A United Kingdom AAR: A New World Order

[enigmamcmxc]

Introduction (this post)
Chapter I: France and the Desert War (this post)
Chapter 2: 1941: Mixed Fortunes
Chapter 3: The Second Front Opens
Chapter 4: Lowest Ebb
Chapter 5: For Your Eyes Only
Chapter 6: Blitzkrieg
Chapter 7: Downfall Part I
Chapter 8: Biggoted
Chapter 9: Tide Turns?
Chapter 10: Trafalgar?
Chapter 11: Liberation
Chapter 12: New Conquests
Chapter 13: The Red Tide
Chapter 14: New Year, New Advances
Chapter 15: Downfall Part II
Chapter 16: Victory in the East
Chapter 17: Victory in the West
Chapter 18: A New World Order
Chapter 19: Operation Doomsday
Chapter 20: Interlude
Chapter 21: Dreadnought
Chapter 22: Doomsday
Chapter 23: Korea Falls
Chapter 24: Dogfights, Bombs and the Siberian Campaign

Introduction

I posted this over on another forum while I was playing through the game so here are all the updates in a couple of posts lumped together and slightly edited. The final chapter has been omitted – it’s not “cannon” because it all went balls up when I tried to tackle the bear and needs to be redone lol. I do plan on finishing this campaign off but I don’t know when I will get around to it, maybe over the hols when I have some time off?

Note: all allied countries are under AI command, ANZAC troops have been supplied to me on loan, South African troops were originally on loan but I have took complete control of them early in the war, French troops (after the Fall of France) were on loan, with the fall of Vichy France in Africa i took complete control of there forces, Canadian troops were under AI command abd i took command over them once they landed in force to co-ordinate there attacks with my own forces in Africa, American troops are all AI command, following there landings they placed 2 of there divisions under my command.)

Chapter I: France and the Desert War

With the German declaration of war on Poland the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations went to war. The British Expeditionary Force was slowly built up behind the Maginot Line in expectation of a German direct assault.
Although unable to help the Poles as the Germans overran the country, the war started on a good footing – the Royal Navy moving into position to blockade the Kriegsmarine’s main North Sea port, was able to engage the German main surface fleet and in one afternoon put it out of action – sinking and damaging most of the German capital ships. Over the course of the next day the strategic bombers of Bomber Command struck night and day against the shipping and sunk the remaining capital ships. The dominance of the Royal Navy has been secured!

When the German army turned west the BEF, at the strength of 17 divisions, moved towards the southern Belgium border and Luxembourg. Here they attempted to halt the German onslaught and launched several counterattacks; all failing completely to push the Germans back. The BEF fell back to defend Paris. The German vanguard reached Paris and the British positions, while the French armies were still fighting to the NE and SE, and were defeated. A second assault to capture the capital was also thrown back by the British force however as days drew on the French armies to our north and south were being pushed back; leaving the BEF’s flanks exposed and our line of retreat to the Channel Coast threatened. The order was given and the BEF abandoned Paris and conducted a fighting withdrawal to the Brittany Ports. It was a heavy decision to make – abandon the capital of our ally and there forces – but the Army and the safety of the UK was endangered.

As the Germans were pushing into France Italy joined the war. In the western desert the 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions, who had been positioned on the Anglo-Italian border, immediately went onto the offensive to keep Italian forces out of Egypt to buy time for two infantry divisions to be transferred from the Middle East to the newly finished El Alamein Line – a fortress built in front of Alexandria. The armoured forces fought gallantly, outnumbered they threw back the Italian forces and kept from establishing themselves within Egypt however they were only able to keep the substantial Italian forces at bay for around a month before they were forced to fall back on Mersa Matruh, the forward British base. Here the Italian forces were halted by, the now arrived, British infantry from the Middle East, two South African infantry divisions and the armoured forces. Bar a few failed attempts by Italian infantry to outflank the forward base via the desert the frontline remained the same in the desert for the rest of the year.

