H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y !
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Grandma and Grandpa
Monday, December 30, 2024
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Land's End
Early evening, 7 November. D-Day minus 1.
More than 500 paratroopers from the 509th
took off from Land's End, England, headed to their
objectives - Algerian airfields, a ten hour flight away.
Word was they could safely land because the French
had promised a friendly reception. Still, no one was
foolish enough to actually count on any outcome
being this favorable.
Paratroopers were trained to jump, then fight.
The 509th would do both, as needed.
Marshal Petain made a pact with the devil.
He would support Hitler in return for the Fuhrer's
promise not to invade southern France.
Petain killed the Kumbaya feeling that was
negotiated by Allied and Vichy leaders in North Africa.
His decision was clear. Open fire on every American
that chose to invade them.
Ike was told of this dangerous turn of events
and passed it along to the troops. Any hostile
action taken against the Allies would be met
with overwhelming lethal force.
The message was sent in code to the
C-47 Skytrain currently lumbering over Spain.
"Play Ball ... " // "Play Ball ... " // "Play Ball ... "
No response. No confirmation of message received.
The phrase Play Ball was repeated time and again.
The operator heard only the hiss of dead air in return.
They were broadcasting on the wrong frequency.
Someone got the number mixed up.
The warning was never heard.
It was a screw-up worthy of FUBAR distinction.
Naturally, Gibraltar was wondering:
What happened to the 509?
Maybe they were shot down over Fascist Spain.
That sounds horribly drastic but it was a concern.
Actually, all 39 C-47s were fine, except for
the fact they were lost. They couldn't even
find each other. Blame it on inexperience.
Try navigating at night in heavy rain.
So as morning sun rose over the Mediterranean,
C-47 pilots everywhere were wondering if the fast
approaching coastline was that of Morocco or
Algeria or possibly southern France.
It's been a long flight and now the aircraft were
running out of fuel. Their search for safe landing
met with varied success. One plane landed amid
angry Moroccan tribesmen. Some landed among
friends while others were taken prisoner as they
stepped off the plane into Vichy troops, greeting
them with guns. A number of casualties occurred
when French fighters strafed a group of three C-47s.
Most flights had lonely landings in some destitute
place that was far from where they needed to be.
The American airborne operation experienced
the setbacks one might expect from an ambitious,
first time effort. They improvised. They managed.
They adapted and made the best of it.
The good news was the French were the enemy.
Your friends. They weren't out for your blood.
Rommel wouldn't be so conflicted about taking
your life. He had a lesson plan in store for the
Americans. It was one already familiar to both
the French and English.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Countdown
21 October 1942: H-Hour minus 18 Days
Over the next two days, a stream of troop trains arrived
in Glasgow and Liverpool, amidst a cold steady rain.
Tens of thousands of American GIs transferred to
waiting transports that were to deliver them to a
destiny unknown.
22 October 1942: H-Hour minus 17 Days
The commander of this 100 ship convoy believed
the mission successful if only half of them were to make
it to their objective. He feared a gauntlet of dive bombers
and U-boats waited in ambush along their perilous trip
to North Africa.
24 October 1942: H-Hour minus 15 Days
Dusko Popov was a top Nazi spy celebrated among his
peers in the intelligence community. He had high-placed
information that revealed Malta as the armada's destination.
The people there were starving and this was Churchill's
desperate attempt to save this critically important British
Mediterranean bastion.
To the spies at MI-6, Popov was code-named Tricycle,
a British double agent. This Malta ruse was cooked
up by a secret committee known as XX - Double Cross.
The report contributed a good deal of confusion that
flowed all the way up to the Fuhrer himself.
30 October 1942: H-Hour minus 9 Days
Just across the border from Gibraltar, Hitler's spymaster
was discovered to be hiding out in a Spanish stucco
home, right under the nose of British MI-6 agents. They
quickly devised a plan to kidnap this snooping Nazi,
sending him to London in shackles as a POW.
Churchill couldn't cancel this abduction quick enough.
These MI-6 agents were unaware Wilhelm Canaris
was a British mole and far more valuable to the Allies
as their agent in Berlin, delivering bad advice
to Adolph.
5 November 1942: H-Hour minus 3 Days
The Allied command for Torch flew to Gibraltar divided up
among a formation of six B-17s, making sure that even if
more than one plane was shot down there would be enough
generals available to ensure the invasion went forward.
They flew in fog at an elevation that rarely exceeded
one hundred feet above the waves. They were never
detected by Luftwaffe fighters patrolling nearby.
7 November 1942: H-Hour minus 1 Day
Torch commanders thought they likely ensured a peaceful
Allied landing in North Africa when they slipped Henri Giraud
out of France, despite Gestapo surveillance of his Lyon villa.
Eisenhower brought the popular four star general to Gibraltar
because the French hero's endorsement of Torch might
result in the Vichy military holding their fire on the Allies.
To get his approval for the Allied invasion, Giraud was led
to believe, falsely, he was to become Supreme
Allied Commander of all forces in North Africa.
The French general, indignant at this insult to his honor,
refused his further cooperation with Allied leaders.
General Eisenhower, as Torch commander, nonetheless
had a forged message of Giraud's support presented
to the public in its place.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Cloak and Dagger
Surprise was lost at Dieppe and the Allied landing failed.
