Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
25th June to 27th June
The feeling of apprehension remained with me overnight, giving me a restless sleep. I told myself to pull myself together, treated myself to a cup of real coffee from my dwindling supply and set off for work.
When I examined the documents delivered before dawn, there was nothing to support my feeling unease. The Luftwaffe continues to bomb overnight, even though the results are far less than daylight missions. I have heard some of the Ministry of Armaments officials complaining bitterly about the waste of bombs, fuel and spare parts, but my sources in OKH tell me that they don’t care about the expense: every enemy hit by a Luftwaffe bomb is one they don’t have to face behind a gun barrel. And you don’t have to be very perspicacious to see what the pecking order is in Cabinet now. During the preparation years Minister Schacht may have had the Fuhrer’s ear, but now that the guns are firing, General Blomberg has far more influence.
There was an interesting note from the Benelux Army. “As per instructions from the Minister” 50.Infanterie has been detached from XI Armeekorps in the Benelux Army and assigned to General Halder’s 1st Marinekorps. So Bottcher’s problems in Denmark have prompted him to go to the top! He has been complaining that he has no support in his attack on Sonderborg – now they have effectively given him another division. While it will win him this battle, it won’t make him popular with his fellow generals. But Herbert Bottcher has never sought popularity and his membership of the NDSAP since 1933 will make anyone think twice before they say anything openly.
The attached order showed that General Bottcher was not wasting time: General Heinemann has been told to move north immediately and to make every effort to force the Danes to combat.
The Danish Defence Budget was small, but they made up for it with ingenuity: these “Nimbus” anti-tank motorcycles have destroyed several of our armoured cars.
While it is a formality, General Ott has claimed victory in Plock. He generously acknowledged it had little to do with him, that List’s attack on the rear of Werobej’s 39 Dywizjon Piechoty meant that the battle was over before it began. Still, it will go down as another triumph for Ott, who is developing a reputation for quick, cheap victories. Only 110 men lost this time, against Polish losses of 437.
The Kriegsmarine has become annoyed with the Danes. It was bad enough when they sunk several of our tankers, but the attempt by a submarine flotilla to interfere in the operations of the Nordseeflotte has touched a raw nerve. Grossadmiral Raeder has ordered our naval bombers to seek out the Danes and bomb their ships to the bottom. “Condors” are on their way to the island of Bornholm now, where we have discovered a group of Polish and Danish ships. Conditions are not perfect, with 64% cloud cover and rain predicted for about half the time, but Air General Zander says that it will be good practice for his men.
To prevent more Danish attacks on our shipping, bombers have been sent to the small port on Bornholm Island. This is unfortunate for what is left of the Polish Navy, which was sheltering there. The lack of Danish targets will not stop our bomber pilots from carrying out their mission.
Unfortunately the bomber commanders have informed the Kriegsmarine that Danish ships in Copenhagen itself are too close to our own forces and installations to be successfully attacked. We will have to work out another way to remove Admiral Hammerich and his light cruisers. As a result, Major General Stumpff has taken his planes to destroy the naval facilities at Aalborg.
A Fw 200C “Condor” with the crew receiving final instructions before their first port attack
It didn’t take long for General List to file his own victory report. Rypin is ours, though the price was high. We leave 879 men on the battlefield, while the Poles lost almost double that: 1776. The General blames the high casualty rate on the Poles continuously reinforcing with fresh troops, turning a simple mopping up exercise into a real battle.
A real battle began at 9AM when General Nehring crossed the Vistula into Mlawa, north of Warszawa. There are at least four Polish divisions in the area, although our information is that they are completely disorganised. Nehring recognises that the forests will slow his tanks but he doesn’t think the Poles will be able to put up much of a fight against the 1st Panzer Division, which is in peak condition. A quick victory here would definitely raise spirits as it would bring us within sight of the buildings on the Warszawa escarpment.
Stumpff reports that the bombing of Aalborg is underway, and that the base and the associated anti-air installation are already severely damaged. He will keep his planes flying until the port is completely unusable.
The French have sent bombers to Bitburg to disrupt our attack on Saarlouis, but Christiansen is onto them. Seven fighter geschwader are over the battlefield and Valin’s bombers are already fleeing. On the other side of Germany, however, Pawlikowski’s bombers continue to attack us in Suwalki.
