Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
8th November to 9th November 1939
I didn’t expect a lot of action on the 8th, and so I wasn’t disappointed. All eyes were on the Channel as the Nordseeflotte surged towards Brugge where it would pick up its cargo of marines. The RAF must have had the same focus, as the only activity we detected was in the Channel and over Cherbourg.
Of course, not everything stopped. The French continued to harass our troops as they push to link up with our Italian allies, but while annoying, their attacks were not really effective in slowing down progress. In Ardentes, Central France, General Ott’s 3.Infanterie (mot) continued the drive south, running into another of the French armoured infantry brigades, this time the 67th Infantry under General Blanchet. Although at first Ott’s men made some progress, albeit slow, things soon took a turn for the worse when Blanchet received reinforcements in the form of the 33rd Infantry Brigade (mot). To force Blanchet to retreat before the fresh troops reached the front lines, Ott increased the tempo, hoping to use shock to break through. He is presenting a positive face to his men, but in his reports to his commander, General Kleist of 2nd Leichte Panzerkorps, he is more frank, admitting that he will be lucky to shatter the enemy before the thousands of reinforcements arrive.
Battle of Ardentes at end of 9th November
Pinsard made another tentative attempt to cross into German airspace, but Felmy (and the Bitburg radar station) was wide awake. Again we met the French bombers over Metz and again they were turned back before they could do any damage. The French position in the north of the Maginot line is getting very precarious. Engelbrecht’s Gebirgsjägers are rushing into Lunéville, General Garchery’s headquarters troops having finally broken, losing 314 men in the process. The 1st Mountain Brigade had left long ago, so it was probably very optimistic to expect that the few hundred clerks and cooks could hold off a full division of tough and elite mountain troops. 4th Gebirgsjägers lost only 72 men. And now Metz, Cattenom and Sarreguinnes, the northern end of the Maginot, are open to attack from the rear. More importantly, all supplies must come through the single province of Wissembourg. We have reports of units marching out of the fortifications and heading south, presumably to avoid being cut off and isolated.
The French High Command came to the same conclusion about the isolation of the northern Maginot Line. The British General Warren has kept his 20th Mountain Brigade moving south and is challenging Engelbrecht for ownership of Lunéville. Engelbrecht believes the French left it too late and that he has had enough time to secure the province. However, while he deals with the attack from the north, he cannot continue his attack east, so perhaps the British are buying time for their allies to escape the trap.
Battle of Lunéville at end of 9th November
While the French attempted to recover one province that they virtually abandoned, they lost another after a dour defence. General Nehring’s tanks have convinced the last of the six divisions holding Montbard that the weight of armour could not be resisted. Outnumbered at the start of the battle by nearly four to one, 1st Panzer has fought for 5 days to achieve victory, and 1,061 of Nehring’s men are dead. The unfortunate de Lattre de Tassigny has another defeat to his name, and another 1,184 men dead or missing. Still, it was a bitter fight and Nehring has told General Hauser of 1st Panzerkorps it will be some days before 1st Panzer will be an effective fighting force. Stocks of fuel, ammunition and all other supplies are very low, and the men need rest. He does not need to explain that his communications and administration networks are in a chaotic state after a week of movement and fighting. Hausser has ordered him to rest his troops in Chablis, away from the front. General Dietrich is to move 2nd Panzer into Montbard from Avallon.
In the far west of France, Geyr von Schweppenberg has had his drive along the pleasant roads of the Deux-Sèvres department interrupted. He had crossed the Argenton River without any trouble, but on entering the province of St-Hermine he hit roadblocks and defensive positions manned by the Britihs 89th and 92nd Infantry Brigades, commanded by General Johnson. Luckily for 2nd Leichte Panzer, General Johnson apparently had orders to defend the neighbouring province of Parthenay, and left his fellow commander, General McDonald, to hold off the Panzer division with one solitary brigade. What could have been a serious set-back (von Schweppenburg is a long way ahead of support) has turned out to be a routine operation for our panzertruppen.
Battle of St-Hermine at end of 9th November.