In the meantime the Germans launched Operation Sealion; there forces snuck through the destroyer screens in the English Channel and managed to land forces at Blackpool. Their invasion lasted only a few days until sufficient forces were brought to bear to quickly defeat them. In the Mediterranean and Middle East the Anglo-Imperial forces overran the Italian forces in East Africa while the Axis forces declared war on Greece. The latter was able to hold her enemies at bay and a small expeditionary force was dispatched to aid in the defence. While the Anglo-Greek force were able to hold the Axis forces back, the Italians launched an amphibious operation and captured Athens. With this move the British force was pulled out to save them and unfortunately leave the Greeks to their fate. Perhaps due to the British withdrawal or perhaps due to the encircling of the Allied force via the Italian landing, soon Greek resistance completely collapsed.
By the end of the year Middle East Command had been reinforced with an additional South African Infantry Division, two Australian divisions and one New Zealand. Over the New Year period these new forces were used to conquer Vichy French forces in the Middle East before being sent to the frontline to face the Italians. Since the start of the war with the Italians the fleet had sought to engage their main fleet and destroy them, however they had remained out of our grasps. The Mediterranean Fleet and Force H was greatly reinforced up to the end of the year for the launching of a mass carrier attack against the Italian fleet in port and also against the Vichy French fleet. What was hoped to be a quick strike against the two fleets and a lighting naval war with the French turned into a two month long struggle at sea before we achieved out objective; gaining dominance in the Mediterranean. The French fleet was crippled; there carrier and other capital ships sunk and they’re remaining two battleships seriously crippled. The Italians also suffered heavy losses but their main fleet still remained out of our grasp.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

1941: Mixed Fortunes

The opening of 1941 saw this European conflict escalate into a full scale world wide conflict as the Japanese launched attacks upon the European colonial powers and the United States. The British Indian Army was reorganised and moved out to Burma to defend the border.
The opening of the year also saw, the now massively reinforced, Middle East Command launch a counteroffensive against the Italian forces – also massively reinforced. The Allied infantry divisions hugged the costal road while the British mobile and armoured forces operated on the desert flank. The initial attacks were hard going as the mobile forces attempted to smash their way through the frontline and circle north to the coast to encircle the Italian frontline positions. The mobile forces finally achieved this however numerous Italian formations had managed to extradite themselves before the route to Tobruk was closed. After a short spell reorganising and moving the infantry up, the same operation was launched on Tobruk – the mobile forces cutting the desert flank and the route of retreat off so the infantry could go in for the kill. Heavy fighting and Italian counterattacks made the operation precarious, especially for the forces at the far side of Tobruk who were attempting to keep any escape route closed. After days of fighting it became apparent that this attack had caught far more Italian forces in Tobruk than we had thought; nearly all the Italian forces had been bottled up in the fortress. After several heavy battles over the course of a few weeks, the infantry finally brought about the capture of this fortress and the capitulation of up to twenty Italian divisions. Without waiting for the infantry divisions to move up past Tobruk the situation was exploited and the mobile forces were unleashed in a dash for Tripoli. A few additional Italian formations were pocketed along the coast and the city was captured a few weeks later bringing the campaign against the Italians to a close without any climatic battle.
With Allied forces now in Tunisia and strung out across North Africa the Vichy French used this time to wreak revenge and they declared war. Without prior warning American and Canadian troops now started landing in operations against the Vichy French. The Americans quickly captured Oran and Corsica and the Canadians landed in West Africa. To take advantage of the situation a small force from home was dispatched and landed at Casablanca. The battle plan was now for the British forces, in Libya and Casablanca to link up with the Americans at Oran and thus cut off Africa to the Vichy forces in the interior. The remainder of the year saw the combined Allied armed forces of the Empire, the United States, France, Liberia and Belgium hunt down and destroy the remaining Vichy forces in Africa.

Back home the Germans launched new invasions near Blackpool, now well prepared for such an event the built up British force kept the Germans fighting for a beachhead while a destroyer force left Liverpool docks to savage the German fleet. The number divisions captured attempting to storm our island now tallies 15. In the Mediterranean 2 British divisions were lost when there transports were sunk en route to Cario unescorted.

