Western Theatre
“The army had to protect us with fixed bayonets against the public because they tried to throw stones at us. Liverpool was being heavily bombed at that time, and many of those there had lost relatives at sea. They were furious at these German submarine sailors. We said well, invasion is coming one of these days and it will only take a few weeks and then they’ll get us out of here.”
– Midshipman Volkmar König, crewman of U-99 describing his arrival in England.
After much deliberation with his ministers and the heads of his nations armed forces, King Boris III of Bulgaria finally agrees to sign the Tripartite Accords on the 1st of March. There are strong German sympathies throughout the country because of the Treaty of Craiova in 1940, which allowed the Kingdom of Bulgaria to regain the Dobruja region from Romania, and there are hopes that territory lost during the 2nd Balkans War decades earlier might also be retaken with the aid of Germany. This is not an insignificant development as the Bulgarian has a current strength of 15 divisions, and if supported by German troops this could pose serious problems for the Hellenic Army, by forcing them to stretch their forces along the full length of the Greek borders.
When the news reaches London on the following day, both Prime Minister Attlee and the Foreign Secretary Eden agree that diplomatic relationships cannot be maintained with the government of King Boris III. The Balkans have now been drawn deep into the political orbit of the Third Reich, and this leaves Britain’s only ally, the Kingdom of Greece, isolated and surrounded by hostile powers. The Germans do not wait long to take advantage of this latest development and intelligence reports indicate that the German 12th Army, under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List, has begun moving the German XVIII Mountain and XXXX Motorised Corps into the Kingdom of Bulgaria. In response to these troop movements the War Cabinet reviews the strength of its forces in the Mediterranean and the Middle East to see what can be done to aid the Hellenic Army’s defensive effort, and to examine whether the Kingdom of Greece could be kept in the war by evacuating Greek soldiers to Crete.
During the same meeting Field Marshal Dill and Lieutenant General Pownall inform the Prime Minister that the 4th and 50th Infantry Divisions are the closest to combat readiness, and that both could be deployed to Malaya before the end of September. Attlee is warned however that this alone will not be enough to ensure the security of the naval base at Singapore, or Malaya’s vital tin mines and rubber plantations. Lieutenant General Auchinleck, the GOC India, has been asked for his opinion, and his report states that even if the Indian Army heavily reinforces the garrison, the feeble presence of the other armed services is almost certain to render their position untenable. The Royal Navy’s China Station under Vice Admiral Layton is to be withdrawn to Malaya in the event of the Japanese declaring war on the British Empire, but at its current strength it will be hard pressed to contest control of the Malayan coastline or amphibious landings, and would be nowhere near strong enough to even consider engaging the Japanese main fleet in battle. Meanwhile the RAF’s Far East Command has only 7 bomber and sea reconnaissance squadrons at its disposal, and cannot be expected to do more than offer token resistance to the Japanese before being swept out of the skies. However the War Cabinet still agrees by a slim majority to send these infantry divisions to Malaya to increase the strength of GHQ Far East after Eden informs the assembled ministers that the British Ambassador to Japan, Sir Robert Craigie, informs them that the Japanese Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka will soon be journeying to Berlin to meet with both Hitler and von Ribbentrop.
The Director of Combined Operations, Admiral Roger Keyes, has dispatched a small flotilla codenamed ‘Force Rebel’ to the Faroe Islands in preparation for an attack upon German units stationed in Norway. The Naval element of Force Rebel is commanded by Captain Clifford Caslon, and is made up of the destroyers HMS Bedouin, HMS Eskimo, HMS Legion, HMS Somali and HMS Tartar, as well as the troop ships HMS Queen Emma and HMS Beatrix. Brigadier Charles Haydon has command of the ground forces assigned to this mission, and under is command he has 1,000 men from 3 and 4 Commando in addition to the 55th Field Squadron of the Royal Engineers and 1 Norwegian Independent Company led by Captain Martin Linge. On the 1st of March Captain Caslon puts to sea in foul weather with his flotilla and begins the three-day journey across the North Sea towards the Norwegian coast. The British warships finally reach the Lofoten Islands during the early hours of the 4th of March to find that the lights illuminating the port and the nearby navigation beacons are still lit, and it rapidly becomes apparent that the German garrison is completely unaware of their presence. Whilst Captain Caslon and his destroyers take up positions to the south of the islands in order to provide fire-support if necessary, whilst Brigadier Haydon begins deploying his forces.
