Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
10th November to 12th November 1939
Two tank destroyer regiments finished basic training today, and were attached to 14 and 16.Infanterie Divisions (mot) in Chablis and Luxembourg respectively. The arrival of the brand new Hetzers was just in time, as the 1st Motorised Korps is moving to the front, ready to join the push to cut off the Maginot Line. With every troopship we have tied up in the invasion of the Channel Islands, the delivery of another flotilla of transports was very welcome: OKH anticipates that we will need plenty of sea-lift when we make our reply to the Scandinavian aggression. The debacle with the lack of availability of our sole Fallschirmjäger division has given weight to Reichsmarschall Goering’s arguments for another airborne division and associated transport planes. Despite the enormous expense, Junkers has been awarded a contract for another 100 Ju 52 aircraft (with all the ancillary equipment) and a further three parachute regiments will be formed.
Overnight we won the Battle of Cosne-Cours, General Jacob chalking up his first victory since replacing the late and unregretted General Himmler. 2.Infanterie Division lost 220 men in the clash with the 15th Infantry Brigade but, given the presence of French armour, it was still a praiseworthy first battle under a new and previously untested commander. Priou’s men suffered 153 casualties.
In the battle for air supremacy, things were not going so well. Kitzinger’s 3rd Taktischeluftflotte was intercepted over Ardentes by Basset’s 21st and 24th Groupes de Chasses and, having no fighter escort, were forced to finish their mission hastily after taking heavy losses. The ever-persistent Steele and his RAF fighter groups were still harassing our naval bombers, chasing Geisler’s 2nd Seeluftflotte back to Lille and destroying several of the expensive Condors as they attempted to land.
Air Battle of Ardentes
Air Battle of Lille
To give Kitzinger credit, he did attempt to fulfil his mission, taking his “Legion Condor” and “Holzhammer” back to Ardentes after dawn on the 10th. Unfortunately, Steele is the most cunning of the Allied air commanders (can he read minds?) and his Hurricanes and Spitfires were perfectly positioned to dive out of the sun at the unprotected bombers. This time Kitzinger was forced to call off the attack and return to base. The two missions cost him a total of 40 aircraft.
2nd Air Battle of Ardentes
During the morning another ground attack began, a welcome break from the unremitting reports of aircraft losses. General Ruoff led his 2.ID “Vorwärts” motorised divisions into the woods of Bourganeuf. His opposition was the 8th Infantry Brigade, which although on paper comprised three regiments (including a tank regiment) was reduced to 6,800 men. Our intelligence was that most of the armour has been destroyed in previous fighting or was inoperable due to breakdowns. General Vauthier’s men had no opportunity for maintenance or repair, and it was not only the tank regiment that was virtually useless, the infantry regiments had not rested for days and the men were exhausted. (Ruoff obtained a wealth of information from stragglers and deserters). Normally the woods would have slowed our motorised troops considerably, but in view of the likely collapse of the defenders, Ruoff drove forward aggressively. His confidence was justified: after losing only 24 men the French were on the run, while “Vorwärts” lost only 7 men.
In Clamercy, General Hell and his 6th Gebirgsjäger Division were blocked by the 30th Infantry Brigade, commanded by General Bethouart. Hell had been given a day to clear the way: he indicated that he thought the deadline more than reasonable. Given that Bethourt’s men have been retreating got the past fortnight, only pausing to be bombed or attacked, his confidence is probably not unwarranted.
While Ruoff’s trucks rumbled down the tree lined roads of Bourganeuf, and Hell’s men swept over the plains of Clamency, over the Channel Islands JG70 “Sturm” was involved in a deadly battle, outnumbered three to one by Steele’s RAF fighters. Schwartzkopf, unlike Kitzinger, was able to complete his mission, although “Blitz” and “Geier” lost 13 planes. But the cost to the fighter escort pilots was high: 16 Messerschmitts were shot down.
Air Battle of the Channel Islands
Conscious that this was a critical stage in the invasion, when thousands of our men were still either hanging on to a narrow strip of land or being ferried to shore, Schwartzkopf decided that he would attempt another mission over the Channel Islands. The RAF dealt more destruction to the Heinkels and accompanying Messerschmitts, but the bombers still got through, though accuracy was badly affected. A third attempt was made late in the evening, but the pilots of 2nd Taktischeluftflotte had given all they had and when faced with another wall of interceptors the mission was abandoned. Steele was not to be deprived of his prey, and chased Schwartzkopf’s planes back to Dreux, still shooting down stragglers. At the end of the day, the total cost to the Luftwaffe of its attempts to assist the invasion was 25 Bf 109G fighters and 15 Heinkel 111 bombers. As far as we could determine, Steele’s losses for the day (including his attacks on the Condors) totalled about 20 planes.