In the Pacific theatre the Japanese were striking everywhere. The Indian forces on the Burma border held off some small scale attacks while the 1st Marine Division was dispatched to Malaya where they threw back numerous Japanese penetrations and kept the border secure for several months by themselves. Hong Kong, isolated and without naval support, fell on July 11th. With few Allied forces defending the Philippines an Indian infantry division was dispatched to bolster the defence. Soon however the Japanese forces landed, initially the Indian troops were able to keep the Japanese pinned in their beachhead but in the end the Anglo-American forces could not stem the Japanese attack. After a month long struggle for the island, it was abandoned on July 19th. The 1st Marine Division was dispatched from Malaya to reinforce the Philippines however their transport was sunk en route – a veteran force from the fighting in France, fighting in the Mediterranean theatre and months of aggressively defending Malaya was lost. On the 23rd of October, the now ill defended Singapore, fell. In December after a year long battle along the Burmese border the Japanese finally broke through. The British Indian Army attempted to launch counterattacks to restore the situation without success before attempting to fall back and form a new solid line of defence without success and Rangoon fell on the 7th day of the New Year.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

The Second Front Opens

1st March 1942, eight months following the German assault upon the Soviet Union, the Allied forces return to continental Europe. The stated mission for the invasion: to save the Soviet Union. The Allied forces landed aiming to liberate Greece, draw Axis forces onto themselves to lessen the pressure on the Soviets and to attempt to knock Bulgaria out of the war. This attack was planned as the first in the series of strikes following a policy of indirect assault.

The preliminary attacks started on the 23rd February when two Australian divisions captured the Cyclades. The veteran British VIII Corps, lead by Lieutenant-General Gott, launched the main assault on the last day of February around Athens – mimicking the previous Italian attack. The attack was a complete failure and the force had to re-embark. However a simultaneous landing at Patra by two additional Australian divisions and one New Zealand division was a complete success. With this beachhead secure XIV Corps, under Lieutenant-General Montgomery, immediately followed up. VIII Corps was eventually able to land via this beachhead.

On the 23rd April things went from bad to worse for the Axis force as the Panamanian government declared war upon Germany and her allies. Reports from Berlin claim many people have been reported as literally shaking in their boots at this recent news.

Ten days following the Allied landing in Greece, ANZAC forces liberated Athens. With further troops landing in the country the British First Army was activated, under the command of Lieutenant-General Alexander. British tanks were soon rolling north across Greece and on March 20th entered southern Albania, this move cut off nine Italian divisions in Greece who later surrendered on the 5th April.

Heavy fighting soon flared up along the border barring any further rapid advance, as Bulgarian-German-Italian forces started to make their presence felt. The German high command had already committed around, and possibly even over, nine divisions.

 

[unmerged(105771)]

SWASTIKA INCOMING!!!

Other then that, very neat.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Lowest Ebb

In June the second strike in the policy of indirect approach was launched. Canadian troops landed on Sicily, soon followed up by American forces. The fighting was hard and the Allied forces struggled to advance across the island. The landing had the full support of the Royal Navy and for the first time in this theatre – American naval forces. The battle brought about unusual enemy naval activity, as the French and Italians launched several sorties to help repulse the attack. In the numerous naval battles that followed the Royal Navy inflicted horrendous losses upon the enemy but during the course of which, the HMS Glorious was heavy damaged and sent to Alexandria for extensive repairs. On the 1st of August the American-Canadian force finally cleared the island; capturing five Italian divisions in the process.

In Greece the fighting continued up and down the line with both sides launching operations to better their positions or force a breakthrough; all failing. The line had now essentially bogged down.

However terrible news came from the Indian sub-continent. The British Indian Army, supported by a small but extremely experienced RAF contingent, had been fighting a year long rearguard action since the initial Japanese breakthrough; they had unsuccessfully attempted to stall the Japanese forces and form new lines of defence again without success, and now they had to report the loss of Calcutta to the enemy!

The Japanese were able to pour more and more troops into this theatre following their victory over the Chinese warlords and competing powers – they had crushed them all! Now a new Nationalist China had arisen, fighting side by side with the Japanese.

The government has announced that a maximum effort is to be made to repulse and defeat the Japanese aggressors! This does mean that the recent enterprises made within Europe are now to be given up. Following the announcement the Allied force in Greece began a fighting withdrawal to the southern ports while Gibraltar has been turned into a massive military camp as forces from the United Kingdom have started to pour into the Crown Colony on there way to the Middle East and then onto India. The completion of the build up is expected to be concluded within the next few months and a grand counterattack launched by the end of the year.