Lieutenant Colonel John Durnford-Slater is ordered to divide 3 Commando and send 3 troops to secure the port of Stamsund on the island of West Vaago and use his remaining troops to mount an attack upon the harbour at Henningsvær. Meanwhile Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lister and 4 Commando will concentrate their attacks upon the island of East Vaago in order to capture the ports at Svolvær and Brettesnes, where they are to destroy he valuable fish-oil refineries and any Axis shipping in the vicinity. Each of these groups is to be accompanied by a section of 1 Norwegian Independent Company to communicate with the islands inhabitants. The LCP’s reach the shore without incident and the soldiers aboard disembark speedily to mount their assaults, and they are able to round up most of the isolated German troops and officials without having to fire a shot. At this moment the Krebs, a German armed merchant trawler, attempts to leave Stamsund Harbour and is engaged by HMS Somali. She is disabled with long-range fire and her captain orders his crew to abandon ship, but a stroke of good fortune, Lieutenant Colonel Durnford-Slater is able to get a boarding party aboard the Krebs and it addition to rounding up its crew they also discover an intact enigma cipher machine. 11 fish-oil factories and 5 Axis merchantmen are then destroyed with a combination of explosive charges and naval gunfire before 3 and 4 Commando begin withdrawing, though Lieutenant Ronald Wills of 3 Commando is delayed briefly after he chooses to send a mocking telegram to Berlin. In addition to the rotors and codebooks for the enigma machine, 228 German soldiers and 60 Quislings have been taken prisoner and 314 Norwegians have volunteered to join the British and Norwegian commandoes in order to fight for their government-in-exile. With Brigadier Haydon and his soldiers re-embarked by 13:00 Captain Caslon brings his flotilla about and set course for the return voyage to Scotland via Scarpa Flow.
Prime Minister Attlee decides on the 5th of March to bring the Labour politician Albert Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty, into the cabinet as his Minister of Defence. He believes that the post is too important to leave vacant as there must be a single overall voice to speak for the armed forces in cabinet meetings, and that as Alexander is the politician with the most experience in military matters it should be given to him. He is allowed to keep his post as First Lord of the Admiralty and the Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air are to retain control of their respective services but they are no longer required, although are able to, attend War Cabinet sessions. His first task to write up a briefing on the current military situations facing the Home Front and the Middle and Far Eastern theatres, which is to be presented to the War Cabinet before the end of the month.
On the 6th of March Sir Stafford Cripps, the British Ambassador to the Soviet Union, gives a briefing to 6 British and American war correspondents, which quickly draws the attention of Vsevolod Merkulov, the People's Commissar of State Security and head of the NKGB. Sir Cripps informs the assembled journalists that “the most reliable diplomatic sources in Berlin” prove conclusively that Germany plans to mount an invasion of the Soviet Union during the summer of 1941. He states that the German plan is to destroy the bulk of the Red Army whilst it is vulnerable, spread along the length of the USSR’s borders, and before it is able to complete its reorganisation and recover from the devastating effects of the purging of its officers. Merkulov has been receiving constant reports from Soviet spies that have come to the same conclusion and chooses to produce a report for the Politburo, though in order to reduce the risk of being on the receiving end of Stalin’s wrath, he skewers the report to emphasise that the Germans wish to strike quickly to crush the Red Army before it grows too formidable.
On the night of the 7th of March Convoy OB293, with the destroyers HMS Wolverine and HMS Verity and the corvettes HMS Camellia and HMS Arbutus acting as her escort, is attacked by German U-boats. Four merchant steamers are damaged and 2 of these, the Athelbeach and the Terje Viken, are sunk by U-99 captained by Commander Otto Kretschmer, the German submarine ace. However the both of the destroyers escorting the convoy have been equipped with the new ASDIC system, and they prove uncannily accurate in locating approaching U-boats in the darkness and foiling their attack runs. U-70 is identified on its approach and HMS Camellia and HMS Arbutus break off the convoy to pursue her relentlessly, and are rewarded for their patience when the submarine is forced to surface after being crippled by a depth charge attack. Lieutenant Joachim Matz is able to escape overboard with 24 men out of her crew of 45 before the ships plunges down beneath the surface, but Lieutenant Commander James Rowland aboard HMS Wolverine detects another contact bearing towards Convoy OB293.
