Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
February 8th to February 14th 1940
Wednesday 8th Minister von Neurath had another reason to preen: he has used his diplomatic influence on Mussolini and group of Italian industrialists have agreed to supply us with 10,000 tonnes of rare materials per day. Not only is this good news for our economy, but he has assured the Führer that it will lead to a further deal which will be to the benefit of the Reich. He refers to some unnamed “sources” in Italy (even to the Führer no-one acknowledges that we spy on our ally) who have told us that the Italian factories cannot operate at full efficiency as they are short of coal. Even though we have agreed to allow Italy to buy coal on credit, their industrial leaders are wary of running up debts and they have not taken advantage of this offer. What von Neurath plans is to use the money we pay for the rare materials to fund large deliveries of coal. This will allow the Italians to produce more military equipment and improve their armed forces. Everybody wins! It seems too good to be true to me.
During the day reports from Occupied France mentioned several air attacks by Newall’s strategic bombers on Lille. Damage was quite severe: the anti-aircraft facilities have been put out of operation, two factories have been shut down, and production of coal has been slightly retarded. Of far more concern was damage to production of steel, rubber and non-ferrous metals: effectively we will lose 2,000 tonnes per day until the damage is repaired. When one adds in the cost of the repairs, this is a serious problem. A transfer order was sent to Küste and Grenze Army: effective immediately 4th Jagdfliegerkorps was to be attached to the Frankreich Army. Christiansen was to arrange to rebase to an airfield where he could protect our newly acquired production facilities.
The result of the first attacks on Lille
The next day, however, the RAF was back. Two more raids were made, and all the repair work done on the anti-aircraft installations was undone. Two more factories were forced to close their doors, and coal and steel supplies were further reduced. Critically all rare material production has ceased: the processing plants unable to function even at minimal levels. Minister Schacht is furious – all Berlin has heard that he stormed into Göring’s office and created quite scene. For a mild mannered economist, Hjalmar gets quite agitated when his precious production figures are affected! It had an impact, as the Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe apparently spent much of the day giving some of his commanders a tongue-lashing. High Party officials hate to give ammunition to potential rivals: although late Herr Himmler is no longer a threat, Göring probably suspects (rightly) that Goebbels or my own boss, Minister Fricke, might casually mention the bombing of Lille in a conversation with the Führer.
The Bristol Blenheim light bomber has been modified for use as a long-range bomber: the Mk IV.
This news was soon forgotten, as a series of messages came in from General Guderian’s headquarters in Spittal. (I wonder how “Fast Heinz” appreciates being so far from the front lines – everyone knows he likes to be where the action is. But commanding an entire army is a different job from leading a single division). After breaking the front lines, phase two of the initial attack had commenced.
The key objective of Ljubljana, principal city of Slovenia, was attacked by General von Berendt and 25.Infanterie. This city of nearly 250,000 citizens is held by General Dragicevic who only has the 3,000 men of 1st Kraljjevska Jugoslav headquarters, so hopefully von Berendt won’t have to use his artillery brigade to break resistance (I have been told there is some marvellous architecture in the city centre). Simultaneously, 46.Infanterie under van Roques has moved into Cerknica. Our intelligence tells us that it is held by 15th Infantry, which appears to be leaderless. The final attack of the morning was in Kranj, where Brand’s 3rd Gebirgsjägers have followed the Sava River to its confluence with the Kokra River. Crossing the river should not create much of a problem for Brand’s Pioniere regiment, though the Yugoslav General Savic is expected to put up solid defence in the town itself.
Battle of Ljubljana
Battle of Kranj
Battle of Cerknica
The morning of the 10th was quite amusing – well, it was for those of us in the Reichskanzlei. It may have been different in vast Reichsluftfahrtministerium, for the Oberbefehlshaber has apparently been in fine form. It seems that during his discussion with Minister Schacht yesterday, Minister Göring told him that if another bomb falls on Lille “You can call me Mr Meier”. Minister Schacht was not completely satisfied, and spoke to air defence officials in Lille, telling them he wanted to be informed immediately they were subject to another raid by the RAF Strategic Bomber Group. At 3AM Minister Schacht rang Göring on his personal home telephone number (as a fellow Minister he has access to all ministerial contact details). When Göring answered, still half asleep, Schacht asked for Mr Meier. As you can imagine, the Reichsmarschall was not happy, and as is not uncommon with persons in power, his solution is to make every single one of his subordinates unhappy as well. Since dawn, cars have been delivering high ranking Luftwaffe officers to the Wilhelmstraße Ministry building, and I hear that the telephone lines to air bases in France have been under great pressure.
