Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
A Clerk’s War
January 1941
After the marathon effort everyone put in to complete the “State of the Reich” report, it was good to have a day off, even if many people used it to recover from the excesses of Silvester. Having worked late on December 31st, I was not hung-over and so has a pleasant day with Gisela. January 1st was a brilliant clear day, cold but no snow. Berlin seemed to sparkle, and the parks and river frontages were full of couples and families enjoying the holiday.
No rest for filing administrators, though, and I was back in the Reichskanzlei before daylight on Wednesday. Not much occurred over the holiday, just a couple of transfer documents. 4th Schlachtfliegerkorps, Hoffman von Waldau’s dive bomber unit, has been sent to Przemysl, while Dörstling’s 6th Kampffliegerkorps is also on the move, to Constanta.
The major talking point, however, was diplomatic. An emergency session of the US Congress has passed the “Act to Further Promote the Defence of the USA”, what is being referred to as the “Lend-Lease Act”. The Führer is furious and called in Minister von Ribbentrop for dressing down. The rumour around the Foreign Office is that von Ribbentrop was asked to explain how this could happen when we had given the diplomatic corps some of our best and brightest young men, specifically to keep the USA neutral. When von Ribbentrop tried to state that the USA was still neutral (technically), it was touch and go whether he was reassigned to run the postal service in Beograd.
President Roosevelt signs the Act: a sign that USA neutrality is at an end?
This is an alarming development. The short term implications are bad enough, with effectively unlimited credit being granted to the United Kingdom, France and their allies, as well as China, to allow them to acquire weapons and supplies from the USA. Long term, however, we have been shown that the US President is no longer prepared to remain neutral, but is prepared to push the limits of diplomacy to assist our enemies. While I have not joined in myself, I heard that some of the younger staff have organised a sweepstake, betting on when the USA joins the war. I think it is in very poor taste, but apparently nobody is prepared to take a date later than the end of the year.
During the first week of the year there were some intermittent air battles along the coast of Spain, but nothing serious. Some military theoreticians further improved our Mobile Warfare tactics, which should allow our headquarters units to advance quicker following breakthroughs. As if to emphasise that the forthcoming war will not be all smooth sailing, the group was sent back to carry out a similar exercise on delaying tactics.
Some disturbing news came from Frankreich. On Friday 4th January the important factory centre of Lille was seized by rebels, despite a garrison division being based in the city. It is not clear what happened, but the end result was that 213rd Sicherung Division, commanded by General von Greiff, was forced to abandon its barracks and evacuate the city. General von Axthelm, commanding the Frankreich Army, which has responsibility for security in the occupied areas, insists he can handle this uprising. Minister von Blomberg nearly sacked von Greiff, but the incompetent general is already in charge of a garrison division: nobody could think of a worse punishment for him.
Lille on the morning of 4th January. 213rd Sicherung is on the spot but General von Greiff cannot handle the uprising and leads his disgraced unit out of the city, leaving it to the rebels.
It was not coincidental that the following day a research group that had just completed a study into Operational Level Command Structure was ordered to come up with a plan to re-equip our 2nd line troops with the MP 34: perhaps the bolt action Karabiner 98K is not sufficient to control the rebels. Personally I think that what is lacking is some moral fibre: a Kar 98K and bayonet was all we needed to keep order after the last war.
Would the soldiers of 213rd Sicherung have put up a better fight if they had been armed with the MP 34?
A week later the uprising had still not been quelled, and had spread to Dunkerque. At least this prompted some action by von Axthelm: 22nd SS Kavellerie Division “Maria Theresia” left Bruxelles heading for the coast. It was not a minute too soon. General von Rundstedt, the irascible commander of the Norsdee Army, sent a curt telegram to Berlin advising that he had ordered 58.Infanterie Division to move south and put down the rebellion. As if that were not enough, General Geib of 1st Küste und Grenze Army also contacted OKH,reporting that he is moving 57.Infanterie to retake the port. As his remit is to protect the ports from invasion, it is clearly not his job to clear up partisan rabble, so the pressure is on von Axthelm.
