Sir John Valentine Carden Survives. Part 2.
- Thread starter allanpcameron
- Start date
26 May 1942. Lembang, Java.
allanpcameron
Donor
26 May 1942. Lembang, Java.
Having come back to ABDA’s HQ, Auchinleck’s Naval Commander, Admiral Conrad Helfrich was able to update his superior regarding the current situation. Admiral Sommerville’s Royal Navy fleet now had three aircraft carriers (HMS Ark Royal, Illustrious and Indomitable) and three battleships (HMS Prince of Wales, Nelson and Warspite) with supporting cruisers and destroyers. The fleet was on its way to Australia, where it was planned to rendezvous with an American task force with two or three aircraft carriers. British and American Intelligence believed that the main Japanese carrier force was once again going to support further landings, but it wasn’t clear where they would strike. The possibilities were another attack on Malaya, possibly on Papua New Guinea, or, thought least likely, a direct attack on Java. The Americans believed that they would be able to get an idea from cryptoanalysis in time enough to counter them. The British and US carriers had quite different standard operating procedures, coordination between the two would likely be a problem. Rear-Admiral Denis Boyd, Commanding Eastern Fleet Aircraft Carriers, had travelled on ahead with some staff, to meet with his American counterparts to pave the way for a modus operandi to be worked out.
Air Marshall Richard Peirse (CO ABDAair) confirmed what Auchinleck had been told about the RAF in Malaya, strengthened by men and machines coming from the Middle East, were becoming more proficient in army cooperation and particularly in Photo Reconnaissance. The balance of air power there was now in favour of the RAF, though the Japanese still had strong fighter and bomber assets to hand. Peirse also noted that the growing US Army Air Force presence in Australia and Java was beginning to have a similar effect as the RAF in Malaya. He was confident about the air defence of Java but was concerned about supporting the troops in Kendari. The American Air Transport Command (US Army forces in Australia) had organised the 21st and 22nd Transport Squadrons, with ex-civilian DC2 and DC3 aircraft, along with a number of other types. Flying in and out of the Allied held airstrips on Celebes, the transport aircraft carried in essential supplies and brought out the wounded.
The arrival of fresh American units continued. The US Army 32nd and 41st Infantry Divisions were now in Australia, though when they would be combat ready was under discussion. The US 1st Marine Division were also arriving, with a regiment each in Samoa and New Zealand, the other regiment due to arrive in July. New Caledonia hosted the equivalent of another US Army Division under Brigadier-General Patch.
More forces were on their way, 2nd New Zealand’s Expeditionary Force's 2nd Division was on its way home, and the New Zealanders were putting together a 3rd Division as well as a Tank Brigade. Auchinleck knew that a battle-hardened force like 2nd NZ Division was going to be an incredibly important asset, though just exactly how Major-General Freyberg VC would deal with this new task was questionable in Auchinleck’s mind. Some arm twisting had been done with the French General De Gaulle, who was advised that having to rely on the Americans to defend the French territory in the Pacific sent out a particularly negative signal. Therefore, elements of 1st and 2nd Fighting Free French Brigades, spearheaded by 1 bataillon du Pacifique, had been shipped with the New Zealanders to defend New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and other French holdings in the Pacific. If any attempt was made to free French Indo-China, these French forces would be included.
The Australian Army was providing two infantry and (soon) one armoured Divisions in Malaya. The 6th Australian Division’s Brigades (23rd and 17th) which at Rabaul and Ambon had given the Japanese real problems, were now shadows of their former selves. The whole of 18th Brigade, which had been on Timor, and various other units, had been fed into the fighting at Kendari on Celebes. The second Japanese invasion of Celebes near Kendari was being resisted successfully, but at a high cost to both sides. The invasion of Celebes on the western side near Makassar had added to the difficulties of the defenders. There had been talk about ‘doing a Dunkirk’ to withdraw the allied forces, but so far, enough reinforcements and resupply was getting through to keep the Japanese from conquering the island completely.
