Wavell was gambling that they could hold, or at the very least delay the German move east for a few more days. 46th Infantry Division had arrived, right on schedule at Suez, and he was already getting them onto the trains for the move into Palestine. That was a mixed division, and he would have a full Brigade of good armor when they arrived. Now what he wanted was one more mailed fist, and then he thought he might have a fighting chance at going on the offensive.
Time to pay a visit to General O’Connor, he thought. As much as he hated to do so, it was time to make good his threat to pick his pocket.
Chapter 21
New cards were dealt to both sides in the wild campaign now underway. The British received their 46th Mixed Division, with that brigade of much needed armor, and now Wavell flew all the way to Benghazi to meet with O’Connor.
“I know this is a lot to ask of you, particularly since we lost the brigade in that tragic accident. But we’ve two panzer divisions to contend with in Syria, and if we don’t do something about that, they’ll be in Iraq before we can finish our next cup of tea. Is there anything at all that you can send me?”
“Well I can’t touch 7th Armored. I’ve positioned it well to the south. 23rd Armored Brigade has just deployed on the coast with 51st Highland Division. That’s my hammer, and I really can’t proceed without it. That leaves 1st Armored Division, if we can call it that. It’s really only two brigades, the 2nd Armored and the 7th Motorized. I have it between the other two groups as a ready reserve, but I suppose I could detach 2nd Armored Brigade. That will mean I’ll have to bring up 44th Home County. I was going to rest them, but there’s nothing else for it. I don’t suppose I could interest you in a South African Division? They’re at the back end of the line, way south of Misrata.”
“It’s armor we need now,” said Wavell. “Jerry is boxing our ears with those panzer divisions, and I’ve only two tank battalions in play, at least until I get 46th Infantry up. With one more tank brigade, I can counterattack. Otherwise, we just sit and try to parry what the other fellow does.”
“Well General, you can have the 2nd Armored, but realize it’s presently sitting some 700 miles from the railhead near Tobruk. That’s a long slog, and I wouldn’t vouch for that unit in combat after a march like that. Things fall apart, if you understand my meaning. It will take them five days to get to your trains, another day to load up, and then another on the rail lines into Palestine. After that they unload, get sorted out, and the maintenance operations can begin. Figure to have them in hand where you might want them to fight in two weeks.”
“I see…” Wavell had hoped he might get something much sooner. He had been so preoccupied with the situation in Syria that he completely overlooked what O’Connor was doing, assuming 8th Army was in good hands. Now he found that he had left no armored units in his rear areas, and the distances involved were daunting.
“You might trim off a few days if you can get shipping to Benghazi,” said O’Connor. “That’s just 500 miles on the road then, and then they could go by sea to Haifa. You’ll have to see about Cunningham covering that move, but I’m sure it could be done.”
He saw the weariness in Wavell now, and knew the burden of command was laying on him heavier than ever. By this time in the war, Wavell had long since been replaced in Fedorov’s history. He was hanging on because he was “in the know,” and Churchill wanted that circle to be a most exclusive club.
“I suppose we might use the shipping delivering the 46th Division. There should be enough there to lift tanks. But that 500 mile road march to Benghazi has me worried. I know what you say about the wear and tear on the vehicles. I just didn’t realize you had everything so far forward. We might find nothing more than a maintenance nightmare by the time they get to Benghazi.”
“Have you thought to pass the cup to Monty?”
“Montgomery? It never occurred to me.”
“Well he’s been getting regular convoys every other week, and one is due in to Algiers today.”
“Even if he had a thousand knights in silver armor, we’d never get them past Tunis and Sicily. That’s the heart of German air power on that front, and those straits are infested with enemy submarines.”
Wavell was quite discouraged when he left O’Connor, but bit his lip and resolved to do what he could with the single armored brigade attached to 46th Infantry. When he arrived back at Alexandria, eager to get the latest report on the situation he was facing, a clerk handed him a shipping schedule, which he nearly put aside to get at the latest combat reports. But he gave it a passing glance, seeing a most unexpected delivery was due in another two days.
“See here,” he said to the clerk. “What’s this about another Winston Special arriving on Monday? I haven’t heard a word about it.”
“Sorry sir. It was in the daily file, but you’ve been away at the front, and then off to Benghazi.”
“Has it been scheduled for debarkation?”
“Yes sir, all right and proper. But it will only need a day, as the Convoy Master signaled that the unit was all combat loaded.”
“Combat loaded? What unit?”
“Why it’s right there, sir. 25th Tank.”
Wavell flipped a page, squinting with that one good eye. There it was, the answer to his dilemma lost in a sheaf of paper in a plain manila folder on his desk!
“25th Tank Brigade?”
“A territorial unit sir, or at least it was.”
Not everything leaving England in the last month was bound for Montgomery. A week after 46th Infantry Division departed for the Middle East, another unit that had been schedule for Montgomery was hung up on the docks because there would be no immediate need for it in North Africa. Monty had all the armor he could use on his front, and if it had been sent, he would have only put it into reserve for training while he advanced with his veteran units.
In late December of 1942, the 25th Tank had mustered at Liverpool, intended for deployment to Algeria. It was an old brigade with a new name, once a second line territorial unit in the UK, and now getting all new equipment for its first real foray into the war. The unit was composed of three tank ‘Regiments,’ which were really battalion sized formations with three squadrons of 18 tanks each. HQ troops with AA and support tanks fleshed it out a bit, and a battalion of twelve self-propelled ‘Bishop’ 25-Pounders was added, with a company of armored engineers. The main battle tanks in this unit were the Churchill IV, with an improved 75mm gun.
This TO& E would make it the most powerful armored force east of Suez, at least for the British. Wavell was flabbergasted. It was all right there, authorized by Churchill himself, and Wavell would later learn that it had been sent to try and fill the void when another brigade had been mysteriously lost in that terrible event at Tobruk. The Prime Minister knew that would likely effect things, and he wanted no further timidity on the part of his commanders. So instead of letting the 25th languish on the docks at Liverpool, he teed up a Winston Special and simply sent it to Wavell.
Wavell was beaming as he read the details. “The drunken Dutchess,” he said with a smile. “Good for her.”
One of the troopships assigned to carry the personnel in that convoy was the former Canadian steamship liner the Dutchess of York, often called the “Drunken Dutchess,” a nickname given to the liner for its remarkable stability in heavy seas. It would roll heavily, but always stay on its feet. All the tanks were spread over twelve other merchantmen, and the convoy would be in Suez in another two days. There was his second mailed fist, and now he could face the Germans with two hands in the fight.