 

[Jalex]

A very nice AAR, is the title "A New World Order" any kind of forshadowing?

 

[enigmamcmxc]

For Your Eyes Only

Top Secret
Enemy Intelligence Report and planned operations for 1943
November 16, 1942

The withdrawal from Greece and Sicily was completed in early September, thankfully without loss. Following the regrettable completion of the campaign we immediately began on the redeployment of our armed forces to India. That redeployment is now around 95% complete. In the Indian sub continent we have deployed well over 30 air wings - a mixture of fighters and bombers - and 80 divisions* (roughly one and half million men). The fleet has also redeployed to India and reorganised into two battle groups and a reserve group; following the successes against the German, French and Italian navies – they are ready for battle.

We have spent significant time building up our intelligence network in the east and our initial reports suggest that the Japanese army and her allies amount to some 300 divisions (nearly 5 million men), spread over the entire empire. We believe that possibly up a quarter of this force is now currently positioned throughout India. Our campaign for 1943 is to simply decimate this force and put ourselves in a strong position to retake all lost ground in 1944.

Preliminarily operations are already underway to seal off the north of the country and to form a strong southern barrier along the Narmada River. We will then strike north to clear the bulge around Delhi and secure forward airfields, following which our strong mobile forces will strike across the country to seal off the enemy forces to the south.

As the main campaign gets under way a subsidiary campaign will be launched, utilising the remaining military strength of the Australian and New Zealand armies (17 and 4 divisions respectfully, approximately 300,000 men), against the islands of Sumantra and Java. With these operations we are hoping to draw the Japanese Imperial Navy out for a decisive battle and neutralise them early on. According to our spies the Japanese fleet consists of 6 carriers and 5 other capital ships. Operations against Indonesia will develop accordingly.

The defence of the British Isles has been left to 21 divisions, most of which are low level militia units, and the Royal Navy’s older cruisers and destroyers. The only current unused pool on manpower left comes from Canada, who have 24 infantry divisions ready for use.

*11 Canadian, 4 French, 2 New Zealand, 4 Australian, 5 South African (3 further divisions will soon be en route), the ex-Bhutan Army (they became my units following the occupation of Bhutan). The remaining 50+ divisions are British and Indian.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Blitzkrieg

After allot of heavy fighting the Allied forces were able to secure there preliminarily objectives. In late December the main Allied force then launched the next phase of the attack; the strike north to liberate Delhi. The fighting was intense and back and forth; Japanese counterattacks halted our attempts to encircle there forward positions while additional attacks attempted to disrupt our strong southern flank. After a month and half of fighting the troops were finally able to breakthrough the Japanese defence and strongly establish themselves east of Delhi – cutting it off. The initial assaults on the city were a completely failure and following that the entire might of the air force was thrown in against the city. Under the intense bombardment new assaults were made and the city was finally captured after two months of fighting. Other than the intense close air support the Allied air forces made there presence felt by destroying up to, and possibly over, twenty retreating Japanese divisions during the two month period.

On December 24th ANZAC forces stormed ashore on Java, after quickly establishing a beachhead and driving the Japanese forces back their advance stalled due to supply issues. As hoped for the Imperial Navy was drawn out to Java where the Royal Navy engaged. In a devastating inconclusive battle the Japanese smacked the Royal Navy for six – it was a serious shock for, an up to now, unbeaten force! The HMS Hood and Revenge were both sunk while other ships were heavily damaged; the Japanese lost no ships although many were damaged. Near the end of January, due to the continuing supply problems, the ANZAC force was withdrawn.

Following the successful battle for the liberation of Delhi, a further six Japanese divisions were caught in a pocket, in Pakistan, and destroyed. Exploiting the situation following this epic battle the mobile forces, of General Alexander’s First Army, went into the attack further to the north than planned. The initial battle to crack through the front line involved over 40 Allied divisions and around 30 Japanese divisions. Less than 30 days later the force liberated Calcutta; numerous Japanese divisions were destroyed during the armoured onslaught and a further seven were destroyed via air attacks.

