy.” There was a smattering of ‘applause’ of hands hitting the table, all from the military clique. ‘And continued the Admiral I believe that General von Rundstedt’s representative has a similar announcement?”

The elderly general stood to the side and motioned for another General dressed in Luftwaffe regalia stood forward. “I have the honor of introducing General Gunther Rudel, late of Flak artillery as interim head of the Luftwaffe.” Speer arched and eyebrow, he was momentarily confused then it hit him. Rudel commanded the largest body of Luftwaffe ground troops inside the Reich. Every city and many towns had flak batteries all answering to Rudel. That many men gave him a voice at the table and some iron inside his glove. Rudel said nothing but took the seat immediately to von Rundstedt’s right.

Canaris nodded to the new addition to the group and motioned for everyone to take their seat. When they were all seated, he nodded to Speer who had been selected to chair the meeting on his neutral ground.

“According to the notes you have provided,” Speer gestured to the different groups in the room “our agenda today is focused on two major points. First who shall be appointed head of the civilian government and second under what conditions will the current conflict be continued or terminated. I realize there are several subsidiary issues but if we could hold them in some abeyance until we cover the main points?” There were no objections. “I suggest then that we address the first point. Gentlemen?”



From Dance of the Maggots, by Ernst Casselberry, New London Press, 1981

…The first Speer Conference in November has been the topic of furious debate among both professional and armchair historians. What is certain is that there were simply too many factions with too much power distributed to too many for a single man to emerge as the next leader of Germany. In many ways this result was created by Hitler himself. His style of leadership constantly pitted subordinates against each other and centralized power solely in his own hands. There was no successor so instead a government by committee was born.

Initially only the most rudimentary of decisions could be made. The continued suppression of the SS was beneficial to all the parties represented, so it continued. Here the army got a free hand to redirect manpower and material away from the Waffen SS and to regular Wehrmacht units. Domestically Goebbels used the SA as an alternative to the SS. Many in the SS simply changed uniforms as the Goebbels/Borman alliance advanced on the Allgemeine blending into regular police units or the special SA units created by Goebbels.

The major decision at the first conference was of course the dispatch of Raeder to Stockholm and Canaris to Bern. The newly reinstated Grand Admiral was an interesting choice. A fluent Russian speaker and as titular head of a major branch of the military he showed the Russians how serious the Germans were about seeking peace. Canaris of course had strong ties to the Allied intelligence organizations. He talks with Dulles were focused and more subtle than the ‘other’ admiral. Still by the middle of November each had produced a potential solution to Germany’s two front war. Bur would Germany be willing to pay the price?











*Averell Harriman and Harry Hopkins, two of Roosevelts closest friends and both part of an informal cabinet, Hopkins in particular was almost a shadow Secretary of State.

**Churchill famously said “If the Germans invaded hell he would make a favorable comment about the Devil in the House of Commons”

***As in our TL there was a major conference, in Moscow in late October of 43, Harriman was there, although technically Secretary of State Hull headed the US delegation, the British sent the Foreign Secretary (Anthony Eden) and the Russians had Molotov

****Hughe Katchbull-Hugessen, the UK ambassador to Turkey

 

[Gemellus]

Well I have the stage set. Any comments? Also I am off to tour Gettysburg this weekend so no updates after tonight

 

[Xenophonte]

I'm under the impression that even if successful at getting Hitler killed and the Nazi Regime practically beheaded, that even so, the takeover appears to have been too smooth...
Cause, I believe that at least a good part of the SS and party regional leaders, even if ordered to wouldn't have accepted it and would have resisted/entrenched and they alone would have been needed to 'be put down'...
Causing, probably, at least some days of intense fighting over all Germany, the occupied territories and even disrupting/harming the day to day 'normal combat front operations... Also, as any military junta, aside, that, as showed, they would have needed to broaden and secure their support among the Armed Forces and the paramilitary/security units/organizations

 

[arctic warrior]

This is quite some take on the subject. I doubt the Plotters could be able to obtain the needed SS-uniforms, but perhaps.

The landing in Southern France I have thought of myself.
Also getting into Balkans seems a bit much to bite off at one time. There was no immediate large area of communications and industry in the back of the Allied Forces in the Med. And a long range for the Airforces to cover before getting ashore somewhere. Everything had to be moved in cross-Atlantic or from Britain. Splitting the logistics in two seems to present a lot of problems - even if the Italians manage to change sides fully. Still Monty have to neutralize the remaining Germans in the South and Sicily along the Italians from sometime - You give no date - of landing in Italy mainland to being ready to land in Greece. I don't expect the 5 German Divisions (Hermann Goering Pz, 15., 29. Pz.Grenadies, 1. Fallschirmjäger/Parachute and ?) not trying to get moving during the time before the Brits land unless they are trapped in Sicily.
I would expect some issue about Crete before landing in mainland Greece - seems the Brits got a little easy into Greece Greek uprising or not. But mainly to sustain any offensive with aircover.
Though establishing the requiered communications and airbases take time even if the Italian cooperate more than OTL - and then Italy have to be fed and heathed during fall and winter..

