During this period the Japanese activities throughout Asia take the spotlight from other activities being pursued by Axis Forces in North Africa and Europe.
In Burma the Japanese force the allied forces to withdraw to areas north of the Irrawaddy River and other places like Mandalay and Rangoon. By 30 April the Japanese had occupied all of central Burma
And the allies were considering withdrawing to Imphal, in India. Meanwhile the Japanese continued to apply pressure to allied forces and consequently had captured the whole of Burma by 20 May1942.
Meanwhile, Japanese troops in the Philippines had forced all American and Philippino troops to surrender, and by 10 May had completed the invasion of the Philippines. In the Coral Sea, off Australia’s’ East coast and just South of the Solomon Islands, an Allied fleet consisting of the 17th (US) Task Force and the 44th (UK) Task Force joined battle with the Japanese 4th Fleet. The outcome was a defeat for the Japanese. The battle of the Coral Sea is the first Naval air battle in history. It was fought entirely by aircraft without the ships o ever coming into contact.
While there was much emphasis on the Japanese activities during April and May the war still raged on in other parts of the world. The island of Malta, in the Mediterranean, was going through a hard time. On 1 April 1942 two allied submarines were sunk by Axis Torpedo Bombers. During the coming months Axis Aircraft were to drop some 6,700 tons of bombs on Malta. An air raid on Valetta Harbour on 5 April resulted in a British Destroyer being sunk and two others being seriously damaged. On 7 April Malta recorded it 2000th Air Raid Alert of the war and it heaviest attack to date.
In recognition of the terrible battering taken by Malta so far in this war, King George VI awarded the George Cross to the Island.
Around this time another 46 Spitfires were flown from the US Aircraft Carrier Wasp to Malta as reinforcements to the Island. Most of these aircraft were destroyed on the ground by subsequent air raids. By 21 April there seems an opportunity for the Italians and Germans to invade the island any time they liked. There was a plan known as Operation C3 to be carried out by Italian Admiral Vittorio Tur supported by German Parachutists provided by General Kurt Student (General Student led the invasion of Crete, 15 May 1941 -1 Jun 1941). Italian leader Mussolini is eager to commence the assault and capture Malta and its surrounding Islands as soon as possible, but Hitler says “No”.
Axis Forces continue the pounding of Malta, day after day and by 24 May is completely ruined as a Naval and Air Base. On 21 May Hitler decided that Operation “Hercules”, now the name for the invasion of Malta, be put off until Egypt had been captured.
Rommel commenced his third counter offensive in the Western Desert on 26 May 1942. He started from a line from Derna to Bir Hachem, known as the Gazala Line. His forces are opposed by the British 8th Army under command of General Ritchie, who, it seems, underestimated Rommel’s capacity to advance. By 27 May Rommel had been bought to a halt by some fierce fighting. He lost a third of his tanks and was about to run out of fuel for the others. By the end of May the Germans had opened a road through the British Mine Fields that allowed supply columns to catch up and refuel Rommel’s tanks. The British made an ineffectual counter attack that resulted in the British 150th Brigade being wiped out, 3000 men taken prisoner and the allied force losing 123 guns. The German advance is unstoppable. On 15 Jun Rommel announced that he had defeated the 8th Army and only Tobruk stands in the way.
Major General Klopper, GOC of 2nd South African Division is given command of the Tobruk Fortress with orders to defend it “to the last man”. The British reinforce Tobruk with four Infantry Brigades, Armour and Artillery. The remainder of the 8th Army continues a fighting withdrawal to the Egyptian Border. On the 18th of June Rommel completed his manoeuver to surround Tobruk.
The Africa Corps and the Italian XX Corps are allocated to attack Tobruk. After an intense bombardment commencing at 0530hrs 20 Jun, the Tanks commence their attack at 0700hrs penetrating the perimeter by over a mile. By 1900hrs British Artillery and Tanks have been wiped out and General Klopper has been given permission to leave Tobruk. However, due to the tactical situation was unable to do so. An attempt by the British 7 Armoured Division fails and the German 21st Panzer Division enters Tobruk.
