WWII History Magazine

80 Pages·2017·15.343 MB·English

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WWII HISTORY
Contents
Columns
06 Editorial
The tide of war turned against the Axis after
their defeat at El Alamein in 1943.
08 Ordnance
USS Houstonfought to the very last in the
murky waters off Java’s Sunda Strait.
14 Profiles
Alexander Pokryshkin was second only to
Ivan Kozedub in Soviet aerial victories during
World War II.
20 Top Secret
A British Special Operations raid intended to
kill or capture Erwin Rommel went terribly
wrong.
26 Insight
A young woman’s service with the Red Cross
in Europe included both harrowing and
rewarding experiences.
October 2017 70 Books
Desron 21 was the most decorated U.S.
Navy destroyer squadron of World War II but
Features paid a heavy price for the distinction.
76 Simulation Gaming
32 “The Enemy Must Be Annihilated”
War Wings takes its mobile conflict to
Japan’s 2nd Tank Division was virtually annihilated during fighting in the
Europe, while a pair of unique strategy titles
Philippines in early 1945.
looms on the horizon.
By Patrick J. Chaisson
Cover: A German Panzer
40 25 Missions Over Fortress Europe Curtis 02313 III advances toward the
B-17 radioman Thomas Fitzpatrick helped drop bombs over enemy territory BBRUSrrSIAuuNtt FRaaONll TFFiigghhtt battlefront somewhere in
from Foggia, Italy. ffoorr LLeenniinnggrraadd Russia in 1942.
DD1122TTeeHH AAaaRRMMddYYll GGyyRROO UUDDPP rriivvee See story page 54.
By Kevin M. Hymel AAccrroossss EEuurrooppee
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48 The 12th Army Group Gets Going oonn LLuuzzoonn 101I-610-1979-23
Activated at Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin, France, on August 1, 1944, the 12th Army BBVVEETT--EE11RRAA77NN IICCNNTTrrEERReeVVIIwwEEWWmmaann’’ss
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54 Wehrmacht Operation Aborted WWII History(ISSN 1539-5456) is published six times yearly in February,
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4 WWII HISTORY OCTOBER 2017
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W-Oct17 Editorial.qxp_W-Jul06 Letters 8/10/17 4:00 PM Page 6
Editor ial
The tide of war turned against the Axis after
their defeat at El Alamein in 1943.
IN OCTOBER 1942, AT AN OBSCURE RAILROAD WHISTLESTOP IN THE WASTES OF
the Egyptian desert, the tide of World War II turned. True enough, Nazi spearheads had failed to
take Moscow, capital of the Soviet Union, before the grueling winter of 1941 set in. However,
the Germans had penetrated deep into the vastness of Russia and planned to renew their offensive
with the spring thaw in 1942.
The first real strategic defeat of the German war machine on land during World War II occurred
at El Alamein, 75 years ago this month. A desert war of attrition had built to a crescendo as the
British Eighth Army defended the approach to the Egyptian capital of Cairo, only 60 miles to the
east, against the vaunted Afrika Korps, under General Erwin Rommel. General Claude Auchinleck
should receive credit for choosing El Alamein to make the desperate British and Commonwealth
stand. His flanks were anchored on either side by the Mediterranean Sea and the impassable salt
marshes of the extensive Qattara Depression.
By October 1942, however, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Field Marshal Sir
Alan Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff, had lost confidence in Auchinleck. He was
replaced at the head of the Eighth Army by the dynamic, self-confident, and hard-driving General
Bernard Law Montgomery. The British had stopped Rommel’s progess toward Cairo at the First
Battle of El Alamein in July. Then, after receiving reinforcements that included 300 new Ameri-
can-built M4 Sherman medium tanks acquired through Lend-Lease, Montgomery launched the
offensive at El Alamein on October 23. It was a tremendous risk.
Fate may have actually played a role in the ensuing Allied victory. When the Eighth Army
artillery barked to signal the start of the battle, Rommel was ill in Germany. Within hours, his
second in command, General Georg Stumme, was dead of a heart attack. Command of the Afrika
Korps fell to General Ritter von Thoma, and the coordination of the German response to the
offensive suffered. German tank strength was whittled away during a dozen subsequent days of
fighting. An initial strength of 500 tanks dwindled to only 30 serviceable vehicles as the Germans
also had to contend with shortages of men and equipment due to supply lines that stretched
across the Mediterranean through trackless miles of desert and were constantly harassed by Allied
planes and submarines. Eventually, they were compelled to abandon key defensive positions.
By early November, the Afrika Korps was in full retreat across 1,000 miles of previously con-
quered territory. The British had captured 9,000 prisoners, including von Thoma. On November
4, British Army headquarters in Cairo issued a communiqué announcing that the Germans were
on the run and reporting that they were being “relentlessly attacked by our land forces, and by
the Allied air force, by day and night.” In response, King George VI sent a congratulatory message
that read in part, “The Eighth Army ... has dealt the Axis a blow of which the importance cannot
be exaggerated.”