The ANZAC troops, now based in Sri Lanka after several unsuccessful raids against Sumatra, were shipped to the new frontline on the Burmese border while the First Army wheeled right and struck south exploiting the chaos following the rapid advance. First Army, in June, trapped and destroyed a further five Japanese divisions as they caved up the subcontinent. In the climatic battle of the campaign, the infantry forces striking south from their original positions in conjunction with the mobile forces attacking from the south and east destroyed twenty more divisions.

On July 23rd after a seven month long campaign India, the jewel in the crown of the empire, had been liberated! An estimated twenty to thirty divisions had been wiped out during the advance across the country and during the entire campaign Axis losses amounted to nearly one hundred divisions destroyed.

The British led Allied forces are now only 2,500 miles away from Japan!

 

[Lord Strange]

Im afraid you really really do need to remove the swastikas. No questioning allowed. Other than that great AAR so far.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Downfall

As the British led allied forces reorganise for a new offensive, this time into Burma, the Americans launch an operation straight at the head of the viper. On August 10th, the United States armed forces launched their first major operation in the Pacific since the loss of the Philippines last year; two American infantry divisions wade ashore onto the Japanese home island!

If successful this surprise attack, launched without first capturing the vital strategically important islands such as Guam, Iwo Jima or Okinawa, could mean an early end to the war!

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Biggoted

Top Secret
Enemy Intelligence Report and planned operations for the remainder of 1943
August 1st, 1943

While we had expected success in our venture to liberate India and to decimate the axis forces facing us in this theatre; we had not expected such a victory and in such short time.

An attack had been envisioned into Southeast Asia during the first half of 1944, following the liberation of India but with such a victory gained there has been a morale boost and we are now prepared to launch a more ambitious attack.

Intelligence reports now suggest that Japan and her allies, while suffering such heavy losses in the past year, still have between 300-350 infantry divisions! The Allied strength has now been built up to 107 divisions*, with three additional divisions due to arrive from home by the end of the year and 15 ANZAC divisions based within northern Australia awaiting deployment.

The plan of attack is now for the fully reorganised First Army, still under General Alexander and containing all mobile forces, to launch an attack from the Burmese border all the way along the Chinese border to the coastline north of Hanoi; thus cutting off all Axis forces from reinforcements and there main supply lines. With the completion of this objective the Second Army, under the command of Generla O’Connor, will then proceed to clear Burma, Siam and IndoChina of all Axis forces – supported as much as possible by the First Army.

The Third Army, under the command of General Brooke, will launch secondary operations. With six infantry Corps, 4 British and 2 ANZAC, and the 1st Airborne Division under command the Third Army will clear out Sumatra and Jarva; when these islands have been cleared, troops will be detached and dispatched to liberate Singapore and the rest of Malaya before heading north to assist the Second Army.

*12 Australian, 2 American (on loan), 11 Canadian, 4 French, 5 New Zealand, 13 South African and 60 Anglo-Indian divisions.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Tide turns?

Before the launching of the new campaign the army still had to fight its way forward to suitable jumping off positions, during these operations a further two Japanese divisions were destroyed as they were surrounded in a region of the Himalayan Mountains in early August.
After a short period of rest and reorganisation the army launched its new offensive; the pincer attack was launched against the newly formed Japanese line in the newly dubbed Battle of Imphal. The Japanese stood there ground and managed to hold up our initial assaults to circle around there position but in the end there limited air cover was shot away by the superiority of the RAF and the ground forces were able to rotate fresh units into battle. After a bitter fight the city was surrounded and seven divisions surrendered while many others were able to retreat – severely mauled.
With the battle concluded, First Army launched their armoured dash for the Chinese border. The border was soon crossed and British forces crossed the Yangtze River on December 1st. Further good news was received in early December when it was announced that after months of heavy fighting Sumatra had been cleared of Japanese forces.

At the end of the month, the planned reinforcements arrived from home and the Fourth Army was activated. It was placed under the command of the newly promoted General Messervy while General Alexander was promoted to Field Marshal for his actions, which led to the decisive victories during 1943 and the rapid advances.

However after months on non-stop victories the New Year brought many setbacks to the Allied cause. Additional army and naval reinforcements being shipped directly through the Mediterranean were engaged and destroyed by Italian torpedo bombers; three new light aircraft carriers were sunk and a mechanized division wiped out. This was quickly followed by the destruction of many of the Royal Navy’s most modern destroyers, who had been operating as a separate force hunting down Japanese convoys, by the Japanese main surface fleet.