The destroyer calls upon HMS Camellia to support her and the two warships pepper the waters around the contact with depth charges, though they are unable to confirm that their target has been destroyed. Another of the Convoy OB293 steamers, the Dunaff Head, is torpedoed the following evening. After the 8th of March the convoy is able to reach its destination without being subjected to further attacks and that leaves the convoys overall loss at 32, 464 gross tonnes of shipping. Following this attack the German U-boat command is unable to re-establish contact with U-47 captained by Lieutenant Commander Günther Prien, the German U-boat ace who achieved fame for sinking HMS Royal Oak in the surprise attack on Scarpa Flow days into the war, and has sunk 30 British merchantmen since. He and his crew are never heard from again.
The political situation in the Balkans is now taking up much of the War Cabinets time, as the Kingdom of Greece is now almost fully encircled by a ring of Axis satellite states. During their session on the 9th of March both Attlee and Eden agree that something has to be done in order to keep their only military ally in the war, though as the chance to send an Expeditionary Force has now passed the only remaining option is to consider an evacuation of the Greek government and its armed forces to Crete. This could provide a forward base for a bombing campaign against the German allies in the Balkans and would ensure the security of the Eastern Mediterranean, which both the Conservative and Labour Party leaders feel will be crucial in the coming months. The problem is that it will require a large allocation of the limited shipping tonnage available in the region, and a considerable commitment on the part of the Mediterranean Fleet to protect these ships. The majority of the War Cabinet believe that the strategic repercussions of this decision far outweigh the current tactical considerations, and a message is cabled to the Greek government informing them of this decision.
Defence Minister Alexander suggests that an strong commando force should be put at the disposal of Middle East Command in order to support the British 9th Army in Libya on the 10th of March, given that there are many potential landings sites along the coast of Tripolitania and amphibious landings behind enemy lines might greatly speed up the pace of Lieutenant General O’Connors advance. Admiral Pound and Admiral Leyes both recognise the merits of such a deployment, with the former being particularly keen to ensure that the Royal Navy has enough men on the ground to establish a second Marine Naval Base Defence Organisation to garrison Tripoli; if the city falls into British hands. The approval of Prime Minister Attlee and the War Cabinet is granted, and the 5th Battalion, Royal Marines is detached from the Royal Marine Division and is ushered aboard the troopship Glenroy several days later to begin their journey to Egypt. A Commando force of around 100 officers and 1,500 other ranks is then assembled and placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Laycock, and is instructed to be ready to follow the Marines by the end of the month. Alexander and one Major General Robert Struges are both eager to see how the Marines and Commandoes conduct themselves in North Africa, as success might allow them to reopen discussions with the admiralty on bringing the Royal Marine Division to full strength, and provide it with enough divisional troops to enable it to see combat.
After weeks of debate in Washington DC, House Resolution 1776 pass through the US Senate with 60 votes in favour and 31 against on the 9th of March, meaning that if the House of Representatives again votes in favour of the resolution, President Roosevelt will be able to sign the bill and officially enact the legislation. In Germany some segments of the government and the military consider this to have been inevitable given the similar co-operation between Britain and the United States during the Great War, but the German Führer in enraged to hear of this development. He begins to see that there are few gains to be made by continuing the charade of pretending that the United States of America is a neutral power, and this leaves him less concerned with maintaining the restrictions on targeting neutral shipping and warships that have been imposed on the Kreigsmarine.
House Resolution 1776, briefly amended to include the kingdom of Greece as qualifying for American financial support, passes into law on the 11th of March when 317 congressmen vote in favour of the bill and only 71 vote against it. With this President Roosevelt adds his signature and Lend-Lease to the allies officially begins from this day. The President’s political prodding, British propaganda and the reports and broadcasts of American journalists from the United Kingdom and Europe are finally beginning to make dents in the barrier of isolationism surrounding the United States of America, but the likelihood of another AEF crossing the Atlantic Ocean to fight in Europe is still seen as impossibly remote.