Late that night my premonitions of impending disaster seemed to come true. General Juin has sent five infantry divisions together with a light armour division into Saarbrucken, held by von Roques’ 46.Infanterie Division. It could have been worse: our reconnaissance planes tell us that a motorised division is stuck in the rear of the French attack, unable to move forward as the roads are too clogged with advancing troops. Karl von Roques has just over 9,000 men, and he is facing nearly 65,000. His initial report is quite methodical and unemotional, as befits a 59 year old Iron Cross winning veteran of the last war, but I wonder what he is really thinking?
A midnight message: the Poles have evacuated Kutno. (No, I wasn’t still at my desk, I was fast asleep at home. But all documents are time stamped when they come in, and General Ludke’s report was waiting for my signature when I arrived in the morning). A hard fought win, and the Poles pulled back with their dignity intact. We lost nearly 5% of our force (891 out of 20,000) while the Poles lost less than 4% (741 out of 26,412). The sooner this war in the east is over the better, we are losing men faster than they can be replaced.
Those were my thoughts before I picked up the next report. My hand shook as I absorbed the impact of what I was reading. A victory, but at what cost? We have retaken Pirmasens, and 3,746 of our men died in doing so. The French lost even more (3,837) but that was no consolation. My mind went back to the last war, the newspapers with their daily lists of dead and missing. I had hoped those days would never return, but reading the dry, factual pages of von Brockdorff-Ahledorff’s report, it all came back to me. What have we started? Will we once again become inured to having thousands of our young men die every day?
And what did they die for? Within hours the French counter-attacked. They sent a tank division (the incongruously named 46th Infantry) against 69.Infanterie Division, and soon our troops were pulling back and another 25 German soldiers were dead. French casualties were low (54 dead) and our battle report was that several fresh French divisions were moving up. This won’t be the last blood spilt for Pirmasens.
I was quite depressed all morning, and was not cheered up by news that Guderian was attacking Zdunska Wola in strength, even though this seemed to delight the rest of the Kanzlei staff. With two Leichte Panzer divisions attacking from Sieradz and a motorised infantry division from Wielun, “Fast Heinz” should make short work of Genral Kleebing’s two shaky divisions. Still, Kleebing has been known to pull off a trick or two, so let’s not get count our chickens before they are hatched.
Although I predicted more fighting in Pirmasens, I wasn’t pleased to be proven correct. Late on the 26th, General Heunert advanced his 61.Infanterie into the province, but immediately came under a ferocious attack from 3 full infantry divisions. Another infantry division plus an armoured division are rumoured to be in the area. I fear another horrifying casualty list is in the making.
The morning of the 27th saw another of our western provinces lost to the French. General von Roques had no chance against the weight of the French attack. He was lucky, I suppose, to keep his losses to 700, but it is still another severe blow. The French lost only 198. It is not only the immediate military loss, but also the fact that Saarbrucken contained many factories, mines and agricultural assets, as well as several large population centres that provided recruiting centres for both the Wehrmacht and our universities. Our whole economy and technological structure will be affected.
The heavy casualty reports continued. Von Salmuth has taken Grajewo, but it took the lives of 2,143 of his men to do so. The Poles lost more (3101) and must surely be reaching the end of their manpower reserves. I t doesn’t seem to worry their generals, as Strzelecki’s 22 Dywizjon Piechoty (a mountain division) has hit von Salmuth’s 52.Infanterie as it marched along the narrow forest roads. Von Salmuth is worried that his men are exhausted by the heavy fighting and may not be able to resist the attack by fresh troops. Considering the price we paid for this province, it would be heartbreaking to lose it so quickly.
The Polish air force is active again, with bombing attacks in Grajewo and Suwalki. Our Luftwaffe liaison officer believes that the Polish commander, Pawlikowski , is changing his targets constantly to make it harder for our fighters to intercept him. In a way this benefits us, as any damage is spread over several units, but it does mean that we have to suffer constant losses.
At least Mlawa is ours. General Nehring has exceeded expectations by routing four divisions in just over a day. The Poles are apparently fleeing for the safety of Warszawa, but the tanks of 1st Panzer Division are already moving forward, with several divisions of infantry close behind. The Polish capital is within sight of our leading reconnaissance patrols.
One of General Nehring’s Panzers, presumably pleased that the forest battle is over and the road to Warszawa is open
Von Sodenstern in Lyck is complaining that now Polish bombers are attacking his troops, but his report attracted little attention as it arrived simultaneously with a much more interesting (and positive) message: Barckhausen has commenced the assault of Lodz!
