Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
A Clerk’s War
October 1940
This month has seen continuing build up for Barbarossa. What is noticeable is that even the most disinterested civilians realise that something is in the wind, and it is not hard to link up the dots. Despite the Reich now extending to the Atlantic Ocean, and with no obvious threat, research projects are pursued as fast as possible and tanks and aircraft are churned out by our factories. Every day more and more young men receive notification that they are to attend their local call up centres and Goebbel’s total control of press, radio and film ensures that a steady stream of patriotic messages are delivered to the populace. Is Moscow watching?
Early in the month there was an uprising in Spain, in the province of La Bañeza. Strangely the malcontents called themselves the 1st German Nationalist Division. Their motives were unclear and will probably never be known. The Heer reacted swiftly. Kampfgruppe Galicia immediately made La Bañeza a priority and several divisions were on the move to not only retake the province but to forestall any efforts by the unnamed commander of the dissidents to spread the rebellion. Within three days General Haase had reached the area with 7.Infanterie Division, but the rebels proved quite determined. At one point General von Kortzfleisch and 83.Infanterie Division in the neighbouring province of Murias de Paredes came under attack, losing 8 men. The end was never in any doubt, however, and after a further three days the rebellion was over. More than 700 of the insurgents were killed in the fighting, and the rest fled.
7.Infanterie arrives in La Beñeza and encircles the rebel army
Also early in the month, three portable airbases were completed and were sent to Romania. The basic facilities were installed in the border provinces of Botosani, Artsyz and Berchonet. Local construction has begun to expand the bases, and they will be doubled in size early next year.
Our newest Unterseebootsflotte, the 5th has left Wilhelmshaven. Although no public announcement was made about its destination, it is no secret that they are headed for Gibraltar. Commander Krause is no doubt overjoyed to finally be able to join his fellow U-flotte commanders in their onslaught on the British merchant marine. It is expected he will be given the seas around Malta as his hunting ground, although as with the other U-flottes, he will be instructed to be defensive at all times.
After being in the shadow of the Heer and Luftwaffe for many months, the news of the 5th U-flotte’s departure gave a lift to the Kriegsmarine. It was nothing, however, to the excitement generated by the commissioning of the Schlachtshiff “Gneisenau”. For days the newspapers were full of articles and photographs of the newest addition to the Kriegsmarine. Only when the ship joined 1st Schlachtflotte did the wave of public enthusiasm begin to wane.
The crew of “Gneisenau” are assembled on deck on a chilly October morning to be addressed by Kapitän zur See Otto Fein before taking their ship to join the fleet for active duty.
Unfortunately for the Kriegsmarine, public enthusiasm is not a key factor in Cabinet decisions (not in the Reich, anyway). The millions of RM freed by the completion of the “Gniesenau” would not be used to begin another ship. Minister Göring won support for another interceptor geschwader, and the Heer will gain a garrison and a cavalry division, both destined for Spain to allow regular army units to move east.
The first half of the month saw three research projects completed, two of them part of the “Neue Zerstörer” group that will provide us with a design for the most advanced light surface ships the Kriegsmarine has ever had. The engine and armour projects have been successfully finalised, and soon we should be able to lay down the keels of the first of the new ships. (If Minister Rader can squeeze the funds out of the Cabinet). The third research was a program to train our fighter pilots how to concentrate fire on the enemy fighters and interceptors: Luftwaffe losses to enemy aircraft have been so heavy that a change in emphasis was essential.
There is no question as to who has the ear of the Führer at the moment: Minister von Blomberg won every argument in Cabinet. Research has begun into tactical command structures to improve our implementation of mobile warfare doctrines, into what is ironically termed the “People’s Army” project (providing additional training to our 2nd line units who will have responsibility of for the protection of the west when we move into Russia) and last but not least, into special training for our élite divisions, the Fallschirmjäger, Gebirgsjäger and Sturm-Marine units.
