Posted on 10/28/2010 4:39:39 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Plus a special guest map from Michael Korda’s, “With Wings Like Eagles,” showing the air defenses of England and Wales, August 1940.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
* The Times frequently prints photos of the ambassador. In every one old Joe is grinning like a loon. It is a little strange.
** The Blitz has gone from front page headlines, to page 1 below the fold, to the back pages.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/oct40/f28oct40.htm
Italy invades Greece
Monday, October 28, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Athens... An Italian ultimatum is presented to the Greeks during the night. It amounts to a declaration of war.
In the Balkans... At dawn, before the ultimatum expires, the Italian forces in Albania begin to cross the border into Greece. Patras is bombed. General Prasca leads eight of the 10 Italian divisions in Albania in the advance. They attack along three lines with the main effort being in the center from the Dhrina and Vijose valleys. General Papagos, the Greek Command in Chief, has not deployed his main force close to the border to avoid giving any provocation to the Italians. He hopes to use 8 divisions with the possibility of reinforcements being brought from the troops watching the Bulgarian border. The greatest obstacle to the Italians for the first two or three days is the very bad weather which grounds their air support. The Italians have chose a very unwise time of the year for their attack.
In Italy... Hitler and Mussolini meet at Florence. Hitler conceals his anger at not being kept informed of the Italian plans and says that German troops are available if it is necessary to keep the British out of Greece and away from the Romanian oil.
In Vichyt France... Laval become Foreign Minister of the Vichy government.
In the North Atlantic... U-32 completes the job and sinks the damaged Empress of Britain.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/28.htm
October 28th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain:
RAF Fighter Command: Losses: Luftwaffe, 11; RAF, 2.
VICHY FRANCE: Pierre Laval is appointed Foreign Minister.
ITALY: Hitler meets with Mussolini in Florence. Commenting on his recent meeting with Generalissimo Franco he says he would prefer to have three or four teeth extracted rather than meet with him again. (Marc James Small)
GREECE: Athens: At 5:30 AM Mussolini’s army invaded Greece. In the firm belief that they would meet little resistance from the dictator General Metaxas’s forces, Italian tanks and infantry crossed from occupied Albania into the mountains of Epirus before dawn. Hitler heard the news on his train ‘Amerika’ between Munich and Florence. When the arrived, the Italian leader was delighted to tell him, in German: “Fuhrer, we are on the march!” Hitler conceals his fury at news of the Italian invasion of Greece and pledges military support if Mussolini requires it.
In Hitler’s opinion Mussolini is making a critical strategic blunder. To Hitler the capture of Gibraltar, with assistance from Franco and Italy’s conquest of Egypt, especially the great naval base at Alexandria, would ensure Britain’s collapse.
Mussolini in turn was convinced that the pro-German Metaxas - who has based his Asfalia secret police on the Gestapo and abolished most democratic institutions in Greece - would succumb quickly offering little resistance.
Metaxas, however, has rejected the Italian ultimatum - which he received in his bed from an Italian envoy at six in the morning - half an hour after Italian troops crossed the border.
The first Greek communiqué reads: As of 5:30 am today, the Italian armed forces are attacking our troops protecting the Greek Albanian border. Our forces are defending our native territory.
The first Italian Communiqué reads: “At dawn on the 28th October our forces stationed in Albania crossed over the Greek border and gained entrance at several places. Our advance continues” (Steven Statharos)
General Visconti-Prasca, the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian aerial forces has not blocked the road to the north, thus allowing three newly-mobilised Greek divisions to move quickly to the front. The Italians are moving slowly, and the Greeks are mobilising quickly.
EGYPT: Cairo: Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore Air Officer C-in-C, Air HQ Middle East (an Australian) orders 3 squadrons of Blenheims and one of Gladiators to Greece.
Wavell is ordered to send also two A.A. batteries to Athens and an infantry brigade to Suda Bay, in Crete, to assist in the defence of the Greek islands.
SUDAN: Khartoum: The British Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, the C-in-C, General Sir Archibald Wavell, the South African Premier, General Jan Smuts and the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie meet to try to reconcile their different war aims in Africa.
CANADA: Convoy HX-84 sailed from Halifax.