The situation was such that General Klopper informed General Ritchie, that he, Klopper, would fight to the last round and last man. At 0600hrs 21 Jun General Klopper asks for and is given permission to surrender by General Ritchie. So at 0800hrs Klopper sends officers, under a White Flag, to Rommel to ask for surrender terms. The Germans captured 6 Generals and 30,000 men as well as 2000 tons of petrol, 5000 tons of rations and 2000 vehicles plus a harbour and a water distillation plant.
Hitler was pleased and promoted Rommel to Field Marshall.
SE Asia – North Africa – Malta
The Japanese advance throughout Southern Asia continued. In the Dutch East Indies they had destroyed the Allied Fleet and nearly all the Dutch and British aircraft on the ground. This enabled the Japanese to occupy the Island of Java with great speed. Allied ships leave to take refuge in Australia, but are intercepted by a superior Japanese Naval Force in the Sunda Straight. The cruises Huston (USA) and Perth (Australia) plus two American Destroyers and one Tanker are sunk by Japanese gunfire and torpedos. The Japanese prepare for the invasion of New Guinea with massive air raids.
During the rest of the month air raids are carried out on various targets in New Guinea and Australia. By the 9th of March the last Dutch army units on Java surrender. During the night of 7 March a Japanese invasion force enters the Gulf of Huon and under cover of gunfire from the escort vessels lands soldiers at Salamaua and Lae. There was no opposition to the landing on 10 March the Japanese land another force at Finchhaven. Aircraft from the US Aircraft Carriers Yorktown and Lexington bomb Salamaua and Lae damaging Japanese shipping and airfields. The Japanese retaliate by bombing Port Moresby.
The Japanese are going about consolidating their successes in Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. On 17 of March General MacArthur is ordered by US President Roosevelt to move from Mindanao to Darwin. On arrival he is to assume Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in the South West Pacific. Soon the area is divided into the Pacific Zone under command of Admiral Nimitz and the South West Pacific Zone, including Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands and much of the Dutch East Indies. By the end of the month a Pacific War council is set up in Washington with representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Philippines and China.
Meanwhile the war is still raging in other parts of the world. During this month the Russians attack the Germans on the Eastern Front in the Crimea. The Germans cannot relieve the II Corps of the 16th Army from encirclement, South East of Staraya, in Russia. At this time of the Germans attack on Russia they had accumulated 1,500,636 casualties on the Russian Front. In North Africa Axis Forces continue to bomb installations in the Tobruk area, while the British continue to bomb air and naval installations in Benghazi. Malta has been under air attack, from the Germans, for most of this month and is in danger of running out of supplies.
During the period 20-23 March 1942 an attempt by the British to resupply Malta commenced. A British convoy of four supply ships left Alexandria Harbour at dawn 20 March and headed for Malta. This group of ships is carrying supplies that Malta needs to keep resisting the Axis forces trying to destroy it.
These four ships were met by an escort of four cruisers, a light cruiser and 18 destroyers. Every British warship in the Mediterranean was tasked to ensure that this particular convoy got through to Malta.
However enemy spies had given cause to the Axis commanders to believe that the British were trying to resupply Malta. Italian forces were ordered to intercept the convoy and stop it from reaching its destination. Italian Admiral Iachino left port at Taranto in the Battleship Littoria with an escort of four destroyers about the same time as Admiral Parona in command of four cruisers and four destroyers. These forces were heading for the Gulf of Sirte where they hope to meet the British squadron.
On 22 March Italian torpedo bombers attack the British convoy causing no damage and failed to scatter the convoy. Throughout the rest of the afternoon the Italians tried to attack the British convoy but were unable to inflict any damage due to the very effective smoke screen put up by the British. By 1835 hours the Italians had reached the point where the interception of the British convoy was to occur. Admiral Vian, the British Commander, accepted the challenge and sent his destroyers to attack the Battleship Littorio hoping to at least cripple the Battleship with torpedos. The Italians took evasive action and because it was now 1900 hours and dark, went home. The British Admiral had completed his task and allowed the four supply ships to continue on to Malta under the cover of darkness.