With British planes continuously over the Channel, von Nordeck still was able to get close enough to a convoy of oil tankers from Al-Kuwayt to fire a single torpedo. That was all it needed: on its way through the congested sea channel off Plymouth the torpedo struck a ship loaded with precious crude oil, and the subsequent explosion created enough confusion for the U-boats to quietly slip away.
And that was the end of Tuesday the 8th. Overall a good day – no bad losses, a few wins. But with the impending invasion of the Channel Islands in every mind, it just seemed a bit of an anti-climax. I am sure that tomorrow will see everyone on their toes: the word from Brugges is that the troopships of 1st Truppentransporterflotte are pulling into the harbour while the Nordseeflotte sits off-shore.
Wednesday started with excitement. Perhaps excitement is the wrong word, anger and disappointment may be a better description. After the heroic sacrifices of Nehring’s 1st Panzer Division, losing more than 1,000 men to take Montbard from 50,000 French defenders, all General Dietrich had to do was roll his tanks and trucks forward and occupy the province. He seems to have not treated this as a priority, and when he finally did move in the early hours of the morning, he found that the French had moved back in! General Bethouart has more than 30,000 soldiers in Montbard, half of them ready to block the advance of 2nd Panzer. Admittedly the other half is a disorganised rabble, but it still means we must fight to retake the province. I am sure General Hausser will tear strips off Dietrich. While Dietrich was once influential in the Party, he is not quite so popular now, as he was known to be close to General Himmler. I believe that Himmler was godfather to at least one of his children. It is really irrelevant: even if he was the Führer’s right hand man he could not escape a dressing down for such gross incompetence in the face of the enemy.
Also during the night, von Arnim commenced a two-pronged attack on Clefmont. Using his own 75.Infanterie from Chaumont and General Eicke’s 28.Infanterie from Neufchateau, he intends to squeeze out General Anderson’s 46th Infantry Brigade, and finally crush the remnants of the Belgian 1ère Division de Cavallerie, which is now at barely a third of its original complement. While the 75th must cross the Marne, von Arnim is sure that General Eicke can provide enough distraction to allow him to get his men to the other side.
Battle of Clefmont at end of 9th November
All of this happened overnight – even though I made a point of getting to the office at dawn so that I would not miss any of the Channel Island action, events were already in motion. As I was drinking my first coffee of the day (no time to make a proper coffee at home) we heard that air battles were raging over the Channel. Stumpff’s 1st Seeflotte had met Bowhill’s 9th Carrier Air Group while on a patrol over the proposed invasion route. The heavily armed Focke-Wulf Fw 200C naval bombers of 125th and 127th Seeaufklärungsgruppes had little to fear from Bowhill’s bi-planes, particularly as it was obvious that the carrier group had not yet recovered from its earlier mauling by our fighters over France. In addition, Stumpff’s pilots reported that the Fairey Swordfish were armed with torpedoes: had there been a breach in our security? Were the British preparing a trap? Only an hour later it looked as if that could be the case as the “Condors” were surrounded by hundreds of British fighters. Steele’s 11th, 12th and 13th RAF Fighter Groups were also active over the Channel. Despite the losses his units were taking, Stumpff’s orders were clear: he was to keep patrolling the Eastern Channel, ready to report any sighting of the Home Fleet or capital ships.
One of Stumpff’s Focke-Wulf 200C naval bombers cruises over the Channel, on alert for Steele’s fighters
Taking advantage of the pre-occupation of the RAF, Schwartzkopf made a lighting raid on the Channel Island beaches, his Heinkels struggling to find targets in the early morning gloom but trying their best to help the pitifully few of Guderian’s men who were ashore. Nobody has accused 1st Leichte Panzer of lack of bravery or determination: those men in the tiny beach-heads will not give up until there is absolutely no hope. I hope they realise that help is on its way.
Every boat available is being used to ferry Guderian’s men to the Channel Islands: Räum-boote loaded with infantry have a welcome (if hardly less dangerous) change from minesweeping
And that help is currently speeding westward. Brugge port authorities have announced that 1st Truppentransporterflotte has successfully cleared the heads and is now at sea, with its massive escort. Ten thousand of our most highly trained and equipped troops are about to have their baptism of fire. Just as things were looking up for us, depressing news came in from Lille. Whoever had made the transport arrangements for 1st Fallschirmjäger from Paris to Lille had not taken into account the disorganisation that a train trip causes. It will be at least 103 hours before the men are ready to load onto their waiting Ju 52s for the short trip to the Channel Islands! It may have been better for them to have marched from Paris to Lille. (Our preliminary calculations had shown that Paris was too far for a successful airdrop). Still, the arrival of the marines should be enough to throw back the British: the Fallschirmjägers can finish off the battle (if they are even needed).