Corvette HMCS Nanaimo launched Esquimalt, British Columbia. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The liner ‘Empress of Britain’ is sunk by U-32, which in turn is sunk.
RMS Empress of Britain, 42,348 tons, was the largest ship sunk in the U-boat war. U-32 was sunk 30 October 1940 northwest of Ireland, in position 55.37N, 12.19W, by depth charges from the Royal Navy destroyers HMS Harvester and HMS Highlander. 33 of the 42 U-boat crewmen survived. (Jack McKillop)
The Reuters News Agency in London reported:-
The Admiralty has announced that the English steamship Empress of Britain has gone down. The vessel was attacked by enemy aircraft and caught fire so that it had to be evacuated. Salvage manoeuvres were instituted at once, but when the steamer was taken in tow, it reared up and sank. Of a total 643 persons on board, 598 survivors were brought to land by British war vessels. They included the families of military men and a small number of military personnel. The energetic and effective action of the steamer’s anti-aircraft defence was largely responsible for the fact that so many people were saved.
The vessel was a 42,000 ton luxury steamer. The King and Queen sailed home on her last year from their trip to Canada and the United States.
Luftwaffe Front-Line Bulletin No. 26
On 26 October 1940, a FW-200 on armed reconnaissance and weather-scouting patrol over North-West Ireland sighted a large vessel with 3 smokestacks. Despite powerful AA fire which inflicted serious hits on the attacking aircraft, the German plane made 2 hits on the ship in a total of 4 low-level attacks. As the plane was flying away, the ship showed a slight list and was burning along its whole length. The assaulted ship burned for 24 hours and the following day its wreck was sunk by a U-boat. The vessel in question was the passenger steamer Empress of Britain, which at 42,000 tons was the tenth largest ship in the international merchant fleet.
Other than Pearl Harbor, this is the key move that helped bring down the Axis.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 424 October 28, 1940
Battle of Britain Day 111. Mist and fog over Northern France and Southeastern England in the morning hamper operations, but Luftwaffe launches 3 raids in the afternoon. At 1 PM and 2.30 PM, 20 Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters fly across Kent towards Biggin Hill but are turned back. From 4.30 PM until 5.10 PM, several groups of 30-80 German aircraft (mainly bomb-carrying Bf109s with some medium bombers) attack simultaneously across Kent and South coast of England. They do not reach London but many sites in Southern England are bombed. Bomb-laden Bf109s do not provide much protection for the medium bombers and 2 Ju88s are shot down plus 2 Bf109s. RAF loses no fighters in the action. London and Birmingham are again bombed overnight, but not heavily.
At 2.05 AM, 50 miles Northwest of Aran Island, Ireland, U-32 sinks British troop carrier Empress of Britain with 2 torpedoes (25 crew and 20 passengers killed). At 42,348 tons, Empress of Britain is the largest U-boat victim and the largest liner sunk during WWII. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/643.html
At dawn, before the expiry of the Italian ultimatum, 85,000 Italian troops cross the border from Albania into Greece, supported by 400 aircraft and 163 tanks. They are faced by 30,000 Greek troops with no tanks and only 77 aircraft. 5,000 Italian troops advance 5 miles along the Ionian coast and are able to cross the Kalamas River. Further inland, however, the Italians make little progress in the steep mountainous terrain where their tanks are useless and bad weather grounds their air support.
Between October 28 and November 7, German raider Pinguin and auxilliary minelayer Passat (converted Norwegian taker Storstad) laid mines off the ports of Sydney, Newcastle and Hobart, off Adelaide in the Banks Strait, off Tasmania and in the Bass Strait on the approaches to Melbourne.
The necessity of dealing with the Greek resistance and subsequent British intervention (the necessity being to protect the all-important Ploesti oilfields), took vital time away from the Axis forces - slowing down the onset of Barbarossa and also mildly denuding the forces available for its success.
The failure of the invasion of Russia, which indeed could have been a success, was the deathknell for Nazism.
Another massive factor in its failure was - Pearl Harbor. If the Japs had attacked Russia, as their army faction were minded to do, then Kutuzov could never have brought his Siberian troops back in time to defend Moscow. The USSR would have collapsed and any eventual D-Day would have faced vastly more potent tank forces.
Instead the Japanese Navy launched the militarily brilliant, but strategically toxic attack on Pearl Harbor. Kutuzov was free to move his forces, and of course the sleeping giant awoke.
