Posted on 03/24/2011 4:48:08 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/mar41/f24mar41.htm
Axis forces recapture El Agheila
Monday, March 24, 1941 www.onwar.com
In North Africa... El Agheila is recaptured from the British by Rommel’s forces. General O’Connor and his experienced desert troops have been withdrawn and General Neame has been left to hold Libya with the under strength and inexperienced 2nd Armored Division, 9th Australian Division and an Indian Brigade. The tanks available are mostly old and more or less worn out. Collectively the Allied units have neither the desert experience of O’Connor’s veterans nor the professionalism of Rommel’s troops. Rommel has one German division, 5th Light, with a strong tank component and part of four Italian divisions. Rommel has been forbidden to attack by the German High Command and has been told that he will receive no extra forces.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/24.htm
March 24th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group: 82 Squadron sink a fishing boat while on patrol off Norway but also lose one Blenheim in the process.
London: Churchill to Roosevelt:
“...It seems highly probable that 3 or 4 U-boats are working against our African trade route. A number of ships have been sunk in recent convoys, and the battleship Malaya has been torpedoed while escorting the latest convoy. We would be much obliged if she could be repaired in the United States yard. She is now steaming thither at 14 knots.”
LIBYA: Against Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s explicit orders the Afrika Korps with components of the 3rd Reconnaissance Detachment, reoccupies El Agheila. The British quickly withdrew to Mersa Brega, 30 miles to the northeast. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps, records: “The garrison, which consisted only of a weak force, had strongly mined the whole place and withdrew skilfully in face of our attack.” but he is led to wonder if the British are as formidable as first thought. (Jack McKillop)
BRITISH SOMALILAND: British forces drive the last Italian garrison from British Somaliland. (Jack McKillop)
TURKEY: Ankara: A Turkish-Soviet communiqué is issued promising neutrality if either should be attacked.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 571 March 24, 1941
Libya, North Africa. At 6 AM, German 5th Light Division attacks Allied position at El Agheila. Immediately, Australian anti-tank gunners destroy a German armoured car but the British armour (Bren gun carriers and captured Italian M13 medium tanks) is no match for the Panzers. Rommel uses dummy tanks mounted on Volkswagen chassis, obscured by dust raised by the Panzers, to deceive the defenders about the size of his force. Under orders to retreat if attacked, 2nd Armoured Division falls back 30 miles to Marsa Brega. Additional German losses are only 2 tanks damaged by mines.
German and Italian ships continue leaving Massawa, Eritrea, due to British advances in East Africa. British sloop HMS Shoreham intercepts German SS Oder (scuttled by crew). Italian freighter SS India cannot escape the Red Sea due to Royal Navy patrols and puts into port at Assab, Eritrea, which is still in Italian hands.
750 miles West of Land’s End, England, U-97 sinks Norwegian SS Hørda at 4.43 PM (all 30 hands lost) and Italian submarine Veniero sinks British SS Agnete Maersk (all hands lost). Further South, U-106 sinks British SS Eastlea 40 miles East of Boa Vista, Cape Verde Islands (all 37 hands lost).
"Rommel uses dummy tanks mounted on Volkswagen chassis"
I bet I would turn and run also
Not to take attention off the new events in North Africa, but there is turmoil in the Balkans; Germany’s once secure southern flank now appears threatened in Yugoslavia. What are they going to do about it? How will their reaction affect their future plans?
See post below, from David Glantz’ “Colossus Reborn; The Red Army at War” pages 14 & 15.
Okay, Cougar, we’re ready for our weekly display of X-rated flesh.
My notes show that only 9 of the BARBAROSSA reserve divisions were used for operation MARITA. This was less than half of the reserve divisions and none of the front line divisions slated for the attack.
It would seem reasonable that if they really felt that it would have been to their advantage, they very well could have begun operations in Russia in April despite the diversion in the Balkans.
But as you show, the issue wasn’t the availability of forces, it was the spring rains. Stahel’s book, which I will be doing a review of here in the next week or so has some very good pictures of what qualified as a “main road” in Russia. Most of these roads were not only unsealed dirt roads, but actually sandy pathways that one German general described as worse than the lousiest roads in Germany’s smallest hamlets.
One interesting note that I will revisit later is just how bad these roads were even in dry conditions. The dust kicked up by these roads were so bad and hard on equipment that one panzer corps will report that many of their vehicles were burning 20 to 30 liters of oil per 100 km as opposed to the usual half liter.
I’m trying to get more of the Panzer Group 2 quatermaster items translated for use later on this year if I can just get more time. Should provide some interesting information.
I assume most of the opposition to the Nazis came from the Serbs, rather than from the Croats.
Well, Cougar, thanks to you I also have a set of those records (auf Deutsch, naturlich) of what was known as Panzer Gruppe 2 during this time period. And I’ve read most of the Operational Orders from the General Staff to the Gruppe, and from HQ of the Gruppe to its subordinate Corps HQs, during the period from May 1 to June 22, 1941.
So far my reading includes march orders, route orders, lines delineating boundaries between the Gruppe’s subordinate Korps and also with neighboring units, and orders subordinating infantry divisions to Panzer Corps HQs. I presume the subordination of the infantry divisions was only for the breakthrough operations, and that the infantry would then revert to control of regular Armee Korps after the Panzer units left them behind in the dust.
What I’ve read tells me that Panzer Gruppe 2 was NOT ready and deployed for combat on June 1. I don’t see ANY orders postponing or delaying a start date for Barbarossa. What I’ve read so far tells me that June 22 was the German timetable all along, and Panzer Gruppe 2 was preparing for Barbarossa in keeping with that projected date.
This tells me that MARITA did not delay Barbarossa, because the Germans never intended to bring off Barbarossa any earlier anyway.
Tell me what you see in the bottom left poster on page 13.
That pretty much is what I’ve seen as well. Of course your German if far better than mine and I’m sure you move through these much faster. Some of the logistical routes that are used as the operation moves forward are absolutely fascinating. This whole operation was a logistical impossibility and from what I’ve been able to read, the Quartermaster General for Panzer Group 2 knew it from the word go.
Stalin in included with Japanese, German, and Italian characters.
Makes sense at this point. The Soviets took the spoils of Poland and absorbed the Baltic states as well as portions of the Balkans. No reason to think that they haven’t thrown their lot in with Hitler. I wonder how the American public will react to the German invasion of Russia. I’m looking forward to some of the editorials this June.
FYI, go to page 31 if you want to see the layout for the new Liberty ships.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.