On the 11th the sleep of the long-suffering inhabitants of Dortmund was shattered again, as the wail of air-raid sirens and the roar of the guns from the Flaktürme woke them from their rest. The “Dorstener Volkzeitung” and “Tremona Zeitung” carried long stories of the raid, and it is apparent from their descriptions that the RAF no longer terrifies the civilians of the Ruhr. The days when the first sign of bombers sent everyone to air raid shelters is over. If the newspapers are to be believed (did I mention that both are under the control of Obergruppenführers handpicked by Minister Goebbels?) many of the population sought high ground to watch the spectacle of the lancing searchlights and the streams of tracer reaching for bombers trapped in the light. There was also the added benefit of the sight of explosions and doomed planes drifting groundward trailing plumes of flames, indicating the presence of Jagdfliegerkorps operating away from the active flak zones. According to a young Dortmunder interviewed by one of the papers, it was “Better than Silvester fireworks”. Very little damage was reported from Dortmund, but dozens of enemy bombers were destroyed.
One of the hundreds of searchlights that helped protect Dortmund that night
Generalleutnant Bogatsch leads his interceptors into battle over Dortmund (note the Panzer divisions heading east to Poland).
We tried to pursue Newall’s bombers all the way back to their bases, but desperate RAF fighter groups successfully met Felmy and his pilots over Dover. Perhaps “successfully” is not the right word, as though the bombers were able to land in safety, the Luftwaffe inflicted terrible casualties on the British Spitfires and Hurricanes.
Air Battle of Dover: 1PM 11th October
The battles raged for several days, and even when the RAF withdrew some of the most badly hit units and replaced them with fresh pilots and planes, the carnage continued. The Luftwaffe is now a completely different proposition to the force that only a few months ago was struggling to keep the RAF under control. There is now no argument as who controls the skies.
Air Battle of Dover: 1PM 13th October
And the Luftwaffe grows stronger every day: on 17th October JG 71 “Bruch” was assigned as the third geschwader to 7th Jagdfliegerkorps. (There has been another burst of renaming: Generalmajor Fisser must be a music buff, as his other two geschwader are now “JS Bach” and “Beethoven”).
In the last two weeks there have been a string of research assignments completed. First was a military study into the use of operations over a large front (using large numbers of troops simultaneously). Not surprisingly, this has increased the morale of our second line units (no garrison commander likes to conduct any exercise with only his own troops) and should give the Heer a greater chance of delivering a shock attack. An unexpected benefit is that a spin-off project on “Human Wave” tactics was identified as showing promise, and the research team is now working on that. Not that the original subject was abandoned: with the completion of our training package on militia small arms enough funds were left over to allow further investigations.
The most challenging areas to study are still the mobile warfare related topics, where we lead the world. Another highly detailed (and to me nearly unintelligibly technical) report on “Schwerpunkt” tactics was delivered on 20th October. Even though priority is given to the offence, OKH is not neglecting other areas of military science: a central planning study started that day is supposed to allow better co-ordination of counter-attacks and defence of headquarters units.
The only Luftwaffe project to be concluded was another of those highly scientific missions that can only be carried out (or understood) by a handful of our top scientists. They have been working on adapting our “radar” detection devices in order to build a machine small enough to fit into a fighter or interceptor. They describe the finished result as “primitive”, obviously looking for further funding, but OKL has held back finance pending operational feedback from the Jagdfliegerkorps. For now the money will be expended on developing a new medium bomb for our tactical level bombers.
A schematic of the “primitive” airborne radar unit
Chief of Staff Bayerlein is still crusading for better roads and railways: his mission is to link the furthest provinces of the Reich with the most modern transport system in the world. He says this is to allow our military a supply net of unparalleled speed and security, but I have heard some of Göring’s aides refer to him as the “Märklin man”. But then the Reichsmarschall believes that his transport aircraft will be able to supply whole armies: let us hope that the need never arises. Returning to the point, Bayerlein’s work gangs have completed an upgrade of infrastructure in Irún, Hecho and Pamplona, and have began further work. The blocked gateway to Spain is slowly opening.
