Doku: U-Boot Krieg im Atlantik

Sehenswerte und fundierte Dokumentation in 3 Teilen.

Now, Scots Greys, Now!

Scotland Forever! Lady Butler, 1881

Die Belle Alliance Kampagne ist eröffnet!

Ziel dieses Projektes ist es, sich die Schlacht durch einzelne Beiträge zu erschließen und anschließend das Schlachtfeld zu besichtigen.

Bis jetzt geplante Beiträge:

-Das Kontingent der King´s German Legion

-Die Nassauer

-Das Schlachtfeld

-Die Kampagne von 1815

-Ney, Marschall von Frankreich

Vorschläge, Beiträge usw. sind natürlich gerne gesehen!

Street without joy

Auszug aus „Street Without Joy – The French Debacle in Indochina, 10. Diary: The Men“ von Bernard B. Fall

„When I went to the Transportation Office that afternoon at 1530, the Cambodian orderly told me apologetically the „le Lieutenant est allé au mess jouer au tennis avec le Capitaine“ and that they might well stay there for the rest of the afternoon. Since a convoy which I expected to catch was supposed to leave at dawn, I decided to stroll over to the mess in order to get my travel documents signed there.

The Siem Réap officers´mess was a pleasant and well-kept place; with its wide Cambodian-type verandahs, its parasol-shaded tables and the well manicured lawns und beautiful red-sanded tennis court, it was an exact replica of all the other colonial officers´messes from Port Said to Singapore, Saigon or even Manila, wherever the white man hat set his foot in the course of building his ephemeral empires.

I found the two officers at the tennis court, in gleaming white French square-bottomed shorts (no one in Europe would be caught dead in the ungainly Bermuda pants called „shorts“ in the United States), matching Lacoste tennis shirts und knee-long socks. Their skins had lost the unhealthy pallor of the jungle and taken on the handsome bronze of the vacationer engaging in outdoor sports; their wives, seated at a neighboring table, were beautifully groomed and wore deceptively simple ( but, oh, so expensive!) cotton summer dresses clearly showing the hand of a Paris designer. Both officers played in the easy style of men who knew each others´s game and were bent less on winning than on getting the fun and exercise of it. Three Cambodian servants, clad in impeccable white slacks and shirts, stood respectfully in the shadow of the verandah, awaiting the call of one of the officers or women for a new cool drink.

Since the men were in the midst of a set and I had little else to do, I sat down at a neighboring table after a courteous bow to the ladies and watched the game, gladly enjoying the atmosphere of genteel civility and forgetting for a moment the war. At the next table, the two women kept up the rapid-fire chatter which French women are prone to use when men are present. The two men also kept up a conversation of sorts, interrupted regularly by the „plop-plop“ of the tennis ball.

Then emerged from the verandah a soldier in French uniform. His small stature, brown skin and Western-type features showed him to be a Cambodian. He wore the blue field cap with the golden anchor of the Troupes Coloniales – the French „Marines“- and the three golden chevrons of a master sergeant. On his chest above the left breast pocket of his suntan regulation shirt were three rows of multi-colored ribbons: croix de guerre with four citations, campaign ribbons with the clasps of France´s every colonial campaign since the Moroccan pacification of 1926, the Italian campaign of 1943 and the drive to the Rhine of 1945. In his left hand, he carried several papers crossed diagonally with a tri-colored ribbon; travel orders, like mine, which also awaited the signature of one of the officers.

He remained in the shadow of the verandah´s awnings until the officers had interrupted their game and had joined the two women with their drinks, then strode over in a measured military step, came stiffly to attention in a military salute, and handed the orders for himself and his squad to the captain. The captain looked up in surprise, still with a a half-smile on his face from the remark he had made previously. His eyes narrowed suddenly as he understood that he was being interrupted. Obviously, he was annoyed but not really furious.

„Sergeant, you can see that I´m busy. Please wait until I have time to deal with your travel orders. Don´t worry. You will have them in time for the convoy.“ The sergeant stood stiffly at attention, some of his almost white hair glistening in the sun where it peeked from under the cap, his wizened face betraying no emotion whatever. „A vos ordres, mon Capitaine.“ A sharp salute, a snappy about face. The incident was closed, the officers had had their drink and now resumed their game.