Although the four ships travelled at full speed they did not reach the harbour until dawn on 23 March where they were attacked by Axis aircraft that were waiting for them. The supply ships Talbot and Pampas were hit and sunk before being unloaded. The Breconshire also sank after being towed into port and the last ship, the Clan Campbell, was sunk at sea 50 miles from port. The attempt to resupply Malta had failed. Of 26,000 tons of fuel on the convoy only 5,000 tons was salvaged.
Recommended Reading: Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege, 1940 – 43
Have a go at this. It is a good check on your knowledge of where places are.http://www.lufthansa-usa.com/useugame2007/html/LH-144-07_myspacescore.swf?score_id=undefined
1942 February
Japanese incursions into the Philippines continued, activity in Malaya and Singapore continued with the Island now under siege. At this stage the Singapore Garrison had not enough Artillery or ammunition to effectively spot the Japanese.
On 4 February the Japanese demanded the surrender of all forces on Singapore Island. This was refused and so started an intense Artillery attack by the Japanese that lasted four days. On 8 Feb the Japanese crossed the strip of water separating Singapore and the Malay Peninsular on lighters and rubber boats landing on the North West Coast of the Island. A stout defence put up by the British was not enough to stop the Japanese securing a bridgehead on the island and advancing toward Tengah Airfield. Over the next few days the British defensive perimeter got smaller and smaller. The need for ammunition, rations and reinforcements was imperative, but not forthcoming. On the night of the 13th of February all ships left Singapore Harbour and the Coastal Guns were destroyed, without a shot being fired. The defenders of Singapore were in dire straits with food, water and ammunition becoming exhausted.
At 1950hrs on 15 February General Percival signs a document of unconditional surrender of the City and Garrison to Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita. The surrender took effect immediately. The Japanese take 70,000 British, Indian and Australian prisoners.
While this was going on the Japanese continued their attacks in the Philippines, landed at Palembang on Sumatra, bombed Port Moresby, causing problems in Burma, bombed Mandalay, captured the large Dutch Naval base at Ambonia in the East Indies, landed in Timor and on Bali. To top this off they even bombed Darwin, Australia. Everything seemed to be going the way of the Japanese.
The War was still going on in other parts of the world. The British and the Germans and Italians were still fighting in North Africa, the Germans and the Russians fighting each other in Russia.
Recommended Reading: Battle for Singapore: The True Story of the Greatest Catastrophe of World War II
1942 January
The New Year opened with the Germans Striking back at the Russians in the Crimea while over in North Africa the Germans and Italians attack the right flank of the British 8th Army to relieve the pressure exerted on them by that Army. Axis forces were bombing Malta’s Ports and Airfield with ferocity to make them totally unusable.
The Pacific area was getting its fair share of the action. In the Philippines, American and Philippino
Forces fight their way back towards the Bataan Peninsula. The Japanese on the Malay Peninsula capture Kuantun and Telok Anson while further South in Singapore the Japanese conducted their first air raid on the Island at Tengah Airfield. That was just the first day of 1942.
The Japanese were heading towards Singapore very quickly. From Telok Anson and Kuantan the Japanese had to rid Kampar of Indian forces. The Indians started their withdrawal on the evening of 2 Jan and headed towards Kuala Lumpur in the West. The Commander South West Pacific, General Wavell visited Singapore and then moves to the front. After sizing up the situation he orders the III Indian Corps to withdraw to Johore State, North of Singapore. This was a fighting withdrawal, with the Japanese holding all the advantages. They had total air superiority over the British. Earlier this month Singapore had been reinforced with 51 Hurricane fighters and 21 pilots with no experience of the conditions they were to fly under. Not only that, the aircraft were still in crates, and had to be assembled before they could be used.