The Nordseeflotte makes its way down the Channel: Tirpitz, Deutschland, Nürnberg and Köln move in front of the heavily laden troopships
The air battles continued as Steele maintained his habit of tracking our planes back to base. All the way back to Abbeville the Focke-Wulfs suffered from Spitfires and Hurricanes using their superior speed and manoeuvrability to loop around them, lacing the bigger, heavier planes with cannon and machine-gun fire. Plane after plane dropped from the sky, but there was no word of complaint from Stumpff – he knew he had fulfilled his mission. Far back in the Channel, the “Condors” of Geisler’s 2nd Seeluftflotte drew huge, lazy circles in the sky as they monitored the surface of the Channel for any naval movement.
Then came the moment we had been afraid of: Admiral Raeder broke radio silence to report that enemy naval units were in sight. Under a leaden sky, with almost continuous rain, he has been intercepted by a Royal Navy heavy cruiser force. He feels that he has superiority, and he is determined to complete his mission. He has informed the OKH that he has ordered “Battle Stations” and directed that every Käpitan must be prepared to sacrifice his command to save the troopships.
Here I must break my narrative to quote from a letter I received from my friend Karl Behrens, commanding a destroyer in 5th Zerstörergeschwader. He was present throughout the day, and his first-hand account is far more graphic than I could compose from the radio messages, telegrams and after action reports that cross my desk.
“After the Admiral’s message was relayed to the fleet, I immediately moved my ship to a covering position, using my speed to cross in front of the enemy fleet, which was perilously close. The combination of pre-dawn darkness, the overcast skies and the pouring rain made identification and targeting a real problem. Not to mention that none of our training had been for fighting at such close quarters. A modern navy doesn’t expect to be fighting with 20 major ships in an area of less than 50 square kilometres. Still, you have to take it as it comes, and this was the situation we faced.
My job was clear: first to protect the troopships, and then the capital ships. To do this I must place my ship between the faster enemy vessels and use the threat of my torpedoes and small guns to make them keep their distance. Nothing was yet in range of my torpedoes, and my gun crews were struggling to get their guns in action as the ship pitched violently due to our increased speed. From behind me I heard the roar as the big ships started firing. The “Bismark” was targeting the light cruiser HMS “Caledon” which happened to be the closest to our main fleet and which was making a run for the troopships. The lumbering troopships were painfully turning but there was no way they could evade the greyhound speed of the British cruiser. The only hope for the marines on board the troopships was for our warships to remove the threat by crippling the “Caledon” before she could get in range to launch any attack.. The “Scharnhorst” joined the “Bismark” in throwing everything at the “Caledon” and for a minute the ship was invisible as shell explosions threw up a wall of water. When the “Caledon” burst into the open she was already doomed: she had been hit by several 15 inch and 11 inch shells, as well as a dozen of smaller calibres. Her 3 inch armour was useless against direct hits from guns that size. She was taking a massive amount of water and her powerful twin screws only served to drive her bow deeper into the water. In what seemed like seconds she simply vanished beneath the surface, leaving only a handful of survivors and a few patches of oily water.
The “Tirpitz” was still silent, probably as her crew had not had the time to get as accustomed to the gunnery routines as the other capital ships. The “Deutschland” was also not firing, but that was because she had been masked by the “Bismark” and was moving to a better position. The “Gneisenau”, “Graf Spee”, “Nürnberg” and “Königsberg” all concentrated on a “Danae” class light cruiser, HMS “Dauntless”, which was also between us and the English heavy cruisers. The range varied from 1 kilometre for the “Königsberg”, 3 kilometres for the “Gneisenau” to 6 kilometres for the “Nürnberg”. With that number of guns firing at that distance, the “Dauntless” didn’t have a chance. Her fate was sealed when the “Königsberg” raked her superstructure with all her secondary guns, setting fire to most of the top of the ship and killing or wounding everyone on the bridge and wheelhouse. As if that were not enough, an explosion near the water line seemed to knock out her engines: whether it was a torpedo from the “Königsberg” or a shell hitting just under the surface I couldn’t tell. The end result was that after only a couple of salvoes the “Dauntless” was drifting, ablaze from stem to stern, with her crew leaping from the decks. Still afloat, she was nevertheless no longer a fighting ship.