The Reichsluftfahrtministerium was very subdued today, as Göring let everyone know he was not happy.
The reason for the Reichsmarschall’s unhappiness: severe damage to Lille’s productive capacity.
Urgent telegraph orders were sent to Bogatsch telling him to get his aircraft moving: he was to have responsibility for the defence of Lille. For his sake I hope he does better than Christiansen who had apparently not even begun to rebase his planes.
At 9AM General Zaiser, once more on the front pages of the newspapers following his victory in Dravograd, began his attack on Celje. General Majstorovic has had time to order 23rd Infantry Brigade to dig in, but Zaiser now has 13.Infanterie (mot) to assist his own 35.Infanterie. He has nearly a nearly three to one advantage and his men are far better equipped and trained. The General obviously enjoys being the attacker for a change, and his notification of the beginning of the assault advised that his next message will be from the city centre.
During the afternoon we heard that several groups of British bombers have been seen crossing the French coast, heading towards Lille. I am prepared to bet that many people in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium had their fingers crossed, hoping that the Luftwaffe would finally do its job. They would have breathed a sigh of relief as within minutes Commander Bogatch’s headquarters radio operative reported that Bogatsch himself was leading his two geschwader to teach Newall the error of his ways. Figures for aircraft losses are not available, but when the “All clear” was given in Lille, not a single bomb had landed on target.
Having worked last weekend, I took both Saturday and Sunday off, and a very relaxing time it was. The war seems to be going well and both Gisela and I were able to put all thoughts of Yugoslavia and France out of our minds. Those early days when we thought that the RAF would be bombing Berlin mercilessly day and night seem so far away. The skies were clear, but we knew that despite the Luftwaffe’s temporary failure over Lille, Luftgaukommando III which has responsibility for Berlin, would never allow a bomber near the city. We strolled in the chilly sunlight and talked of anything but the war.
On Monday, a quick check of the weekend’s happenings revealed a mix of good and bad. On Saturday, another country declared war on the Axis: Mexico. Although we are becoming increasingly alarmed at the political situation in Latin America, from a strictly military point of view there is little concern. We believe the Éjercito Méxicano has only 11 divisions, and the navy and air force are miniscule. Without the means to transport any troops to Europe, the Mexicans are no threat. The decision to postpone Argentina publicly joining the Axis now looks more correct.
Mexican armour: the German made G1200 “Tempo” staff cars and the American “Marmon-Herrington” turret-less light tank, even if they can get to Europe, will not worry our armour commanders.
It seems the research teams are being worked around the clock, because on Sunday a group that had been working directly under Minister Schacht delivered its final report. Maybe it was just this group that has been forced to work weekends, because the topic was considered vitally important for this year. They have been studying ways to save money on supply transportation costs and believe they can reduce the cost by 0.03%. It doesn’t sound much, but when you have a more than a million men under arms, you spend a lot moving supplies (especially if you have 250,000 of your allies also turning up with their hands out). The team considered doing some research but the costs would be prohibitive – maybe next year. The available funds have been given to the Heer to do more work on carriage and sights for its new rocket weapons.
The other good news (I always consider the expansion of the Reich’s knowledge base to be good) was that we have won both the Battle of Cerknica and of Kranj. The leaderless 15th Infantry Brigade lost 303 men before they decided they had had enough, and van Roques is probably thankful they were not under the command of a competent leader. Even so, 46.Infanterie took fairly heavy casualties, 174 men dead. Brand’s 3rd Gebirgsjägers lost fewer men (139) and the general was surprised that 22 Ibarska Pesadjis pulled out of the town as soon as a river crossing was made. Yugoslavian casualties were put at 243: but we know that Luftwaffe’s Ju 88s killed hundreds more, perhaps as many as 2,500. If that is true, then it is no wonder they retreated, staying where they were would have been suicide.
The first document to arrive on Monday made me smile. With much of Lille in ruins after the RAF’s strategic bomber raids, we have been informed by the local contractors that they have finished installing the new anti-aircraft works, and they are ready for operations from today. They would have been quite useful several days ago.
I didn’t smile for long. A few boxes of documents from the Office of Skilled Personnel arrived, but then a line of men arrived bearing what I immediately recognised as Interior Ministry and Armaments Ministry contract boxes. Someone has been spending big. And it is essential that these be processed correctly – if there is a contract dispute involving millions of RM, I don’t want to have to explain to the legal division that we can’t locate the contract and tender documents. My section will have a late night tonight.