We left on the evening of the 10th feeling that things were back under control. Although the RAF and the Armée de l’Air were a thorn in our side, on land we were advancing according to plan, and the Channel Islands now were an achievable target.
For some reason I was in very early on Friday and met nobody on my way to my office (other than the normal series of security guards and stern faced Gestapo posted outside the doors of important officials. As an aside, why do they guard these offices so tightly? Don’t they know that every document they are protecting is copied and in my filing system?). As a result, I had no warning when I looked at the first report on my desk.
At midnight the Royal Navy made another attempt to disrupt the invasion! The first warning had come from the light cruisers “Nürnberg” and “Leipzig” which were patrolling the boundaries of the invasion area. They immediately opened fire when the realised that they had spotted two British light cruisers: HMS “Emerald” and “Cairo”. Only after the gunnery duel had started did they discern through the torrential rain the looming bulk of a Royal Navy battlecruiser. There was no need for radio protocols – it was clear that the British knew exactly what they were after. Both of our ships broadcast the alert in clear and within seconds Großadmiral Raeder knew that his task of protecting the marines as they made their perilous journey ashore was not over. Ordering the crippled “Köln”, “Konigsberg” and 6th Zerstorergeschwader to the rear, with the troopships, he directed his fleet to destroy the British before they could get in range of their targets. To make his task even harder, “Leipzig” reported hearing bombers overhead. Radio intercepts confirmed that the RAF had committed several tactical bomber groups in an optimistic bombing mission. How they hoped to locate and hit our ships at night, in overcast conditions and in heavy rain I don’t know, but maybe they felt lucky. As if this were not bad enough, another desperate message arrived from the light cruisers: behind the battlecruiser was an even bigger ship: a British battleship was close to the invasion beaches!
Naval Battle of Western English Channel: the beginning
Raeder had no option but to spread his fire: while the enemy capital ships were still distant the troopships (and our damaged ships) were well within range, and the light cruisers were pressing forward hoping to pierce our screen. The “Emerald” was hit by a salvo from the “Gneisenau” and shuddered to a halt, obviously critically damaged. The “Nürnberg”, our closest ship, advised that she could see enemy sailors lowering life boats and diving from the decks: she was no longer a threat.
That could not be said of the other ships. The big ships had now been identified by their silhouettes, and the battleship “Royal Oak” had targeted the “Nürnberg”, hitting her several times, though none of the damage was particularly serious. “Royal Oak” herself had suffered several hits, and several guns appeared out of action and she was losing speed. The battlecruiser, HMS “Hood” was displaying superb gunnery considering the conditions, lobbing shell after shell into the 5th Truppentrasporterflotte in the rear. The ships must have been barely visible to the gunnery spotters, and how they could identify “overs” and “unders” is a mystery. They did however, and soon several of the transports were in trouble. Unfortunately none of our ships managed to land a single hit on the “Hood”, so her guns were able to load, fire, reload like clockwork. With 1st Truppentransporterflotte already having lost half its ships in the previous battles, the marines were in real danger, and all invasion activity was halted.
Just as alarming to the Nordseeflotte was the fire from HMS “Cairo” which, ignoring the fate of the “Emerald” was surging forward, firing her forward guns at the “Königsberg”. Although largest guns of the “Cairo” were only 6 inch calibre, in her weakened state the “Köningsberg” could not take more than a few direct hits, and she was already on fire again. Damage control detachments reported that any more fires and the integrity of the vessel could not be assured.
As an indication of the range at which this battle was fought, this photograph of the “Hood” was taken from the deck of the “Scharnhorst”
After an hour or more the battle was decided. II Unterseeflotte, which was in the area, tried to assist the Nordseeflotte but could not locate a target. The “Cairo”, hit by dozens of shells, was gliding to a halt, still firing at the “Königsberg” but not able to direct her guns well enough to secure a hit. The “Nürnberg” had lost power but was still in fairly good condition. 5th Truppentransporterflotte had lost a third of its ships but marine losses were negligible, with nearly all managing to transfer to other ships or being rescued quickly from the sea. It would be some time before they were ready to restart the disembarkation procedures. The British battleships seemed impregnable, however, taking only light damage and continuing to fire regularly and on target. On the positive side, the Nordseeflotte was now positioned so that every ship could fire on the two veterans of the last war, so sheer number of guns firing meant that the outcome was settled.