The war in Malaya was going badly for the British, Indians and Australians involved. The Japanese continued their push to Singapore and by 24 Jan plans have been made for the British and their allies to withdraw to Singapore. It had already been decided to send all aircraft units defending Singapore to the Dutch East Indies and only keeping a Squadron of fighters on hand to defend the island. By 0815hrs 31 Jan the last British units withdrew from Malayan mainland to Singapore Island. The causeway that connected the mainland with Singapore was blown up. Thus ended the Battle for Malaya and commenced the Siege of Singapore.
Recomended Reading: Battle for Singapore: The True Story of the Greatest Catastrophe of World War II
December 1941
On 11 December 1941 both Germany and Italy declare war on America. Japan attacks the Philippines and Wake Island as the American Garrison in Peking (now Beijing) is taken prisoner by the Japanese. The Japanese also attack Hong Kong and the New Territories, forcing 11300 Scottish, Canadian and Indian troops on the mainland to withdraw to Hong Kong Island.
We now have a war that encompasses just about the whole of the World. It seems that no one is to be untouched by this awful tragedy. Political diplomacy has completely broken down and the only way forward is to defeat the enemy, in this case Germany and its Allies and Japan.
The Russians appeared to have defeated the Germans aim capture Moscow and are on the retreat. On 12 December Hitler replaces General Von Bock Commanding forces near Moscow, by General List. By the end of December the Russians had claimed to have recaptured 1500 towns and cities and villages from the Germans. The German Forces were suffering in the Russian Winter from frostbite and cold due to a lack of warm winter clothing.
Japanese forces continued their march through South East Asia and the Pacific with continuing attacks on Malaya, the Philippines, Burma, Hong Kong, and Borneo. By the end of December they had forced the Americans to surrender at Wake Island, the British, Canadian and Indian troops to surrender Hong Kong and had captured much of the Philippines, Malaya and Borneo.
The Germans and the Italians, too, were suffering setbacks in Russia and North Africa. Rommel retreated from Tobruk, back to Derna then onto Benghazi.
Recommended Reading: The Pacific War: 1941-1945
1917
Things were changing. Commanders changed as did German tactics. The Germans had gone for unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to break the British Blockades of the German ports. Again, while nothing was happening on from the Allies side on the Western Front the Germans continued strengthening their defences. This new defensive system was known to the Allies as the Hindenburg Line and to the Germans as the Siegfried Line. This area lay well behind the front and was protected by a dead zone of flattened houses and poisoned wells. With this defence the Germans considered that Germany could not be taken from the West and it allowed more soldiers to be released for duty elsewhere.
The Germans warned the USA, on 2 April 1917, of “imminent” resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. This meant that all ships on the high seas, except “Central Powers” ships were fair game to the submarines, without warning.
On 2 April 1917 President Woodrow Wilson, of the USA, delivered a war message to the US Senate, and on the 6th of April 1917 the USA declared War on Germany.
At Arras, Battle was commenced on 9 April with a barrage by nearly 3000 Allied guns, lasting for 5 day. The Allied armies advanced and the Canadians captured Vimy Ridge. However, there was no breakthrough and the battle ended on 4 May 1917. This battle yielded very little other than another 250,000 British, French, Dominion and German casualties.
The Americans Join the War
On the 6th of April 1917 the Americans declared war on Germany. The first shots of the war, by the Americans, were on 19 April when the USS Magnolia sank a German U Boat.
American assistance to the Allies was slow in coming. At this stage they had no army, no artillery and therefore had to start from scratch. It would take months to build the armaments, conscript the men and ship them to France.
At the end of May 1917, General John Pershing, the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force, left for France with a very small staff. By June some 9.6 Million men had registered for Military Service. During that month 14000 American troops arrived in France. On arrival at Loraine, for training, they had only two tanks, and for Artillery, had to rely on the French for guns and gunners. On 2 November 1917 an American Infantry Battalion takes over from French soldiers in Barthelemont. Next morning the Germans attacked an outpost of the Battalion, killing three Americans, taking 12 prisoners and leaving the surviving Americans in shock. An inquiry was held and the conclusion was that the Americans were not yet sufficiently trained to take their place on the line and should be removed until properly trained.
