Battle for Northern Africa-interesting info

Joachim Müncheberg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From February 1941, Müncheberg's staffel became the first Bf-109 unit to operate in the Mediterranean theatre, and from bases in Sicily the staffel was to achieve success out of all proportion to its size, with some 52 victories claimed without losing a single pilot. Müncheberg claimed almost half of these victories.

( just think how different it was 1943...)

Medagalia d’Oro (7 May 1941)

On 30 November 1962 an honorary one-time pension of 1,500 DM was paid to the relatives of Müncheberg (and relatives of Hans-Joachim Marseille) by the Italian Minster of Defence Giulio Andreotti

 

After Italy's invasion of Albania in 1939, King Zog, having been exiled by Mussolini, set out with his royal retinue for London's Ritz hotel. The hall porter, surprised by the unusual weight of the king's cases, asked him whether they contained anything valuable. "Yes," Zog replied. "Gold."

Anecdotage.Com - Thousands of true funny stories about famous people. Anecdotes from Gates to Yeats

 

Malta and Victory Kitchens

When the food situation became acute and siege conditions were being experienced, the Government opened the so-called Victory Kitchens which were later extended to cover the two islands. The system, however useful, was quite unpopular and people were vociferously critical of both the fare provided therein -pasta, sardines and goat's meat - and of the female staff employed. They vented their displeasure in a series of triplets or groups of three lines sung on an old folk tune, e.g.


Baked pasta in trays and people in array
at the Victory Kitchen.
Minestra and sardines, pasta and beans
at the Victory Kitchen.
What a treat on New Year's Day! They made us eat sardines
at the Victory Kitchen.
Their legs are so fat, they eat so much grub,
the girls at the Victory Kitchen.
Lipstick-laden maidens with polish on their nails
at the Victory Kitchen.
Their hair set all wavy to flirt with boys in the navy,
the girls at the Victory Kitchen.
The kitchen staff were not slow to retaliate by saying
We served you goat's meat, which you had to eat
from the Victory Kitchen

WWII popular verse

Malta - Victory Kitchen

 

"The Doc came and examined me, asked if I had been abroad and said that he thought I had the "Malta Dog" which was the same as "Gippie Tummy" and "Screaming Abdabs" and all these words we used for dysentery. "

BBC - WW2 People's War - A View from the Back: The Recollections of a Fleet Air Arm Observer 1941-1946 by Tony Inman (Part 7 of 14) (Sep 43 — Jul 44)

 

On St. George's Day 23 April 1943 the Scouts of Malta were awarded the Bronze Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry of the Boy Scouts Association of the British Commonwealth and Empire "in recognition of their courage, heroic endurance and devotion to duty in the war for freedom". The Official History of the Boy Scouts Movement 1939-1945 records "The Scouts of Malta endured a heavier ordeal than any others. They were employed as coast-watchers, messengers, telephone operators; they manned Air Raid Precaution centres, worked in the censor's office, in the hospitals, and those who were old enough in the Volunteer Defence Force. One of their more important duties was that of acting as Telephone orderlies when convoys were unloaded... The bravery of the Scouts during the frequent air-raids became a by-word among the population. Their headquarters was destroyed together with all the records... All of them must be a shining example to Scouts everywhere as long as the Movement endures". The unique award was presented to the Scouts by the Chief Scout (and Governor) of Malta, Lord Govt V.C. at the Palace Square in Valletta.

Scouts of Malta worked in the Censor's Office

 

Hans-Arnold "Fiffi" Stahlschmidt

Victories : 59
Awards : Knight`s Cross with Oak Leaves
Units : JG 27

Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt shot down 59 enemy aircraft in over 400 combat missions. All his victories were recorded in the North African theatre.

On 7 September 1942, Stahlschmidt was part of a Schwarm that had taken off on a freie Jagd. Southeast of El Alamein they came under attack by RAF Spitfires. Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt failed to return in his Bf 109 F-4 (W.Nr. 8704) “Red 4”.

Aces of the Luftwaffe - Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt

 

How many U-boats were able to enter the Mediterranean by "riding" the current and how many were able to leave?