While Sumatra had been cleared, eight Japanese divisions had fled to small island fortress just off the coast and the Third Army’s campaign ground to halt attempting to reduce this fortress. On the mainland the advance of the forty plus divisions of the Second Army was thoroughly halted by the Japanese in Arakan and at Mandalay. With the lack of any advance by the Second Army, the First Army was forced to dispatch more and more of its forces to cover its flank leaving it to weak to bludgeon its way through the next line of the Axis defences and advance on Hanoi.

The entire allied campaign has ground to a halt!

 

[Jalex]

Wow sounds like despite the successes Britain is still getting a few bloody noises.

 

[Lord Strange]

Good update, although Swastikas are still there.

 

[unmerged(115311)]

Good update, although Swastikas are still there.

Yeah, good AAR, but plz get rid of those swastikas... 3rd update, the picture of the German troops in the Balkans.

 

[Davisx3m]

Yeah, good AAR, but plz get rid of those swastikas... 3rd update, the picture of the German troops in the Balkans.

Ditto!

 

[unmerged(62478)]

There is a swastika you should erase.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Ok a little overkill wouldnt you say on the "warnings"? You will note i did state i censored the image and uploaded a new version of it to my photobucket account - which i can personly guarentee i did; i dont know why it didnt change it here. I have now uploaded the same edited image but just under a different name and changed the link in the post to the new name. Everything should be fine now.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Trafalgar?

The Royal Navy was ordered to the east of Sumatra to support the Third Army’s assaults on Bangka Island. Once in position they set about halting all supply convoys to the Japanese force prior to providing direct fire support to yet another attack. The Royal Navy was able to savage the Japanese merchant fleet; sinking between 50-100 ships within a fortnight. This event did not go unnoticed and the Imperial Navy threw in all there might to halt this onslaught. In the Battle of the Java Sea, a naval battle lasting five days, the two forces threw themselves at each other. The Japanese carrier fleet inflicted huge amounts of damage upon our fleet but thankfully did not sink any ships, the Royal Navy was equally ineffective in this engagement. With a recently reinforced RAF presence on Sumatra, to tackle Bangka Island, they were now used to exploit the presence of the Japanese surface fleet in the Java Sea. The medium bombers struck hard and sunk a carrier and a battleship before both sides withdrew to lick their wounds.

A second, and bloodier, battle soon followed as both fleets once again met in the waters east of Sumatra. The highly experienced Japanese air fleet arm inflicted devastating losses upon the Royal Navy. The newly arrived HMS Vanguard, of the Vanguard class, was blown up along with another battleship while our carriers were hit hard; with two severely damaged resulting in them being dispatched to the west side of India for repairs. A Royal Navy Force, comprised solely of destroyers, that had been hunting down merchant ships was caught by the Imperial Fleet and utterly wiped out! The Royal Navy however was not losing this battle without a fight and sunk many Japanese destroyers and cruisers during the engagement; however they were unable to sink any capital ships. With the announcement that the Vanguard, the flag ship of the fleet, had been sunk; revenge was called for all and RAF forces on Sumatra were once again diverted from supporting the army. They reaped holy vengeance on the Imperial fleet sinking three carriers and two battleships within a short space of time. They then returned to their previous duties but the naval fighting did not end. The Imperial Fleet struck back sinking yet another Royal Navy battleship and once again the RAF was called upon. In one day the decisive moment of the naval war happened; the RAF strikes annihilated the Japanese capital ships – two more carriers were sunk and a further seven other capital ships!

The cheers were short lived, following these horrendous battles and the losses inflicted, naval intelligence reported that the Japanese still had ten confirmed fleet carriers and a number of other capital ships. In comparison the Royal Navy has seven fleet carriers and three light carriers in the theatre – none in the same league as the Japanese ones. The navy also has fifteen other capital ships, five modern carriers due for completion during 1945 and sixteen light carriers due to completed through 1944.