German firepower was distributed with deadly effect
because the port's defenders knew where the assault
would take place. It was information gained in advance
through the work of spies.
You don't have to be someone buried deep into your
enemy's military command to access information.
You pick up valuable tips just by hanging out at pubs
that are frequented by troops of a nearby base.
A few drinks always lubricates the conversation.
Maybe the table behind you talks of water sealing
their tanks. It's not a big deal by itself but it matters.
Casual references here and there eventually adds up
to making one big picture as to what's going on.
It's like the war poster says:
Loose Lips Sink Ships.
Analyzing the data gained from spying involves more
than your powers of deduction. Separating truth from
fiction makes up a sizable portion of the challenge of
knowing what is real. You could be fooled into investing
your time into sizing up a lie. As a result your leaders
are moving their forces to defend where their enemy isn't.
Your conclusion was based on the slight of hand
of a funhouse mirror.
One night a seaplane flew a courier bearing Top Secret
information for the commander of forces at Gibraltar.
German fighters patrolling the coast of Spain spotted
the plane and knocked it out of the sky and into the sea.
The courier's body washed ashore within a couple
of days, the satchel still attached to his chest.
A bomb designed to destroy the military documents
failed to explode, leaving sensitive Operation Torch
planning open for all eyes to see.
The body and satchel were eventually returned to
British authorities. Nazi sympathizers had the time
and opportunity to pass along critical military information.
Had the Allied invasion of North Africa been fatally
compromised? A new element of doubt was introduced
into further backing the venture. Still, they had gone
too far now to stop the landing. Cross your fingers and Go.
Wilhelm Canaris was head of German counterintelligence.
His job was to hunt down enemy spies. Maybe he did.
Eventually Hitler decided he didn't and Canaris was executed.
His allegiance was with the Allies. He was a mole in a
position to protect Allied spying. It's difficult to keep your
mind on your job when you have to wonder just how high
up the treachery goes in your organization.
Who can you trust?
Major General Mark Clark wore the silver oakleaf
designating a lieutenant colonel. He didn't want to be
identified were he captured by the Vichy. He was among
a small group that launched dinghies from a submarine
lying in darkness off the coast of Algeria. A clandestine
meeting with French leaders was arranged to
coordinate their strategy with American plans.
There was the risk it could be a trap.
Vichy police were tipped off and the house was raided.
Clark and his group made a mad dash for the surf
to evade capture. The venture was important enough
for the risk of capture to be worth taking.
Sometimes you have to place your trust in those you'd
rather not be around. It comes with the territory.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Torch
Operation Torch - the invasion of French North Africa
by an army made up mostly of Yanks. Investment in
this Mediterranean front made the invasion of France
unlikely before 1944. Here was the first real test in
collaboration between British and American forces.
A - Western Task Force invades Morocco, securing a
supply route for Allied forces were the Nazis to block
the Straits of Gibraltar. British oppose this U.S. plan
because the landing is too distant from their objective -
Tunisia. The Task Force is given the 'go' because this
objective was nonnegotiable for Americans.
B, C - Everyone generally agrees on the objectives of
Algiers and Oran. They are both French held and a
bridgehead here would provide the Allies with a quick
dash to Tunis, crippling a critical Axis supply port for
their forces in North Africa. Strike now while the Axis
forces are most vulnerable. Delay, and your quick
victory stretches out your efforts for over a year
in the desert. Instead of France.
D - A landing at Bone puts American forces next door
to Tunis. Right now the port is there for the taking.
A U.S. landing here puts their troops under the
Luftwaffe umbrella and near Axis forces. The reward
for landing here was tempting but the Allies chance
of success was a minimal, unacceptable risk.
General Eisenhower was given until early November,
about 30 days, to put together an attack on North Africa.
Though plans were made in haste, rational
decision-making guided those launching their
troops toward an uncertain reception that awaited
them on distant, overseas shores.
The big advantage to landing in Vichy North Africa was
the likely chance American troops would face only token
resistance from the French. But the French were
divided among themselves about their loyalty to Petain,
head of the Vichy government, or de Gaulle, working
with the Allies as leader of the Free French.
Green. Untested. Up and down the ranks you wouldn't find
a single soul with combat experience. Could these GIs
be a cohesive team under duress? They were barely trained.
Navigating your landing craft to the proper beach was
challenging. Avoiding a collision with other novice landing
craft drivers would likely be uppermost on your mind.
It was on the job training for crew and commanders alike.
Transporting a hundred thousand troops to their destination
was not subtle. A thousand plus ships were headed
your way. The question on every Axis leader's
mind was, "Where are they going to land?"
The answer wasn't obvious. Some thought
southern France was likely. Or maybe Sicily.
A couple squadrons of U-Boats were ordered to the
Straits of Gibraltar to disrupt this Allied Task Force.
Every type of ship imaginable collected in the harbor
of Gibraltar. Just outside waited the U-Boats.
What a feast the Germans would have when those
ships loaded with Allied troops sailed into the
sub-infested Mediterranean waters. In actuality
this never happened. There were just too many
warships between U-Boat periscopes and their
tender-sided transport targets. The Task Forces sailed
undaunted to their assigned beachheads...
to be welcomed by French hugs
or deadly Axis shelling.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
Sunday, December 1, 2024
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