The “Royal Oak” fires at our troopships
By 3AM it was over, the British disappearing into a rain squall and not being visible thereafter. From what I read there was great sense of relief on the bridge of the “Bismark”, the flagship of the Nordseeflotte. Though we had a huge material advantage over the British, the courage and skill they showed had brought us close to disaster. “Karlsruhe” was badly damaged in the last round of action, 5th Truppentransporterflotte was down to a third of its full complement of troopships, “Scharnhorst” had taken massive damage from a broadside from one of the British ships and “Köln” was just able to stay afloat. Technically we had a victory, as we had sunk both the British light cruisers without losing a ship, but nobody was going to claim this battle for their honour board. Only luck had saved us, and the decision by the British Admiral Lloyd-Elfort to save his two capital ships and withdraw. Had he pressed on, he may have lost his ships, but it is certain he would have thrown our invasion into turmoil, and perhaps killed thousands of marines by sinking all their transports. There was also a possibility that he could have sunk several of our crippled ships in the rear. On the whole, we came off lightly.
Naval Battle of the Western English Channel: the end
Also during the night, but probably universally overlooked at OKH due to the drama taking place in the Channel Island, the apparently indestructible and certainly irrepressible de Lattre de Tassigny was again in action. His 4th Mountain Brigade is attacking Hell’s 6th Gebirgsjägers in Clamency. Nobody doubts de Tassigny’s courage, but many here in Berlin question his sanity. His men are exhausted and to try to beat one of our elite units when already outnumbered is just lunacy.
We did have a win later that morning, as Geyr von Schweppenburg overcame the British in St-Hermine, and the road to Bordeaux and the south of France was open again. As we have now come to expect from the British, they fought with quiet determination, and over three days 2nd Leichte lost 155 men and many vehicles. The British lost 341 men, and pulled back into the interior of the country, away from the coast.
Perhaps we were too soon to laugh at the efforts of the RAF to bomb the Nordseeflotte. Joubert de la Ferte took his bombers back to the Western English Channel during the day, and although the skies were still a leaden sheet of cloud and the rain persisted, he successfully bombed our troopships. Barely 10 per cent of 5th Truppentrasporterflotte was still afloat by the time his planes headed home. It is now critically important that we have a day or so of relative peace to get the marines ashore.
At 2PM the Royal Navy must have realised the opportunity that they had let go. The “Royal Oak” and “Hood” reappeared, but the moment had been lost. In daylight the massed guns of the fully alerted Nordseeflotte took only minutes to destroy both ships. The “Hood” was seen drifting on the horizon and then a ferocious explosion tore her to pieces. The “Royal Oak” tried to escape behind the island of Jersey but was seen to be taking water and then suddenly, without warning, rolled to her side and vanished beneath the Channel. She was in fairly shallow water and we managed to obtain some underwater photographs of her later.
On the horizon, the “Hood” suddenly explodes
The “Royal Oak” a few weeks after the battle, on the bottom of the Channel, just off Jersey Island.
The RAF obtained some revenge, again decimating Seeaufklärungsgruppes 125 and 127 which were reduced to just 53 and 65 aircraft respectively. When news of the casualties reached Marschall Goering he personally intervened and ordered Stumpff to cease all activity until losses had been replaced. I honestly think that without such an order Stumpff would have taken his planes out every day until he had no aircraft left.
Late in the evening a momentous event: the first joint attack with our Hungarian allies. General Jodl led a force comprising his own 14.Infanterie (mot) and 10 gyaloghadoztály into Montbard, where de Lattre de Tassigny had put together a force of 16,000 men. De Tassigny will surely find it impossible to maintain his attack on Clamency while trying to hold off two divisions.
The Hungarian reconnaissance units are equipped with these excellent 39M Csaba Scout cars: Jodl reported that the vehicles, armed with a 20mm cannon and an 8mm machinegun, performed very well in the attack on the French troops holding Montbard.
Last news for the day came from an unexpected source: Käpitan zur See Assman in the North East Porcupine Plain. Not many commercial ships use the route, but he snared a Danish freighter making the Copenhagen-Boston run. It was carrying gold and currency to pay for oil shipments that will now probably never arrive. It is good that all our U-boat fleets have now had some success.
