Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
15th October 1939
As I promised, before continuing with my description of the conduct of the war, I will need to clear up all the confusion that was caused by the misinformation spread by General Himmler and his Patch 1.3 conspiracy, as well as bringing you up-to-date with the events of the past two weeks. I will start with conditions in the Reich itself, and then describe the current world situation and our relations with other countries.
For some unknown reason, the plotters hid the extent of infrastructure improvement across the country. Maybe they did not want Minister Bayerlein to get any credit for his work in building up road and rail links across the occupied territories. The high standard of transport and communication links across the Greater Reich can be best seen in the map below.
Infrastructure across the Greater Reich. The whole of pre-Anschluss Germany has now got a modern road and rail system, and most of the previous Austria and Czechoslavakia have been improved. Work is underway in Poland to set up highways and rail links between the major cities and the German and Russian border. Notice the damage still showing in some of the Belgian and Dutch provinces – fighting was very intense and extensive bombing and shelling destroyed many bridges and other essential infrastructure.
There is some disturbing news from the Office of Skilled Personnel. Systematic fraud has been perpetrated in the “Heavy Tank” research program and millions of Reichmarks have been stolen. Not one of the research projects has been completed! The papers submitted have been completely fictitious! The Gestapo are all over the records of the projects, tracking the missing funds. Of course a common fraud would normally be below the dignity of the Gestapo, but preliminary results indicate that this was the source of the funds for General Himmler’s plot. With the assistance of Patch 1.3 he has siphoned vast amounts of money, ultimately to be used bribe officials, pay spies and keep his whole nefarious organisation running. The tendrils of this affair run deep into the heart of the Reich and I can see it will be some time before things return to normal.
The Kriegsmarine has taken the opportunity to change the names of one of its ships: the “Van der Tann” is now the “Gneisenau”. (Did General Himmler make some complimentary remarks about van der Tann? Or was this just some internal politics?) What has surprised everyone is that II Unterseebootsflotte was not demobilised and the submarines were not scrapped. In fact they have been fully repaired and have recently been in constant action. They have performed very well in the Ostsee and are now back near the Mouth of the Thames. Why someone in the Kriegsmarine thought it would be a good idea to hide their existence is beyond me. If it is connected with the strange activities of Patch 1.3 we may never know.
Some bad news has been covered up by the Kriegsmarine, however. 9 Unterseebootsflottille was completely wiped out during a clash with a British fleet of the coast of Portugal. The battleship “Revenge” and carrier escort “Argus”, with 8th and 9th Destroyer Squadrons, were more than a match for Donitz and his Type IX submarines. 7.Unterseebootsflottille did escape and limped back to Wilhelmshaven where it is still under repair. Our analysts believe that the presence of Allied planes from the carrier was a critical factor in the loss of our vessels.
Battle of the Coast of Porto
More embarrassing for Admiral Raeder is the revelation that the Dutch fleet was not sunk while attempting to escape the Fall of Holland, and that the Polish fleet also evaded detection. While the “Sumatra” and 1 and 2 Torpedobootjager Smaldeel were sunk, the rest of the Dutch Navy escaped.
The Luftwaffe seems to have been fairly accurate in its reports (maybe because Marschall Goring treats it as his personal empire), but the Heer has obviously been subject to some political influence (I would hazard a guess that some of Minister Goebbel’s more persuasive employees have been busy).
I have discovered that the situation on the Westwall in June/July was much worse than the public was told. The French broke through in strength in the south and at one stage reached as far west as Oberstdorf and Eheling. Munchen itself was under threat. 9.Infanterie was cut off in Hinterzarten and General von Hadeln was forced to surrender nearly 9,000 men (although I notice he managed to escape himself – his personal Feisler-Storch presumably taking advantage of our air superiority). There was very bitter fighting to regain our territory and the Luftwaffe had to heavily bomb our own towns to drive back the French. In the end, however, we did regain the Westwall and the order was given to halt. From what I heard, our troops were in no position to advance further anyway – it took months of front-on attacks on prepared positions to get back to our own starting positions, and losses were very heavy. They were in no condition to assault the Maginot line.