 

[Gemellus]

From Dance of the Maggots, Ernst Casselberry, New London Press, 1981



…thus, the second Speer Conference was essentially the dividing point for both the allies and the axis powers in Europe. The assembled junta governing Germany was faced with a choice. Raeder had presented to the Russians firm evidence of allied negotiations with Hungary, about which the Russians in fact had information from their spies in MI6 and the British Foreign office. Even more alarming for Stalin and Molotov was the German manufactured ‘armistice’ with Romania. To Stalin it was apparent that any prolongation of the war would not improve Russia’s position, but merely enable the allies the profit from Russian blood.



New York Times (Headline) - November 15, 1943

“Russian and Germany Sign Armistice”

AP – Sources in Stockholm confirmed today the new Nazi Government and the Soviet Union have signed an armistice effective immediately. This information was almost immediately confirmed by a statement released in Moscow stating that ‘manifest necessity’ compelled the government to end further unnecessary bloodshed. While precise details were not given, the Soviet newspaper Pravda did state that the armistice would mean a return to the ‘historical and natural borders of 1914’. This would mean not only the incorporation of the Baltic states but also the once free nation of Poland.



November 15, 1943 - Washington D.C., White House



The cabinet meeting was by necessity a rather ad hoc meeting. A fair number of the formal heads of the departments were out of town, most in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holidays. But amongst the chaos as a palpable level of anger. The Secretary of War in particular, in defiance of his age and typical decorum, spoke in loud bombastic tones, “I can’t believe those Red sons of a bitches pulled out! Our boys are dying running guns to Murmansk and for what?”

Henry Morgenthau replied “You can rest easy Henry. I personally have seen every credit extended to them has been frozen. Not one thin dime will reach Moscow after today, and Marshal tells me that all the convoys – Persia, Murmansk and Vladivostok are all canceled.”

Roosevelt let the men talk on for some time. He watched the anger peak then settle down. He watched as ridiculous ideas were floated then discarded. Finally, the room was quiet, and the President spoke, “It would appear that Stalin has decided he can do better out of this war than in it. Well, I think he may well regret trusting the Germans again. The question is what do we do gentlemen? I too have spoke with General Marshal, my topic was continuing this war against Germany. He still thinks we can win but he did forward some rather startling figures. The central one is depending on what the Germans feel they have to leave to watch old Uncle Joe, they can double their forces against us.”

A different silence filled the room as each man thought over what that meant. It was Secretary of War Stimson who offered the first observation. “That means probably a quarter of a million U.S. casualties just got added to the total.”

The under Secretary of the Navy shot a look at Stimson. “The Navy won’t be badly impacted; the Russians weren’t tying up much of the German submarine threat. We can carry on.”

Roosevelt stepped in again, “I will be open with you gentlemen. The Germans didn’t just offer the Russians and armistice, they offered us one too. We rejected it of course, but they left the door open. We can end the European war if we want, but the cost will be leaving Prussian militarism and those Nazi thugs in charge of central Europe.”

Again, the room grew quiet. The men were weighing the dead against the distasteful alternative. It was the Attorney General who broke the silence. “We must end the Nazi regime. If we leave it in peace, it will just rearm and try again. Any peace must be built on the end of that regime.” Several men nodded and cautiously looked towards Roosevelt.



November 17, 1942 – ‘Object Koralle’, HQ Kriegsmarine



Admiral Raeder stood as Canaris entered the room, and walked around his desk. He took Canaris hand and warmly shook it. Canaris was somewhat shocked. The Grand Admiral was not known for even such modest displays of affection. However given his recent success in Stockholm perhaps the Grand Admiral was a little less concerned with decorum. Raeder motioned for Canaris to have a seat. Canaris moved to the open chair between Rudel and Speer.

“I thought a quick discussion of our positions before the general meeting tomorrow as appropriate.” Offered Raeder. “The end of this Russian business means that we have an opportunity here. One that I think we can not afford to let slip through our fingers.” Canaris smiled noncommittally. “It appears from the good Admirals contacts in Switzerland” Raeder gestured here to Canaris “that the allies will not be content with the removal of our late leader. They seem quite intent on a dramatic change of regime. Isn’t that correct?” he addressed the question to Canaris

“Unfortunately so.” Replied the intelligence chief. “It appears the Americans in particular are adamant that the formal structure of the government be revised.” He paused, searching for the appropriate words “In fact they seem quiet adamant. If we retain any significant trappings of national socialism the war will continue. The allies will fight their way into the Reich and end it by force.”