I examined the OSP documents first – they looked a little simpler. Someone has decided that the garrison troops are to have better rifles: the Gewehr 98 is to be replaced by the Karabiner 98b. I suppose we have to do something, we can’t keep issuing our men rifles designed in the 19th Century, but the Karabiner 98b is not really much of an improvement, though at least it is really a rifle and not a carbine. (Did the name really fool the Treaty inspectors?). I know it was designed in 1923, but it is still really the Gewehr 98. But I digress: the OSP put a team onto designing a training program to instruct our garrison troops in the care and use of the new weapon. They have now finished, and the OSP declare the project a success. It seems ridiculous to me: give me a few hours with those soldiers and they would be able to clean and assemble their weapons while asleep. The second completed program was something that Ernst will probably be doing soon. It was another training program, but this time for fighter pilots. The Luftwaffe feels that there is not enough emphasis on destroying the enemy fighters, and this has led to unnecessary losses. This program is designed to enable our flyers to identify and target threats more quickly.
I am sure these men of Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler were not upset at handing in their rifles so that garrison troops can use them.
Two replacement programs have been started: the first is just a continuation of the garrison training program, but for support weapons. I can’t understand why they issued the leMG 08/15 to garrison troops in the first place, it needs really well trained troops to operate well. It will just seize otherwise. (I hate the phrase “null acht fünfzehn” : there was nothing ordinary about these weapons when they came out). It has been decided that the Schiessbecher Gewehrgranatgerät will be issued to the garrison units, so that they will have some anti-tank capacity. Let us hope they never have to rely on them.
Operating the leMG 08/15: thorough training is essential to avoid problems.
How to load the Schiessbecher: I hope the 2nd line troops are told it is best done under cover.
The other research is a continuation of our “radar” investigations, those magical devices that can detect ships and plans kilometres away, even at night or in bad weather. The Heer and the Luftwaffe are pleased with the results of the first models (although the infra-red adaptation was not really a help). Unfortunately, using the current equipment only a rough idea of the location of the target is obtained. The operator can only tell when the target is in his beam, which can be up to 2 degrees, and this generally requires the use of a searchlight to finally locate the enemy aircraft. Greater accuracy is required, and the crew at GEMA have been given an open budget to look at the opportunities of using two sets of dipole elements for each point on the array. This will allow the operator to dramatically reduce the angle of the beam to 0.1 degrees, allowing our gunners to fire without even seeing the target! We live in an age of scientific marvels which will never be repeated.
Training on the new radar equipment: our researchers are the world’s best!
The explanation for the boxes of contracts was in the next document, an announcement from Minister von Blomberg. We now have another Panzer Division, the 4th. It has been based, for now at least, in Potsdam, and its commander, General von Sponeck, is supervising its final supply and training needs. What this means of course, is the huge amount of manufacturing capacity taken up in equipping a Panzer division is now available. As if that were not enough, the following document was another announcement, this time from Minister Schacht. Road and rail improvements have been completed in more of the eastern provinces: Ostrów Mazowiecka, Lomza, Grajewo, Augustów, Suwalki, Swietochlowice, Zory, Kraków, Tarnowski Góry, and Katowice. It seems only a short time since we were fighting massive battles against the Poles in the very provinces in which our road and rail gangs are now busy upgrading communications. Strange how things work out.
It didn’t take long for the excess capacity to get absorbed. Göring has taken his opportunity to expand the Luftwaffe again. There have been grumblings from the Heer that the Balkan Army is taking up all the long range tactical bombers, and Rommel in particular has complained that his air bases are a long way from his front line. Von Rundstedt, however, has plenty of close airfields but few aircraft for his impending attack on Norway. So Junkers is the lucky recipient of orders for two more geschwader, one of Ju 88 tactical bombers, one of Ju 87B dive bombers. If only I had invested more in Junkers shares before the war began.
The bulk of the orders, however, came from Minister Schacht. Nearly twenty Polish provinces are to have further work on their transport systems! Poznan, Slupca, Konin, Wlocawek, Kutno, Lódz, Prusków, Warszawa, Ostrow Mazowiecki, Lomza, Grajewo, Augustów, Kaluszyn, Miedzyra Pollaski, Kraków, Zory, Swietochlowice, Tarnowski Góry and Katowice are all listed for work. He must have enormous power in the Cabinet to demand and receive so much of our manufacturing base. I did see, however, that his requests for funding were supported by both the Minister for the Army, von Blomberg, and the Chief of Staff, Fritz Bayerlein. Even Göring supported the move (after he had his aircraft approved). There are real concerns that our drive to the east could be badly affected by supply problems. Our panzer and motorised units demand a lot of fuel, and if heavy fighting occurs, the need for supplies and reinforcements could put a lot of pressure on the road and rail networks. And I suppose Göring would be unhappy if his planes were stuck on the ground because no fuel or parts could reach them at their forward air bases.