On the 12th of March Foreign Minister Matsuoka and one Colonel Yatsuji Nagai board a train at Tokyo Station and, cheered on by a jubilant crowd, take the first steps of a diplomatic trip to meet with the German and Soviet Governments. The Japanese invasion of China has led to a steep deterioration in diplomatic relations with the United States of America, who have not only started financially supporting the Chinese Nationalist Government but, to aggravate the situation further, have imposed a series of economic sanctions on the Empire of Japan. The signing of the Tripartite Pact has further widened this breach, as Japan seems to be actively condoning and even supporting the warmongering of the German and Italian governments. This deterioration in foreign relations has led factions in the cabinet to press for military action to secure access to raw materials. In the event of such a conflict it would be crucial to ensure that the Soviet Union would remain neutral and pose no threat to the Japanese colony of Chōsen and the puppet government of Manchukuo, and attaining an assurance of neutrality is the main objective of Foreign Minister Matsuoka’s journey. The Army however, where wiser council still prevails amongst many of the senior staff, has insisted that Colonel Nagai accompany him in order to ensure that no rash decisions are made regarding military action against the British Empire or the United States of America.
The British run of good luck against the U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean continue with the successful defence of Convoy HX112, which is attacked southeast of Iceland by U-37, U-74, U-99, U-100 and U-110 during the early hours of the morning on the 16th of March. Again the German skippers are frustrated by the ease with which the British escort of 4 destroyers and 2 corvettes, belonging to Escort Group 5 led by Captain Donald Macintyre, are able to locate them and force them to dive, breaking up their attack runs. However Lieutenant Fritz-Julius Lemp aboard U-110 is able to fires 3 torpedoes that hit the tanker Erodona shortly after midnight, and cause her to explode in a torrent of blinding flames that kill 32 of her crew. The tanker remains afloat however and another steamer manages to attach towing lines to her blackened hull, but in the confusion U-99 under Commander Kretschmer is able to sneak pass the convoy escorts and slides into the midst of the vulnerable columns of allied merchantmen. He then proceeds to sink the steamers Beduin and Ferm, which are lost along with their cargo of 19,000 tonnes of petrol and fuel oil. He then targets and adds the merchant steamers J B White, Venetia and Korshamm to his tally of kills, costing the British another 22,031 tonnes of supplies being lost, and uses his last torpedoes to damage the steamer Franche Comte.
Commander Kretschmer then dives and slowly drops behind the convoy, in order to return to port and restock his weapon racks. U-100, captained by another German submarine ace, Lieutenant Joachim Schepke, moves up to take the place of U-99 and attempts to mount a second attack on the convoy. HMS walker picks up the submarine on its ASDIC system and Captain Macintyre and he brings his ship around to engage, and signals HMS Vanoc to join her. Between them the destroyers manage to hunt down and sink U-100 with a sustained depth charge attack. The submarine barely manages to reach the surface and tries to limp away with its diesel engines, but Lieutenant Commander James Deneys aboard HMS Vanoc detects her on his ships new RADAR system and rams the damaged U-100; killing Lieutenant Schepke instantly and sending all but 6 of her crew down with the ship. HMS Walker then moves back into position alongside the convoy, only to detect another ASDIC contact. It turns out to be U-99, and by good fortune the watch officer isn’t alert enough in the darkness to see HMS Walker approaching, and by the time the crew realise they are being tracked and begin to dive, HMS Walker is in a perfect position for a depth charge attack. Captain Macintyre is rewarded for his efforts by the sight of a crippled U-boat surfacing and 40 of its crew including Commander Kretschmer abandoning ship, who are promptly rescued and join Convoy HX112 for the rest of their journey to Liverpool.
The British and Australian Prime Ministers meet at 11 Downing Street on the Thursday the 20th of March for an informal discussion on strategy in the Mediterranean Theatre. Prime Minister Menzies is keen to have the 6th Australian Infantry Division withdrawn from combat as swiftly as possible, as news of the heavy casualties they have suffered fighting at Agordat and Keren has begun to reach Australia, and elements of the press have made accusations of military incompetence on the part of Lieutenant General Platt. Menzies is also worried about the impeding conflict in the Balkans, and fears that a German follow-up attack on Crete could lead to the mauling of another infantry division that might be needed to defend his Dominion against the Empire of Japan. Attlee assures him that Crete will be held, and that a successful offensive by the British 9th Army will completely alter the balance of power in the Mediterranean Sea. The Australian Prime Minister is unconvinced that General Wavell will be able to repeat his previous military feat in North Africa now that the Italians have been reinforced with a German armoured corps. Attlee remains unperturbed and seems convinced that Lieutenant General O’Connor will achieve a second resounding victory with Operation Upright, and at this point Menzies begins to suspect that Attlee and O’Connor have met before, for the former to place so much trust the abilities of the latter.
