“Splendid!” he said to the clerk. “I want expedited offloading on that convoy, understand? Pull anyone needed, but I want it on the trains to Haifa the same day it arrives.”
A little gift from Churchill, thought Wavell, but little did he know that the gift giver was very close at hand, and would soon be paying him a most unexpected visit, to collect on the bill.
At that very moment, Churchill was meeting with President Roosevelt in the newly liberated port city of Casablanca to iron out the wrinkles in plans laid for 1943. Among other things, the two leaders agreed on a policy of absolute victory that would grant no terms to the enemy and insist upon unconditional surrender. In spite of Marshall’s push for a decision on the invasion of France, the British successfully argued that it was still far too early, and that operations in North Africa must be concluded first. They then suggested Sicily as the next target, aimed at knocking Italy out of the war.
When the Germans crossed the border into northern Syria, the news was met with some chagrin and growing alarm, especially by Churchill. He had it in mind to make a secret visit to Turkey that very month to press her hand in marriage, but now that seemed to be an impossible undertaking. Churchill was greatly offended, for the plans for the meeting had been arranged with the Turkish government for some time, and now he realized that, all the while, Turkey had remained a wayward bride, her infidelity glaringly revealed as German combat units had been moving on Turkish rails for the last week.
Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, was with him, along with General Maitland Wilson, getting ready to take over in Iraq so that Alexander could be moved elsewhere. Churchill had planned to fly to Cairo from Casablanca to complete that move, which would come as yet another surprise for Wavell.
Deep down, the General could sense that something was up. The fact that he had not been asked to attend the Casablanca Conference was one clue. He thought that fortuitous at first, for that left him in Alexandria when the Germans crossed the Syrian border, but now he was to learn there was something more behind it. Churchill was planning to kill two birds with one stone in his visit to the Middle East. Now that the first had flown before he could take aim, he would settle for the bird he still had in hand, and meet with Wavell.
“General,” he said with as much warmth as he could muster, for he had found relations with Wavell somewhat strained at times. The two men retired to a secure room, but a moment later, Alan Brook came in through the back door, and greeted them both.
“Archie,” he said. “Good to see you.”
“And you, Sir Alan.”
“I’m afraid this won’t be a social call,” said Churchill. “And given the bad news we received with the opening of this new front, I thought, since I was close at hand, that I should come and see you about it.”
“Of course, sir,” said Wavell. “And oh yes, I must tell you that when I learned you had put the 25th Tank Brigade to sea for us I was most gratified. It will arrive in two days, and in the nick of time.”
“General,” said Brooke. “Just how bad is this new incursion? We’ve been locked away in smoke filled rooms at Casablanca.”
“It’s quite serious. They’ve hoodwinked us with this move through Turkey, and on that note, I suppose you received my messages concerning Turkish neutrality.”
Churchill had them in hand, but he had hoped to take no action on that until he had his visit with the Turkish government. That wasn’t going to happen now.
“That will be high on our agenda,” he said. “In fact, I hoped to be meeting with Ismet Inonii in just a few weeks, and this puts that in some jeopardy.”
“I should think so,” said Wavell. “Quite honestly, the Turkish frontier is a war zone now. It would be impossible to arrange security for such a visit, unless, of course, the Turkish officials might agree to come here.”
“They won’t,” said Churchill. “I proposed as much, and got a very cold shoulder. General, I think we’ve lost her, and that becomes a matter of the gravest concern. We sent a strongly worded reply to the Turks, but received nothing in response. I might understand their position, what with the Germans sitting a stone’s throw from Istanbul, and Ivan Volkov poised on their eastern borders. Everyone has to pick a side in this damn war, and it seems that the Turks have done so. Whether they formalize it or not, they’ve allowed German units to transit their territory, and on more than one occasion. Our patience has finally run out.”
“Yes, and German aircraft are flying from Iskenderun and Gaziantep, and we’ve not been able to lift a finger against them.”
“That will not be the case for long,” said Churchill. “So lay it out for us. How many divisions are involved in this dirty business?”
“Four light infantry divisions, mostly mountain troops, but also four more mobile divisions—two of them panzers.”
“I see… That’s a full army, and more than we expected. Is it true that they’ve already reached the Euphrates?”
“Unfortunately so,” said Wavell. “Quite frankly, I think they mean to push into Iraq.”
“As we feared,” said Brooke. “Well, can they?”
“At the moment, I’ve one mobile brigade under Brigadier Kingstone out there, and the 10th Indian Division under Baxland is only just arriving from Baghdad. There’s also fighting for Palmyra. That’s where the two panzer divisions went. Up until now, we’ve had just the infantry divisions, and the one Indian Armored Division, but it only has two battalions of tanks. So we’ve had to be stubborn with our infantry. We’ve got a fairly solid line inland from the coast at Tartus through Homs, but that’s a very wide flank to the east, and the enemy has moved with alarming speed.”
“Who’s commanding on their side?”
“General Guderian, and he’s no slouch.”
Brooke raised an eyebrow. “Will you stop him?” he asked.
“Now that 46th Infantry is here, and thanks to the Prime Minister’s foresight with that tank brigade, I believe we can hold Palestine and Lebanon secure. The problem now is going to be out east. Miles has the 56th at Palmyra, but Jerry has already roughed up one of his brigades pretty badly. I’ve organized a counterattack to try and get to him with the 31st Armored, but we’ll need much more armor. Once these new arrivals get up from Haifa, then I can attack in force—perhaps five days.”
“And if the Germans do have designs on Iraq?”
“We’ve only the four Indian divisions there, but I moved two of them into Syria. That action remains… unsettled.”
“Alright,” said Churchill. “We’ve come to the conclusion that this is far more serious than we first believed. The Germans have opened an entire new war front right under our noses, so we’ll have to really be on our game, or this could take a disastrous turn. Unfortunately, this will mean we’ll have to shake the tree out here, and I hope you’ll understand what I now propose—no, I’ll be plain with you sir, I’m going to make a change of command. I would like you to transfer to India forthwith, and take over planning for operations aimed at Burma and Ceylon. Now… You may take that on the chin as a slight, or evidence that we perceive you to have failed here, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Your service has been exemplary. You’ve saved Egypt, kicked the French out of Syria, and now you’ve set up O’Connor to do the same to the Italians in Libya. We owe you a great debt, but the situation in India is a bit loose these days. What we need is a good administrator, like yourself, to pull it together. Gandhi has been leading a movement against British rule, and there’s a good deal of sentiment that way. I want you to assume the role of something more than a simple commanding officer for that theater. I’ll be looking at you as the Viceroy of the entire colony.”