Between 1941 and 1944, a total of 62 U-boats were reportedly sent into the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar. It is unknown how many of these U-boats were able to pass through the straits by relying on the currents alone while submerged. However, it is known that casualties in the strait overall were high. 9 of the 62 were sunk while attempting the passage. 21 others were forced to abort either because of damages or because the risk was deemed too high by their commanders. None of the U-boats that successfully entered the "mousetrap," as the Mediterranean became to be known by U-boat commanders, ever made it back to the Atlantic. All were either destroyed by the allies or scuttled by their own crews.

U-Boats, Density Currents, and the Strait of Gibraltar

 

Wow! They had a medal for this one....

Commemorative Medal for the Battle on the Western Alpine Front against France.
The June 1940 battle against France was commemorated by two variant medals, known unofficially as the Commemorative Medal for the Battle on the Western Alpine Front against France.

Comando Supremo: European War Medals

 

I wonder how many of those who were awarded this wore them with pride?

 

Monty and Battles in Northern Africa:

"I have had only two anxious moments. . . . The first was on January 15 when we attacked Tripoli. I knew we must get to Tripoli in ten days. ... I knew that if the Germans could hold us we might have to go back a long way. . . . For about one day in that battle, I was slightly anxious. But we got to Tripoli in eight days. The second occasion was when we left Tripoli. . . . About the same time Rommel was attacking the Americans at Gafsa, and we had to do something about it. ... We were very weak and very stretched and it was clear that Rommel was pulling out from in front of the Americans to attack us. ... I think the only thing that saved us was our great air superiority. Rommel attacked and you well remember the result. It was the only time we had to fight a defensive battle since leaving Alamein, and it is interesting to note how everyone had forgotten how. ... I even found generals looking up in their textbooks how to fight a defensive battle."


Memoirs of Monty - TIME

 

A tidbit from Steve Zaloga (speaking about armored "Doctrine" (on another thread), and how it actually panned out in real life)

The Charge of 2/1ST Armored at Sidi Bou Zid, 02/16/43

The tank charge by the 2nd Batallion, 1st Armored Regiment of the 1st Armored Division at Sidi bou Zid on February 15, 1943 was a case study in military failure. Two inexperienced battalions were sent across open desert against two experienced German Panzer divisions already well emplaced in defensive positions, with predictable consequences. There were no tactics worthy of the term: Alger's battalion simply headed forward in a calvary charge intending to collide with the Germans somewhere near Sidi bou Zid. The 2/1st Armored had never seen combat, and like the rest of 1st Armored Division, had not participated in tanl-vs-tank tactical training at the Desert Training Center in the Mojave Desert due to the rush to deploy it into the combat theatre. Instead of following the German tactics of slow movement in the desert to minimize dust, the battalion advanced towards the German positions at moderate speed. As a result, the American tanks were clearly visible to the German anti-tank gunners, while at the same time the cloud of dust kicked up by neighboring tanks blinded the US tankers from seeing the threats around them. The tanks attacked in a rough "V" formation in alphabetical order:Co.D on the left, Co.E in the center, and Co.F on the right. The outlying tank companies did spot the Germans outflanking maneuver. However, by the time they recognized the threat, the lead tanks had already moved within range of the camouflaged German anti-tank gun emplacements in the olive grove around them, and came under fire. The Germans were able to move two tank battalions on either side of Alger's battalion and mercilessly blast his trapped tanks from three sides. Alger claimed to have knocked out 19 German tanks. Only four of his tanks survived, those near the rear of the advancing column that retreated back to Kern's Crossroad with the 1/6th Armored Infantry when Alger's battalion was trapped.
The 10th Panzer Division had a Tiger battalion at Sidi bou Zid, but it did not take part in the fighting on February 15th. The Tigers had participated in the annihilation of Hightower's battalion on February 14th, claiming the destruction of 20 Sherman tanks that day. The M4 was clearly no equal to the Tiger, but there were very few Tigers in action in Tunisia.

