The Whale Has Wings Vol 3 - Holding the Barrier (15 page)

Alexander and Blamey are concerned that more attacks of this ferocity could rupture the defence lines and force a withdrawal further south. It is decided to replace the Australian Brigade that has suffered the brunt of the attacks to the rear to regroup and recover, while a brigade of the 18th British division replaces them. The 8th Indian will remain as a reserve formation behind the line to attack and contain any Japanese units that infiltrate or break through the lines. Meanwhile the engineers will start work on a defence line further south, in case it is found necessary to withdraw.

In fact, the British are overestimating the Japanese capability to attack. So far Yamashita has had two divisions gutted and is short of some supplies, in particularly artillery ammunition. Due to the difficulty of moving safely by sea the troops are arriving overland from French Indo China, which takes longer, and he estimates it will take a week to reorder his formations for a new attack. The British are concerned at what they see as a lack of reserves - they have four divisions deployed forward, and a division's worth of forces held back further south, as well as two brigades of the 18th Division, but until the next convoys arrive they have no more available troops and Borneo (and further ahead the Dutch East Indies) is looking at taking an increasing number of men. They are also in need of replacement tanks; due to attrition and breakdowns, the 1st Armoured (which had not started at full strength) is down to about 120 operational tanks. While the tactics to repel the Japanese attacks have proven successful, the heavy drain they have made in the reserves of artillery shells and machine gun ammunition will need to be addressed before any serious attack can be made.

Intelligence puts the Japanese forces at five divisions in place with another on its way from French Indo China, and possibly more to follow - the estimate is quite accurate, but the British do not realise that currently two of the divisions are tasked to attack Burma, and that two are in no fit state to attack for a while. The Japanese practice of attempting complex interlocking operations with minimal troop strength and logistics has yet to be appreciated by the analysts. The situation in the air is seen as equally balanced. The air defences have made Singapore too hard a target (although if the Japanese can push further south, close enough to escort their daylight attacks with fighters, that will change), and currently the losses on both sides seem fairly even. The RAF feels it now has the measure of the Japanese planes except for the Zero, which continues to cause problems and catch unwary or inexperienced pilots. The need to base aircraft in Singapore and Borneo has stopped any serious attempt at an air offensive for the time being. Alexander orders that Operation Stiletto be advanced as much as possible - his pressing need is to delay the Japanese reinforcements until his supply convoys start to arrive.

Jan 8th

In Baghdad, a court sentences Rashid Ali, who led an anti-British coup last year, to death in absentia.

With more Japanese troops having arrived in Borneo, the British feel they have no alternative but to deploy more of the 18th Division. A further 2,000 men arrive today in a convoy escorted by the RAN task force. The Allies now have fighter cover over the southern part of Borneo, but a lack of suitable airfields (and the proximity of Japanese troops) means that the northern part of the island is uncontested.  The Dutch promise to find another 500 men to reinforce their force in the north.

A new attack is made against the existing Japanese positions; this is intended to be a joint attack by Australian and Dutch units, but the lack of practice at joint operations mean that the attacks go in piecemeal. The Australians lose some 200 men, the Dutch around 150, for an estimated loss of some 250 Japanese troops.

Alexander is more doubtful of the possibility of holding Borneo in the long term - if the Dutch East Indies fall it will be easy for the Japanese to put in an overwhelming force. In order to prepare for the worst case, a small group of British and Australian officers is sent to Sumatra, their mission to determine the best way and the forces needed to defend it. This is vital to the defence of Singapore; no matter what happens in the north, if Sumatra falls, it will not be possible to get supply convoys through to Singapore. Alexander is also looking at the possibility of ordering a small spoiling attack from Burma to distract the Japanese from pushing further south into Malaya.

Jan 10th

General Zhukov has launched a powerful offensive against the German "winter line" that runs from Bryansk north through Vyazma to Rzhev. The Red Army, unlike the Germans, has no intention of stopping in place until the warm weather comes, and is forcing Germany into a retreat which, in places, is becoming a rout.

The Russians have taken Mosalsk, on the road to Smolensk, and are threatening to encircle the German base at Mozhaisk. They have also nearly surrounded 100,000 Germans at Demyansk. Field Marshal Ritter Von Leeb asks Hitler for permission to retreat. The Fuhrer refuses.

The USN Bureau of Ships orders that the Cleveland Class light cruiser Amsterdam (CL-59), which is under construction in Camden, New Jersey, be completed as an aircraft carrier (CV). She will be commissioned as USS Independence (CV-22) on 14 January 1943 and be reclassified as a small aircraft carrier (CVL-22) on 15 July 1943. This is the first of nine light cruisers that are completed as small aircraft carriers.