On Saturday 12th another motorised division (3 motorised infantry regiments and a tank destroyer regiment) joined 1st Motorkorps. The korps now has 3 divisions, all at full strength and will be a welcome addition to General Dennerlein’s Österreich Army as it drives east to the Maginot Line. Minsiter Schacht has decided that our reserves of military supplies are now near capacity and has cut production of them in half, allowing more rapid manufacture of other military equipment.
Just before dawn von Nordeck had his best result to date for an attack on a single convoy. By gathering all his submarines into a single “wolf-pack” he was able to make a simultaneous concerted attack from several directions on a hapless convoy of tankers returning fully loaded Al Kuwayt. As the first ship exploded, the tankers scattered in confusion, several running straight towards the waiting torpedoes of II Unterseebootsflotte. A frigate on escort duty was blown in half by one torpedo from a submarine commander who disobeyed orders to save his shots for oil tankers. The final tally was three tankers and the frigate, a good day’s work for the U-boats.
As expected, de Tassigny called off his ridiculous attack on Hell’s Gebirgers. It cost him 133 men and while Hell lost 40 men, it was never more than a minor nuisance to him.
All day long we waited for news from the Channel Islands where the fate of the battle seemed to hang in the balance. While we had overwhelming numbers, we were unable to expand our bridgehead and the lack of heavy equipment made it difficult to dislodge the British from their tunnels and trenches. Dörstling returned and his bombers were of great assistance in eliminating several bunkers and bombing the British rear areas, but it was not long before Steele’s fighters were also back, and our troops were forced to watch as bomber after bomber spiralled into the sea. A few Spitfires and Hurricanes also fell from the sky, but nowhere near as many aircraft as we lost. At least with the presence of the Nordseeflotte we recovered most of the pilots alive from the sea. Dörstling carried out his mission and then 6th Taktischeluftflotte fought their way home, pausing only at Dreux where the fighters of SG 70 “Blitzen” tried to hold off the RAF fighter groups to allow the bombers to land without coming under fire as they made their approach run at low speed. Because of their sacrifice most of the bombers that survived the mission landed safely at Paris, but the cost was high: only 64 Messerschmitts returned.
Wolf moved a little further south to Cape Finisterre in his search for easy targets and forced a French freighter from Alger heading to Lorient to pull over. A few minutes to place blasting charges in the bilges and then he was on his way again, leaving a small chain of lifeboats bobbing on their way to Spain and internment. Another British freighter was sunk on its way to Boston, this time by Fricke in the East Central Atlantic, and the day (and the week) was over.
A blasting charge spells the end for the French freighter: its new camouflage colours not as effective as hoped.
Tomorrow I will have the day off, and try and catch up on some sleep. The late nights waiting for reports from the Channel have taken their toll. I suppose I should at least check on progress on the invasion, but after the excitement of the last week I feel drained. The Kriegsmarine will feel it has justified the millions of Reichsmarks that have been invested in its ships, but I wonder how Minister Göring as Oberbefehlswaber and Generalfeldsmarschall of the Luftwaffe will react to the aircraft losses of this week. I understand the philosophy of holding back our interceptors to defend the Reich, but tell that to the widows and mothers of the hundreds of bomber and escort pilots who lost their lives this week.
Bombing Summary
Luftwaffe
Langres: Kesselring with 1st Stukakorps (2 x Ju 87G):
124, 139, 201, 57, 106, 188, 78, 189, 146
Clefmont: Sperrle with 1st Taktischeluftflotte (1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111):
61, 267, 270, 130, 174, 206, 126, 217, 200
Ardentes: Kitzinger with 3rd Taktischeluftflotte (2 x He 111):
122, Abort
Channel Islands: Schwartzkopf with 2nd Taktischeluftflotte (1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111):
224, 117, Abort
Clamency: Löhr with 2nd Stukakorps (2 x Ju 87G):
86
Montbard: Löhr with 2nd Stukakorps (2 x Ju 87G):
75, 143, 182
Channel Islands: Dörstling with 6th Taktischeluftflotte (1 x Bf 109G, 2 x He 111):
216, 132
Armée de l’Air
Bressuire: Jauneaud with 2 x TAC:
54, 111, 76, 45
Vatan: Jauneaud with 2 x TAC:
102, 125, 192
France at end of 12th November
Nordseeflotte damage report at end of 12th November