Four days later, Allied forces landed in the west at Oran, Algiers, and Casablanca. Operation
Torch opened a second front in North Africa, and Axis forces were inexorably pressed in the
vise. Total victory was achieved on May 13, 1943, when the remaining Axis troops in North
Africa surrendered in Tunisia. Field Marshal Harold Alexander, commander of the 18th Army
Group, reported to London, “We are masters of the Mediterranean shores.” Montgomery became
a national hero and went on to command Allied ground forces in Western Europe.
Coupled with the great Soviet victory at Stalingrad in early 1943, the defeat in North Africa
doomed the Axis—and the turning point had come at El Alamein.
Michael E. Haskew
6 WWII HISTORYOCTOBER 2017
W-Oct17 Editorial.qxp_W-Jul06 Letters 8/11/17 3:26 PM Page 7
WWII HISTORY
Volume 16 Number 6
CARL A. GNAM, JR.
Editorial Director, Founder
MICHAEL E. HASKEW
Editor
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SAMANTHA DETULLEO
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KEVIN M. HYMEL
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Hymel, Pat McTaggart, Joseph Luster,
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OCTOBER 2017 WWII HISTORY 7
W-Oct17 Ordnance-Houston.qxp_Layout 1 8/11/17 11:04 AM Page 8
Ordnance IBy A.B. Feuer I
Naval History and Heritage Command
Outnumbered and commanding officer, Captain Albert H.
Rooks, also ordered an antisubmarine patrol
every night. The cruiser’s antiaircraft batteries
Outgunned were manned day and night. The extra cau-
tion was justified when, on the morning of
December 8, Rooks was informed that hostil-
ities had begun with Japan. Houston hoisted
USS Houstonfought to the very last in the murky waters anchor and barely cleared the harbor entrance
before gunfire was heard. A ship was observed
off Java’s Sunda Strait.
burning in the distance.
Rooks proceeded to Manila Bay to help con-
voy Allied supply ships in the southern waters.
THE HEAVY CRUISER USS HOUSTONVENTURED INTO THE SUNDA STRAIT OFF During the following month, Houston was
the coast of Java on the dark night of February 28, 1942, and was never heard from again. It was constantly busy escorting convoys between
not until 31/2years later that the story of her fate was revealed by the surviving members of her Port Darwin, Australia, and Surabaya, Java.
crew after their release from Japanese prison camps. There was no time for liberty, and a constant
Houston’s career began in 1933, when newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt was piped watch was maintained. The cruiser’s scout
aboard for a 12,000-mile cruise. Roosevelt enjoyed the cruise so much that he took another one planes were in the air all day, and the ship was
a few years later. Reviewing the fleet from the bridge of the cruiser, the president enthused, “I feel at general quarters most of the time.
this ship is home.” In honor of her history with the president, Houstonbecame known as the On February 3, 1942, Houston joined a
“Little Flagship of the Fleet.” combined Allied strike force of American,
In November 1940, Houstonrelieved Augustaas flagship of the American Asiatic Fleet. She British, Dutch, and Australian ships assem-
operated in the Manila Bay area, carrying out target practice and tactical maneuvers with Mar- bled at Surabaya. Rear Admiral Karel Door-
bleheadand other ships of the fleet. All the American ships were constantly engaged man of the Royal Netherlands
in preparing for war. In October 1941, Houston entered Cavite Navy Yard for Artist John Hamilton Navy commanded the force,
installation of new antiaircraft guns and searchlights. She had been slated to leave captures the chaos of the which consisted of four cruisers
night action at the Battle
the yard by the middle of December. Toward the end of November, however, warn- and seven destroyers. That
of Sunda Strait in this
ings were received advising the cruiser to be ready to sail “at any time—anywhere.” same night, the force sailed for
painting as searchlights
Work on the ship was speeded up to 24 hours a day. On the afternoon of November Macassar Strait on a mission to
stab into the darkness,
28, Houstonprepared to leave Cavite and clear Manila Bay as soon as possible. intercept a Japanese convoy
muzzles flash, and explo-
Two days later, Houstonsailed from Manila to Iloilo in the central Philippines. sions rip through warships reported to be near Balikpapan,
Upon arrival, a daytime air patrol was established from dawn to dusk. Houston’s and transports. Borneo.
8 WWII HISTORYOCTOBER 2017
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W-Oct17 Ordnance-Houston.qxp_Layout 1 8/11/17 11:04 AM Page 10
Naval History and Heritage Command National Archives
ABOVE: The U.S. Navy cruiser Houstonand the Australian cruiser Perthride peacefully at anchor in the harbor at
Darwin, Australia. This photo was taken two weeks before both warships were lost in action against the
Japanese at the Battle of Sunda Strait. RIGHT: In this photo taken in the early 1930s off the coast of Chefoo,
China, antiaircraft gunners aboard the cruiser USS Houstonman their weapons during a training exercise.
