The Whale Has Wings Vol 3 - Holding the Barrier (26 page)

Somerville informs Alexander and Blamey that he expects to be able to lift the required troops onto Bali in a few days. While he has the naval support he needs, a delay has been caused due to all light shipping and craft having been evacuated to the west out of the range of the failed Japanese landings.

At 1200 hours, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, with the heavy cruisers USS Salt Lake City and Northampton , four destroyers, and the oiler USS Sabine, sortie from Pearl Harbor to rendezvous with the aircraft carrier USS Hornet  which is carrying B-25s to attack Japan. Since the Hornet is unable to maintain normal air operations due to her decks being full of B-25's, the Enterprise will be her escort until the raid is launched.

9th April

After four months' epic resistance the 76,000 emaciated and diseased US and Filipino troops and civilians defending Bataan have surrendered. Major-General King said that he was defying orders not to surrender from Major-General Wainwright, now on Corregidor, in order to avoid a "mass slaughter" by the 50,000 strong Japanese army. 2,000 men were evacuated to Corregidor, which is still holding out.

The prisoners of war pose a logistics problem to their captors who are now turning their attention to the island of Corregidor. The Japanese plan to move the prisoners to Camp O'Donnell, but with the nearest railhead 65 miles away they will have to force-march them there.

After the last two RAF raids, Hitler informs the Luftwaffe that they will find a method of defending against the high altitude bombers. Such a program has already commenced, and it is hoped to have some prototypes available for testing in two months.

The Australian attack drives over the Thai border. Thai army units are mysteriously absent, leaving any defence to the Japanese, as the internal struggle in the Thai government intensifies. The local population, both Malay and Thai, seem more than happy to see the Australians. The Japanese have been acting more as troops occupying a defeated enemy than Allies. The 9th Australian Division, with some armour support, forms a 'shoulder' to prevent the Japanese from the east interfering, while the rest of the Australian corps turns west to crush the Japanese between them and Slim's advancing infantry. Given the impending monsoon season, Blamey informs Alexander than he intends to stop at approximately the original pre-war lines of defence in Thailand in the east and centre, but will join up with Slim on the west coast to form a solid defence line across the peninsula. This line will be strengthened during the wet season, ready to be used as a base for a new advance to drive the Japanese back to French Indo China once conditions make this possible.

13th April

Vice Admiral Ghormley, USN, is assigned as Commander-in-Chief South Pacific (COMSOPAC). He is to command all Allied base and local defence forces (land, sea, and air) in the South Pacific Islands, with the exception of New Zealand land defences. His line of demarcation with Somerville is set somewhat tentatively as east of New Guinea.

The British and Australian governments officially approve the appointment of General Blamey as commander Dutch East Indies/Australia. He will take over formally once he is satisfied he can leave the Malaya offensive in the hands of his divisional commanders and General Alexander.

A mixed force of British, Australian and Dutch troops is landed on Bali. Around 6,000 men are involved, outnumbering the Japanese some 2:1. There are also Allied troops remaining hidden from before the invasion, who have been passing on information on the invaders. While the battleship Warspite and some cruisers are available for support of the landings, in fact they are unopposed by the Japanese. It is expected to take some weeks at least to clear the island, depending on what sort of defence the Japanese make. In the meantime, Somerville is busy withdrawing his heavy forces back to Malaya to replenish.

16th April

Japan invades the island of Panay with a 4,000-strong force. The Japanese Kawamura Detachment (41st Infantry Division) lands unopposed at Iloilo and Capiz on Panay Island.

April 17th

The RAF follows up its heavy nighttime attacks with a daylight raid on the MAN diesel factory at Augsberg. Some 80 bombers leave the factory in burning ruins in a precision attack. Despite the speed of the Mosquito ten bombers are lost to various causes, mostly to AA fire.

General MacArthur, currently residing in Australia, is ordered back to Washington to discuss his next appointment.

April 18th

A totally unexpected air raid today by American bombers on large Japanese cities, including Tokyo, has shocked Japan. The raid by 16 B-25 bombers was launched from the deck of the American aircraft carrier USS Hornet some 650 miles from Tokyo. The Hornet was in company with the carrier USS Enterprise, as the bombers on Hornet prevented her from operating her normal aircraft complement.

After completing their bombing runs, all 16 aircraft cleared the Japanese home islands and continued westwards towards the coast of China. The raid was planned deliberately as a psychological shock to the Japanese and a much needed boost to sagging American morale which has suffered from a cataract of military disasters since the Pacific war began. The US Army Air Force crews volunteered and trained vigorously in secret for this unorthodox and dangerous mission. To take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier with the very heavy fuel load required as well as bombs was a problem never before encountered by army pilots.