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Verdun and the Somme 1916.
In 1916 attention turned to the Somme, again. Manpower was 139 Divisions for the Allies and 117 for the Germans. This time the Allies: Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and Russia co-ordinated their efforts with a general assault against the Germans in the summer of 1916. Once again the Germans got in first attacking the French at Verdun.
At 0715 hours on 21 February 1916 an artillery shell exploded in the archbishops’ palace in Verdun which commenced an unprecedented bombardments and a battle of great length. A million shells were fired on day one. For three days French defences crumbled into a mass of mud, shell holes, destroyed wire entanglements and broken concrete. German soldiers advanced with a new weapon, the flamethrower! Another nasty weapon developed for fighting in trenches, towns and fortifications. The German advance quickly captured Douaumont one of two huge fortresses guarding Verdun. The French were informed of the loss of the Fortress by the Germans dropping leaflets from the air. This caused some panic among the French people and the roads became clogged with refugees and wounded soldiers.
At this time General Petain took over command at Verdun and eventually fought the Germans to a standstill. Artillery was a big player in this battle. The Germans started with a huge bombardment of the French lines followed by an infantry assault which was retaliated against by the French artillery pounding the Infantry, followed by the German artillery pounding the French Infantry. Despite the terrible conditions of winter, the French managed to match the Germans for supply of munitions which enabled a stalemate at Verdun. The battle ended 18 December 1916. At any one time there were over one million men facing each other along 8 miles (13Km) of the Western Front. For Ten months these men lived a nightmare of whistling shells and explosions and shattered bodies. Around 40 million artillery shells were fired, contributing to 160,000 French and 130,000 German deaths and, between them, 600,000 wounded.
In the last week of June 1916 the British commenced a massive artillery barrage along an 18 mile front. They fired over 1 million rounds dropping 20,000 tons of explosives and metal on the German lines. The noise created by this bombardment could be heard over 100 miles away on the Downs over the Channel. At the beginning of this battle over 2,000,000 men faced each other in what was to be the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. In 142 days between July and November 1916 1.2 million men were killed or wounded.
On July 1 the British attacked with 11 divisions against the German line north of the Somme and the French with Five divisions to the south. The British objective was Pozieres Ridge some 4 miles (6kms) away. Some 120,000 men went “over the top” at 0730hours in waves 100 yards (90m) apart they advanced. Ahead the artillery barrage lifted, to flatten more distant German trenches. The front line Germans, sheltering in their dugouts now faced the oncoming British Infantry and cut them down with their machine guns. At the same time undamaged German Artillery rained down shells upon the attacking Infantry. Those 120,000 men never stood a chance. Along the whole front, every assault led to a bloodbath and the British managed to take 2000 prisoners.
After a couple of weeks General Sir Henry Rawlinson suggested renewing the attack along a four mile(6km) front aiming at spots on the ridge called Deville Wood and High Wood. Over a five day period a South African Brigade attacked, often being involved in hand to hand combat. When the Brigade was relieved there were only 758 survivors.
As this attempted breakthrough had failed, General Haig decided that with “methodical progress” he would provide the “Big Victory” he had promised.
He continually attacked Poziers Ridge with the usual results. No area gained and lots of casualties. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps lost 23000 men killed or wounded.
The last attack on the Somme was in Mid November 1916. The usual story of lots of men wounded or killed. The British had advanced about 5 miles(8km) so slowly that the Germans were able to repair any damage caused during the attack so that their line was just as strong as ever. The British suffered 420,000 casualties, the French 200,000 and the Germans about 450,000. In the words of A.J.P. Taylor: “The Somme set the picture by which future generations saw the First World War: Brave helpless soldiers, obstinate Generals and nothing achieved”.