While our fleet was focussed on removing the immediate threats, some of the British heavy cruisers were already in action: the Royal Navy is renowned for its gunnery drills. Both HMS “Norfolk” and HMS “Suffolk” were firing on the “Graf Spee” which was taking hits. While the damage at first glance appeared serious, my damage control officers assured me it was superficial. At most one or two gun turrets were out of action. Several fires were more of a worry, mainly because of the need to detach crew to assist in controlling them. The real concern was that the British had her range, and if she took that sort of punishment for another 10 minutes she would be lost.
At that moment I had concerns of my own: it seems that much further back, out of sight in the rain, the British had an escort carrier. Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers were flying towards 6th Zerstörergeschwader, probably because the pilots thought that to face the massed anti-air of the larger ships would be suicide. The low flying planes lurched away from me and I could see them heading for one of my sister ships. The whole squadron was firing every available gun. Most of us still have only the standard 4 x 37mm and 8 x 20mm guns, but a few ships have been upgraded to 10 x 37mm and 20 x 20mm so while we are not as well defended as the big ships, we are not be disregarded. The British pilots obviously didn’t think so. Several planes were shot down, and while most aircraft launched their torpedoes, there were no hits.
A Fairey Swordfish, torpedo slung beneath the fuselage, makes its attack run
As the battle moved into its next stage, virtually every ship was firing. The noise was astounding: it was as if the roar of the guns was continual. Because of the forward momentum when the fleets came within sight of each other, and the reluctance of any commander to give the enemy a broadside target, the distance between all ships had actually decreased.
The “Bismark” was ensuring that the “Dauntless” was sunk before turning her guns to other targets, possibly a wise decision as, doomed as she appeared, she was still the closest English warship to the troopships. By staying close to her, the “Bismark” was also able to provide anti-air protection should the Swordfish return. It didn’t take long for white flags appeared on the “Dauntless” as she started to slowly get lower in the water. Only when it was clear that she was gone beyond recovery did the “Bismark” turn for other targets.
“Gneisenau”, “Graf Spee” and “Karlsruhe” had been ordered by Großadmiral Raeder to destroy the third light cruiser, HMS “Aurora” which had been swinging around to approach the troopships from the beam. Because she was turning our ships could close the range until their guns were at point blank. The commander of the “Gneisenau”, Käpitan zur See Erich Forste, ordered every secondary gun on his ship to concentrate on the gun turrets and exposed gun mountings on the light cruiser. Dozens of shells ranging from 2cm to 10.5 cm ripped across the deck and superstructure and not a single British gun managed to get off a shot. There was little need for the “Karlsruhe” to put in a torpedo, but she did so anyway. It blew off the steering rudder, leaving the “Aurora” drifting aimlessly. Structurally intact, the “Aurora” was defenceless.
While this was occurring, the “Graf Spee” took a critical hit from HMS Suffolk, a “County” class heavy cruiserr. It seems very unlikely that one of the “Suffolk’s” 8 inch shells piercing the 100mm belt armour or her 70mm deck armour would have caused so much damage. We think that a flash fire must have somehow travelled down the loading shafts of one of the secondary deck guns to a magazine. Maybe an earlier hit had buckled the protective plating installed to prevent just such an accident. Whatever the reason, a huge explosion took place forward of the bridge and the ship shuddered to a halt, flames belching from a mass of twisted metal that had been the bow deck. Käpitan zur See Langsdorff waved off all offers of assistance, insisting his crew had the crisis under control, even as his ship listed heavily. As he reminded the fleet, our priority was the troopships, not a stricken vessel.