The raiding B-25's were unopposed when they crossed the Japanese coast. The raid was led by General James Doolittle. His plane roared over Tokyo at a height of 1,200 feet just as an air-raid practice ended and the barrage balloons had been winched down. He dropped his incendiaries before the real alarm was sounded. Over China, it was night and the weather was bad. A few pilots force landed their planes and of 63 crewmen who parachuted, five died and eight were captured. The raid caused little material damage but has boosted American morale.

Although the bombers were launched early, as a suspicious Japanese craft had been seen, it appears this did not make a sighting report, as the Japanese appear to be unaware of the source of this raid.  President Roosevelt refers to Shangri-La in a radio broadcast, which hardly enlightens the Japanese command.

General Blamey signals General Alexander (with a copy to London) that all Japanese troops that invaded Malaya have either been captured or driven out of the country. Churchill is delighted, and sends a congratulatory telegram. The success of the Australian units is apparently ameliorating his earlier dislike of them.

20th April

The Japanese conquest of the central Philippines is nearly complete as Cebu and Panay are conquered. Small U. S. and Filipino garrisons have fled into the hills of Leyte, Samar, Negros and Bohol, but organised resistance has ended.

21st April

USAAF Major General Brett assumes command of the Allied Air Force, which has units based in northern and eastern Australia, with advanced facilities in the Port Moresby, New Guinea area. He will report to General Blamey as overall commander. Admiral Crace has been placed in command of the naval forces in the area, although until Japanese intentions become clear Somerville retains his heavy ships close enough to intervene if necessary. Crace will deploy a mixed force of cruisers and destroyers with the two Australian light carriers to harass the Japanese (with the aid of the Royal Navy submarines), but is not to engage a heavy task force.

The Germans request the assistance of the Italian Navy to deal with the ramshackle Soviet flotilla on Lake Ladoga (estimated at 6 gunboats, 2 large and 5 small torpedo boats, 32 armed minesweepers, 9 armed transport ships, 17 armed tugboats and 1 submarine, plus another 25 other boats).

The Italian Navy promptly agreed and sent the four torpedo boats of 12th MAS Flotilla, commanded by Capitano di Corvetta (Lt-Com) Bianchini. The Italians have received assurances from the Germans that no Royal Navy carriers are present on the lake.

In Washington DC, the federal government decides to build the "Big Inch" oil pipeline from Texas to New York so Allied tankers won't have to run the German submarine gauntlet along the East Coast. This pipeline has a diameter of 24", the highest-capacity oil pipeline ever built.

22nd April

The raid on Tokyo by US B-25 bombers has caused immense consternation in the Japanese command, as well as much loss of face - the Emperor could have been injured or even killed. An emergency reappraisal of the impending IJN operations is ordered. The Americans cannot be allowed to get away with such an attack on the Japanese home islands, even if it means altering or postponing operations originally thought to be more militarily important.

One consequence of the attack is that Admiral Somerville has made arrangements for his heavy units, particularly his fleet carriers, to undergo boiler and bottom cleaning at Singapore as fast as possible. It is expected that the raid will sting the Japanese into some sort of retaliation, and he wants the fleet to be as prepared as possible. Similar activity takes place at Pearl Harbor, although the wide disposition of naval units makes this more difficult. Nimitz's actions are expected to hinge on how well his code-breakers can decrypt Japanese signals, something at which they are becoming increasingly adept. Daily summaries are being flown by hand of officer to Singapore to keep the breaking of the codes secret.

23rd April

In retaliation for the recent RAF raids, the Luftwaffe raids Exeter at night. Considerable damage was done, as this was the first major raid in a considerable time, however the RAF night fighters took a heavy toll of the bombers. The number of aircraft used by the Luftwaffe is far fewer than in the heavy night raids of early 1941, and it is believed that they no longer have the bombers to cause more than occasional disruption by this means. The increased performance of the RAF defence and the better radar now in use means that unless the Germans can invent some new method of penetrating the defences the raids will continue to suffer severe losses which will limit their effectiveness even more.

24th April

The Australian-led attack on the Japanese in Thailand reaches its 'stop line' and halts major offensive action in the east and central parts. This is basically the line of defence originally intended to be taken by Operation Matador. While it would be possible to continue further, there are two considerations; first, the start of the monsoon season is expected very soon, and stopping now allows supplies to be brought up under relatively benign conditions, and second Blamey and Alexander have been informed that secret negotiations are underway with an anti-Japanese faction of the Thai military/government. The attacks against the Japanese to the west will continue until they are destroyed; the Japanese infantry are still fighting hard, but have run out of artillery ammunition and are thought to be low on all other supplies.