Speer ran his hand over his scalp. “We can’t continue the war. We are going to lose access to the Romanian fields soon, either occupied under the Stockholm agreement or if the British get aggressive. That leave just synthetic fuel, our reserves and what the Russians will sell us. I don’t think we can be reliant on those alone. We have six, perhaps nine months of stocks then the army will grind to a halt and the air force will be stuck on the ground. Worse the loss of those Russian POW-workers will cripple production in several sectors. We can make it bloody for them to fight their way in, but we can’t stop them if they are determined.”

Rudel entered the conversation “I have been catching up with the situation beyond my former responsibilities. The Luftwaffe has an adequate body of planes, and we can move a good number to the West, particularly in ground support areas. However, we can not contest control of the front areas like we can over Germany. The allies simply have regional superiority where and when they want it. Less so in the Balkans, more in France. I need time to train more men, fuel for my planes and I have to sort out the mess left to me by my predecessor.”

Raeder now spoke “The Navy too is aware that the war is lost. We send out more boats, but we will lose them as fast as Herr Speer can build. The surface fleet is even more confined. Like the Luftwaffe we can make the allies pay but we can’t stop them. That leads to one conclusion we must end the war in the West. If that means a change in regimes well.” He paused and removed his gold party pin from his lapel. “I only got this in 37, I can do without mine.” He stared at Speer and Rudel. After a moment both men removed their own pins. Raeder nodded. He reached out and scooped each into the palm of his hand. “Excellent choice gentlemen.” He turned to Canaris. “You have the skill at such things William. Can we move against what is left of them?”

Canaris leaned back then spoke “The SS domestically was too scattered to put up much of a fight. Most of those diehards have either been defanged or have gone underground. The Waffen – SS are another matter. They will be coming back from the East and could be a center of resistance. The rest of the weekend warriors I am not too concerned with. We need the army of course, but they will have a price.” Raeder cocked his head to one side silently asking the price. “Some want the old monarchy back, others want to keep whatever they took and they all want their field marshal batons. Some of the younger ones are more realistic. They were ready to move against Hitler before the SS did.” This brought a sarcastic bark from Raeder. “Most would go along but the army would have to be in guaranteed a place, a very high place.”

 

[Xenophonte]

Perhaps, missed it and was already addressed, but, I would ask what its happening while all of this is happening with Varsovian Ghetto, and especially if the concentration and extermination camps that at this stage were being used by the Nazi Germany and operated by the SS 'Totenkopf'. And if the German military is still helping the Occupation authorities, collaborating with the protection and logistics of both the hunting for, capture and transport of the Jews and any other in the Nazi list to kill, to the Death camps...
Also, should be noted as show when in December 17, 1942 the Allied governments released a “Declaration on Atrocities”, that the Allies governments were already, officially aware and that condemned the ongoing Nazi effort to extermine the Jews populations through occupied Europe and it would probably play an important factor both in the Western Allies position and in any possible conditions to be imposed for any future post Nazi German Military regime for even start to consider any future talks...

 

[Gemellus]

Although not core to the TL I think that the camps would be difficult for the SS to maintain. The army's cooperation would rapidly dwindle and the logistical support disappear. The SS is disappearing as a distinct power block, but the SS members are not. Some may get absorbed by the Army (Waffen), some by the SA, some by the police and internal security. I don't think the camp Totenkopf have anywhere to go. They may well try to disappear internally or during the retreat from the Eastern camps, but their final solution is over. Ironically this means many in the camps might die, but fewer new inmates would arrive. Certainly the mass deportation of Hungarian Jews would never occur. I have a post in mind that will address some of this more as an aside rather than as part of the core story.

The allies are in a tough spot here. They can back away from the Casablanca 'unconditional' surrender and blame the Soviets but they can't leave the same Nazi leadership in charge. But is there a distinction between 'real' Nazis and Nazis? Most potential senior leadership are members of the party (like Speer or Raeder. The opposition is not snow white either, even Stauffenburg had some pretty awful things to say about the Poles and was not a saint by any means. The Allies have to impose some changes but are limited to the threat of brute force, the collective leadership of Germany has to try to retain what they can of Greater Germany, keep their own heads in any internal fight and somehow create a viable peace. I have a few ideas....

 

[The Wooksta!]

None of them are good, period. If you are fighting for a regime that wants to enslave half of humanity and exterminate the rest, you’re a twat.