“Königsberg” had seen the “Suffolk” moving up to finish off the “Graf Spee” and immediately raced to intercept, firing every gun wildly to attract attention. A couple of shells did hit the “Suffolk”, but not enough to cause any alarm or distract her form the bigger prize. But the “Königsberg” did attract attention, in the form of HMS “Norfolk” and HMS “Effingham”. Once again the British gun crews showed their ability, hitting the rapidly moving light cruiser with their first salvoes.
One of our Condors took this photograph of the “Königsberg” under heavy attack as she tried to save the “Graf Spee”
The “Tirpitz” had got its gun crews organised and had joined the “Scharnhorst” in helping the “Köln” which was trying to shield the “Königsberg”, now dead in the water, from a quickly closing HMS “Effingham”. The “Effingham” absorbed a lot of punishment but even from this distance I could see that she was losing power and, while her forward guns continued to pour shell after shell onto the “Königsberg”, the rate was slowly dropping. The “Norfolk” however, was as accurate as ever, firing salvo after relentless salvo.
The “Tirpitz” finally joins in, her 8 x 380mm guns firing on the “Effingham”
The “Köln” had not got off scot free after her Käpitan’s selfless action. While racing to protect the “Königsberg” a bracket of shells from another “County” class heavy cruiser HMS “Berwick” crashed into the sea around her. Well, all but one landed in the sea. The other sliced through the 40mm deck armour, causing devastation as it tore through the ship’s interior. KzS Buchardi quickly advised the fleet that the damage, though serious, was manageable and the “Köln” still had full power and most of her guns were still operable. She would continue to take her place, despite the clouds of black smoke billowing from her innards.
HMS “Berwick” at full speed, heading to intercept the “Köln”
5th Zerstörergeschwader also had orders from the Großadmiral, and I had turned my ship to lead and cover the “Deutschland” as she moved on HMS “Cumberland”. The “Cumberland” was intent on shelling the “Scharnhorst” and I don’t think she even noticed us moving up until the first shells hit her. My ship may have got a couple of 150mm shells on target, but we were bouncing up and down so much that I doubt it. (My gunnery officer swears he followed a shell from our guns to the deck of the “Cumberland”, but I feel he may be little biased). Regardless of what happened, the end result was that the “Cumberland” took a little damage, enough to throw off her targeting control anyway, as the “Scharnhorst” was untouched.
As it became light, the battle moved into its deciding stage. “Tirpitz”, “Scharnhorst” and “Köln” kept up the barrage on the “Effingham” until after about half an hour, a wave of explosions rippled through her and she slowly turned on her side, sinking in less than a minute. It seems clear that a fire started by one of the shells from the “Tirpitz” or the “Scharnhorst” had reached a vital area and started a chain reaction. Whether it was fuel or ammunition we will never know: all the evidence is on the bottom of the Channel.
The last moments of the “Effingham”
With the “Dauntless” also safe on the sea floor, “Bismark” turned its main guns on the deadly HMS “Berwick”. She did not need any assistance. From my position it seemed as though every shell hit the hopelessly outclassed heavy cruiser. To give her credit, the “Berwick” continued to fight, but her gunnery control must have been destroyed early as she did not shift targets from the “Köln”. Now KzS Buchardi regretfully messaged that he had lost all engine power, and that with no electrical power he could not operate his main or secondary guns. He added that his ship was still capable of operating as an anti-aircraft platform, and that his engineers promised him that given a little time they could get the ship mobile again. He is definitely a “cup half-full” person.
“Gneisenau” detached herself from the main fleet to finish off the “Aurora” as she drifted slowly away. There was no white flag, and nobody underestimated the courage and ingenuity of the British sailor. If they could jury-rig a steering mechanism, she still had 2 triple torpedo tubes and it was quite possible some of the deck guns were still able to be fired. “Karlsruhe” accompanied the “Gneisenau”: it is one of the Großadmiral’s strictest rules that a capital ship should never be alone.
Still keeping to her task of defending the capital ship “Graf Spee”, “Königsberg” kept up an intermittent fire on the “Suffolk”, inflicting considerable damage due to the short range. But her inability to move or turn meant that our cruiser could not prevent the “Suffolk” closing with the “Graf Spee” and pouring broadside after broadside into the stricken vessel. Despite this, Käpitan zur See Langsdorff refused to haul down his colours, declaring that he could not live with himself were he to surrender his ship. “Königsberg” herself was under occasional fire from the “Norfolk”, but the fire was inaccurate and little damage was done, though some lives were lost.
