Rank and File
A Clerk’s War
17th October to 19th October 1939
The heavy losses inflicted on our bombers have caused alarm at the highest level of the Luftwaffe, and Minister Goering has taken advantage of his position to force Minister Schacht to agree to an emergency production decision. A new geschwader of interceptors has been ordered from the Messerschmitt factories, and it has been given a priority rating. The briefing note to the Cabinet in which I read this notification warned that it was likely that more priority orders could be lodged in the next few days. A major review of our air requirements is taking place, and it is not only more interceptors and multi-role fighters that may be needed. If our bomber fleets are to spend more time on the ground refitting and repairing damaged aircraft, then to maintain the air bombardment that our troops require in the modern “Blitzkrieg” attacks, we will need to build more planes merely to keep the same number in the air.
It would have been amusing to have been in a few Ministers’ offices when that particular memo arrived. General von Blomberg has been most energetic lately in making sure that the Heer expands at a rate he considers appropriate to its position as the ‘first arm” of the Wehrmacht, and I don’t see Admiral Raeder being too happy at any slowdown in the construction of his aircraft carriers and battleships. (Not to mention the two replacement light cruisers for which I have already seen tender documents). And Fritz Bayerlein has been pushing for some time for increased infrastructure in the East, more radar stations in the West and more fixed anti-air everywhere.
From the tone of the ministerial memorandum I don’t think they will have much luck. It seems to me that Marshall Goering is showing the steel beneath his soft exterior. While everyone sees the jolly, overweight, ostentatious ladies’ man, it must never be forgotten that he was a fighter ace in the First War, and, even more importantly, he has survived and thrived in 20 years of Party politics. You do not do well in the bitter in-fighting that goes on in the Party back-rooms by being a pushover. And now it is the existence of his precious Luftwaffe that is under threat, the organisation on which a lot of his political power is based. I think he is committed to having his way on this, and it would be a very brave (or very foolish) Minister to oppose him. It is probably indicative that Minister Goebbels has already sent his own memo agreeing with Goering. Goebbels is a master at reading which way the wind is blowing: he is making sure that Goering knows he is a supporter.
The Führer of course, is not involved. In these ministerial squabbles he normally stays aloof, before coming down on the side of the winner. Unless of course he has a personal interest. If that is the case, there is no discussion, or, if there is, it ends when he speaks.
Surprisingly to me, during the night the bombing raids continued, both by the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force. Höpner’s men in Clermont were hit again, and our bombers carried out successful missions at Toul and Évreux. Strictly speaking we also carried out a successful mission at Nemours, but there we were attacked by Steele and the 11th, 12 and 13th RAF Fighter Groups. Dörstling persisted and completed his mission, but more planes were lost.
The other air battle was more positive. Felmy met Boxhill’s annoying carrier air group over Fresnes. With the 2nd, 4th and 6th Fliegerskorps under his command, Felmy gave the assorted Glosters, Swordfish and some newer Albacores a lesson they will not forget. The only question is: how can we assemble 600 fighters to take on a group of dilapidated carrier planes, while Steele’s fighters attack our bombers with impunity?
Air Battle of Fresnes
A lucky pilot (he parachuted to safety and captivity) who survived Felmy’s attack on 9th Carrier Air Group had this photograph on him (in contravention of all rules about carrying information of possible military significance). The Luftwaffe officer who gave me this copy found it quite amusing that we are fighting biplanes like these Swordfish.
Bombing by both sides continued during the day, but the only other air battle was another one-sided affair over Nemours, where Steele’s fighters further whittled down our number of operational bombers. As we expected, the carrier planes were not seen again.
Second Air Battle of Nemours
Admiral Dönitz will be pleased, as the only positive news all day came from our U-boat commanders. Von Nordeck, raiding the Channel Approaches, sank two phosphate ships off the Breton Coast, part of a convoy between Plymouth and Fongafale. He quickly moved his II Unterseebootsflotte to the western English Channel, where he managed to get a torpedo into another cargo ship, this one heading from Plymouth to the Channel Islands, presumably carrying military supplies for the garrison.
Not to be outdone, Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote Wolf also claimed two sinkings during the morning, off the coast of Porto. Both ships were from a convoy originating in Singapore. Resuming its patrol of the coast of Galicia, 4th Unterseebootsflotte sank another merchantman, this one on the Plymouth-Socotra route. It is believed to have been carrying supplies to the British naval base on the Indian Ocean island.