The sergeant resumed his watch near where the Cambodian messboys where following the game, but this time he had squatted down on his haunches, a favorite Cambodian position of repose which would leave most Europeans with partial paralysis for several hours afterwards. Almost without moving his head, he attentively followed the tennis game, his travel orders still tightly clutched in his left hand. The sun began to settle behind the trees of the garden and a slight cooling breeze rose from the nearby Lake Tonlé-Sap, Cambodia´s inland sea. It was 1700.

All of a sudden, there rose behind the trees, from the nearby French camp, the beautiful bell-clear sounds of a bugle playing „lower the flag“ – the signal which, in the French Army, marks the end of the working day as the colors are struck. Nothing changed at the tennis court; the officers continued to play their set, the women continued their chatter, and the messboys their silent vigil.

Only the old sergeant had moved. He was now standing stiffly at attention, his right hand raised to the cap in the flat-palmed salute of the French Army, facing in the direction from which the bugle tones came; saluting, as per regulations, France´s tricolor hidden behind the trees. The rays of the setting sun shone upon the immobile brown figure, catching the gold of the anchor and of the chevrons and of one of the tiny metal stars of his ribbons.

Something very warm welled up in me. I felt like running over to the little Cambodian who had fought all his life for my country, and apologizing to him for my countrymen here who didn´t care about him, and for my countrymen in France who didn´t even care about their countrymen fighting in Indochina …

And in one single blinding flash, I knew that we were going to lose the war.“

Theodor Fontane: Das Trauerspiel von Afghanistan (1858/59)

Der Schnee leis stäubend vom Himmel fällt,
Ein Reiter vor Dschellalabad hält,
„Wer da?“ – „Ein britischer Reitersmann,
Bringe Botschaft aus Afghanistan.“

Afghanistan! Er sprach es so matt,
Es umdrängt den Reiter die halbe Stadt,
Sir Robert Sale, der Kommandant,
Hebt ihn vom Rosse mit eigener Hand.

Sie führen ins steinerne Wachthaus ihn,
Sie setzen ihn nieder an den Kamin,
Wie wärmt ihn das Feuer, wie labt ihn das Licht,
Er atmet hoch auf und dankt und spricht:

„Wir waren dreizehntausend Mann,
Von Kabul unser Zug begann,
Soldaten, Führer, Weib und Kind,
Erstarrt, erschlagen, verraten sind.

Zersprengt ist unser ganzes Heer,
Was lebt, irrt draußen in Nacht umher,
Mir hat ein Gott die Rettung gegönnt,
Seht zu, ob den Rest ihr retten könnt.“

Sir Robert stieg auf den Festungswall,
Offiziere, Soldaten folgten ihm all‘,
Sir Robert sprach: „Der Schnee fällt dicht,
Die uns suchen, sie können uns finden nicht.

Sie irren wie Blinde und sind uns so nah,
So laßt sie’s hören, daß wir da,
Stimmt an ein Lied von Heimat und Haus,
Trompeter blast in die Nacht hinaus!“

Da huben sie an und sie wurden’s nicht müd‘,
Durch die Nacht hin klang es Lied um Lied,
Erst englische Lieder mit fröhlichem Klang,
Dann Hochlandslieder wie Klagegesang.

Sie bliesen die Nacht und über den Tag,
Laut, wie nur die Liebe rufen mag,
Sie bliesen – es kam die zweite Nacht,
Umsonst, daß ihr ruft, umsonst, daß ihr wacht.

Die hören sollen, sie hören nicht mehr,
Vernichtet ist das ganze Heer,
Mit dreizehntausend der Zug begann,
Einer kam heim aus Afghanistan.

Remnants of an Army, Elizabeth Butler, 1879

William Brydon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brydon

Kriegsreisende

Seite mit verschiedenen Beiträgen über Söldner, vom Altertum bis zur Neuzeit.

http://kriegsreisende.de/

The Raid on Alexandria, December 19th 1941. Decima Flottiglia MAS

Von mir verfasster Artikel für das Forum von Armchair Generals.

