EDIT: to pre-empt any queries, I don't think that the Italian AI will declare war on Greece twice in a normal game. It has happened in this AAR because I replayed the game (twice) to accomodate large updates .
Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
Monday 26th April to Thursday 26th April 1940
The only topic of conversation in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium is the incredible rate at which we are losing planes and pilots. Both the RAF and the FARE seem prepared to throw wave after wave of fighter and bombers at us, day and night. Our 12 Jagdgeschwader are not able to counter all the threats, and the cost of replacements is starting to impact our economy. There are solutions, but all will require time. Of course, there is no lack of incentive for guilt to be apportioned, but even Göring realises that a show trial or two will not staunch the steady drain on the Luftwaffe. The bottom line is that Luftwaffe leadership did not anticipate that the RAF would be so aggressive, and our military intelligence did not realise the size of the FARE.
Urgent telegrams have been sent to all army commanders in OB West and OB Nord: air operations are to be purely defensive in nature. For the moment at least, our aircraft are to be conserved for protection. Personally I don’t think this will work. With a fighter pilot as a brother, I know the sort of man that joins these units. They will bend the rules so far that they will consider a strafing mission on Buckingham Palace as a defensive measure.
It will be at least four months before any new aircraft can roll off the Messerschmitt production line: with the end of Unternehmen Stahlknüppel it was believed that we had sufficient interceptors. We had outfought both the Armée de l’Air and the RAF: there was no air force in the world to match us. While we rested on our laurels, the British improved their aircraft and must have dedicated a large section of their industrial base to fighter production. We have heard that the British appointed a Canadian, Lord Beaverbrook, to be Minister of Air Production. This sounds very odd, but if true, this man has worked wonders. The RAF, in just a matter of months, has changed from an ineffectual group of antiquated aircraft to a force that has nearly brought the Luftwaffe to its knees.
A new contract for Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters has been signed, but it will take months for the first of these to be ready for assignment to a frontline unit.
The dismal news continued. All morning 5th Jagdfliegerkorps fought Portal’s three RAF Fighter Groups, and did fairly well, losing 19 aircraft while downing 16. By noon, however, Bogatsch could only guarantee 130 planes for the afternoon, and Waber’s 6th Jagdfliegerkorps was ordered to patrol the Channel. For an unknown reason, Portal did not reappear, but that didn’t help “Udet” and “Pik As”. Fairey Albacores and Fulmars from a Carrier Air Group somehow managed to surprise them, and “Udet” lost four aircraft before Waber ordered them to pull back to the coast.
5th Jagdfliegerkorps has lost heavily, and was forced to fight a much larger force over Dover
6th Jagdfliegerkorps took over in the afternoon, and was immediately in action against a carrier air group in the Eastern English Channel. It was essential to keep the enemy planes busy, as von Nordeck with II Unterseebootsflotte was nearby, and he would not like the Royal Navy fleet of 2 aircraft carrier, two heavy cruiser and 4 destroyer squadrons to locate his U-boats.
Dominating the news on Monday, however, was the news from Rome: at midnight Mussolini had issued an ultimatum to the Metaxas government in Athens. Cutting through the “diplomatese”, Il Duce demanded free access for the Regio Esercito to the entire country and the use of Greek air bases and ports. Refusal would mean war. During the day it was as if the Foreign Ministry had nothing else to do but to wait for the Greek response, but privately every expert on Greek affairs predicted that Metaxas would never agree to the terms, which really meant allowing his country to be occupied without a struggle. The memory of the invasion last July, which had led to a stalemate, was still fresh in the minds of the Greeks, and they would be reluctant to concede after having held the Italians and forced them to peace. (The surrender occurred while I was in hospital recovering from my injuries received in the Patch 1.3 conspiracy assassination attempt).
Late in the afternoon came the telegram that everyone expected: General Metaxas rejected the ultimatum entirely. No offer to negotiate, no embroidery with diplomatic phases. A simple no. Within an hour our military attaché in Rome was on the telephone to OKW, confirming that Italian infantry and armour were crossing the Albanian border into Greece, and that the Regia Aeronautica was already bombing target in border provinces. It is a safe assumption that every Italian naval squadron in the Adriatische Meer and the Ägäisches Meer is on the lookout for Greek shipping.
Albania and Greece at the moment that the Italians declared war: the Regio Esercito massed at the border
The news was not welcome in Berlin. OKH has been trying for some time to encourage the Italians to concentrate on pushing to Egypt. Closing the Suez Canal to the Royal Navy has been a key objective not just of the Kriegsmarine but our entire armed forces. Forcing the British to reroute every troopship, supply ship and merchantman around the Cape of Good Hope would be a triumph in itself, but to also fragment their defence forces would push their logistics to breaking point.