The next day brought a welcome relief from the British fighters. On the other hand, our fighters also had a day of repairs and rest, so the British bombers were able to bomb Clermont with impunity. Löhr’s 2nd Stukakorps was sent to Antwerp for extensive rest, and Kitzinger took 3rd Taktischeluftflotte to Lille. Even with the two badly damaged air fleets separated, the demand for supplies to repair and re-equip was so large that out supply network was not able to meet it immediately. Luckily most of the Luftwaffe was operating from other airbases.
The weather in the Channel was consistently bad, though the conditions did not spread to much of France. Von Nordeck’s U-boat kapitans took advantage of the pouring rain and the nearly completely overcast skies to snare another ship, this one a solitary French tramp steamer carrying timber from the Corsican port of Ajaccio, heading for Lorient. With the weather covering his operations, von Nordeck ordered his korvettenkapitän to save his torpedoes. The ship was forced to stop by use of the anti-air craft gun, then boarded and scuttled.
With the rain easing, the French ship has stopped its engines under threat of the 20mm anti-aircraft gun. With only 5 torpedoes, the IIB U-boats must manage their attacks.
During the afternoon, two battles began. At 2PM, the French General de Lattre de Tassigny, one of the Armée de Terre’s best leaders took his 4th Mountain Brigade into Troyes, currently defended by General List’s 18.Infanterie. While List is also an experienced general, de Tassigny’s file here in Berlin describes him as being extremely wily, and likely to pull off complex manoeuvres. List is better known for his offensive skills than for his defensive abilities, so while on the face of it there doesn’t seem much risk of defeat, it best to be cautious.
The other clash was in Puiseaux, where our tanks are once again in action. General Dietrich has ordered 2nd Panzer to leave Paris and head south. I would bet that many of his men were not too happy about leaving the French capital which they have been “guarding”. Knowing what soldiers are like, I’ll wager a few will have difficulties for the first few hours in a noisy, fume filled tank. Many pledges to never drink again will be made. But removing Grandsard’s 21st Infantry and 1ère Division Légère should not be too hard, even for panzertruppen with hangovers. The terrain is dead flat, perfect tank country, and the motorised division in particular is apparently on the verge of breaking due to the losses it has suffered in the past weeks.
Late at night more success by our U-boats. Von Nordeck must be the terror of the Channel by now. Just after dark a darkened convoy left Portsmouth, bound for Tobruk. The military equipment and supplies on board would no doubt have made life more difficult for our Italian Allies. Although British coastal towns and cities have very strict night-time laws relating to lights, there was sufficient residual glow in the background to allow our submarines to target the silhouettes of two cargo ships.
Wolf was far more aggressive. He managed to get his aptly named wolf-pack into the centre of a group of ships passing through the Galician Banks on its way to Plymouth and sank three Nauru phosphate carriers. The loss of this valuable fertiliser component should severely damage British agriculture, making them more dependent on imported food.
A wealth of targets ahead of one of Wolf’s Kapitäns
Wednesday was another beautiful autumn day here in Berlin. If these conditions continue for a few more weeks we should be able to break the French. (Let us not consider what the outcome would be if an early winter sweeps across the continent). Progress is being made, as I heard when I entered the Kanzlei that morning. General Geyr von Schweppenburg’s 2nd Leichte Panzer has broken Fitzpatrick’s 70th Infantry and is streaming across the plains of Chateaudun. Only 178 men were lost compared to 468 British. As the first victory since Unternehmen Stahlknüppel was formally announced, there was an atmosphere of celebration around. At least it removed the slight air of despondency that had been noticeable as a result of the mounting Luftwaffe losses.
Confidence was increased when the first news of the night’s events started to come in. Although the Armée de l’Air had reappeared over Fresnes, it was met immediately by Bogatch and four fighter geschwader. It did not take long for Pinsard to order his Groupe de Bombardement Tactique 7 to turn tail and retreat to comparative safety. Could this be sign that we are starting to regain control of the air?
The run of good news was short. The next report was from General Keitel in Helsingör. He admitted that his 22.Infanterie was unable to make any headway against the Swedes, and that further loss of life was pointless. With 1,585 of his men already dead, this seemed a little late to me, but I suppose he was under orders to make an effort. Swedish losses were even higher (1,884): a lot of men for a battle with no real result.