He has only one division able to participate (at the moment) but the defenders are considered to be on the verge of collapse and Backhausen’s view is that we will have the city within hours. This will have a major impact on Polish morale and will push them closer to surrender. We have already captured Danzig and Krakow, and the Hungarians hold Lwow. When Warszawa falls the Poles will have lost virtually every important industrial, cultural and political centre, and the will to fight must be severely weakened.
Despite the more positive news at the end of the day, the awful losses in the west weighed heavily on me. With all the excitement and confidence of the past few years since the New Year’s Day conference, I had forgotten that placing the Reich back in its rightful place in Europe would come with a heavy price tag, a price to be paid in the lives of our young men.
Bombing summary
Luftwaffe
25th June
Saarlouis: Dorstling with 1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111:
94, 108, 127, 126
Rypin: Muller-Michiels with 2 x He 111:
87, 116
Kutno: Kesselring with 4 x Ju 87B:
97, 80, 99, 51
Ostroleka: Kitzinger with 2 x He 111:
123
Mlawa: Kitzinger with 2 x He 111:
125
Armee de l’Air
Bitburg: Valin with 1 x Groupe de Bombardement:
Intercepted by our fighter and no damage suffered
Polish Air Force
Suwalki: Pawlikowski with 1 x Dywizjon Bombowy:
26
26th June
Luftwaffe
Pirmasens: Dorstling with 1 x 109G, 2 x He 111:
98
Saarlouis: Sperrle with 1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111:
107, 120, 147, 121
Mlawa: Grauert with 2 x He 111:
179, 174, 137, 87
27th June
Luftwaffe
Mlawa: Kesselring with 4 x Ju 87B:
80, 112, 117
Zdunska Wola: Muller-Michiels with 2 x He 111:
100, 109, 67
Saarlouis: Dorstling with 1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111:
128, 98
Mlawa: Kitzinger with 2 x He 111:
123
Ostroleka: Grauert with 2 x He 111:
89
Saarlouis: Sperrle with 2 x Bf 109G, 4 x He 111:
81
Lodz: Kesselring with 4 x Ju 87B:
60
One of Kesselring’s Ju 87B “Stukas” over Lodz.
Polish Air Force
Suwalki: Pawlikowski with 1 x Dywizjon Bombowy:
27, 33
Grajewo: Pawlikowski with 1 x Dywizjon Bombowy:
38
Lyck: Pawlikowski with 1 x Dywizjon Bombowy:
21
Fall Weiss at end of 27th June
Von Both’s Battle of Ostroleka has taken a turn for the better with 3.Infanterie Division joining the attack from Allenstein. His report is now sure of victory, as the Poles have not managed to reinforce the single division opposing him.
Nobody can understand how the Poles are still resisting in Zdunska Wola. Guderian’s report states that prisoners taken have lost the will to fight, and that General Keebing’s 9 Dywizjon Piechoty has long since fled. Another division blocked the way but it too is barely able to fight, but still General Mond refuses to concede defeat. Victory, according to the report, is only hours away.
Prich’s troops in Johannisburg are suffering from the shock of our attacks, and it seems to be taking its toll on their morale. Perhaps we will regain the province a bit sooner than expected.
Our possession of Grajewo will be only temporary. Strzlecki’s mountaineers have achieved a breakthrough and von Salmuth’s men have reached the limit of their resistance. He warns that he will need to order a withdrawal soon if he does not receive assistance.
Westwall at end of 27th June
Heunert is stalling making the inevitable decision to abandon Pirmasens. He claims he wants to hold until reinforcements arrive, but the Westwall Army has no fresh troops available. Muller is bogged down in Saarlouis. He was the wrong man to command such an attack that needed swift and daring decisions. It looks as if it may become another bloodbath.
Italian-French border at end of 27th June
The Danes continue to fight with what they have available. Unfortunately we have no armour units on the Jutland peninsula so these locally manufactured 20mm Madsen anti-aircraft guns are effective weapons against our vehicles.
While a position map of Fall Rache was not available, Bottcher reports from Sonderborg that since 50.Infanterie launched its attack, Danish resistance has faltered and he intends to completely defeat them within a day or so. The Danish will to fight has amazed everyone, and their tenacity has stopped even our elite Sturm Marines. Despite their courage, however, they will have to acknowledge the impossibility of their position.