Italian sappers strengthen a bridge to allow tanks and heavy trucks to advance: roads are virtually non-existent and motorised and armoured units face lengthy delays
Not only will this Greek adventure distract the Italians but it will also drag us into another conflict. Much of the Italian invasion force is marching through Yugoslavia and Minister Schacht is already complaining about it using vast amounts of supplies. I heard that General von Blomberg, usually a man in control of his emotions, threw his telephone at his office door. Von Ribbentrop, always far more excitable, launched a tirade of abuse at Il Duce. Fluent in both English and French, he impressed his staff with epithets not only in those languages, but also with some choice words in Russian, Polish, Spanish, Italian and Hungarian. He must have some interesting diplomatic exchanges. The rumour is that the Führer was also displeased, but it is far more difficult to find a source for scandalous stories about the Reichskanzler.
Italian cavalry move into Greece, their mobility a distinct advantage in the rugged terrain
As we have now come to expect, little news of progress in the Greek campaign came from the Italians. Our Embassy in Rome has been ordered to send a few experienced officers to Albania to observe, but it will take a while to get the necessary approvals. Count Ciano has been assisting, and has made it clear that he was not in favour of this expansion of the “Empire”. It has been driven purely by Mussolini, wanting to make a name for himself.
So Tuesday the interesting events were from Spain. Even the RAF held off, with just one clash in the Channel, late at night. Waber had an inconclusive air battle with 14th and 15th Carrier Air Groups. No losses on either side were reported, with the overcast conditions that night making almost impossible to locate targets.
Air Battle of the Western English Channel on the night of 24th April. Another British fleet is present, this one containing an escort carrier, two battleships, a battlecruiser, two light cruisers and two destroyer squadrons.
The first news from Spain was that Nehring’s 1st Panzer Division had triumphed in Soria. He lost some tanks and quite a few of his motorised infantry (a total of 200 men) but the more than 20,000 defenders are pulling back, having suffered 856 casualties. Nehring must have breathed a sigh of relief: General Rommel had emphasised that crossing the Duero was essential to maintain the tempo of the advance. He would not have relished having to advise the Commander of the Sud-Frankreich Army that his panzertruppen had failed.
The only other item of importance was that the Battle of Tudela has commenced. 2.Infanterie (mot) is currently embroiled in quite serious fighting with 1a Division, led by General Líster Forján. General Petersen has every regiment at full strength and his 10,000 men are rested and have no lack of supplies, so they should soon force the 6,000 defenders to retreat to Zaragoza.
Early on Wednesday Waber reported that the British were back and his fighters over the Channel Approach were engaging air units from at least two carriers. As the morning progressed, the battle flowed east, and the enemy was replaced by a mixed force consisting of Fulmars from another carrier and the land-based 211 Fighter Group. “Udet” lost 6 aircraft during the morning, while “Pik As” was untouched.
Air Battle of Western English Channel : noon on 25th April
Two battles began in Spain on 25th April, and one battle was won.
The first battle involved “Wunsdorf” tank regiment, so once again I was on edge as I thought of Heinz pushing his PzKpfw II forward, leading the advance. There is no way any of the new PzKpfw 38(t) vehicles could have reached 3rd leichte Panzer yet. I scoured the meagre information received from von Manstein’s headquarters, and was relieved to see the opposition in Almazan was categorised as “cavalry: no support”. One thing had remained constant during Unternehmen Stierkampf: the Spanish infantry and cavalry had no anti-tank weapons worth speaking off. The enemy commander was known to be Pozas Perea, a man who had commanded cavalry units through the Civil War, but who had a reputation as being quite impetuous and a risk taker. During the Civil War he had been associated with several disastrous attacks, costing the lives of thousands of his troops. Could he fling his men forward, regardless of casualties, in an attempt to break our lines? Then I relaxed completely when I saw that to get to Almazam from Anguiano we would have to cross the River Duero. Assuming all the bridges had been blown by the Spanish forces, by the time a bridge strong enough to bear the Panzers was constructed, the enemy would be long gone, using their horses to get a head start on our fast light tanks.
I spent much less time examining the details of the other battle: an attack on Abejar by General Curtze and 20.Infanterie (mot). This was no doubt very unfair, as Curtze’s operation was far more dangerous. But that’s life: if you don’t know anyone involved, it doesn’t matter as much. 20.infanterie (mot) were also attacking from Anguiano, and also had the Duero barring their way forward. But there the similarities stopped. Rather than 6,000 cavalry led by a general with a questionable record, Curtze faced the Russian General Batov, whose reputation for strong and capable leadership had only been enhanced by recent battles. Batov had 14,000 men, including 1 Brigada Montana, a crack unit that we have encountered before. The evaluation from Rommel’s headquarters puts the chances of 20.Infanterie (mot) making a successful crossing at less than 50%, though this may improve if the Luftwaffe can get good conditions for low level bombing.
The battle won was in Tardajos. Blaskowitz, as he had suggested in his pre-battle report, had a routine victory, the Spanish fighting hard initially, but rapidly crumbling as 29.infanterie (mot) brought more and more firepower to bear. What had disconcerted him was the numbers of enemy encountered. Although our initial view was that Tardajos was held by about 11,000 men, this was a gross underestimate. At the end of the battle Blaskowitz had evidence that he had faced in excess of double that number, and believed that many of the extra troops were the survivors of the Battle of Burgos, fleeing west along the northern bank of the Duero. As a result his losses, at 206 men, were higher than expected, while the enemy casualties (682) reflected the disorganised nature of the fighting. It is not often that General Batov suffers such a loss ration when in defence.