Westwall at end of 15th October 1939
Our officer pool has been sharply reduced by the events of the past few weeks. Anyone whose loyalty was not absolutely beyond question has been removed from the officer corps. As a result, we now have only 115% of basic officer requirements. The need to send many diplomats to the USA to keep it neutral makes it difficult to raise the number of officers available, but every effort is being made.
Luckily for us, our allies have been staunch during the turbulent times following the assassination attempt (except for Yugoslavia, which took advantage of the turmoil to back out of its alliance. I am sure the Fuhrer will remember this). Italy in particular has made a huge effort in the south of France. Although Corsica has been lost, on the mainland the French and their British allies have been pushed well back from the border. Marseilles has fallen and the new French capital city, Lyon, is within striking range.
The Italians have smashed their way forward, but have not achieved a breakthrough.
The French have pulled back from Libya, abandoning their temporary, unopposed gains. In Egypt, unfortunately, the Italians have been hit very hard by the British, and have lost their forward port of Tobruk. In addition, it seems some units have been trapped by a daring British spearhead that raced across the desert to cut them off.
The story in East Africa is much better than was reported: it is clear that the 1.3 plotters had doctored the reports from this area. Rather than being cut off and out of supply, the Italians have broken out of Ethiopia and Somaliland and have both the British and the French on the run. It is noticeable that the Ethiopian government has been quietly deposed, and Ethiopia is now an integral part of Italy.
East Africa (northern areas)
East Africa (southern areas)
The war between Greece and Italy is over, and in fact Greece is no longer part of the Allies. It has become strongly independent – perhaps there has been a change of government? There is a rumour in the Foreign Ministry that somehow Athens became aware of secret British plans to abandon Greece and concentrate on North Africa. No longer required to keep a large presence in Albania, Italy has been able to reinforce other, more important areas.
Hungary has withdrawn its Expeditionary Force, but in exchange it has sent a sizeable number of divisions to the west. While this has meant that we have had to send some garrison divisions to Poland, our commanders have been full of praise for the efforts of the Hungarians over the past few weeks. In many cases it was only the fact that we were able to throw a fresh division into a battle that allowed us to hold our positions under the French onslaught.
Last but not least, it seems that Slovakia has introduced a heavy conscription regime. Although they still have only militia units, they have many more of them. They too fought well in the past few weeks and their contribution has been valuable.
The mention of the Hungarian Expeditionary Force reminds me of one of the great mysteries of the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer: the “Manchukuoan” militia. Everyone is Berlin is still talking about the disappearance of the thousands of Asian troops who have been a de facto garrison of Berlin for the past year. The day of the failed assassination, they just disappeared! Neither the Gestapo nor the SD can find any trace of the missing regiments. Obviously suspicion has fallen on the Patch 1.3 conspirators, and it is generally accepted that these militia were to assist in the seizure of the capital, but there must have been a fallback plan to evacuate them in the event of failure.
At the highest levels, there is a suspicion that the false information regarding a Japanese failure in China may have been a ploy to explain why these units appeared in Berlin. One of my sources says that the Foreign Ministry chiefs think that Patch 1.3 had planned for years to seize key installations in Berlin and had realised that they would never have sufficient support in the Wehrmacht. They had come up with the stratagem of convincing everyone that the presence of armed troops in the city was the result of Japanese failure and the defeat of Manchukuo. It sounds surreal, yet it so nearly worked. Had the bombing in Paris been successful, Himmler and the Patch 1.3ers would have had a loyal and totally committed force available to crush any dissent. And because of the trust we had placed in the “Manchukuoans”, there were no German troops billeted anywhere near the capital.
My contacts in the Foreign Ministry have told me of the relief that has been felt about the much better situation in the Far East. A vast Japanese Empire stretches from Yunnan to the Russian border. The Japanese Army is as strong as ever – the losses never took place. The elation felt is tempered, however, by the realisation of the cost that we paid because of our inability to detect the slow build up of the Patch 1.3 scheme. All those reports we received from the east were false, sent by member of the conspiracy. The unavoidable conclusion is that all the military advisers, liaison officers, naval and air observers, special envoys and military attaches were murdered in order to keep the cover story going. It makes my blood boil to think of the hundreds of loyal men who were sent to unwittingly to their deaths. The only thing that cheers me up is the thought that the dreaded Kempitai have sworn to identify every Patch 1.3 agent or supporter and to ensure they are returned to the Reich for punishment.