The “Graf Spee” appears doomed as fires sweep her decks and interior, but her commander orders us to leave him and concentrate on the mission
At this moment the “Leipzig” turned up: she had got lost in the dark and rain and, while we were on radio silence, had not been able to locate the main fleet. Of course a few hours of battle gave her good idea of our location and she steamed in from the flank, firing her main guns at the “Norfolk” which was taken completely by surprise and seemed to lose a lot of control, though actual damage appeared light.
While around us a series of duels were taking place, we destroyers were fanned out in front of the “Deutschland”, crashing through the waves towards the “Cumberland” which in turn was pursuing the “Scharnhorst”. We flinched as several waves of carrier planes flew over us at low altitude, chased by tracer, but they too were heading for the Schlachtschiff. Flashes of light showed the “Scharnhorst” was taking hits, but there was no tell-tale muffled “Thud” of an underwater explosion to indicate a torpedo had reached its target. With all the guns firing and torpedoes being launched at the “Cumberland”, someone was bound to get lucky, and during the chase we noticed our prey gradually slowing unit she was barely making way. Yet another British ship was still fighting, but effectively no longer able to carry out its mission. Their targets were the troopships, and if they could not move, they could not chase the transports as we shepherded them towards the Channel Islands.
By now the battle was decided. The “Bismark” finished off the “Berwick” quickly: our flagship did not take a single hit during the entire battle. The “Suffolk” was virtually torn to pieces by the guns of the “Tirpitz”, but not before her final shots saw the “Graf Spee” slowly turn onto its side and, burning fiercely, slide under the water. While most of the crew evacuated in time, KzS Langsdorff went down with his ship, as he would have wished. We assisted the “Deutschland” in sinking the desperate “Cumberland”, and the “Aurora” received a “coup-de-grace” torpedo from a destroyer of 6th Zerstörergeschwader. The last ship fighting was the “Norfolk” which tried to break and run but was chased down by the “Nürnberg” and “Leipzig” and despatched at close range as her crew abandoned ship. It seems as though “Leipzig” had crippled the “Norfolk’s power transmission as some of the sailors we rescued said that though the engines were running normally, there seemed to be a power loss which was the reason she could not escape.
That left the “Hermes”. With her protective shield of cruisers gone, the escort carrier was defenceless. Her aircraft were practically useless in the rain and heavy cloud, and although we discovered she had three destroyer squadrons to protect her, they could not prevent our battleships and battlecruisers standing back and using her for target practice. A brave but foolhardy attempt by the destroyers to rush our main fleet saw every ship sunk well before they came within torpedo range. The “Hermes” was then finished off without interruption.
The “Hermes” in flames as uncontrollable fires signal her last moments
So ended my first big naval battle: the Battle of the Mouth of the Thames. A clear victory for the Kriegsmarine. We lost just one ship, the heavy cruiser “Graf Spee”. The Royal Navy lost the escort carrier, HMS “Hermes”, five heavy cruisers (“Effingham”, “Berwick”, “Cumberland”, “Norfolk” and “Suffolk”), and three light cruisers, (“Caledon”, “Dauntless” and “Aurora”). Not to mention the 28th, 31st and 32nd Destroyer Squadrons, thrown away in a vain attempt to protect the carrier.
A chaotic but exciting few hours, a time when 10 years of training and preparation were finally put into action. Probably a unique event in my life”
As you will agree, it is far better to have an actual witness describe the action. But my friend was wrong about one thing. This sea battle was not to be a unique event in his life.
Elsewhere the war did not halt, of course. General Hell’s straight-on assault in Clamency paid dividends as Gubbin’s men lost the will to fight and are moving south. Losses on both sides were not very high, supporting Hell’s premise that despite appearances, his opposition was very brittle and would not be able to withstand a concerted attack. 6th Gebirgsjäger lost 124 men, the combined Allied force 131.