An emergency meeting of the Japanese General Staff comes to the decision that 'a heavy and devastating response must be made to teach the foreign barbarians a lesson.' Accordingly the Navy is tasked with coming up with an immediate plan. The Navy's response is that they have three options. First, an attack on the Royal Navy in the South China Sea to drive it back past Singapore and allow new landings in Malaya and Borneo. Second is an attack into the Coral Sea area to take New Guinea and draw in elements of the US Navy, allowing them to be destroyed. Third is an attack on the island of Midway, close enough to Hawaii to force the US fleet to defend it. These operations would use the carrier force (it is expected that repairs currently underway will be finished shortly), backed by the battleships. The intention is to attack a vital target in such force as to destroy the offensive options of the enemy for a considerable period, probably for a year.

After initial consideration the High Command suggests that the Coral Sea and Midway options seem the most promising, as it is imperative to teach the Americans a lesson for bombing Japan and risking the life of the Emperor. The China Sea operation should be considered a follow-up to destroy the Royal Navy capability in the area.

25th April

A new RAF raid by some 300 bombers attacks the Heinkel works at Rostock. Thanks to the efforts of the Pathfinders later reconnaissance reports show considerable damage to the factory. However a considerable number of the bombers missed the target due to deception measures. Losses were again low, but intelligence is reporting urgent Luftwaffe efforts to modify fighters to allow them to intercept the Coventry bombers. While existing fighters can reach the 35,000 feet needed, performance is poor at this height. This has been anticipated by the RAF, one of the reasons for delaying the bombing campaign being to allow a useful number of the new heavy bomber to be deployed to make use of the period before German defences were improved.

Paris is exhilarated today by the news that General HenriGitaud, who has been a prisoner of war since he was captured in June 1940, has escaped to Switzerland. The 63-year-old general's escape has given a boost to French morale. He succeeded in freeing himself from the castle at Königstein, in Saxony, which had been turned into a maximum-security prison, jumped on board a moving train and reached the French border. He is expected to join the Free French army currently in North Africa.

28th April

The full horror of a forced march by American and Filipino prisoners - in which as many as 20,000 men are believed to have perished from disease, hunger and the savagery of their Japanese captors - is beginning to emerge. The prisoners, taken after the surrender of the Bataan peninsula earlier this month, died as they were marched 65 miles to a captured US barracks near Clark Field airbase.

Even before the march began, many of the prisoners were racked by malaria, dysentery, beriberi and other diseases. The Japanese forced the pace with clubs, bayonets and unspeakable cruelty. Dozens of men were bayoneted to death; more were beheaded, shot and beaten at the whim of their captors. Those who could not keep up were clubbed to death or buried alive.

Filipinos bore the brunt of the brutality and, it is believed, the casualties. On 11 April, as the march began, Japanese soldiers massacred some 400 Filipino officers and NCOs - hacking them to pieces with their swords. All the prisoners of war were looted of personal possessions. The precise number of prisoners who started - and finished - this "death march" is not known, but it is believed that as many as one in three may have died.

The Allies make no attempt to hide the horror of the Death March - instead they use it to reinforce the opinion that the Japanese are barbarians who must be defeated totally and completely.

Cuba granted de facto recognition to Free French control over French territories in the Pacific, Equatorial Africa, and the Cameroons.

Canada has voted on conscription in a record turnout and the country is divided on linguistic grounds. English speakers (the majority) are in favour of a draft for service overseas. The French-speaking minority is split; initially it had been expected to vote against it, but passionate appeals by some of the Free French senior officers (brought in from Washington to argue in the debate) have swung more of the French vote in favour. As a result conscription is expected to take place, though for the moment forces sent overseas will still be volunteers.

A large convoy arrives at Singapore, bringing supplies and reinforcements. Among them are a brigade of the French Foreign Legion and 1st Australian Armoured division. This will relieve the 1st Armoured, allowing them to be sent back to the Middle East for a rest and to be re-equipped with new tanks. The existing armour will be withdrawn to Singapore as a reserve; the Australians are equipped with the more recent 6-pdr Valentine tank. The convoy will also transport considerable quantities of rubber and other raw materials back to Europe.

29th April

The Luftwaffe bombers have added Norwich and York to the list of towns visited in revenge for the RAFs attacks on Essen and Rostock. They bombed and machine-gunned Norwich for over an hour two nights ago, and last night they struck York. In each case the bombers delivered about half their loads on target, and despite their small numbers caused considerable damage and killed 400 people. British experts are sure that the bomber's accuracy is due to a new electronic target beam and are working on a way of confusing the pilots so that they drop their bombs in open country.

The Germans are also suffering heavy casualties on these raids. Thirty bombers have been shot down out of 150 used, and many of the lost crews are instructors thrown into action to appease Hitler's rage over the RAF attacks. The raids are doing more harm to the German war effort than to the British in the long run.

In the Philippine Islands, the Japanese are now shelling Corregidor heavily.

1st May