In the autumn of 1915 the British and the French planned more huge attacks on the Germans. This time at Champagne, near Rheims, by the French. A combined attack by the British and French on either side of Lens, and one by the British at Loos.
These attacks were designed to create a general offensive along the Western Front, cause the Germans to retreat and, according to French General Joffre “possibly end the war”.
This plan was not readily agreed to by all concerned. In fact General Haig was dead against it. He suggested he needed 36 Divisions to do the job. He had nine. The ground the soldiers were to attack over was bare and the Germans had planned their defences well. Not only that the British Artillery was badly outnumbered. With Trench Warfare being relatively new to all, how to attack and win against well entrenched troops was a problem. A successful attack would need an element of surprise and a very intense artillery bombardment. Bang goes the surprise! With artillery there would be no surprise and with the condition of no-mans-land the attack would therefore be suicidal.
Nevertheless the attack was ordered. At 0630 hours on 25 September after an Artillery bombardment and gas attack. The gas was ineffective due to the fluky nature of breezes on the day. Men of the London Regiment dribbled a soccer ball across no-mans-land and Piper Peter Laidlaw of the Kings Own Borderers marched back and forth across front of his comrades playing Scotland the Brave on his bagpipes. Piper Laidlaw was awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. Despite this bravery there was no breakthrough. The six British Divisions had little impact on the two German Divisions they were attacking. On the next day, 10,000 British Reserves advanced slowly across no-mans-land presenting a perfect target for German Machine Gunners and Artillery. In a matter of three and a half hours 8000 soldiers lay dead or wounded in front of the German Trenches. After this savage defeat Field Marshal Sir John French was replaced by General Haig.
March 1915. Plans were quickly drawn up for a Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) to be assembled on the Aegean Island of Lemnos. This force consisted of Australian, British, French and New Zealand soldiers, under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton.
The Turks had come to the realization that they were soon to come under attack and set up an army to defend itself. A force of some 84000 soldiers was assembled along the cliffs of Gallipoli. The MEF was 75,000 men. The plan was to land the troops on beaches, some backed by cliffs. Battleships and cruisers were to bring troops from Lemnos to a point of Gallipoli were they would be transferred to barges and be towed to their respective landing sites between Suvla Bay and Cape Helles. The transfer of troops and stores was to be done by boats towing three barges each. The Australians and New Zealanders were to take the Northern Sector, a beach adjoining a headland called Gabba Tepe the British at Cape Helles overlooking the Dardanelles and the French, from North Africa, would land at Kum Kale on the Southern Side of the Dardanelles to draw Turks away from the Northern landings. As a Force the Turks were considered inferior in every way, as soldiers, their discipline, arms and equipment.
When the transports arrived off the coast in the early hours of 25 April 1915 it was still dark. As the Australians and New Zealanders were taken ashore, the lead tow veered off course and was followed by all the other tows.
Turkish Prisoners
On the Gallipoli beaches the Australians and British dug in as did the Turks atop the ridges. Both sides expected further attacks. The conditions at Gallipoli rivalled anything on the Western front. The appalling heat, no shade and rock hard ground. The troops were beset by disease, inaction and hopeless assaults. After three months the British sent a further 5 Divisions in an attempt to break the deadlock, but by then the Turks had 15 Divisions to defend the Cliffs of Gallipoli.
Sir Ian Hamilton decided on a double attack to break the deadlock. One from Anzac Cove, the other from a new landing at Suvla Bay immediately to the North. Both attacks failed.
Autumn rains set in, winter approached and the frosts claimed its first victims. The Allies decided to withdraw and an evacuation was ordered. The trenches were booby trapped and rifles were modified to make them fire automatically so that the trenches appeared to be fully manned. On the nights of 18 and 19 December the last 20,000 men slipped away unnoticed from Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove. By 9 January 1916 Cape Helles was also cleared.
This evacuation was the only successful operation for the allies in an ill planned and dismal campaign. In nine months 46,000 allied soldiers had been killed or died of illness and disease. For what??