Bayerlein’s political enemies mock him as playing with real life train sets, but his efforts to improve the Reich’s infrastructure have already borne fruit.
Armaments Minister Schacht has also been busy: new factories have opened in Memel, Brno, Breslau, Ostrava and Königsberg. Within a week or so they will in full operation, though concerns have been raised about stockpile levels of steel and non-ferrous metals, as well as rubber and other hard to obtain resources. Schacht is confident that we can survive on existing stocks: although we are draining our reserves it is at a very low rate.
And we need every factory we can get. As the last delivery of Messerschmitts was made to JG 71 “Bruch”, a new contract was signed; one of the biggest single orders ever placed by the Heer. A schwere Panzer division will be formed, with two regiments of VK 3601(H) tanks supported by two full regiments of motorised infantry. Unfortunately it may not be ready for the initial attack on Russia (estimated completion date is 8th April) but it will take part in the drive east.
Normally the interminable air battles over the Channel attract little attention, particularly now that losses are declining. One that did stimulate discussion was Klepke’s attack on Plymouth, but not because of the Luftwaffe’s performance, although the RAF suffered considerable casualties. It was the presence of very large number of British troops in the vicinity that startled our experts. A close examination of photographs taken by reconnaissance fighters showed that no less than fourteen infantry regiments were in the area: more than we thought were in the whole of south England. Was this a concentration prior to an invasion? All coastal units were placed on high alert, but nothing happened in the next fortnight, so perhaps it was a false alarm.
One day stuck in my mind was Sunday 21st October. We were told that all administrative staff were required to work that day, as large amounts of documents were expected. The prediction was not wrong: every clerk in the Ministry of the Interior must have been writing for weeks to fill out the forms and paperwork that were delivered.
The primary cause was the creation and immediate transfer of three whole divisions. General Gallenkamp and his new command, 87.Infanterie Division (three infantry regiments and an attached anti-aircraft brigade) left for Poland, joining XIV Armeekorps. 400 Ersatz Division (General Schaffarz) left for Seville, while 390 Sicherung Division (General Schmidt) departed for Villadolid. With those two units taking up positions in Spain, General von Kleist received his orders: 2nd leichte Panzerkorps was to relocate to Lublin, Poland. As you might expect, coordinating the transport of hundreds of thousands of men with their vehicles, horses, equipment and stores was a massive exercise and the Filing section of the Reichskanzlei played their vital part in ensuring that every piece of paper could be located if needed.
Moving from Spain to Poland means that your train could be subject to partisan attack: these soldiers are prepared
As if that wasn’t enough, on the same day the Luftwaffe agreed to purchase 300 aircraft, enough to equip an entire Kampffliegerkorps. The Focke-Wulf factory in Bremen will produce a hundred FW 190A escorts, and Junkers will manufacture 200 Ju-88 bombers at Dessau. This is a massive investment, and I spent a few minutes looking through the file attachments. As I thought, there was a copy of an OKL analysis that showed that they believed that six Kampffliegerkorps would not be sufficient to maintain constant bombing along the entire eastern front. I think that Reichsmarschall Göring has several of these analyses that he will be using during Cabinet budget discussions in the next few months.
Junkers has swung into action: manufacturing 200 Ju 88 bombers will require most of its capacity for the next 6 months.
Also on the 21st, von Nordeck’s II Unterseebootsflotte came under air attack in the Western English Channel. A message was flashed to a Luftwaffe command centre near Paris and Felmy rushed 2nd Jagdfliegerkorps to drive off the carrier air groups, but it was too late. Luckily no submarines were sunk, but many sustained crippling damage and von Nordeck decided to take the entire force to La Rochelle for repairs.