The first issue is the increasingly volatile political situation in the Kingdom of Iraq. The Regent Prince Abd al-Ilāh has attempted to forestall any unrest by forcing the Nationalist Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, leader of the Party of National Brotherhood, to resign. In doing so he has provided those who oppose his rule and British influence in Iraq with a figurehead to rally around and there have been rumours of a planned coup against the Regent, though the string of British victories in Libya and Eritrea has temporarily dulled their enthusiasm for this enterprise. The fear is that the imminent German invasion of the Soviet Union might tempt Rashid Ali into either attempting to seize control of the government or inciting a rebellion, either of which would be a threat to the oil fields upon which the British Empire is dependent upon to fuel her armies. Attlee and Menzies agree that an invasion of Syria and the destruction of its Vichy French garrison is one of the best ways to respond to this threat, as it will prevent any of the Axis Powers attempting to supply the plotters with weapons, and would provide British and Empire forces with forward bases for an advance into Iraq along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, possibly co-ordinated with the landing of an Indian Division along the coast of the Persian Gulf.
The key question is what to do in regards to the Vichy French forces along the African Littoral, and in particular the French fleet which is unlikely to have forgiven or forgotten the British for the bombardment of their warships at Mers-el-Kébir. The reaction of General Weygand and the French Army are also uncertain but it could be possible to make an approach to him through the Americans. Though the French Army appears to be under strength and in relatively poor condition, the Germans could attempt to send a strong force to reinforce them in Tunis in order to tie down British forces and prolong the campaign. After this several possible operations are brought up including capturing Pantelleria and the Pelagie Islands and a possible landing on Sardinia in order to gain control of airfields for the RAF to bomb the Italian mainland, and attempting to seize the Italian naval base on the island of Rhodes with a series of amphibious assaults against the Dodecanese Islands.
The German diplomatic pressure being brought to bear on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia finally pays off as the regent Prince Pavel agrees to sign the Tripartite Accords on the 25th of March. This proves to be deeply unpopular with the Yugoslav population and there are widespread demonstrations in many of the major cities protesting against this decision. Far more worrying than this however are the protests that arise from the army following this decision, and the few officers who are totally opposed to the treaty find a figurehead in General Duśan Simović, the Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslav Air Force, who quietly begins sounding out politicians and the army’s officer corps for support.
To the surprise of both the British and German governments, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia is dragged free of the Tripartite Pact after being a signatory state for only 2 days. General Simović leads an anti-German coup against Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković on the morning of the 27th of March that succeeds in gaining control of Belgrade, the Yugoslavian Capital, within an hour. Prince Pavel is then deposed as Regent and Prince Petar, the eldest son of King AleksandarI, is proclaimed King Petar II of Yugoslavia. Recognising that the removal of Prince Pavel is certain to provoke a German invasion, General Simović places the armed forces on full alert and orders the army to mobilise and move up to its forward positions along the border; effectively forming an informal alliance between his country and the Kingdom of Greece. The reaction of the Führer in Berlin to this development is one of barely suppressed anger, and Directive 25 is issued to the Armed Forces that afternoon in which he states that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia’s defection has drastically altered the political situation in the Balkans and as a consequence it must be invaded. The German 2nd Army commanded by Colonel General
Maximilian von Weichs is instructed to move into Southern Austria whilst several of the formations designated to take part in Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece, are diverted to new positions opposite the Yugoslavian border as neither Bulgaria or Romania prove willing to supply troops for this campaign
By the end of March 1941 the situation the course of the Battle of the Atlantic no longer seems to be going so badly for Britain. Now both the ASDIC and RADAR systems have proven themselves against the U-boats and instead of German attacks easily penetrating the defensive ring of convoy escorts, the warships are now breaking up the majority of the German attack runs against their charges. The death of Lieutenant Schepke and the capture of Commander Kretschmer and Lieutenant Commander Prien also prove to be excellent propaganda victories, to the extent that Hitler orders his Ministry of Propaganda to suppress the news of Lieutenant Commander Prien’s death, which he believes would be damaging to the German publics morale. Despite this 40 ships totalling 234,847 gross tonnes of shipping have been lost during march and another 10 ships have been damage in exchange for the destruction of 5 U-boats, the heaviest losses the Kreigsmarine has suffered in one month since February 1940.