 

Seems like the Americans could have learned something from the seasoned British troops but I guess they were too arrogant to listen. What a waste of good men !

 

James Francis Edwards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Francis "Stocky" Edwards CM, DFC & Bar, DFM, CD (born June 5, 1921 - ) was a Canadian fighter pilot during World War II. Edwards is Canada's highest scoring ace in the Western Desert Campaign.

One of Edward's victim during the North African campaign was famous Luftwaffe experten Otto Schulz, 51 kills, who was shot down by the Canadian ace on June 17, 1942.

 

"The great heat in the desert also had an effect on take-offs and landings. The density of the air was so reduced that the lengths of take-offs and lengths of landing strips had to be increased by up to 50 percent. landing operations could also be affected by strong air reflections in the heated ground layer, thus causing errors in the estimation of altitude."

Hitler´s stuka squadrons by John Ward

 

The only officially recognized non-pilot ace of Regia Auronatica was Pietro Bonnani, who served as a gunner Aboard Z.1007 and RS. 14 reconnaissance floatplanes with 170 Squadriglia, 83 Gruppo. Bonnani was credited with eight aircraft shot down and two probables.

Italian Aces of World War 2 - Google-teoshaku

 

Ernesto ‘Gamba di Ferro’ Botto

Botto became an Italian national hero because apart from winning one of the very few Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare not posthumous, he didn’t accept to leave active service and stop flying activity. Back at his base without the leg, he discovered that the VI Gruppo, which until then unofficially had been called Gruppo “Lionello” after the nickname of the CO Eugenio Leotta, had been officially christened “Gamba di Ferro” (“Iron Leg”) in his honour. A new insignia had been created by Sergente Maggiore Bruno Benassi and adopted by the whole VI Gruppo depicting an iron leg over an axe.

Italian biplane fighter aces - Ernesto Botto

 

Interesting Info guys thanks!

 

Wavell

"When General Wavell rightly decided to evacuate Somaliland, and carried out a brillant retreat, Churchill complained that his casualties had been too light. Wavell sent him a telegram, 'Butchery is not the mark of a good tactician,' and that was the end of him."

Anecdotage.Com - Thousands of true funny stories about famous people. Anecdotes from Gates to Yeats

 

The Italian Front

Incl interesting stuff like General George S. Patton's operational map for the invasion of Sicily, Pen used by King Victor Emmanuel to sign Italy's armistice with the Allies.

 

Pantelleria

Tiny Pantelleria, about half-way between Tunisia and Sicily, the Italians referred to as their Gibraltar. While this was arather grand conception of the island, it did lay in the path of any invader bound for Sicily. The very nature of Pantelleria--hilly, eroded, few beaches a soil with heavy volcanic ash content--made it a poor objective fo amphibious troops. It's single airfield could put up aircraft that would spot any invasion forcefar out at sea. Besides being heavily fortified, Pantelleria was garrisoned by ten thousand troops. While the Allies attempted to "neutralize" them, German & Italian forces in Italy could have time to prepare for their coming on the mainland.
After weighing the possibilities it was decided to bomb Pantelleria into submission from the air: Operation Corkscrew, beginning May 18th, 1943.Some fifty medium bombers and the same number of fighter bombers opened the campaign by striking the main harbor area and the airfield. British and American aircraft dropped six thousand tons of bombs on Pantelleria. German and Italian fighters attempted ti interfere with the assult, but with little succes because of escorting Allied fighters
In the evening before D-Day Mussolini had been informed by Vice-Admiral Gino Pavesi that "The Allied bombing could be endured no longer."; the Italian dictator himself authorized the surrender of Pantelleria.
When the assult troops began landing on the island the next morning a white flag appeared on the hill. The invasion proceeded with minimal resistance. -- the single Allied casualty being an infantryman who was bitten by a jackass.
For the first time in the history of warfare a sozeable military objective had been taken by air power alone. (not entirely true as the RN lobbed more than a few rounds in as well) True it was a small objective (about forty two square miles), but the significance of the fact was great and parlous.

from Air War ** Edward Jablonski

Pantelleria, 1943