The Raid on Alexandria, December 19th 1941. Decima Flottiglia MAS

The ”Decima Flottiglia MAS” was a commando unit of the “Regia Marina” (Italian Royal Navy) which was famous for its daring raids during WW2 with human torpedoes and small attack crafts.

The roots of this unit lay in the Abyssinian Crisis in 1935/1936, when Italy and Great Britain were on the verge of war. The Italians faced the most powerful fleet of the world and had to find ways to inflict serious damage with scant resources and therefore invented techniques which are still in use by naval commando units today.

Badge of the ”Decima Flottiglia MAS”

Prehistory:

On 25th of November a German U-Boot attacked the British Mediterranean Fleet, consisting of three battleship, the Qeen Elizabeth, the Valiant, the Barham and their destroyer escort.

The U 331 under the command of the Lt. von Tiesenhausen managed to approach the convoy undetected and fired 4 torpedoes at the Barham, which sunk with 859 (862 ?) crewmen aboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD0d_J4y_s4 (Britischer Beitrag mit Aufnahmen der Explosion)

This incident, and the sinking of the Ark Royal on the 13th of November, gave Italy superiority in the Mediterranean with her 5 Battleships ( in comparison to 2 British)

The British, afraid to endanger their remaining naval power, stationed their remaining 2 battleship at the fortified bay of Alexandria.

The attack:

Ernesto Forza was in charge of the” Decima Flottiglia MAS” in December 1941. He and Junio Valerio Borghese, the commander of the submarine “Scirè”, which played an important role during this operation, made up their mind and came to the conclusion that an attack with the human torpedo “Maiale” (pig) would be worth a try.

The „Maiale“

The plan was to approach Alexandria with “Scirè”, the only Italian submarine capable of transporting the 3 “pigs”, to release them some miles before the harbor and then to attack the battleships in the night.

The „Scirè“

The operators should place their charges to the hulls of the assigned ships and then release a certain number of floating mines which should go off an hour later, setting the leaked oil on fire.

After that the operators should land on assigned parts of the beach and be picked up by a submarine, the “Zaffiro”, in the Nile Delta. However, everybody was aware of the little chance the operators had to escape.

Air reconnaissance was enforced to gain information about the site, escort and security vessels etc.

Forza and Borghese intensified the training of the operators. Particular attention was paid to approach by night. Security measures were high and no one of the operators knew the exact target.

Finally Forza assembled “everybody”, held a speech and underlined the importance and the danger of the upcoming mission and then asked for volunteers.

The final attack team, chosen because they were the “pick of the bunch”, consisted of:

1. Lieutenant Luigi Durand de la Penne / Diver Emilio Vianchi
2. Engineer Captain Antonio Marceglia / Diver Spartaco Schergat
3. Gunner Captain Vincenzo Martellotta / Diver Mario Marino

The “Scirè” left the harbor of La Spezia on the 3rd August, however without the “pigs”. The whole procedure should look like a normal “patrol” mission.

Outside of La Spezia a lighter approached the “Scirè” in the twilight which carried the 3 torpedoes, 221,222 and 223. The operators checked their crafts for the last time and left with the lighter.

“Operation EA 3” had started.

On the 9th of December the “Scirè” reached Leros and entered Port Lago; ostensibly a damaged submarine which had to be repaired. The Italians even flew 6 technicians in to improve the cover.On the 10th the operators were flown in and Borghese gave them a final briefing at the 13th with the latest aerial photographs.

The operation should be lead by Borghese who would be in the submarine. Forza went to Athens on the 9th and supplied the team with photographs, weather bulletins, intelligence reports etc.

On the 14th the “Scirè” left Leros with the operators on board. One of the many dangers which had to be faced by Borghese and his crew where the minefields, which where about 20 miles NW of the harbor.

Borghese simply “trusted his luck”. Another problem was to reach the exact point where the operators should be released submerged and against underwater currents.

Borghese finally decided, after he had postponed the operation because of bad weather for 24 hours, to attack on the 18th. Athens reported that the two battleships were in the harbor.