Steele’s fighters did not even let our Condors get into the air without subjecting them to further losses. His timing was impeccable, his three fighter groups arriving over Lille aerodrome just as the planes of 1st and 2nd Seeluftflotte were moving down the runways. The British must have been determined that our naval bombers did not make it to the Channel. All the way to East English Channel the Focke-Wulf’s had to endure the occasional reappearance of the fighters, the only relief being when the enemy planes had to return to refuel and rearm.
The French tried to intervene in the battle of Clefmont by bombing von Arnim’s 75.Infanterie in Chaumont. “Schlageter” and “Richthofen” geschwader soon put a stop to this, driving off Valin’s bombers before they could even reach the troop concentrations that were their target.
While news from around France was being processed and filed appropriately, the talk in the Filing section was still about the Nordseeflotte as it made its way down the Channel, under the very nose of the Royal Navy. Would it be able to deliver its precious cargo or would the whole exercise end in disaster? We all knew that a couple of high-calibre shells into the troopships could cause the whole plan to be abandoned. So it was with some trepidation that we heard that another message had been received from the radio room of the “Bismark”.
Almost within sight of the Channel Islands, our fleet had found its way blocked by two British battleships with a destroyer escort. The ships had been identified as HMS “Resolution” and “Warspite”. With several of our ships showing the effects of the recent battle, to begin another sea battle was a very risky operation. Großadmiral Raeder, however, was aware of the importance of his mission. In his radio message, he referred to Guderian’s men clinging to their narrow beachhead, relying on the Nordseeflotte to bring them assistance. He stated that he Kriegsmarine would fulfil its duty, and that regardless of the cost, he would deliver his human cargo intact.
An alarming sight just when we thought the mission was nearly over: the battleship HMS “Warspite” at full speed, moving to block the way to the landing areas on the Channel Islands
This battle was much shorter than the first, and my friend Käpitan Behrens had little involvement, the 5th Zerstörergeschwader being assigned to anti-submarine patrols around the troopships in the rear. As a consequence, he saw little of the action, only becoming involved towards the end, and his account is missing major events. I shall attempt to reconstruct what occurred from the information I have received, primarily the ship-to-ship communications and the various orders transmitted from the “Bismark” to the other ship’s commanders.
The first contact had been made by our light cruisers, which had formed a screen several kilometres in front of the main fleet. As you are aware, several of the cruisers were only able to proceed as a result of emergency repairs, and some still had fires smouldering, despite the rain. Regardless of this, as soon as the enemy had been identified and the information relayed to the flagship, the five light cruisers moved into action. “Nürnberg” headed for the “Warspite”, while the “Köln” and “Leipzig” moved towards the “Resolution”. The crippled “Königsberg” and the “Karlsruhe” placed themselves in the path of the British destroyers which had immediately increased speed and were on a direct course to our fleet and the troopships slowly ploughing west.
For once the British guns were slow to react. Only when our capital ships opened fire did they respond. They ignored our warships and although none of the shells from their 15 inch guns hit the troopships, they did land close enough for the underwater compression to cause significant damage to several vessels. Damage control parties had to clamber over the marines and stored equipment to rig supports for sagging bulkheads, and several leaks were reported. All ships were able to continue however, reporting that their pumps could handle the small amount of water that still seeped through the buckled hull plates.
Once again Raeder realised that the only way to protect his charges was to silence the enemy guns. But he also had the problem of two destroyer squadrons which, it was apparent, had been ordered to close to torpedo range. The destroyers seemed to be mainly “G” and “H” class ships, and their top speed of 36 knots meant we did not have much time before they would be ready to launch a series of torpedo salvoes. With the troopships concentrated in the middle of our capital ships (to take advantage of the anti-air cover) it was virtually certain that such an attack would be successful.
Orders were sent to every ship, detailing its primary target. “Tirpitz”, “Scharnhorst”, Köln”, “Leipzig” and 6th Zerstörergeschwader were to concentrate on the “Resolution”, “Deutschland” and “Nürnberg” on the “Warspite” and the other ships to handle the destroyers.
The plan was obviously risky, with our fire scattered over the entire enemy force rather than taking out the major ships one after another. But it did take some of the heat off the troopships. HMS “Warspite” shifted her guns to fire on our destroyers, with devastating effect. Ship after ship of 6th Zerstörergeschwader was hit, and while none were sunk, within minutes every vessel was lurching to a halt, smoke pouring from many of them as fires took hold.