Having come back to ABDA’s HQ, Auchinleck’s Naval Commander, Admiral Conrad Helfrich was able to update his superior regarding the current situation. Admiral Sommerville’s Royal Navy fleet now had three aircraft carriers (HMS Ark Royal, Illustrious and Indomitable) and three battleships (HMS Prince of Wales, Nelson and Warspite) with supporting cruisers and destroyers. The fleet was on its way to Australia, where it was planned to rendezvous with an American task force with two or three aircraft carriers. British and American Intelligence believed that the main Japanese carrier force was once again going to support further landings, but it wasn’t clear where they would strike. The possibilities were another attack on Malaya, possibly on Papua New Guinea, or, thought least likely, a direct attack on Java. The Americans believed that they would be able to get an idea from cryptoanalysis in time enough to counter them. The British and US carriers had quite different standard operating procedures, coordination between the two would likely be a problem. Rear-Admiral Denis Boyd, Commanding Eastern Fleet Aircraft Carriers, had travelled on ahead with some staff, to meet with his American counterparts to pave the way for a modus operandi to be worked out.
Air Marshall Richard Peirse (CO ABDAair) confirmed what Auchinleck had been told about the RAF in Malaya, strengthened by men and machines coming from the Middle East, were becoming more proficient in army cooperation and particularly in Photo Reconnaissance. The balance of air power there was now in favour of the RAF, though the Japanese still had strong fighter and bomber assets to hand. Peirse also noted that the growing US Army Air Force presence in Australia and Java was beginning to have a similar effect as the RAF in Malaya. He was confident about the air defence of Java but was concerned about supporting the troops in Kendari. The American Air Transport Command (US Army forces in Australia) had organised the 21st and 22nd Transport Squadrons, with ex-civilian DC2 and DC3 aircraft, along with a number of other types. Flying in and out of the Allied held airstrips on Celebes, the transport aircraft carried in essential supplies and brought out the wounded.
The arrival of fresh American units continued. The US Army 32nd and 41st Infantry Divisions were now in Australia, though when they would be combat ready was under discussion. The US 1st Marine Division were also arriving, with a regiment each in Samoa and New Zealand, the other regiment due to arrive in July. New Caledonia hosted the equivalent of another US Army Division under Brigadier-General Patch.
More forces were on their way, 2nd New Zealand’s Expeditionary Force's 2nd Division was on its way home, and the New Zealanders were putting together a 3rd Division as well as a Tank Brigade. Auchinleck knew that a battle-hardened force like 2nd NZ Division was going to be an incredibly important asset, though just exactly how Major-General Freyberg VC would deal with this new task was questionable in Auchinleck’s mind. Some arm twisting had been done with the French General De Gaulle, who was advised that having to rely on the Americans to defend the French territory in the Pacific sent out a particularly negative signal. Therefore, elements of 1st and 2nd Fighting Free French Brigades, spearheaded by 1 bataillon du Pacifique, had been shipped with the New Zealanders to defend New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and other French holdings in the Pacific. If any attempt was made to free French Indo-China, these French forces would be included.
The Australian Army was providing two infantry and (soon) one armoured Divisions in Malaya. The 6th Australian Division’s Brigades (23rd and 17th) which at Rabaul and Ambon had given the Japanese real problems, were now shadows of their former selves. The whole of 18th Brigade, which had been on Timor, and various other units, had been fed into the fighting at Kendari on Celebes. The second Japanese invasion of Celebes near Kendari was being resisted successfully, but at a high cost to both sides. The invasion of Celebes on the western side near Makassar had added to the difficulties of the defenders. There had been talk about ‘doing a Dunkirk’ to withdraw the allied forces, but so far, enough reinforcements and resupply was getting through to keep the Japanese from conquering the island completely.
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just remember this beauty of a channel easily the best iv heard about the land of OZ in ww2
I don't think the last 2 or 3 posts have been thread marked last marked post was about burma
Coral Sea won't happen here. Java would have to be taken first, and that's simply not something the Japanese are capable of doing now.