At 18:40 the “Scirè” arrived nearly exactly at the starting point. The submarine surfaced and released the 6 operators who headed directly for Alexandria. One of the reserve operators, who`s task was to close the cylinders which contained the “pigs” after the (!) the submarine had submerged lost his consciousness but could be rescued and survived.

The operators entered the port with only their heads above the water surface, when 3 destroyers came in  They felt heavily the depth charges going off. On one occasion Martellotta and Marino were only 20 meters beside a destroyer.

The three crafts lost contact while entering the harbor and proceeded on their own to their designated targets.

Marceglia and Schergat managed reach their target, the “Queen Elizabeth” undiscovered, overcame the torpedo net and placed their charge.

They sank their craft, swam to the beach and went into the city. Their they wasted a lot of time because the Sterling they had was not common in Alexandria and they had to change their money (!!) before they could buy a ticket for the train to Rosetta.

They finally managed to reach Rosetta. When they tried to get to the beach to swim to the waiting submarine they were encountered by Egyptian policemen and handed over to the British authorities.

De La Penne and Bianchi reached the “Valiant” undiscovered. Here their problems began. De La Penne managed to overcome the torpedo net but lost contact to Bianchi. Then his craft sank to the bottom in a depth of 17 meter and it was immobilized because a piece of wire was entangled in the propeller.

So he moved the craft by force, for 40 minutes, using his compass to navigate.

HMS Valiant

HMS Queen Elizabeth

He primed the fuse, emerged and tried to reach the beach. After a couple of minutes however a searchlight picked him up and a burst of machine gun brought him to a stop.

He was brought to the “Valiant” where he met Bianchi who was caught earlier.

The two were locked in cell in the near of the charge. However they both kept silent and survived the detonation.
Both the “Valiant” and the “Queen Elizabeth” sank in the harbor.

The third team, Martellotta and Marino, should attack the aircraft carrier (which one ?) when it was in the harbor. As the carries was not their the two switched to their second task, the oil tankers.

Martellotta however was drained and started to vomit so he took off his mask and attacked the tanker surfaced. They placed the charge and set off the floating mines. The two went ashore, destroyed their equipment but were caught immediately by Egyptian policemen. The tanker, however, was sunk.

This operation which crippled the “Valiant” and the “Queen Elizabeth” for over one year gave the Royal Italian Navy absolute superiority in the Mediterranean, enabling it to supply the Afrikakorps in a critical stage of war.

The German and Italian staffs however did not fully exploit this advantageous situation.

All six operators received the gold medal for gallantry in war when their returned from prison.

The one who pinned the medal to de la Penne`s chest in 1944 was Admiral Morgan who was the commanding officer of the “Valiant” in 1941.

Luigi Durand de la Penne

This post is mainly based on the book “Sea Devils“, which was written by Borghese after the war. Borghese`s political background and subjectivity make it not easy to write down the real course of events.

Junio Valerio Borghese, note the „Eisernes Kreuz I+II“

The attack on Alexandria of the 19th of December 1941 was the plot for the movie “The Valiant” and is shown at the beginning of “The silent enemy”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEyqK…eature=related

Although absolutely inaccurate, this scene gives a good idea of how the attack could have looked like.

Jean Baptiste Edouard Detaille

Umfangreiche Bildersammlung des Malers:

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82732

Mühle bei Ligny 16.06.1815?

Schlachtfeld von Mars la Tour / Vionville

 

Husarenstück

„Als Husarenstück (auch Husarenritt oder Husarenstreich) wird ein (geglücktes) waghalsiges, kühnes Unternehmen bezeichnet. Zurückgeführt wird der Ausdruck auf die Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts gegründetenösterreichischen Husarenregimenter, die die Aufgabe hatten, den Feind auszukundschaften, die feindlichen Marschkolonnen durch kurze Angriffe zu stören und Botendienste zu versehen, was neben der Fähigkeit zu eigenverantwortlichen Entscheidungen ein hohes Maß an Kühnheit und Waghalsigkeit erforderte.“

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husarenst%C3%BCck

Und vorwärts…

„Der Husar“ geht online.