If Hitler had our hindsight, he would have cursed Yamamoto every bit as much as he cursed Mussolini.
Great Britain could not afford to be lax on that front for fear that Italy could flip to hostile at any time. Hitler would have been able to avoid having to rescue Mussolini from his own idiocy in Greece and North Africa keeping one his best tank generals (Rommel) on the eastern front.
Yup. We lucked out.
Had the Nazis conquered Russia, an Anglo-American invasion to liberate Europe using conventional arms would have been quite impossible.
WWII would have still ended with an Allied victory, but probably only after Berling and a few other German cities became radioactive.
Also: if Italy had remained neutral, the RAF Swordfish raid on the Italian navy that famously gave the Japs the idea for Pearl Harbor - that wouldn’t have happened.
Still, the war in the Mediterranean would have been a cakewalk without German planes flying from Italian bases. The Med would have rapidly become an English lake.
But the British probably didn’t have the wherewithal to mount a successful assault on Ploesti even with total control of the Med. So, yes: in summary Italy was a millstone around Hitler’s neck.
“”Hitler calls Mussolini on the phone:
“Benito aren’t you in Athens yet?”
“I can’t hear you Adolf.”
“I said aren’t you in Athens yet?”
“I can’t hear you. You must be ringing from a long way off, presumably London.”””
Joke circulating in Occupied France, winter 1940-41
Berling = Berlin, obviously. Sorry ‘bout that.
Funny that nobody knew it at the time though: The later failure in Crete, in Greece itself were all in the future. And nobody was seeing the long-range impact on the Russian invasion the next summer.
Date: 28th October 1940
Enemy action by day
Two minor sweeps and one major attack were made in the South East area, the latter in conjunction with a demonstration in the Portsmouth area. In none of these did enemy aircraft penetrate to Central London.
Reconnaissances were fairly active in the Estuary and the Bristol Channel during the period.
During the day's operations, four enemy aircraft were destroyed (plus 7 probable and 8 damaged). Our losses were nil.
Enemy Attacks
First Attack 1300 Hours
20 to 30 enemy aircraft crossed the Coast to Dungeness and flew on a 5 mile front towards Biggin Hill but split into several sections and turned away before reaching it. They were recrossing the Coast by 1315 hours.
Second Attack 1427 Hours
18+ enemy aircraft flew in from Dover to Maidstone and the Biggin Hill area. As in the previous sweep, penetration was not made further North West. The enemy were heading South East by 1440 hours.
Third Attack 1605 Hours
While 65+ aircraft were circling off Calais, a raid of 30+ flew Northwards from Le Havre towards the Isle of Wight. They were over Portsmouth at 1630 hours and remained there until 1650 hours. Meanwhile, of the Calais formations which had increased, 20 made a landfall at Dungeness and flew to Maidstone, and 80 - crossing at Beachy Head - made for Biggin Hill. Neither raid penetrated further than the Biggin Hill - Kenley area and they were recrossing the Coast by 1635 hours.
At 1642 hours, fresh formations of 50, 30+ and 50 aircraft came inland between Beachy Head and Dungeness, one raid going to Hornchurch and the others to Biggin Hill. They were all retiring Eastwards down the Estuary and across the South Coast by 1710 hours.
Bombs are reported at various localities although only Me109s appear to have been operating.
Two Squadrons were despatched to the Portsmouth feint and 9 Squadrons to the Kentish attack.
Reconnaissances
Activity was slight in the early morning but had increased by noon. Flights were made over convoys in the Straits and Estuary and off the Cornish Coast, and 8 single aircraft were plotted in the Bristol Channel.
Several reports on shipping off the East Coast were made by enemy aircraft.
Inland flights were made to East London, Luton, Debden, Maidstone and to Birmingham (twice).
In all 8 interceptions were made of which two were successful (plus 2 probable and 4 damaged).
Attacks on Shipping
At 1152 hours, a 'Help' signal was received from a convoy off Dover. Fighters were on the spot almost at once.
At 1310 hours, a drifter was sunk off Southwold by an enemy aircraft.
At 1450 hours, 14 enemy aircraft were plotted off Harwich. Three of these flew inland for a short distance, while the others remained near a convoy.
