How did war in the Far East affect the Middle East?

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Andreas
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How did war in the Far East affect the Middle East?

#1

Post by Andreas » 19 Dec 2007, 15:10

Split from http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=131643
Jon G. wrote: I am genuinely interested in seeing evidence for any transfers of British/Commonwealth air, naval and land forces from the Middle East to the Far East between Dec 7 and Jan 21.
7th Armoured Brigade.

I Australian Corps HQ with
6th Australian Division
7th Australian Division

http://home.adelphia.net/~dryan67/orders/aif41.html

In terms of RAF, I have not been able to find similar info yet. One In have:

No. 211 Squadron (Blenheims) http://users.cyberone.com.au/clardo/bri ... _iv__.html
No. 11 Squadron (Blenheims)
No.113 Squadron (Blenheims) http://113squadron.com/113_squadron_history.htm

Royal Navy (same proviso as RAF, but more likely complete at least for transfers up to 1 Jan 42)

HMS Abdiel (fast minelayer - she had laid the mines that sank 2. Panzerdivision in May 41)
HMAS Hobart (cruiser)
HMAS Yarra (sloop)
HMAS Nestor, Napier, Nizam (all destroyers)
HMS Truant (submarine)
HMS Trusty (submarine)

HrMs Isaac Sweers (Dutch destroyer), first to Netherlands East Indies, then to Eastern Fleet.

Already transferred in November to accompany Prince of Wales and Repulse:
HMS Encounter, Jupiter (destroyers)

Transferred while in transit:
18th (British) Infantry Division

All the best

Andreas
Last edited by Andreas on 02 Jan 2008, 15:10, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: The non-strategic importance of Malta

#2

Post by JonS » 19 Dec 2007, 20:16

Andreas wrote:
Jon G. wrote: I am genuinely interested in seeing evidence for any transfers of British/Commonwealth air, naval and land forces from the Middle East to the Far East between Dec 7 and Jan 21.
7th Armoured Brigade.

I Australian Corps HQ with
6th Australian Division
7th Australian Division

http://home.adelphia.net/~dryan67/orders/aif41.html

In terms of RAF, I have not been able to find similar info yet. One In have:

No. 211 Squadron (Blenheims) http://users.cyberone.com.au/clardo/bri ... _iv__.html
No. 11 Squadron (Blenheims)
No.113 Squadron (Blenheims) http://113squadron.com/113_squadron_history.htm

Royal Navy (same proviso as RAF, but more likely complete at least for transfers up to 1 Jan 42)

HMS Abdiel (fast minelayer - she had laid the mines that sank 2. Panzerdivision in May 41)
HMAS Hobart (cruiser)
HMAS Yarra (sloop)
HMAS Nestor, Napier, Nizam (all destroyers)
HMS Truant (submarine)
HMS Trusty (submarine)

Already transferred in November to accompany Prince of Wales and Repulse:
HMS Encounter, Jupiter (destroyers)

All the best

Andreas
In addition, quite a lot of British Army units on their way out to Egypt got diverted to the fight against Japan. Sorry - I don't have a list handy :(


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#3

Post by Andreas » 19 Dec 2007, 20:36

Going through the list of single-engined fighter squadrons on the RAF website, quite a few were moved to India at the turn of the year. Had the proverbial not hit the fan there, those could have gone to Malta/North Africa.

All the best

Andreas

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Michael Emrys
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#4

Post by Michael Emrys » 19 Dec 2007, 21:11

I read not too long ago that there was also a convoy of reinforcements bound for Suez rounding the Cape about the time that the war in the Pacific broke out, but was instead diverted to the Far East. Unfortunately, I had to return that book to the library and can't confirm details, such as what precisely was being carried by the convoy.

Michael

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Re: The non-strategic importance of Malta

#5

Post by Jon G. » 19 Dec 2007, 21:23

Andreas wrote:
Jon G. wrote: I am genuinely interested in seeing evidence for any transfers of British/Commonwealth air, naval and land forces from the Middle East to the Far East between Dec 7 and Jan 21.
7th Armoured Brigade.

I Australian Corps HQ with
6th Australian Division
7th Australian Division...
Hmm, yes, I forgot to include the Australian clause which I named in my other post. As I understand it, Australian units in the Middle East were under a number of political restrictions regarding their use already prior to Dec 7th. The 9th Division, for example, had been withdrawn from Tobruk by the time of Crusader, and AFAIK there were no major Australian units present for Operation Crusader. Which is probably why the Commonwealth OOB site lists their locations as Syria and Palestine :)

The Far Eastern 'distraction' of course tied up more forces after the Japanese attacked, but that distraction was also evident before Dec. 7th - in fact, the very existence of a British Far Eastern empire was part reason why the Mediterranean was so important in British strategy in the first place.

One distraction which no longer applied by late 1941 was the recently-ended East African campaign, which allowed for the transfer of the 1st South African division and the 4th Indian division to Egypt. Also, with the Red Sea no longer a war zone naval assets in Aden were freed up for use elsewhere.

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#6

Post by Andreas » 19 Dec 2007, 22:17

I think the point I am making is that the change from a dangerous situation to a shooting war, and the rapid deterioration in the far east, made things quite difficult for the Middle East Command, which lost a good number of units, which it was supposed to use to finish the Germans off in Operation ACROBAT. All quite unrelated to Malta and Luftflotte 2 arriving. :)

All the best

Andreas

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#7

Post by JonS » 19 Dec 2007, 22:55

I appreciate the thread has moved on, but I've got some more detail about ground units diverted to the East after 7th December.[/img]
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#8

Post by JonS » 19 Dec 2007, 22:57

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#9

Post by JonS » 19 Dec 2007, 22:58

Both scans are from Farndale - History of the Royal Artillery, Years of Defeat.

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#10

Post by Michael Emrys » 20 Dec 2007, 09:36

JonS wrote:Both scans are from Farndale - History of the Royal Artillery, Years of Defeat.
Thanks, Jon. That jibes perfectly with what I recall reading in Connell's biography of Auchinleck.

Michael

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#11

Post by JonS » 20 Dec 2007, 11:36

These are from the British OH - The Med and the Middle East, vol III
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#12

Post by JonS » 20 Dec 2007, 11:37

p123
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#13

Post by JonS » 20 Dec 2007, 11:37

p124
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#14

Post by JonS » 20 Dec 2007, 11:38

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#15

Post by JonS » 20 Dec 2007, 11:39

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