I wasn’t here, but a friendly messenger boy told me that very early this morning a radio message was received from the town square of Celje. It was General Zaiser, as good as his word. He has led his two divisions to another victory over the Yugoslavs, sweeping through the province for only 135 casualties. Prisoners and confirmed Yugoslav losses are put at 586. Once again, though, a look at the bombing reports would indicate he had a lot of help. It wouldn’t matter to the general or his men: as far as they are concerned he is a lucky commander.
Two more battles began on 13th. 2nd “Vorwärts” motorised is in action, clashing with the Yugoslav 17th Brigade in Ptuj. General Ruoff and his division have a reputation to keep, having raced across northern France, winning battle after battle. I wonder how they will fare in the hills of the Balkans. Though Ptuj is fairly flat, so maybe he will repeat his triumphant drive through the enemy. In contrast, the battle for control of Kostel will be led by the inexperienced General Bock von Wülfingen. His 45.Infanterie will have to dislodge the leaderless 11th Infantry. It should be an easy first battle for the general – the terrain is not difficult and our experience so far is the Yugoslav units with no leaders tend to break easily.
Battle of Ptuj
Battle of Kostel
Just as I was closing up for the day, two pieces of bad news: the Italians have cancelled our deal for rare materials, and the Greeks have granted military access to the Yugoslavs. Neither really critical to our hopes, but not the best way to end the day.
Tuesday the 14th was a very quiet day. This was perhaps lucky for me, because while in recuperating in Paris last year, one of the nurses told me of a French (though originally English) tradition, Valentine’s Day. (Who would have thought the British to be so sentimental?) It struck me as being a idea that would catch on, and I think one day it will be a recognised day in Germany. I decided I might as well be one of the first, and had time today to arrange a candle-lit dinner at an expensive restaurant. It cost me lot of money, and I had to call in a few favours, but it was worth it.
Bombing Summary
Drovgorad: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
164, 215
Cerknica: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegerkorps (1 x ME 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
257
Ljubljana: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
257, 108
Kranj: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
292
Cerknica: Müller-Michiels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Ju 88):
236
Kranj: Dörstling with 4th and 6th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
294
Cerknica: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
117, 270, 210
Kranj: Schwartzkopf with 2nd and 4th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
149
Ljubljana: Müller-Michiels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Ju 88): 123, 147
Kranj: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
315, 235, 131, 278, 247, 185
Ljubljana: Grauert with 4th and 5th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
345
Celje: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
222
Cerknica: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
96, 259, 164, 107, 194, 199
Celje: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
120, 287, 250, 130, 245, 291, 303
Kranj: Müller-Michiels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Ju 88):
233
Kranj: Schwartzkopff with 2nd and 5th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
329, 190
Celje: Schwartzkopf with 2nd and 6th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
142
Ptuj: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
325, 164
Kostel: Müller-Michiels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Ju 88):
215, 185, 122
Ptuj: Schwartzkopf with 2nd and 6th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
138
Kostel: Grauert with 4th and 5th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
172
Ptuj: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Me 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
233, 283
Unterseeebootsflotte Activity Report
Western Channel Approach:
1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Boston (von Nordeck)
Western Channel Approach:
1 transport (UK): Trinidad – Plymouth (von Nordeck)
Coast of Porto:
2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Tobruk (Wolf)
Eastern King’s Trough:
1 transport (UK): Al Kuwayt – Plymouth (Fricke)
Coast of Senegal:
2 transports (UK): Accra – Plymouth (Aßmann)
Breton Coast:
2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Socotra (von Nordeck)
Bissau Knoll:
1 transport (UK): Accra – Plymouth (Aßman)
Channel Approach:
1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Benghazi (von Nordeck)
Coast of Galicia:
1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Calcutta (Wolf)
North- East Banary Basin:
2 transports (UK): Accra – Plymouth (Aßmann)
Channel Approach:
1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Ascension Island (von Nordeck)
Westen Channel Approach:
2 tranports (UK): Colombo – Plymouth (von Nordeck)
Unternehmen Eisenfaust: all is going well, thanks to marvellous work by the Luftwaffe
Greece: Although the Greeks have an ally in Yugoslavia, the Bulgarians have now invaded in the east
Zealand: the Norwegian attack is running out of steam
Libya: Italy still holds on
East Africa: the south is lost and Italian forces struggle back to Eritrea.