Jan 11th

Ma
p 4 - The Malay Barrier

The invasion of the oil-rich Dutch East begins when the Japanese use paratroopers for the first time. They land on Menado, on Celebes, and take Langoan air base. The Dutch garrison fight hard against the Japanese, who also made an assault by sea from sixteen transports, but were forced to surrender after setting fire to their oilfields. Fighter cover from the Philippines meant that Dutch planes missed spotting the ships. The area is difficult to cover with fighters, as the available airfields are not that close and the Japanese now have ample air bases in the Philippines. The Allied command instead tasks a number of submarines into the area in an attempt to interdict follow-up convoys. Oil is critical to the Japanese, and the Dutch East Indies is the most accessible source of it.

The Japanese invade at two points. The central assault force, consisting of the 56th Regimental Group and the 2nd Kure Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF), with air support from Jolo Island in the Philippines, lands at oil rich Tarakan Island at midnight. The eastern assault force from Davao, Mindanao, consisting of the Sasebo Combined SNLF and the 1st Yokosuka SNLF, invades Celebes Island at Menado and Kema at approximately 0300 hours. A Japanese Naval paratroop force of 334 men is dropped on the airfield just south of Menado and suffers heavy casualties (30 dead and 90 injured). Dutch planes are unable to halt the Japanese, and the small Dutch garrisons are quickly overwhelmed. The Japanese soon put Tarakan and Menado into use as air bases from which to support operations to the south. This landing in Borneo is another threat to be met by the small Allied force on the island.

The Dutch request air support from the Americans, both fighters to be based locally and heavy bomber support (probably from Australia). Currently however the USAAF does not have much in the area. Planning is advanced by Somerville's staff for possible ABDA operations in the DEI area, bearing in mind that unless more fighters are made available it is likely they will be working in a hostile air environment.

The Naval Station Pago Pago in Samoa is shelled by a Japanese submarine.

Operation Paukenschlag ("roll of the kettledrums") descends upon the eastern seaboard of the U.S. like a bolt from the blue. The first group of five German submarines takes up station off the east coast of the United States on this date. Over the next month, these will sink 26 Allied ships; the presence of the enemy off the eastern seaboard takes U.S. Navy antisubmarine forces by surprise. It is far less of a surprise to the Royal Navy, who felt it was only a matter of time before the dense East Coast traffic was attacked, and in fact had repeatedly told the USN this.

The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) approve U.S. plans to garrison the islands along the proposed ferry route from Hawaii to Australia. Local defence forces are to be based at American Samoa, Bora Bora, Canton Island, Christmas Island, the Fiji Islands and Palmyra Island. The CCS also approves the deployment of a USAAF fighter squadron to New Caledonia Island in the New Hebrides Islands. There has been considerable controversy over this, which is seen by some as abandoning positions in the Malay barrier in order to carry out purely precautionary operations.

On Bataan, the Japanese exert strong pressure against the II Corps, particularly on the west, while taking up positions for a concerted assault. The 51st Division, is hard hit and gives ground, some of which is regained after reserves are committed. In the centre the Japanese push back the outpost line of the 41st Division.

Three USAAF B-17's arrive in Australia after flying a new southern ferry route from Hawaii. It is hoped that this can be built up quickly enough to be able to aid the defence of the DEI.

The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-121 mines Clarence Strait, the body of water connecting Van Diemen Gulf and the Timor Sea, off Australia's Northern Territory, at the approaches to Darwin, the Asiatic Fleet's main logistics base.

The wartime Office of Price Administration said standard frankfurters would be replaced by "victory sausages", consisting of a mixture of meat and soy meal. The true costs of the war are starting to be felt in America.

Jan 13th

Allied troops in Borneo are slowly closing in on the Japanese invasion force, slowed by the poor transport system (despite making all available use of small coastal boats), and the need to bring up artillery. The sweep by Admiral Crace's squadron has not detected any shipping on the west coast, and after the landings on the northeast part of the island it is expected that the Japanese will reinforce there under cover of their own fighters. Before withdrawing south the carrier uses its bombers to attack the Japanese supply dumps, still near the coast; while no significant damage is done the raid does make the defenders waste time moving their supplies under better cover.

The Dutch commander on Tarakan Island surrenders to the Japanese and they complete mopping up the island. The Japanese assault force boards ships the next day for the assault on Balikpapan, leaving a small force to defend the island. The assumption is that the Allies cannot attack the island, as they will be unwilling to risk shipping under the Japanese air umbrella. However a battalion of Dutch troops, originally tasked for the earlier invasion, is detached to head north in the hope that something can be done to take the Japanese by surprise.

The Soviet Army has driven deep a salient between the German 2nd Panzer and 4th Armies on the central front southwest of Kaluga; the salient deepens with the capture of Kirov.

The U-boats taking part in 'Drum Roll' are surprised to find peacetime conditions on the U.S. coast, with lighthouses and marker buoys still lit. In addition, there is no radio silence and positions of merchant ships are frequently given away in radio communications. These conditions and the inexperience of the USN escort vessels lead to a loss of 150,000 tons of shipping in the first month of the operation.

Jan 14th

Following their seizure of Kirov yesterday, Soviet forces recapture Medya, on the central front northwest of Kaluga, driving a wedge between two Panzer divisions.