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That would make the most sense, but fleets are gathering somewhere in Australia (probably in the west, I doubt they will meet in west Australia or near Darwin) and allies are not sure where will IJN strike next ("The possibilities were another attack on Malaya, possibly on Papua New Guinea, or, thought least likely, a direct attack on Java."). Seems like Allies are concentrating near the Coral Sea, expecting a strike there? I agree it does not make much sense from Japanese perspective, but who knows.
I admit I'm a bit confused as to the Japanese options here - is that about bringing KB into the South China Sea, in order to stage a few days of airstrikes in support of the army? Because while it's a powerful force, it's also one that's lacking in staying power - even if some of the torpedoes are unshipped to make room for more bombs, is there magazine space and avgas storage for a thousand sorties? Or even half that?
Or are we talking about supporting a second Kota Bharu-style landing in some kind of precursor to Inchon, to try to cut the Kra isthmus south of the line of contact and break the British line of supply? That seems ambitious if its aim is to result in an IJA counterattack running the British main force out of supplies before the blocking force can be overwhelmed. The British retain some sealift in the Andaman Sea even if the rail link is blocked, to either keep getting supplies to the main force, or to land a southwards-facing pincer to take the blocking force roughly from behind, as it were.
I'm not totally sure it's worth sticking one's... Carrier Striking Force... into such a meat grinder.
Having said that, I suppose it's also worth noting that Nagumo has yet to face any air attack at all ever, so IJN faith in the eliteness of its aviators is still unchallenged and may have an unrealistic faith in their air defence capability.
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Derek Pullem
Donor
Not sure that a Malaya attack makes much sense if the Japanese supply lines back to Bangkok are under threat themselves from the attack out of Burma. A lunge at Java or Sumatra might be more their style as this could destabilise the whole Malay barrier and threaten Singapore
the IJN is not going to come running to help the IJA unless they get their pound of flesh out of the Army. I would wonder that the Army is actually telling anyone back in Tokyo how bad it is and especially telling the Navy what is going and defiantly not confirming anything the IJN is finding out on its own.
Imperial Japanese might be going full-on 'sledgehammer to crack a walnut', simply to wrap up the Philippines and/or Celebes at this point and get those areas firmly under control before considering their next move. (I think the Allies still have footholds in those areas if I remember the updates right.)
The "bataillon du Pacifique" is a logical choice, as it has been raised in New-Caledonia and in French Polynesia in 1941. OTL, it fought in most of the Free French battles of WW2, including Bir Hakheim.
On the Free French, OTL they changed their name to Fighting France when French North Africa joined them. I'm not sure they will be capable to deploy more than 1 or 2 batallions in the Pacific until 1944. The manpower was in very short supply until the Liberation of France, and even after, France was lacking trained NCOs and officers since more than 1,000,000 personnel was still POW.
The evacuation of Dunkirk got out 50K more men ITTL than OTL, with probably a good portion of them being French, plus the mauling the Germans took means they were probably slower to grab Brest, allowing a bigger evacuation from there.
The 1930s-to-WWII "COW gun" was a 37mm autocannon. It was the immediate ancestor of the much-improved Vickers S autocannon, which was used extensively in tank-hunter Hurricanes.
The WWII COW gun conventionally loaded by withdrawing the bolt which pulled out and ejected the previous round's empty casing; feeding a shell from the five round clip into the bolt housing; then that shell being pushed into the chamber by the returning bolt.
Coventry Ordnance Works ("C.O.W.") was a cannon design/manufacturing firm, eventually owned by Vickers. At the end of WWI, they were involved in British adoption and further development of the US-invented Davis gun, an aerial recoilless cannon that fired a shell forward and a similar mass of soft lead birdshot rearward. In British service, that gun often was called the COW gun.
Davis guns did not autoload, had very low muzzle velocity, and were only useful against Zeppelins. That war-element and thus the Davis gun rapidly became obsolete at the end of WWI.
While COW was involved with the Davis gun, the other guns developed by COW...even though they all at various times were called COW guns, perhaps due to the weakness of humans for catchy names...had nothing to do with the Davis gun and were not recoilless.
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