Of course the Japanese success has meant that they too have gained allies of a sort. A confederation of Mongolians has set up the state of Mengukuo which, together with Manchukuo, provides Japan with a small number of troops.
China
Manchukuo and Mengukuo
The area where we have been most shocked, however, is Scandinavia. The Foreign Ministry had been lulled by more misinformation, and believed that Norway, Sweden and Finland were, if not friendly, at least strongly neutral. I can only imagine the horror among the diplomats when, within days of the failed coup attempt, Finland joined the Allies, to be joined swiftly by Sweden and Norway. The Communists must have had some wind of this, because they immediately returned the provinces taken as part of the settlement of the Summer War.
Sweden and Norway invaded Denmark, capturing Copenhagen and adjacent provinces. Our marines were rushed back and have managed to seal the invasion, but the Allies still hold the capital. Because of the invasion, the Danes rose up in rebellion, and now, rather than being incorporated into the Reich, they are under military occupation. Given the stress that the administration was under during those two weeks, I think we did well to contain this threat from the north.
The loss of Copenhagen had one unfortunate effect. The Allied navies, boosted by the Swedish and Norwegian forces, forced a series of naval engagements off the Pommeranian Coast.
The first battle was between the Nordsee Fleet and a combined Swedish and Danish fleet. Although on paper the Allied fleet consisted of four heavy cruisers, all the ships were ancient and we would have been more likely to call them “Kustenpanzerschiffe”. The battle was little more than a training exercise for the gunners on our capital ships. "Deutschland" quickly got the range of the 34 year old “Pansarkepps" "Oscar II", and the Swedish ship ended its days in a short explosion as its magazine took a direct hit. The other Pansarkepps, “Manligheten” did not last much longer. The “Scharnhorst”
simply tore it to pieces with salvo after salvo of 11 inch shells. The Danish ships “Niels Iuel” and “Peder Skram” were damaged by the Schlachtschiffe, but were left to be finished off by the smaller ships. The light cruiser “Stuttgart” moved close to the sinking “Peder Skram” and pumped in a few 5.9 inch shells, but the Danish captain signalled that he would surrender. The “Stuttgart” tried to escort the "Peder Skram" back to Rostock, but while she made it to port, unfortunately she had taken too much damage and she sank shortly after arrival, though her crew were saved. The “Niels Ieul” was not so lucky: a well placed torpedo by one of the ships of 6th Zerstoreregeschwader Flottille let the icy waters of the Ostsee into the engine room and she virtually split in two as a result of the subsequent explosion. We suffered no losses.
First Battle of the Pommeranian Coast
The Pansarkepps “Oscar II” heads out on her final voyage
The Pansarkepps “Manligheten” pouring on speed in a vain attempt to close with the Nordseeflotte
The “Peder Skram” sinks in Rostock harbour: it is not worth trying to salvage her.
The next battle was far more serious. A French fleet was led by a real battleship, the “Provence” and she was accompanied by two heavy cruisers (“Colbert”, “Dupleix”) a light cruiser, the “Emile Bertin” as well as the 11eme Destroyer Flotilla. The French were trapped against the coast and could not escape the punishment hurled at them by every gun of the Nordseeflotte. After only a few hours every enemy ship was either sunk or sinking, and the only job left for our ships was to help the pitifully few survivors. The French were desperate in their attempts to break out into open sea and we lost two of our screening light cruisers during the battle, and many of our ships took severe damage. One of the lost ships was the “Stuttgart”, which had performed so well only a few days before, the other was the “Emden”. Admiral Raeder took the rest of the fleet to port and immediately advised Oberkommando der Wehrmacht that the Nordseeflotte would not be available for active duty for some time, although some individual ships were able to take to sea for specific missions.
