CHAPTER XIII

THE AFRICAN CAMPAIGNS

1st August -- 31st December, 1942

 


FOOTNOTES

1. See p. 61.
2. See Churchill, Vol. IV, p. 275.
3. See pp. 136-145.
4. See pp. 64-67.
5. See Vol. I, pp. 530-531.
6. See Map 30.
7. See p. 67.
8. See Map 30.
9. The contemporary claim was four enemy aircraft destroyed in this attack. It has proved impossible to verify this figure from enemy records, but his total losses make it clear that our claims were in excess of actual achievements.
10. See Map 30.
11. See Map 30.
12. See Map 30.
13. See Vol. I, p. 522.
14. The loss of the Manchester led to the trial by Court Martial of certain of her officers and men after they had been released from internment in French North Africa. The findings of the court were to the effect that the decision to scuttle the ship had been premature.
15. See Table 26.
16. See Map 30.
17. See Unbroken by Alastair Mars (Frederick Muller, 1953) pp. 115-127.
18. See Above us the Waves by Warren and Benson (Harrap 1953), pp. 171-181.
19. See p. 74.
20. See p. 74.
21. Jackal, Kipling and Lively. See pp. 62-63.
22. See Vol. I, p. 426.
23. See pp. 184-185.
24. See Table 26.
25. See Grand Strategy, Vol. III, by J. M. A. Gwyer. (In preparation)
26. See A Sailor's Odyssey by Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (Hutchinson, 1951), pp. 481 et seq.
27. See Vol. I, pp. 217-228.
28. See Map 31.
29. See Vol. I, pp. 199-201 and 309-311.
30. See Map 31.
31. See The Man Who Never Was by Ewen Montagu. (Evans Bros. 1953).
32. See Vol. I, pp. 11-12 and 513.
33. See pp. 214-215.
34. The Suffixes F and S in the designation letters of these convoys indicated Fast or Slow convoys, as on other routes.
35. See Map 32.
36. See Vol. I, pp. 11-12
37. Appendix H gives full particulars of the naval forces employed in operation 'TORCH'.
38. See Map 32.
39. See Map 32.
40. See pp. 213 and Map 32.
41. See Map 34.
42. Robert Browning. Home Thoughts, from the Sea.
43. See Map 31.
44. See p. 251.
45. See Map 33.
46. See Map 34.
47. See Henry Newbolt, Naval Operations, Vol. IV. (Longmans, Green and Co. 1928) pp. 377-8.
48. See Map 35.
49. See p. 246.
50. See Vol. I, pp. 532-533.
51. See Map 35.
52. See Vol. I, pp. 242-245.
53. See Map 31.
54. A full account of the American landings in Morocco is contained in Morison, Vol. II.
55. See Map 36.
56. See p. 111.
57. See Map 36.
58. Morison, Vol. II, p. 123.
59. See footnote 65 and Appendix J for details of these U-boat sinkings.
60. See Map 31.
61. See Map 31.
62. Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, A Sailor's Odyssey, p. 501.
63. The total losses to Allied merchant ships during the assault phase of operation 'TORCH' were sixteen ships of 181,732 tons.
64.
The complete list of U-boats sunk in the Mediterranean and its approaches at this time is as follows:
    7th November Antonio Sciesa sunk by United States air raid at Tobruk.
    9th November Granito sunk by S/M Saracen off N.W. Sicily..
    10th November 10th November Emo sunk by H.M.T. Lord Nuffield -- off Algiers.
    12th November U-660 sunk by Lotus and Starwort -- Western Mediterranean.
    13th November U-605 sunk by Lotus and Poppy - off Algiers.
    14th November U-595 sunk by aircraft of No. 500 Squadron -- N.W. Mediterranean.
    15th November U-411 sunk by Wrestler -- Western approaches to Mediterranean.
    15th November U-259 sunk by aircraft of No. 500 Squadron -- off Algiers.
    17th November U-331 sunk by carrier and land aircraft -- Western Mediterranean.
    19th November U-98 sunk by Gibraltar air patrol of No. 608 Squadron -- Western approaches to Mediterranean.
    2nd December Dessie sunk by Quiberon (R.A.N.) and Quentin off Bone.
    6th December Porfido sunk by S/M Tigris -- South of Sardinia.
    13th December Corallo sunk by Enchantress -- off Bougie.
    15th December Uarsciek sunk by Petard and Queen Olga - South of Malta.
65. See Vol. I, p. 534.
66. An ahead-throwing weapon firing mortar bombs which exploded on contact with a submarine. See Vol. 1, p. 480 regarding the introduction of this weapon.
67. The Report of Proceedings used the word , to describe underwater bubbling noises. It is taken from 'The Frogs' lines 246-249.

which have been translated as:

'Or when fleeing the storm, we went
Down to the depths and our choral song
Wildly raised to a loud and long
Bubble-bursting accompaniment'.

68. It is believed that Darlan sent two messages to the commander of the Toulon Fleet at this time, but the text of the first one does not appear to have been preserved. The second message was sent from Algiers at 3:47 p.m. on 11th November. The full text is printed in 'Le Sabordage de la Flotte' by Pierre Varillon (Amiot-Dumont, Paris, 1954) p. 55.
69. Out of all the French warships in Toulon only three submarines succeeded in reaching Allied ports. About half a dozen destroyers and a like number of submarines remained comparatively undamaged in the base. The sunk or seriously damaged ships included one battleship, two battle cruisers, four heavy and three light cruisers, twenty-four large and small destroyers and ten submarines. There had been no such self-destruction by the major part of a once great Navy since the German High Seas Fleet scuttled itself in Scapa Flow in June 1919.
70. See pp. 58 and 306.
71. See Vol. I, p. 273.
72.
Apart from the French warships already under Allied surveillance at Alexandria and Martinique (See Vol. I, pp. 241 and 276) the following were the principal units which gradually joined Allied fleets and squadrons after the invasion of North Africa.
    Battleship Richelieu  
    6-inch Cruisers Montcalm, Georges Leygues and Gloire  
    Large destroyers 3
    Small destroyers 3
    Submarine depot ship Jules Verne  
    Submarines 17
    Escort vessels and minesweepers 11
    Miscellaneous smaller ships-about 24
The battleship Jean Bart was raised at Casablanca in January 1943, but was too badly damaged to be restored to service during the war.
73. See p. 312.
74. See Vol. I, p. 525.
75. See Vol. I, p. 424.
76. See Vol. I, pp. 538-539.
77. J. Valerio Borghese, Sea Devils (English translation, Andrew Melrose, 1952) contains a full account of Italian human torpedo and underwater sabotage operations.
78. See pp. 302-308.


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