Dunkerque is lost to the rebels but some of our units are moving in response.
With all the recriminations and backbiting going on, it was hardly noticed that Grauert was ordered to take 4th Kampffliegerkorps south into Albania, basing at Tirane. What can this mean? Are we to help the Italians with their conquest of Greece?
Bayerlein’s road and rail gangs are still hard at work, even though the ground is frozen and to touch metal with bare hands is a painful experience. Work in nine Romanian provinces was completed on January 8th, and on the 10th new contracts were put to tender. Five airbases in Poland and Romania are to be expanded, and more infrastructure improvements in Romania have been given funding. In addition, five new industrial complexes are to be constructed in the east: at Memel, Oppeln, Falkenburg, Krappitz and Leibnitz.
On the 11th, General von Axthelm was on the brink of recall to Berlin. He must have some very influential friends, as Minister von Blomberg was highly embarrassed when news was received that the French rebellion had spread to St Omer. Von Rundstedt reacted by detaching another division, but finally the Frankreich Army was starting to get organised. An attempt by the rebel army to spread the insurrection to Abbeville was put down by General Bitthorn and 8th SS Kavellerie Division “Florian Geyer”. I think if Abbeville had been lost it may have been the end for von Axthelm, regardless of his contacts.
St. Omer falls to the rebel army: when will this rabble be crushed?
A reorganisation of our garrison units (along the lines of a “People’s Army” for goodness sake!) should give these troops a bit more backbone, or at least a bit more organisation. If they cannot sort out the French Maquis (as they apparently call themselves) then they may as well give up. In anticipation of increased fuel consumption in a few months, our scientists are to now work on improving our oil refining techniques, to obtain more fuel from less crude oil.
News of the Heer’s problems in Frankreich were suddenly forgotten on the 14th January, when Reichsmarschall Göring announced to the German people that, following a personal request to him by Il Duce, Benito Mussolini, the Luftwaffe was now in action over Athina. 4th Kampffliegerkorps started bombing in the morning, and during the day Heller’s 7th Kampffliegerkorps rebased to Tirane. It too was in the air over the Greek capital before dark. Although the general populace speculated that this may presage a land commitment to assist the Italians, my sources tell me this will not happen. The air bombardment is to soften up the Greeks enough to encourage the Italians to leave the comfort of their winter billets and start to move south.
The air bombardment not only is affecting the Greek Army, but is also hitting fixed installations.
The continuing upheaval in northern France is having a military impact more than commensurate to its economic impact (which is still negligible). On Tuesday 15th January, 151st Reserve Division was assigned to Bruxelles to replace the cavalry division that had been sent west. On Friday 37th SS Freiwilligen Kavellerie Division "Lützow” was deployed to Antwerpen. Both were attached to 2nd Frankreich Sicherungskorps. General von Axthelm cannot complain he has too few troops to handle the uprising.
Not much occurred over the next few days, though Dunkerque was retaken. That was a relief: there had been fears the British could have taken advantage of the disruption to seize the port. The main activity was a surge in completed research projects. Our medium bombers force was boosted by new training courses for both pilots and ground crew, and a breakthrough in supply transport procedures will allow us to move more tonnage on existing infrastructure. A sobering reminder that casualties will be heavy lay in the new research priorities: Combat Medicine and First Aid. To give our infantry a bit more basic firepower, it was also decided to research a new standard rifle: the 10 shot magazine Gewehr 43.
The new infantry rifle: the Gewehr 43 or K43 as it is already being called
The same day another Panzer division joined the Heer. I had expected a new Panzerkorps to be formed to accommodate its arrival, but instead its commander, General Wünnenberg, was ordered to take it to Poland to link up with 1st Panzerkorps. This unit now has three panzer divisions and two motorised and is therefore the most powerful Korps in the Heer. Two new coastal divisions are to be called up: I think that General Geib’s protests about defending all the ports both from invasion and from insurrection have had an effect.