The headquarters of the USAAF's Far East Air Force transfers from Darwin in Australia to Malang in Java. Three squadrons of the 7th Bombardment Group, equipped with B-17's, begin operations out of Singosari in Java. The USAAF hope that they will be able to slow the Japanese advance into the area by attacking their convoys. Although the RAF are somewhat dubious of the ability of the USAAF to engage ships at sea, there is hope that with sufficient reconnaissance the aircraft can do considerable damage if the convoys can be caught in harbour. The main problem the Allied air forces have is the distances involved; until the Japanese invaders at Labuan can be destroyed, it is not practical to base Beaufighters (the preferred aircraft for convoy interdiction) close enough to the Japanese convoy routes.

A Japanese naval force leaves Guam, destination Rabaul in New Britain.

The Japanese army sends 27 Sally bombers, escorted by 15 Oscar fighters, to raid Rangoon in Burma. With ground activity in Malaya temporarily halted to allow Yamashita's divisions to reorganise, the army is hoping that the heavy air defences shown in Malaya mean that Burma has only been left with light defences. To a certain extent, they are correct; Malaya is more heavily and more effectively defended in the air than is Burma. However since the build-up started in the Far East the Burmese air force has not been completely neglected, and while the radar coverage is not comprehensive as it is in southern Malaya there is at least coverage of the major targets such as Rangoon.

The RAF in Burma is rather surprised they have not been attacked earlier; this is thought to be due to the steady losses the Japanese air force has been suffering in Malaya. The fact of the raid is a worry to Alexander, as it implies that the Japanese air force has replaced its losses. The time given to the RAF has allowed the air defences of the country to be improved considerably since the beginning of December. Although no more Sparrowhawks or Beaufighters over the original squadron of each have been delivered (the need for these aircraft in Malaya has meant all fresh aircraft have been sent to Singapore), there is now support from the Flying Tigers (flying US P-40's), and four squadrons of Hurricanes (diverted from the supplies originally intended for Russia) are now operational.

The attack is spotted on radar, although the operators are still inexperienced and it takes longer than expected to get the defenders into the air. The result of the raid is that some damage is done to the dock area of Rangoon, only one bomber being shot down by the AA. In the air battle that takes place over the city, the Japanese lose four Oscar fighters and another six Sallys for the loss of four Hurricanes and two P-40's, with another four aircraft damaged.

Bomber command resumes their campaign against German industry with a heavy raid by 300 planes on Hamburg, causing considerable damage to the dockyards and the railway system.

Jan 15th

In Russia, Army Group Centre (Field Marshal von Kluge) evacuates the Kaluga sector and takes up winter positions 20 miles further west. While Hitler is still insisting on holding ground wherever possible, the realities of the Russian winter is forcing some backwards movement to more suitable positions onto the German Army.

Troops of the Japanese 55th Division advance into Burma north of Mergui. The aim is to reduce a possible attack by the British which would cause problems for the Japanese army attacking into Malaya. The British only have light forces this far into Burma, as the narrow strip of land abutting Thailand has always been seen as indefensible against serious attack. The attack is supported by the Japanese air force, and due to the distance from the British airfields it is difficult to mount any practical defence. The RAF in Burma responds to the previous day's attack, and this new invasion, with raids by Blenheim bombers on some of the Japanese airfields in Thailand. Four Blenhiems and three escorting Hurricanes are shot down for the loss of four Oscars in the air, but a number of Japanese aircraft are destroyed on the ground and disruption caused to their operations.

The British ground forces start a slow retreat up the narrow peninsula, destroying roads and bridges as they go to slow the Japanese attack. There is concern that they could be cut off by an attack further north; in this case it is hoped to evacuate the men by sea, and light coastal craft have been assembled at Rangoon with this in mind.

Jan 16th

Three USAAF LB-30 Liberators based at Singosari Airdrome on Java, staged through Kendari Airdrome on Celebes Island, attack Tarakan Airdrome on Tarakan Island. Two of the bombers are damaged by Japanese aircraft and both are further damaged when they crash land in remote places.  These are the first missions of the Liberator, and the USAAF is disappointed to find that the heavy bomber is having such difficulty defending itself without fighter escort.

Japanese submarines continue mining the approaches to Darwin, as seventeen P-40's of the USAAF's Far East Air force use the port as a staging area to reach Java.

In northern Malaya Yamashita mounts a limited attack on the eastern part of the Imperial defence line, hoping it might not be as well defended as he has found the western part to be. Unfortunately for him it is, and after probing attacks against Australian and Indian troops he pulls back to his start lines having lost some 500 men.

In Borneo, the Allies mount a full-scale attack against the original Japanese invasion. Despite having to withdraw some of the men planned for use, they still outnumber the Japanese over 2:1, and have the advantage of air support. The Japanese are also very short of supplies, especially artillery shells, having been forced into far more extensive actions than had been originally planned. As a result the attack makes good progress, although the attackers suffer heavily from the fanatical defence and the Japanese lines are finally broken by a shore bombardment by Admiral Crace's heavy cruisers. By nightfall the attackers are confident that they will have eliminated the positions in a few days.