All day Thursday there was nothing but messages and updates about air battles. I have never been so glad to think of Ernst sitting with his leg up, unable to fly. It is selfish, but the past few weeks have seen horrendous losses in fighter pilots, and I feel grateful every time I see a list of lost and missing pilots, knowing that Ernst is safe and well. I am sure he does not feel the same way; he will be increasingly frustrated at the slowness of his recovery, particularly as “Schlageter” geschwader has suffered high losses.
“Schlageter” and “Richthofen” were mentioned in the first item for the day, taking off before dawn to drive off carrier aircraft bombing 20.Infanterie in Salas de los Infantes. They spent most of the day flying back and forth from Bayonne, as Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell led his two carrier air groups in a series of bombing missions. 2nd Jagdfliegerkorps lost 8 Messerschmitts over the course of the day, but they managed to keep our losses on the ground below 100 men, as well as destroying 11 enemy aircraft.
The last battle of the day over Salas de los Infantes: a success for 2nd Jagdfliegerkorps
The other area of air combat saw the Luftwaffe on the defensive. Generalleutnant Dörstling had been given orders to support the attack by 3rd leichte Panzerkorps, and his Ju 88s were busy blasting the Spanish out of their redoubts and earthworks overlooking likely crossing points over the Duero. The task was difficult enough as low cloud and some local thunderstorms made flying dangerous, so the arrival of Hidalgo de Cisneros with 275 fighters just before midday was particularly unwelcome. 6th Kampffliegerkorps was already understrength, and the escort geschwader, “Blitz”, could only muster 89 fighters. “Storch” and “Reiher” between them had only 169 bombers. 1er, 20 and 3er Grupo de Caza returned two more times during the day, and the losses mounted. By the end of the day, 6th Kampffliegerkorps had lost four fighters and nine more bombers. Spanish losses are believed to be only three aircraft. There is not as much laughter in the halls of the Reichsluftfahrministerium about the I-15 biplanes of the FARE.
Air Battle of Almazam: despite the losses the Luftwaffe kept up the attacks until 11PM, aware that our infantry relied upon them to clear the way across the Duero. For Heinz’ sake I hope they succeeded.
The final news of the day came from Minister Schacht: a simple one line press announcement, but one fraught with meaning. All contracts involving the provision of military supplies to the Soviet Union have been cancelled, with effect from midnight. This will throw our budget into a huge deficit, as the cash for military goods pays for much of our oil purchases from the Russians. I know that we captured huge amounts of foreign currency in the past few months, but this will not last forever. Someone must have done the calculations and decided that we need the supplies more than the money. The first drumbeats of the “Drang nach Osten” have been heard.
Bombing Summary
Luftwaffe
Soria: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B):
71, 197, 141, 67, 139
Tadajos: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
54, 131, 273, 192, 186, 21
Tadajos: Dörstling with 1st and 6th Kampffliegerkorps (2 x Bf 109E, 4 x Ju 88):
227, 226, 244, 214
Tudela: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B):
49, 194, 156
Tadajos: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
157
Abejar: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B):
154, 86
Almazam: Dörstling with 6th Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88):
167, 47, 54
RAF (Royal Navy Air Arm)
Salas de los Infantes: Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell with 16th and 17th Carrier Air Groups:
12, 34, 21, NIL
Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report
Agadir Canyon:
1 transport (UK): Dover – Diego Garcia: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
South Eastern Azores Fracture Zone:
1 transport (Spanish): Cádiz – Boston: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Eastern Madeira Plain:
1 transport (Greek): Athina – Halifax: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Cape St Vincent:
1 escort (Spanish): Cádiz – Boston: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
Southern Azores Biscay Rise:
2 transports (UK): Dover – Kuala Belait: Aßmann with 1st U-flotte
The Italians are making progress in Greece, doing far better than they did in their ill-fated July 1939 offensive. Led by elite Alpini and armour units, they have already taken the provinces of Kastoria and Florina.
Unfortunately the success in Greece has not been mirrored in Libia. The abject retreat continues, with a single infantry division blocking the way to the major port and airbase at Benghazi. Every other unit is fleeing at full speed.
The news from China is looking up, as the Imperial Japanese Army and its Manchurian allies are finally co-ordinating attacks to the east, pushing along the coast and the important city of Jinan.
Nearly half Indo-China has been captured by Guangxi forces. Another Japanese division has arrived, albeit only garrison troops. Realistically, however, two divisions will hardly slow the advancing Chinese.
Unternehmen Stierkampf: the first unit of 2nd Gebirgsjägerkorps has almost reached Bayonne. Behlendorff’s 6th SS Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger Division “Nord” is urgently needed as the expanding length of the front is proving hard for the Sud-Frankreich Army to adequately control.
which makes the process a "bit" more challenging.