On Monday I noticed a very small note from the Luftwaffe. With none of the fanfare that signalled the start of the Greek bombing campaign, it has been called off. Although highly successful (thousands of casualties were inflicted), our losses to enemy anti-aircraft fire were just too high. The units involved are both less than 75% of their full complement, and OKW has made it abundantly clear that every unit intended for Barbarossa must be in peak condition.
Von Axthelm used his last remaining credit on the following Friday: Dunkerque was retaken by the Maquis. He pleaded to be allowed one last chance (I read the transcript of his discussion with Feldmarschall Andrae, commander of OB West). This was it: his last throw of the dice. The most recent addition to his force, von Hammerstein-Equord’s “Lützow”,was ordered to Dunkerque. Two days later it was over. Faced with determined opposition, the insurrectionist army dissolved and fled. Not one cavalry man received a scratch, and von Axthelm and von Greiff were saved. It took 23 days, but the Frankreich Army mananged to put down the rebellion without direct intervention by OKW. LEt us hope they can speed up the process if it ever arises again.
Cavalrymen move into the outskirts of Dunkerque, abandoned by the rebels as soon as they heard that they were about to be attacked.
The last news for January was all technical: completed research on Tactical Air Command (which will reduce the disorganisation caused to our air units when carrying out ground attacks or interdiction), a new training regime for our Special Forces, better training for dive bomber pilots and a refined Tactical Command Structure for our mobile troops. Last but not least, our scientists at Peenemünde have completed a working rocket engine! Of course they applied for permission to carry on their research, and as it involves a theoretical jet engine (suitable for aircraft) Minister Göring steam-rolled it through Cabinet. It was his only victory. Three of the new projects were submitted by General Blomberg: introducing the 7.5 le IG 18 to our second line infantry units, developing a new anti-tank weapon for regular infantry (the 7.5cm PaK 40) and investigating a radical propostion to increase the number of regiments in a division from four to five. The final project went to Minister Schacht: a task group is to be set up to increase our industrial production even further.
It is not pretty, but the old 7.5 leichtes Infanteriegeschütz is still a potent weapon, if only for second line troops.
It may have been the last news but it wasn’t the last item for January. As I was packing up on Thursday 31st, thinking that February could be the last month of rest for a while, a memorandum arrived signed by Ministers von Blomberg, Göring and Raeder. The Führer has requested a complete Order of Battle be prepared for his review at the end of February. He wishes to evaluate the state of the Wehrmacht before he gives the order to commence Unternehmen Barbarossa. I expect every branch of the Wehrmacht will, as usual, have lost the original pieces of paper that will be needed to prepare this massive document: more sleepless nights for the clerks of the Filing section as they search for the copies. There goes my quiet month.
Bombing Summary
Athina: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Ju 88, 1 x Fw 190A): 232, 113
Athina: Heller with 7th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Ju 88, 1 x Bf 109E): 127
Athina: Grauert with 4th and 7th Kampffliegerkorps (4 x Ju 88, 1 x Fw 190A, 1 x Bf 109E): 177, 369, 152, 41, 122, 149, 9, 339, 93, 133, 286, 153, 212, 60, 98, 109, 69, 129, 218, 115, 129
Unterseebootesflotte Activity Report
38 transports and 5 escorts sunk by our U-boats this month
Axis Military Situation Maps
Libia: after recoiling when the Army of Egypt counter-attacked, the Italians are pushing towards Benghazi.
Greece: the sacrifice of our bomber pilots appears in vain: the Regio Esercito is staying in its winter quarters
China: the Kuomintang armies are fleeing. Have the Japanese made the vital breakthrough after all these years of fighting?
IndoChina: the IJA has a secure hold on the country, but the Guangxi armies have a ring of steel hemming the Japanese in.
Libia: after recoiling when the Army of Egypt counter-attacked, the Italians are pushing towards Benghazi.
Greece: the sacrifice of our bomber pilots appears in vain: the Regio Esercito is staying in its winter quarters
China: the Kuomintang armies are fleeing. Have the Japanese made the vital breakthrough after all these years of fighting?
IndoChina: the IJA has a secure hold on the country, but the Guangxi armies have a ring of steel hemming the Japanese in.
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