During October the next major naval battle took place. The Royal Navy, now patched up from the fighting earlier this year, stood toe to toe with the Japanese for yet another inconclusive battle. The Japanese fleet made a huge error and fled to port within Borneo – sensing an opportunity, after the huge success earlier this year, the RAF was called in. Over the next few days the bombers, supported by the air fleet arm from the carriers, pounded the Imperial Fleet in port but were unable to deal any sort loss to the capital ships, although they did sink several destroyers in port. Under such a hail of bombs the Japanese sallied forth, linked up with reinforcements, and struck the Royal Navy. In yet another devastating battle the Japanese sunk the light carrier HMS Ocean and the battleships Prince of Wales and the Royal Sovereign, furthermore three fleet carriers were also badly damaged. The Royal Navy’s Indian Fleet retreated and every bomber in the theatre was called upon to hunt down and destroy the Japanese fleet. With the RAF scouring all waters around Borneo, Java and Sumatra it was only a matter of time until they found the marauding Japanese fleet and unleashed hell upon them. Before the Japanese fleet was able to escape eastwards they had lost four more carriers.

The power of the Japanese Imperial Fleet following these two battles has been completely destroyed; naval intelligence confirmed that there was now only six carriers and six capital ships left. Excluding the numerous capital ships, held in many of the Indian ports, under repair the Royal Navy now had seven carriers, sixteen light carriers and twelve other capital ships in the theatre. While the navy may not have been able to deal the killing blow, they had left there mark on the Japanese and with complete air superiority no Japanese ship is now safe.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Liberation

With the ground campaign in Burma having ground to halt the time was used to reorganise. The Australians had raised many infantry divisions to supplement our forces but now, after several years of war and heavy casualties during the previous campaigns they had near enough exhausted their reinforcement pool; with few reinforcements arriving in Burma the Australian divisions were withdrawn from the frontline. Canada had also started to experience manpower troubles and several of their divisions were also moved into reserve. To compensate additional South African and French forces were brought into the theatre to keep the massive army-group up to strength.

During these initial months the frontal attacks by Second Army were brining about no gains. The forces protecting First Army’s southern flank were steadily becoming more and more involved and were conducting back and forth fighting through the jungles of northern Thailand.

On 16 February another devastating blow came to the combined Axis forces – Ecuador declared war!

Several days later a small American fleet sailed through the Java sea and disembarked troops at Singapore. The United States, landing unopposed, had liberated the colony for us! An entire infantry Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-General Montgomery, was detached from Third Army and quickly dispatched to Singapore to relieve the Americans. They arrived on the 27th – the first British troops in the city for several years.

French forces, since the majority of British troops are now located on the other side of the globe, have taken over the protection of most of the strategically important locations in North Africa. To free up additional French forces to increase the size of these garrisons and ensure that they are all guarded, as well provide some additional forces for Burma; Syria on 3 April, after a two year long occupation, was reformed.

Several days later the Italians launched an invasion of North Africa, landing between our strongpoint. The Italians landed in strength quickly establishing five divisions within Libya however they were unable to retake Tripoli on there first attempt which allowed time for a combined force of American (on load)-British-French to arrive from Tunis. The hastily assembled Allied force quickly defeated the unprepared Italians and they surrendered on the 15th.

By the end of April Montgomery’s troops had liberated Kula Lumpur and drove back the few forces facing them. The liberation of Malaya was completed late the following month. In the spring the new offensives in Burma and Thailand were launched but made extremely slow progress as the Japanese forces resisted bitterly and launched numerous counterattacks.

Meanwhile Third Army in early June invaded Java. Japanese forces were still holding out on Bangka Island, after many attempts to capture it, and the Australian forces of Third Army were left to mask the position while the British contingent moved on to Java.


By the end of the month, after a three-day battle, the city and major port of Rangoon was liberated following a pincer attack launched by armoured forces – who had struck south from northern Thailand and then attacked the city from its eastern flank. The garrison retreated north to the frontline Japanese forces, now cut off. July brought about more devastating losses to the Japanese force. On 5 July after days of fighting the Japanese force north of Rangoon surrendered – 26 divisions, around 400,000 men surrendered. By the end of the month the Third Army had completed its advance across Java and a further 150,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered.

On 3 August 1944 it was announced that all British territory that had been captured by the Japanese had now been liberated.