Western English Channel: 10 AM 21st October – Felmy and his Messerschmitts arrive, but not in time to prevent Maltby and Ludlow-Hewitt attacking von Nordeck’s submarines
There was a better result for the Luftwaffe during the week following the Channel attack. Several hundred of our aircraft successfully penetrated the air defences of Southhampton. The RAF had considered the port impregnable with a large number of airfields nearby, and our agents tell us the civilian population of England has been negatively affected by the failure of the RAF to protect them. Our civilians, however, are overjoyed at yet another example of our technical and tactical superiority, and once again we are seeing a rush of our brightest and best to assist the war effort. This enthusiasm has been translated into two new research projects: specialist training for Close Air Support ground crews and improved logistical strike tactics.
Still more units joined the Heer as October drew to an end. Another infantry division (Kalmukoff’s 88.Infanterie) with an attached anti-aircraft brigade was sent to Poland, this time joining VIII Armeekorps. 391 Sicherung Division left for Sarajewo, where our intelligence operatives have reported rumblings of discontent. Recruitment for a new motorised division began straightaway: to the surprise of many it reverted to the old structure of three infantry regiments with an Aufklärung brigade of Sdkfz 231 (8 Rad) armoured cars. This seems to be to keep costs down: tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery brigades are very expensive to manufacture and maintain.
While not as deadly against enemy armour as the Marder IIIM, nor as effective against troop concentrations as the Sturmpanzer 38(t) “Grille”, the Sdkfz 231 (8 Rad) is still an effective supplement to our motorised regiments.
Back in Spain, General Hagl and 148 Reserve Division took responsibility for Zaragosa, prompting another move east. Bayer’s 2nd Gebirgsjägerkorps left Spain, heading for Brasov in Romania. A review of troop dispositions in the Iberian Peninsula identified a lack of coastal defence divisions and a new unit was called up. It should be ready to take up duty in about three months.
The large numbers of troops arriving in Poland have necessitated a restructure. The Army of Polen is unable to properly co-ordinate all the men under command, and has been split. The original Army of Polen will now be known as the Amy of Polen Nord, while a new unit, the Army of Polen Sud, has been formed under the command of General Straube. XIV Armeekorps, 3rd Panzerkorps and 2nd leichte Panzerkorps have been assigned to the new Army.
The last item for October came from the Kriegsmarine. Großadmiral Raeder has left Gibraltar, taking the Nordseeflotte east into the Mittelsee. His orders are supposed to be secret, but the whisper is that he is to take his force to the Gulf of Sidra. No surprise there: anyone would deduce that our fleet would be best used in patrolling the coast along which the Italians are finally advancing. The sting was in the detail. I have been told by an impeccable source (Gisela heard it from a typist in the code room) that Raeder has been told that he is to perform his orders in an aggressive manner. This is the first time such an order has been given to one of our naval formations. I hope it does not backfire.
Unterseebootesflotte Activity Report
58 British transports and 8 escorts sunk during the month, as well as one Irish vessel
Axis Military Situation Maps
Libia: The Army of Egypt is on the run, and soon the Army of Libia should recapture its forward base at Benghazi
Greece: the Regio Esercito seems content to keep the Greeks bottles up in Athina. There is no indication of a build to assault the Greek capital
China: Japanese forces have stormed Jinan and taken the city (with its valuable manufacturing plant) and the nearby airbase.
Indo-China: the Japanese seem content to tie up large numbers of Guangxi and Kuomintang troops.
Libia: The Army of Egypt is on the run, and soon the Army of Libia should recapture its forward base at Benghazi
Greece: the Regio Esercito seems content to keep the Greeks bottles up in Athina. There is no indication of a build to assault the Greek capital
China: Japanese forces have stormed Jinan and taken the city (with its valuable manufacturing plant) and the nearby airbase.
Indo-China: the Japanese seem content to tie up large numbers of Guangxi and Kuomintang troops.
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