Second Battle of the Pommeranian Coast
With the Nordseeflotte out of action, if only temporarily, the Baltic Flotte was ordered to patrol the Pommeranian Coast and give the alert if an Allied invasion fleet was detected. While carrying out this duty the ageing dreadnoughts were surprised by the Royal Navy, which had entered the Ostsee in force. Admiral Bohm immediately ordered the fleet to run for port: he did not need to know the full size of the opposing force to realise he was completely outgunned. His swift action saved the two capital ships “Schleswig-Holstein” and “Schlesien” which, covered by the destroyer squadrons, raced for safety in Rostock. The skill of the destroyer kapitans in blocking and distracting the Royal Navy was not without cost. As the battered Zerstorers entered port, it was clear that 3 Zerstorergeschwaderflottille had been completely destroyed. Reconnaissance planes soon revealed how close to annihilation the fleet had come: the British fleet would have blown them out of the water. The battleship “Royal Sovereign” and battlecruiser “Hood” provided the big guns, but they were backed up by three heavy cruisers (“Norfolk”, “Cornwall” and “Berwick”), five light cruisers (“Dunedin”, “Emerald”, “Enterprise”, “Calcutta” and “Cardiff”) as well as two destroyer squadrons.
Third Battle of the Pommeranian Coast
The Nordseeflotte is now apparently back in operation, but with Copenhagen still held by the Scandinavians, and the Royal Navy willing to project its power into the Ostsee, our investment in ships can be seen to be well worthwhile.
The other disappointing report from the Kriegsmarine is that it has ordered the cessation of all overseas trade, particularly with the USA. In the past few weeks we have lost 11 cargo ships and oil tankers, and we cannot afford to provide heavier escorts. Public opinion has been badly hit by the combination of shipping losses and bombing raids, and while the Luftwaffe has managed to quiet the British strategic bombers, we are unable to halt the activities of the Allied submarines and surface raiders. (We did manage to sink a couple of Swedish “Ubatsflottijen”, but this had little strategic impact.) Minister Goebbels informed the Fuhrer that he cannot guarantee the full support of the people if we continued to suffer unanswered shipping losses, and Admiral Raeder reluctantly acknowledged that he could not protect our merchant marine. As the Royal Navy had just shown he could not protect the Ostsee, he had little choice.
On the bright side, Admiral Donitz and his U-boats are doing well (other than the disappointing outcome of the clash off the coast of Portugal). No less than 58 enemy merchantmen have been sunk since the beginning of the war. Admittedly many of them were coastal steamers sailing along the Scandinavian coast, but considering the small number of U-boats at sea during the period, it bodes well for the future when we have more than a dozen flotillas operating at once.
The most important situation though, is the situation in France. I have been told that when I get to work tomorrow that I will be provided with a complete update on our Order of Battle: there have been some changes (apart from the replacement of Generals Kesselring and Himmler). In addition, there is a rumour that if not tomorrow, then within days, the Battle of France will recommence. We have a lot of time to make up. As can be seen from the position map, however, the Allies have not managed to recapture any significant territory, and despite the lack of central control, our local commanders have continued to push south. The only province we have lost is Nemours, while we have captured another 12 provinces.
The situation in France at the end of 15th October: since the assassination attempt we have captured Gamaches, Rouen, Dieppe, Vermont, Dreux, Etampes, Treyes, St Dizier, Verdun, St Mihiel, Fresnes and Longuyon, while only losing Nemours.
There is not much more to report. Canada has joined the Allies, but everyone knew that was just a matter of time. What has surprised many here in Berlin is that we have had a discrete contact from Australia: would we countenance their joining our alliance? As far as I know, that decision has not been made. We may have to consult out Japanese allies, particularly as we now know they are a force to be reckoned with.
The current political situation sees the opposing alliances as:
Axis:
Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Manchukuo, Mengukuo
Allies:
United Kingdom, France, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Bhutan, Nepal, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, Belgium, Poland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark
Comintern:
Soviet Union, Tannu Tuva, Mongolia
Well, I am feeling very tired. The doctors did warn me that the concussion could have this effect, and advised me I would need lots of rest. With a busy schedule tomorrow, it is time to call it a day.