Night Operations - 28th/29th October 1940
Enemy activity was again on the reduced scale of recent nights. Early raids were widespread over most of the Country and the main objectives were London and its suburbs, and the Midlands where Birmingham received most attention.
The first raids showed strengths of 1+ to 3+ aircraft, but later raids were plotted as single aircraft. The first raider reached Beachy Head at 1843 hours from the direction of Abbeville.
One enemy aircraft was shot down by AA guns near Poole and another was damaged by No 85 Squadron, near Binbrook.
1900 Hours to 2100 Hours
31 raids were plotted from the Cherbourg and Le Havre areas, crossing the Coast between Swanage and Beachy Head. From other French sources - in particular, Dieppe - 44 raids were plotted to the Coast between Selsey Bill and North Foreland. 15 raids originated from the Dutch Coast. Activity was fairly widespread over most of the Country, but the majority of raids made London and its suburbs their objective, although many appeared to turn back without penetrating the Inner Artillery Zone. In the Midlands, Birmingham was the principal target but raids were also plotted over Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry and Reading. One or two raids appeared in the Sunderland area while others were plotted near aerodromes in Lincolnshire and East Anglia. Minelaying was suspected by about 6 raids in the Estuary.
2100 Hours to 0100 Hours 29/10/40
43 incoming raids were plotted from the French Coast, and about 12 from the direction of Holland. London and Birmingham continued to be the main objectives. Between 2100 and 2300 hours, there was considerable activity along the Coast Between Newcastle and Aberdeen but no penetration inland of more that a few miles. Enemy activity lessened considerably towards the end of this period.
0100 Hours to 0600 Hours
A few sporadic raids from the Dutch Coast continued the attack on London via the Estuary. One raid penetrated towards Bedford before recrossing the Coast at Southwold.
________________________________________
Statistics
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 28th October 1940
Casualties:
| Enemy Losses | ||
| By Fighters – By Day | ||
| Destroyed | Probable | Damaged |
| 2 Me109 | 4 Me109 | 5 Me109 |
| 2 Ju88 | 1 Ju88 | |
| 1 Do17 | ||
| 2 Do215 | 1 Do215 | |
| 1 He111 | ||
| 4 | 7 | 8 |
| By Fighters – By Night | ||
| 1 E/A | ||
| Nil | Nil | 1 |
| By Anit-Aircraft | ||
| 1 E/A | ||
| 1 | Nil | Nil |
Patrols:
Balloons:
Serviceability of Aerodromes:
Organisation:
Home Security Reports
There is another aspect of the invasion of Greece that I alluded to the other day though that I think is very significant.
As we have seen the last few days, Hitler has been trying to secure the support of Vichy France as well as Spain. Franco was really on the fence at this point, but the Italian invasion of Greece helped him make a decision to stay neutral. After all, how could he rely on the promises of Hitler when he couldn't even keep his allies from running off and starting new wars with other neutral countries.
Imagine if Spain had signed on with the Axis. There is a good possibility that Gibraltar would have been attacked by land and the entry into the Mediterranean would have been effectively sealed from the British. This would have completely changed the game in that theater which may have lead to the collapse of the area giving Italy it's desired private lake. It also would have taken the command post away from Eisenhower for the TORCH landings two years later. He would have commanded initial operations from London.
Churchill acknowledged that Franco held the keys to Gibralter and could have at any time made that fortress untenable for Great Britain. He said that while Franco always acted in his self-interest he was grateful that included nuetrality.
Churchill went so far as to play on the fact that Franco and the Spanish acted firstly in their own interest. So much so that despite the fact that the British are essentially broke they managed to come up with a $10 million (USD) bribe to the Spanish generals to keep them out of the war. This was arranged through Franco’s personal banker, Juan March and the money was sent to Swiss bank accounts (I don’t have the exact date of this but it took place sometime between now and May of next year).
the Allies were lucky that Musso was such a pompous pig-headed blundering fool
no way were the Italian armed forces prepared to conquer Greece while heavily engaged in North Africa
this was an impulsive decision of ego and pride, predicated on wishful thinking for immediate collapse of Greek resistance
the Italian army was only given a handful of days to prepare for the invasion and did not have nearly the forces to conquer Greece if resistance was prolonged (as it was in fact)
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