A daring reconnaissance plane took this photograph of the “Warspite” under fire
The demand of maintaining battle speed was also taking its toll on the makeshift mechanical repairs that kept several of our ships inaction. “Scharnhorst”, “Königsberg” and “Köln” all were barely able to make way and were virtually sitting targets, and the two cruisers were barely able to to fight, as damage from the earlier battle was exacerbated by the hits from the Royal Navy battleships’ secondary guns. 5th Zerstörergeschwader had moved to screen the capital ships, and had also taken several hits. Despite this, Raeder’s plan had worked: the troopships were ignored.
As dusk fell, it became apparent that we had won the Battle of the Eastern English Channel. “Resolution” had been hit several times and only one of her main turrets was in operation. “Warspite” was in better condition, but still showed signs of a decreasing ability to defend herself. The destroyer squadrons had been annihilated: all the small ships were either sinking or covered by flames and racked by explosions as they self-destructed. The British attack had turned into a retreat, as the two battleships took advantage of the gathering dusk to break off the action and return to port. Conscious of the overall mission and the vulnerable state of many of his ships, Raeder did not order a pursuit, content to have seen off the threat.
The Luftwaffe did try to finish off the fleeing battleships, as Geisler’s 2nd Seeluftkorps chased them up the Channel. Once again, however, Steele’s fighters intervened and the Condors were forced to let their intended prey escape.
General Dietrich can be relieved. The euphoria generated by the two naval victories meant that his announcement that he was giving up his attempt to recover Montbard was overlooked. He may have avoided an immediate backlash, but I am sure that his performance over the past few days will haunt his career prospects for some time. His 2nd Panzer lost 139 men in their efforts to dislodge the French, who lost a mere 64 men.
With five British destroyer squadrons wiped out in a single day, our submariners were jubilant. This would dramatically weaken the Royal Navy’s ability to defend its convoys, and the results were not long in becoming apparent. Von Nordeck, having decided that the Channel Approach was a little too crowded, had moved to the Breton Coast, where he picked up a solitary merchantman on its way to Jamaica. Wolf, operating on the other side of the Bay of Biscay, sank a French coastal steamer on the Lorient-Abidjan route. From the wreckage it must have been carrying military supplies to the French army units based in West Africa.
So a good end to a glorious day for the Kriegsmarine. The loss of the “Graf Spee” will be felt for some time, but to have delivered two such crushing blows to the Royal Navy within sight of the British home island will shatter the complacency that their own territory is secure.
Now we just have to hope that the invasion of the Channel Islands can be successfully completed. But I have to go: the rumour is that every Kriegsmarine officer in Berlin is buying drinks all evening.
Bombing Summary
Royal Air Force
Cherbourg: Joubert de la Ferte with Middle East and Indian Groups (2 x TAC):
79, 70
Cherbourg: Joubert de la Ferte with 14th Fighter group, 1st and 5th Tactical Bomber, Middle East and Indian Groups (1 x MRF, 4 x TAC):
147, 213
Cherbourg: Portal with 14th Fighter, 1st and 5th Tactical Bomber Groups (1 x MRF, 2 xTAC):
158
Luftwaffe
Montbard: Kesselring with 1st Stukakorps (2 x Ju 87G):
88, 142, 132
Cosne-Cours: Sperrle with 1st Taktsicheluftflotte (1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111):
120, 154, 194
Clamency: Kitzinger with 3rd Taktischeluftflotte (2 x He 111):
83, 208, 264
Cosne-Cours: Kesselring with 1st Stukakorps (2 x Ju 87G):
58, 62
Clamency: Sperrle with 1st Taktsicheluftflotte (1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111):
113, 200
Langres: Kitzinger with 3rd Taktischeluftflotte (2 x He 111):
117, 231
Armée de l’Air
Vierzon: Pindard with 1 x TAC:
40
Chaumont: Valin with 2 x TAC:
Aborted
France at end of 9th November
China at end of 9th November: the headquarters troops have attacked the rebels. I wondered if there were combat units attached to the headquarters but our military attaché assures me that this is not the case.
Official Kriegsmarine damage report showing the condition of the Nordseeflotte after the two battles in the English Channel.