The next morning, several groups of enemy On February 18, Houstonleft Port Darwin distinguishable in the moonlight. Houston
planes were spotted off the port beam. Hous- for Surabaya. She arrived five days later and opened fire with star shells, but the salvos fell
tonincreased speed and the crew manned their joined another combined Allied fleet. The next short. The Japanese responded with three
air-defense stations. Japanese bombers com- morning, nine Japanese bombers approached salvos of their own before the ships passed out
menced attacking from an altitude of 9,000 the naval base from the southwest. Houston of range. Minutes later, enemy destroyers
feet, singling out Houstonand Marbleheadas opened fire when the enemy aircraft were with- launched a torpedo attack, and the Allied ships
their chief targets. Houston opened fire with in range. For the next three days, the ship was Java and De Ruyter were blasted out of the
her 5-inch guns. During the final enemy attack, under constant air attack. water. Before losing contact, Admiral Door-
a bomb exploded near Houston’s aft turret, On the afternoon of February 26, the weary man, aboard De Ruyter, ordered Houstonand
setting off ammunition and starting a serious Allied ships put to sea in search of enemy con- the Australian cruiser Perth to head for
fire. Forty-eight men were killed and another voys. The next evening, British destroyers sig- Batavia, Java, and not to stand by for sur-
20 injured. Marblehead was also hit by two naled that they had spotted enemy ships. To vivors. The two ships tore through the water at
bombs and badly damaged. the left, almost dead ahead, were two columns 28 knots, arriving at the Batavian port of
The two ships limped into Tjilatjap, Java, for of Japanese cruisers and destroyers. The masts Tandjung Priok about noon the next day.
repairs. The dead were buried in the local of numerous transports could be seen in the Rooks met with the British liaison officer and
cemetery and attempts were made to fix the distance. The Allies immediately set a course received orders to proceed to Tjilatjap by way
structural damage to both cruisers. Unfortu- parallel to the enemy fleet. of the Sunda Strait, which supposedly was free
nately, facilities at the port were very poor, and As Houston rounded into column, the of enemy forces. Houston hurriedly refueled
Houston’s crew was unable to make the dam- Japanese opened fire. The American cruiser while the crew shifted ammunition from the
aged turret operational again. Nevertheless, returned fire with her 98-inch batteries, hitting disabled aft turret to the forward magazines. It
the cruiser was ordered back to Port Darwin the farthest enemy cruiser and setting it on fire. was nearly dark when Houstonand Perthset
for more escort duty. The action became general. The British cruiser sail for the strait. Rooks placed the ship on con-
On February 15, Houston joined the USS Exeter suffered a hit to her boiler room and dition two instead of general quarters—he
Peary and two Australian corvettes to trans- dropped out of the fight; the Dutch destroyer wanted the men to get as much rest as possible.
port American and Australian troops to Kortenaerwas struck by a torpedo, jackknifed, At 2300 hours, Houstonwas about to round
Koepang, Timor. The convoy had only been and sank in less than a minute. Moments later, the north end of St. Nicholas Point and enter
underway a short time when a Japanese flying the British destroyer Electrawas blasted out of Sunda Strait when Perthsighted the Japanese
boat appeared. It was quickly driven off by the water and sank within seconds. destroyer Fubuki and opened fire. Fubuki
gunfire, but the convoy’s position had been dis- The Allies broke off the engagement and unleashed nine torpedoes at the Allied cruisers.
covered. The next morning the Japanese dis- headed back to Surabaya. While steaming on a The torpedoes missed the Allied ships but
patched 36 land-based bombers and 10 sea- westerly course paralleling the Java coast, the struck four Japanese transports unloading
planes to intercept the Allied ships. British destroyer Jupiter struck a mine and troops and supplies in Bantam Bay. The explo-
Rooks maneuvered Houston in and out of erupted into flames. Rooks steered Houston sions illuminated the landing area, and Hous-
the transport column, repelling wave after out of the dangerously shallow water and away tonand Perthopened fire on the blazing ships.
wave of enemy planes and firing more than from the coast. That night, the ship passed a Three of the transports had to be beached,
900 rounds in less than 45 minutes. The Japan- large group of men bobbing in the water—they while a fourth was sunk outright.
ese planes eventually gave up attacking Hous- were the survivors of the Kortenaer. Encounter The two Allied cruisers were suddenly sur-
ton and went after the transports instead. By was ordered to rescue the sailors and proceed to rounded by Japanese warships. Rooks realized
then the enemy planes had already dropped Surabaya. The other Allied cruisers were now that there was no way he could maneuver his
most of their bombs, and the attack failed. The without any destroyer protection. ship in the narrow waters. Houstonand Perth
Japanese nicknamed Houston the “Gray Later that same night, Houstonsighted two swung north toward the open sea.
Ghost.” She seemed to be living a charmed life, enemy cruisers off her port. The Japanese ships The Japanese fleet consisted of the cruisers
but her luck would not last much longer. were on an opposite course and were clearly Natori, Mogami,and Mikuma, along with 10
10 WWII HISTORYOCTOBER 2017