Some artillerymen of the 7th Artillery Regiment attached to General Keitel’s 22.Infanterie Division show both exhaustion and dejection as the attack on Helsingör is finally abandoned.
We had barely absorbed the horrific casualty report when bad news of another sort arrived. This time there were no horrendous lists of dead and missing soldiers, but it had the potential to be a disaster. Somehow the Belgians (Why do they continue to fight? We control their whole country!) have been able to infiltrate into the province of Romilly, which was temporarily without a garrison. As a result, General de Angelis in Sens has radioed that his supply lines have been cut. He has sufficient fuel and supplies to last his motorised division for some weeks, but he would like some action taken to restore a land link to the supply depots.
Two hours later he had his response. From Provins, General Hell has moved 6th Gebirgsjäger Division into Romilly, determined to breakthrough to relieve 60.Infanterie (mot). The Belgian 21st Mountain Brigade, commanded by Dorman-Smith, has less than 3,600 men. It should not take long to clear then out of the way, as they have had no time to prepare defences.
As it turned out, there was no need to remove the Belgians so promptly. Regardless of the bombing his men suffered, Höpner has achieved victory in Nemours. More than 40,000 French and Belgian soldiers are in full retreat, leaving 169 men behind them. For only 65 men, 4th Leichte Panzer has crossed the Seine and the roads south are clear. The immediate result is that de Angelis has an alternative supply route. In the long term, this victory could signify the end of French Army, as we are now free to direct our reserve divisions through the gap that has opened.
Höpner’s men pass French prisoners waiting to be escorted north
I hope the Italians appreciate the valuable work that von Nordeck is doing for them. He is proving to be a master at picking off British merchantmen. This time he reported that a load of fuel and food for Egypt (El Iskandariya) was on board the cargo ship he sank at about 11PM. The ship probably thought it was safe, having reached the western Channel Approach, but II Unterseebootsflotte is constantly on the move. Although he has the oldest submarines in our fleet (Type IIB) von Norbeck has by far the most impressive figures. Perhaps it is his skill in selecting the right areas in which to patrol. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the other U-boat fleets directed to move south from their current positions in the North Atlantic.
All this talk of U-boat success reminded me: Helga has received word from Christoph. Naturally he cannot tell her where he is or what he is doing, and just as naturally they had a code arranged so that he could let her know in his letters. He has been posted to 14th Unterseebootsflottille and is part of Fricke’s 3rd Unterseebootsflotte. All we know is that he is somewhere in the Atlantic, easr of Ireland. His submarine must have had a rendezvous with an auxiliary supply ship or a returning commerce raider, because a bundle of letters arrived a few days ago. He included some photos with his letters: the censors kept a few, but must have decided the rest were harmless.
Some of Christoph’s comrades on board their U-boat, somewhere in the Atlantic.
With the time nearly midnight, I headed home. Overall, a much better couple of days – the respite granted by the RAF has been most enjoyable. But how long will it last?
Bombing summary
Royal Air Force
Fresnes: Bowhill with 1 x CAG:
aborted
Clermont: Portal with 2 x TAC, 1 x MRF:
117, 169, 196, 121, 155, 114, 108, 195
Troyes: Portal with 2 x TAC, 1 x MRF:
178, 186
Provins: Portal with 2 x TAC, 1 x MRF:
226
Luftwaffe
Toul: Kesselring with 2 x Ju 87G:
91, 143, 100, 56, 97, 169
Nemours: Dörstling with 2 x He 111, 2 x Bf 109G:
161, 135, 191
Évreux: Grauert with 2 x He 111:
101, 205
Nemours: Sperrle with 2 x He 111, Bf 109G:
126, 148, 153
Chateaudun: Schwartzkopf with 2 x He 111, 1 x Bf 109G:
44, 85, 74, 124
Chaumont: Kesselring with 2 x Ju 87G:
84, 142, 146
Toul: Sperrle with 2 x He 111, 1 x Bf 109G:
57, 113, 98
Puisseau: Schwartzkopf with 2 x He 111, 1 x Bf 109G:
30, 80, 76
Armée de l’Air
Fresnes: Pinsard with 1 x TAC:
aborted
Unternehmen Stahlknüppel: we have achieved the essential breakthrough
Denmark: our attempt to recover Copenhagen look increasingly to be in vain.
The French-Italian border: there seems to a lot of activity, but the Allies are holding firm.
